News Masters

Rachel Homan. (Anil Mungal)

Eight Ends: Homan’s hot streak continues at Masters

Rachel Homan and her team are shaping up to having a McEwen-esque year on tour.

Team McEwen won an outstanding eight titles last season — including two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championships — and Team Homan looks to be on a similar trajectory.

The Ottawa-based crew earned their fourth title through five events so far in 2015-16 by capturing the Masters with a 6-4 win over Val Sweeting’s team in the final Sunday at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro, N.S.

It was a fitting final between the only two skips who have won this tournament. Homan claimed the inaugural Masters title in 2012 — and made it back-to-back winning it again in 2013 — while Sweeting took home her first career major at the event a year ago.

Team Homan holds an overall win-loss record of 33-4 so far this season, including a 13-1 record (!!!) in Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events. Their lone loss came against Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni during the foggy and frosty Tour Challenge Tier 1 final last month in Paradise, N.L.

Homan now looks to capture the inaugural women’s National trophy as the tournament has now expanded to feature both men’s and women’s divisions.

Let’s run down what else happened at the Masters, the first major and second event of the 2015-16 Pinty’s GSOC season:

1st End: McEwen being McEwen

Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen is also living up to his name, having a McEwen-esque season of his own by winning the Masters men’s title Sunday to claim his third title of the season.

There was no need for any circus shots this time around. Instead it was finesse throws on point and delicate draws that helped them earn their fifth major and sixth overall Pinty’s GSOC championship together.

“To get them at the right time that’s what you need to do at this level,” Team McEwen third B.J. Neufeld explained. “If you don’t it’s awfully hard. Every game comes down to maybe two misses. You have to be right on point and to win those games you’ve got to make some big shots at the right time otherwise you’ll be at the other end.”

McEwen made clutch throw after clutch throw during the semifinals against Kevin Koe and once more against Jim Cotter in the final.

Perhaps it was also the good-luck charm of McEwen’s baby Vienna in attendance at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre. We’ll see if that holds up as the McEwens plan to bring her along to the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ont., next week for the National.

There are other reasons to believe McEwen should be the favourite:

  • Ranked No. 1 on the World Curling Tour’s total order of merit
  • Defending National champion
  • Winner of the 2010-11 Canadian Open, the previous GSOC event held at the General Motors Centre

Yes, everything’s coming up McEwen.

2nd End: Gushue’s unbelievable comeback

We’re not saying Brad Gushue is Superman, but we haven’t seen them in the same room together.

Gushue, of St. John’s, lost his balance during the quarterfinal game against Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock and fell face-first onto the ice. The crowd went silent and the other three games came to a halt as Gushue was attended to.

The 2006 Olympic gold medallist and three-time Grand Slam champion was rushed to a hospital, conveniently located just across the street from the Rath Eastlink Community Centre. Gushue was stitched up and given to go-ahead to return and he wasted no time coming back in the seventh end to hold the brush in the house with his hospital bracelet still wrapped around his wrist.

Laycock won the match to advance, but Gushue’s shocking fall and unbelievable comeback stole the headlines.

Gushue returned home following the match and posted this selfie Sunday:

3rd End: Sweeting’s sweet shenanigans

If there’s one team that looks like they’re having just as much fun on the ice as they are off, it has to be Team Val Sweeting.

On top of the Edmonton-based crew’s runner-up finish, Team Sweeting were also up to their usual tour shenanigans following their “bike ride” through the airport on their way to the Tour Challenge last month.

This time it was cardboard cutouts of Brad Gushue and Eve Muirhead that got caught up in the hijinks.

“We walked by them and saw them and you’ve got to have some fun,” Sweeting said with a laugh. “We got some poses with Brad, got Eve to the gym there. We’re just trying to have fun and things you can do when everything is going well with the team.”

Team Sweeting also patched up the Gushue cutout on Sunday to reflect his real-life counterpart’s injury.

It’s great seeing them able to find ways to keep it relaxed during high-profile, high-pressure events like the Masters.

4th End: Welcome back, Cotter

Jim Cotter slipped in the rankings and out of the elite zone last season, but the Tour Challenge Tier 2 provided him the perfect opportunity to claw his way back into the mix.

