News Champions Cup

Eight Ends: Champions Cup, Players’ Championship preview

Finally, the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling has come back to Calgary.

The series returns to WinSport Arena at Canada Olympic Park for back-to-back events beginning Thursday with the Humpty’s Champions Cup and immediately followed by the Princess Auto Players’ Championship for 11 straight days of action.

The Humpty’s Champions Cup will also be the first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event in over a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know for both tournaments (including the all-important broadcast schedule) before Thursday’s opening draw:

First End: Something new, something old, something borrowed and something gold. I’m pretty sure that’s it.

The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the newest event in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling making its debut in 2016, while the Princess Auto Players’ Championship is the oldest and actually predates the inception of the series itself as it was first held in 1993 and has served as the championship of the tour season.

WinSport Arena hosted the Humpty’s Champions Cup in consecutive seasons in 2017 and 2018. Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan captured the women’s title both times with Team Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., winning the men’s championship in 2017 and Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., victorious in 2018. Gushue also made history becoming the first to win all event titles in the series.

Edmonton’s Team Brendan Bottcher and Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland won the 2019 Humpty’s Champions Cup titles in Saskatoon and are still the reigning champions since last year’s event was cancelled.

Bottcher is also the defending men’s champ for the Princess Auto Players’ Championship, last held in Toronto in 2019, while Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., was the most recent women’s winner. Kevin Martin has won the event the most with eight titles during his legendary career. Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones has the most on the women’s side with six.

Second End: What’s the format and what’s at stake? The Humpty’s Champions Cup traditionally features all of the top tournament winners of the season in one final showdown, however, due to the pandemic disruptions and bubble restrictions the same 12 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams will compete in both Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events. These teams were selected based on the World Curling Federation’s world team rankings.

The men’s and women’s divisions were divided into two pools of six teams. Both events have different pools as the Humpty’s Champions Cup was split up based on a classic back-and-forth draft while the Princess Auto Players’ Championship pools were determined via snake draft style. The top six overall qualify for the playoffs with two heading straight to the semifinals and the other four battling in the quarterfinals.

Curlers will not have to wear masks on the ice during play as the COVID-19 results announced during the men’s worlds were determined to be false positives and the bubble did not pop.

There is one rule change for the Humpty’s Champions Cup only: a “no tick” zone. A rock touching the centre line in the free guard zone may not be moved off the centre line by the opposing team until the sixth rock of the end. It’s not unusual to see the Grand Slams experiment with new rules as thinking time and the five-rock rule were also innovations from the series.

Although points and rankings are on pause, there’s a combined purse of $560,000 CDN up for grabs. Both events also serve as an opportunity for teams to see where they stack up amongst the world’s best heading into the Olympic season, plus, they get to wear their tour uniforms and showcase the sponsors.

“When we talk about wanting to develop our team to be the best in the world you have to go to these events, you have to play well, you have to win these events,” said Kirk Muyres, who plays second on Matt Dunstone’s team from Wadena, Sask. “For us to go to them is absolutely vital for our development as well as vital for our sponsorships too. We have so many companies that really support and believe in our journey and give us so much so we can try to get to the Olympics and win the Brier and win these Slams, it’s so nice we can show off these sponsors in these events.”

Third End: Is there an advantage for those having already played in the bubble? The Humpty’s Champions Cup will be the fifth event taking place in the bubble following the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Tim Hortons Brier, Canadian mixed doubles championship and world men’s championship.

It’s not a clear advantage on the men’s side as 11 of the 12 teams have already had an opportunity to play on that ice. Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller is the lone exception.

The women’s side is different with only the four Canadian teams — Einarson, Homan, Jones and Team Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul, Man. — having competed in the bubble. The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events will serve as a tune-up as the women’s world championship takes place afterward. As we saw during the other events though, there might be some rust and shaky sea legs to start, but the best rise to the occasion.

“It wasn’t like the lead-in was detrimental for performance or anything,” Team Homan third/interim skip Emma Miskew said. “It’s still curling. Everyone there is very talented and has a lot of experience in curling. I don’t think anyone is going to have a hard time with that. I think everyone is really excited that they’re going to get to play and that excitement will come through more than anything.”


Fourth End: When we last left our heroes, Team Jacobs and Team Anna Hasselborg of Sweden were victorious at the Meridian Canadian Open in January 2020, with both winning their third consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles.

Hasselborg hasn’t competed in a top-flight tournament since then but is targeting the record books here. No women’s team has won four in a row and only Martin has completed the feat on the men’s side pushing his streak to five. Coincidentally, the Humpty’s Champions Cup and the Princess Auto Players’ Championship are the only two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles Team Hasselborg haven’t won in the series. Completing the sweep would make history as the first women’s team to accomplish that. No pressure, right?

