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The curling season is now underway with Peter de Cruz picking up the Baden Masters title Sunday in Switzerland. Meanwhile on this side of the pond, the Canadian kickoff begins Friday with the start of the Oakville OCT Fall Classic in Ontario featuring both men’s and women’s fields.

If your favourite team hasn’t hit the ice already they will be soon. There’s a busy season ahead and before you know it we’ll be knee-deep into the season with the first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event looming.

This week’s Eight Ends feature breaks down the key dates you’ll want to keep track in your calendar for the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.

1st End: WFG Masters — Oct. 25-30

The opening stop of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season sees the series land for the first time in Okotoks, Alta., which is located just outside of Calgary. The WFG Masters is also the first major of the season as one of the four original Grand Slam events alongside the National, Canadian Open and Players’ Championship.

Mike McEwen of Winnipeg enters the WFG Masters as the defending men’s champion while over on the women’s side Rachel Homan of Ottawa is not only the reigning champ, her team has taken the title three times in four years.

2nd End: Tour Challenge — Nov. 8-13

The Tour Challenge is the largest event of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 60 men’s and women’s teams split into two tiers of action. After the inaugural event was held in Paradise, N.L., last season, the Tour Challenge now heads to the opposite side of Canada in Cranbrook, B.C., also a first-time stop for the series.

Tier 1 is where the top teams come to play while Tier 2 offers lower-ranked teams a chance to move on up. The winners of the Tier 2 stage this season receive invites to the Meridian Canadian Open in January. Jim Cotter of Vernon, B.C., worked his way back into the elite with his Tier 2 victory last year while Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson used her Tier 2 opportunity to springboard up the ranks where her team has proven they belong during a breakout season.

3rd End: National — Dec. 6-11

The National returns to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., which hosted the event in 2014. A lot has actually changed since then as the National, previously a men’s invitational, doubled in size to include a women’s division last season.

Homan captured the inaugural National women’s title in Oshawa, Ont., while the men’s division saw Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., win his first of three Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles on the season.

4th End: Meridian Canadian Open — Jan. 3-8, 2017

The Meridian Canadian Open continues its stay in Saskatchewan. After two years in Yorkton, the third major of the season heads up to North Battleford. Instead of a round-robin the event features triple knockout preliminary play, a familiar tournament style to those on tour but unique among the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events. Basically, teams have to win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Qualification for the Meridian Canadian Open has been altered from 14 World Curling Tour Order of Merit (OOM) ranked teams and a sponsor’s exemption to seven OOM ranked teams, seven year-to-date ranked teams, one sponsor’s exemption plus the Tour Challenge Tier 2 winner. Basically teams that jump out of the gate to the season on a hot streak now have a better chance of earning a spot than before.

Team Homan made history in last year’s Meridian Canadian Open becoming the first women’s team to capture three consecutive majors on the season. Meanwhile, Toronto’s John Epping curled a perfect game in the men’s final to win his third career Grand Slam title.

5th End: Humpty’s Champions Cup tour event qualification date — Feb. 1, 2017

The only non-tournament date on this list, but it’s one to keep track of regardless.

Two men’s spots and three women’s spots for the Humpty’s Champions Cup are reserved for winners of the top tour events of the season — based on strength of field — with Feb. 1 being the date when those teams are announced. More than five teams may receive invites on this date if there are any teams who have won more than one high-profile event (e.g. a team wins the Masters and the National) thus requiring additional tour event winners to help fill out the men’s and women’s Humpty’s Champions Cup fields.

Click here for a full list of eligible events.

Among those announced last year were DEKALB Superspiel winners Reid Carruthers and Jennifer Jones, both of whom went on to claim the Humpty’s Champions Cup.

6th End: Elite 10 — March 16-19, 2017

The exclusive Elite 10 event, featuring the top 10 men’s teams in the world, uses a match play format where teams compete to win the most ends per game by either scoring two or more points (with hammer) or stealing one point (without hammer). It’s similar to a skins game except if neither team wins an end, points do not carry over — every end is worth one point each.

It’ll be the first time the Elite 10 heads east to Port Hawkesbury, N.S., which has hosted the National on four occasions, most recently in 2013.

Team Gushue took the title last year with a thrilling extra end shootout victory in the final over Team Carruthers. Meanwhile, Team Homan entered the record books again becoming the first women’s team to compete in a Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling men’s event and defeat a high-ranked men’s team since Sportsnet acquired the series in 2012.

7th End: WestJet Players’ Championship — April 11-16, 2017

The WestJet Players’ Championship returns to Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto for the third consecutive season and fourth time in five years. It’s the fourth and final major of the season and the crown jewel event of the series. Also on the line is the Rogers Grand Slam Cup, awarded to the men’s and women’s bonus points leaders and carrying a $75,000 prize.

Gushue was the big winner last season capturing the Rogers Grand Slam Cup en route to his first career Players’ Championship title. The victory also completed a career Grand Slam (winning all four majors) for his team.

Homan needed just two wins in the round-robin portion to clinch the Rogers Grand Slam Cup thanks to an outstanding season in the series. Eve Muirhead of Scotland won her third career Players’ Championship title and is probably already looking forward to returning to Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre as she’s captured all three of them at that venue.

8th End: Humpty’s Champions Cup — April 25-30, 2017

The season finale event of 2016-17 sees the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series come full circle heading back to YYC for the Humpty’s Champions Cup in WinSport Arena at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.

All of the top winners of the year will collide for one last showdown before the summer break.

As previously mentioned, Carruthers and Jones won the inaugural Humpty’s Champions Cup to close out last season and they’ll both get a chance to defend their titles.