Team Cotter ran the table in the Tier 2 event to earn a berth at the Masters, their first major since the 2014 Canadian Open.

Cotter cruised into the final with a 3-1 round robin record and impressive playoff victories over Brad Jacobs and Steve Laycock. Team Cotter helped prove the system works; their runner-up finish earned them enough points to vault into 11th place on the World Curling Tour’s total order of merit and they will receive an invite to the Canadian Open.

5th End: Winnipeg teams rise to the occasion

The Tour Challenge Tier 2 women’s champion also shined at the Masters. Fresh off of winning their first title together, Winnipeg’s Team Kerri Einarson made the most of their opportunity to compete at the Masters by qualifying at 3-1. Einarson faced Silvana Tirinzoni, the Tour Challenge Tier 1 winner, and capitalized on missed opportunities by the Swiss rink to steal a 10-7 victory.

Team Einarson’s run came to an end in the semis losing 5-3 to Team Sweeting. Still, it’s pretty neat to consider that Einarson was just a spectator at the 2014 Masters in Selkirk, Man., and was now playing in the final four a year later.

Meanwhile, Team Kristy McDonald, also from Winnipeg, qualified for the first time together at the Tour Challenge Tier 1 and proved it wasn’t a one-off by making the playoffs again at the Masters. McDonald set a new personal-best for her team defeating Mary-Anne Arsenault 5-2 to reach the semifinals.

Unfortunately for Team McDonald, their skip fell ill before the semifinals and couldn’t play. Despite a valiant effort from third Kate Cameron, second Leslie Wilson-Westcott, and lead Raunora Wescott, Team McDonald couldn’t top the eventual champions Team Homan in the semis and fell 8-5.

With Jennifer Jones holding the auto-berth to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts as Team Canada, McDonald and Einarson look like the front-runners to face off in the Manitoba playdown final.

6th End: Arsenault on a roll

Halifax’s Mary-Anne Arsenault received the sponsor’s exemption for the women’s division and proved to be a worthy inclusion. Arsenault, who won two world and five Canadian championships on Colleen Jones’s legendary team, entered the week ranked 53rd on the World Curling Tour’s total order of merit and stunned the field to finish the round robin at 3-1 to qualify including wins over Anna Sidorova, Jennifer Jones and reigning world champion Alina Paetz.

It shouldn’t be a total surprise though as Arsenault scored upset victories over Homan and Jones — on the same day — during the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Playing second for Arsenault at the Masters was former teammate Kim Kelly, who threw third stones for Team Colleen Jones during their dynasty run.

7th End: Dawn McEwen rejoins Team Jones

Dawn McEwen returned at lead for reigning Olympic and Scotties champions Team Jennifer Jones after missing the Tour Challenge while on maternity leave.

Team Jones missed out on qualifying for the playoffs at the Tour Challenge Tier 1, falling to Scotland’s Eve Muirhead in the tiebreakers, but the crew prevailed this time around. Jones made it rain threes, scoring trios of points in the first, third and fifth ends to defeat Korea’s EunJung Kim 9-2 in the Masters tiebreaker.

It was the lone women’s tiebreaker match though and Jones drew top-seed Team Homan for the quarterfinals. This time it was Homan hitting threes, scoring treys in the fourth and eighth ends winning 8-4.

8th End: Quick draw Koe

Kevin Koe has been firing pistol shots making the big-time saves and scores this season at Pinty’s GSOC events.

The Calgary skip nailed a shot for three in the quarterfinals to lift his team over reigning world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden 7-5.

Koe needed to make another clutch shot with his last rock in his semifinal match against McEwen, Trailing 5-3, Koe he looked to make the big hit to either get two to tie it or three for the win.

However, with time on the clock set to expire, Koe had to rush down the ice and make his delivery or risk forfeiting the match altogether. It was not meant to be for him though as Koe’s late-game heroics came up just short this time around and McEwen advanced.

Extra End: No rest for the GSOC teams

It’s a quick turnaround for teams that have headed home this week only to get right back on the road for the third event, and second major, of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.

The National runs Nov. 10-15 at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ont.

Jan. 14-19, 2025 Sleeman Centre Guelph, ON