Jacobs has come back down to earth missing the playoffs at the past two Brier tournaments but a return to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling setting could rejuvenate the squad.

Fifth End: Who are the favourites in the men’s division? Hmm, just about everyone?

Edin is fresh from winning a record third consecutive world men’s championship and fifth overall. His team typically continues its top form at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship having qualified for the playoffs in the event during the previous four times with a title win in 2017 and a runner-up result in 2018.

Team Bruce Mouat should also carry momentum from its silver finish for Scotland after a standout week during the world championship.

Bottcher won arguably the toughest Brier in history and despite the sting of not reaching the medal round for Canada at the world men’s championship, there shouldn’t be any let-up here. Gushue also always comes to play in the Grand Slams and you’d go broke betting against him.

The rankings have been on hold for a year now, so it’s misleading to label Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe (No. 10) and Team Dunstone (No. 11) as underdogs. Both recently medalled at the Brier with Koe taking silver and Dunstone earning bronze.

Sixth End: Who are the favourites in the women’s division? The aforementioned No. 1 ranked Hasselborg remains the incumbent until proven otherwise.

Kerri Einarson (No. 2) could continue a golden bubble run after capturing a second consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts title and claiming the Canadian mixed doubles title with Gushue. Homan, Jones and Fleury are also favourites but check the next end before you start putting money down.

It becomes less clear how the other non-Canadian teams will fare but don’t sleep on Team Min-Ji Kim of South Korea again. They snuck into the playoffs of the 2020 Meridian Canadian Open through the C brackets of the triple knockout to qualify for the playoffs and made it all the way to the final.

Seventh End: Some teams have called upon extras for the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events.

– Team Homan: Skip Rachel Homan gave birth to daughter Bowyn late last month. Homan is in the bubble so their lineup may be a game-time decision. The plan right now is for Miskew to skip with super spare Laura Walker at third. Team Homan missed the playoffs in all four Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events last season but have earned back-to-back silver medals at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts since then. A wild card indeed.

– Team Fleury: Skip Tracy Fleury rejoins her team for the Humpty’s Champions Cup after missing the Scotties Tournament of Hearts to take care of her young daughter, who was diagnosed with infantile spasms in November. Chelsea Carey subbed for Fleury at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and will take the reins again next week for the Princess Auto Players’ Championship. Carey skipped the squad to a 6-6 record in the championship pool.

– Team Jones: Alternate Lisa Weagle will move up to lead for Dawn McEwen, who is expecting her second child. Weagle has fit in fine as we saw at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts with Team Jones making the tiebreaker, so they should be in the title pictures here too.

– Team McEwen: Skip Mike McEwen is also staying home to welcome the new addition to his family. Third Reid Carruthers will slide over and call the game with Tyler Tardi filling in at third. Lead Colin Hodgson has opted out of playing in the bubble and Carruthers, Tardi and second Derek Samagalski will carry on as a trio. Finding another player at the last minute who has quarantined and isolated for the required time period would have been quite difficult.

– Team Epping: Third Ryan Fry is missing the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events to be with his family as his father Barry is experiencing health issues. Colton Lott is on board after earning silver in the Canadian mixed doubles championship.

Eighth End: Both Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events are closed to the general public. Fans can catch the action live on Sportsnet. Online streaming is available at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).

Humpty’s Champions Cup broadcast schedule

Thursday, April 15

  • Round Robin: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
  • Round Robin: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE)
  • Round Robin: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE & Sportsnet 360)

Friday, April 16

  • Round Robin: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
  • Round Robin: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet Pacific)
  • Round Robin: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet 360)

Saturday, April 17

  • Round Robin: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE)
  • Round Robin: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE)
  • Round Robin: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE

Sunday, April 18

  • Tiebreakers (if necessary): 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE)
  • Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet and Sportsnet 360)
  • Men’s & Women’s Semifinals: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet)

Monday April 19

  • Men’s Final: 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
  • Women’s Final: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)

Princess Auto Players’ Championship

Wednesday, April 21

  • Round Robin: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
  • Round Robin: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet 360)
  • Round Robin: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet East and Ontario)

Thursday, April 22

  • Round Robin: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
  • Round Robin: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE)
  • Round Robin: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Sportsnet ONE)

Friday, April 23

  • Round Robin: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet)
  • Round Robin: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet)
  • Round Robin: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet 360)

Saturday, April 24

  • Tiebreakers (if necessary): 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (Sportsnet West, Pacific & Sportsnet 360)
  • Men’s & Women’s Quarterfinals: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (Sportsnet 360)
  • Men’s & Women’s Semifinals: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet 360)

Sunday, April 25

  • Women’s Final, 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE)
  • Men’s Final, 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT (Sportsnet & Sportsnet ONE)

Note: Schedule subject to change. Check sportsnet.ca/schedule for the most up-to-date listings.