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Kevin Koe in action at the 2016 Humpty’s Champions Cup in Sherwood Park, Alta. (Anil Mungal)

Eight Ends: Koe, Homan charge out of the gate

We’re out of the gates and off to the races.

Pretty much all of the elite curling teams have hit the ice on tour at least once already this season. While some began their year over a month ago, there were still a few notables who were fashionably late to the party getting started this past weekend, but have picked up right where they left off.

It should come as no surprise the two teams that finished last season atop of the World Curling Tour’s year-to-date rankings were also the ones running the table to victory this past weekend in their season debuts.

Reigning world champion Kevin Koe of Calgary was a perfect 8-0 through the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic in Cornwall, Ont., while Ottawa’s Rachel Homan completed a 6-0 run on the women’s side.

Koe capped the tournament with a 9-3 win over Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s while Homan defeated Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., 7-1 in the women’s final Sunday.

It was also a year and some change to the day since Koe captured the inaugural Tour Challenge defeating, guess who, Gushue in the final. That was Team Koe’s first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title victory since they formed for the Olympic quadrennial cycle and we all saw how that momentum carried them through last season.

Coincidentally, both Homan and Koe already have Canadian Olympic Curling Trials spots wrapped up as the 2015 Canada Cup winners, thus throwing wrenches into the plans of other teams looking to maximize their point totals as they attempt to lockdown the berths this season based on the Canadian Team Ranking System.

Elsewhere, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen and Brad Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., reached the quarterfinals at the Shorty Jenkins Classic in their 2016-17 debuts. Jacobs fell to Toronto’s John Epping, who rebounded nicely after back-to-back disappointing weekends in Oakville. Team Gushue eliminated McEwen (and then Epping) en route to the final.

1st End: Welcome back, Craig

Among all of the super spares that hit the ice this past weekend, none are more notable than the return of Craig Savill, who joined Team Tuck for the Shorty Jenkins Classic.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion Savill had to step back last season after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Savill announced his cancer was in remission last month and didn’t waste any time returning to the sport he loves.

2nd End: Gushue maintains No. 1 spot

Team Gushue remains tops on the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit (OOM), albeit with a much slimmer lead of roughly seven points over Team Koe.

We have to give kudos to Team Gushue for powering onward with their skip sidelined due to a hip/groin issue. Third Mark Nichols has taken the reins in the meantime and despite having no prior skipping experience entering this season he’s managed to qualify for the playoffs in back-to-back weeks.

Adam Spencer filled at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard while Charley Thomas was on board this weekend at the Shorty Jenkins Classic.

Speaking of teams playing without their usual skips, Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones made it to the semifinals at the Colonial Squares Ladies Classic with 2010 Olympic silver medallist Cheryl Bernard calling the shots.

3rd End: Moving up the ranks

Team Flaxey was a finalist for the second week in a row and has now climbed into the top 10 of the OOM. Flaxey’s crew now aims to defend the KW Fall Classic title this weekend.

Meanwhile on the men’s side, Team Niklas Edin of Sweden started the season in 10th and has surged back up into sixth pace with a razor-thin lead (i.e. less than half a point) over Team Jacobs.

4th End: Bingyu Wang wins Colonial Square Ladies Classic

China’s Bingyu Wang took the Colonial Square Ladies Classic in Saskatoon defeating Scotland’s Eve Muirhead 7-4 in Monday’s final.

Wang, the 2009 world champion, sustained an early blemish losing to Saskatchewan Scotties rep Jolene Campbell 5-4 in her first game, but rolled from there winning seven straight en route to the title.

5th End: Gushulak, Liu claim Cloverdale Cash Spiel

Vancouver’s Diane Gushulak successfully defended the Cloverdale Cash Spiel title in Surrey, B.C., with a 6-0 record capped with a 7-2 victory over Lindsay Hudyma of Vancover/Victoria in Sunday’s final.

Rui Liu of China also completed an undefeated run finishing 7-0 on the men’s side defeating Adam Cseke of Kelowna, B.C., 6-4 in the final.

6th End: Humpty’s Champions Cup spots heating up already?

Let’s fast forward to April for one end and talk about the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup. To receive an invite to the event, teams have to either win one of the tournaments that guarantees a spot or a World Curling Tour event that holds a high strength of field multiplier (SFM). Click here for the full qualification list. Runner-up finishers need not apply. There’s no slipping through the back door here; you have to win to get in.

The reason to bring this up now is because those WCT spots make it feel like a season-long chase for a spot into the Humpty’s Champions Cup. While winning one of the guaranteed events is the preferred route, it doesn’t hurt to capture a tour title early as a backup plan and hope you’ve banked a spot for later.

Both the Shorty Jenkins Classic men’s tournament and Colonial Squares Ladies Classic featured deep fields and offered the highest SFM we’ve seen so far this season, thus you could say Koe and Wang are in the “provisional pole position” for those WCT spots.

Just in case you were wondering whether or not the players had the Humpty’s Champions Cup on their minds.

7th End: Week 6 on the World Curling Tour

Coming up this week it’s the men’s turn in Saskatoon for the College Clean Restoration Curling Classic. You might be more familiar with the event under its previous name: the Point Optical Curling Classic. The tournament has attracted some top teams in the past and we expect the same for this year’s edition.

Elsewhere on tour, the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic goes down in Winnipeg; the KW Fall Classic runs in Waterloo, Ont.; and the all-new Lakeshore Curling Club Cashspiel takes place in Lower Sackville, N.S.

8th End: WFG Masters update

Invitations have been sent out for the WFG Masters, the first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season running Oct. 25-30 in Okotoks, Alta. Keep it here for an announcement on the teams and draw schedule in the near future.