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Rachel Homan. (Anil Mungal)

Eight Ends: Team Homan stay red-hot on tour

Week 6 of the curling season has come to a close, which also means it’s deadline day for the Masters, the first major of the season for the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series.

Invites are in the e-mail boxes for the top 13 men’s and top 13 women’s teams on the order of merit total rankings with spots reserved for sponsor’s exemptions as well as Tour Challenge Tier 2 winners Team Cotter and Team Einarson.

Some teams released their 2015-16 schedules with the Masters in mind so we can expect them to RSVP soon.

Now onto our “8 ends” for the week.

1st End: Team Homan on fire to start season

Team Rachel Homan continue to play lights-out curling. The Ottawa-based rink earned their second title of the season by winning the Stockholm Ladies Curling Cup this past Sunday.

That’s now three finals and two titles through the first three events of the season for Team Homan. We already declared Team Gushue having a McEwen-esque start in this space last week, but the same could also be said for Homan.

Let’s break down their year so far:

EVENT RECORD RESULT
Stu Sells Oakville Tankard 7-0 Champion
Tour Challenge Tier 1 6-1 Runner-up
Stockholm Ladies Cup 6-1 Champion

That’s an overall record of 19-2 on tour. The team plans to play next in the Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic, Oct. 9-12, and it’ll be intriguing to see if they can maintain their hot streak heading into the Masters, an event Homan has won twice already.

2nd End: Jones makes shot of the year?

It wasn’t flash but finesse that makes this an early candidate for “shot of the year.”

During the Stockholm Ladies Cup round robin, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones trailed by one in the seventh end to Moscow’s Anna Sidorova, but the reigning Olympic champion showed her golden touch with her delicate final shot that slid through the port to kick out Sidorova’s stone — and avoid hitting her own — for the five-count that iced the game 10-6.

3rd End: Keeping up with the Joneses

We’re super-excited to have Jones providing exclusive vlog updates on tour for us throughout the season.

In her latest “Just Jennifer” video, Team Jones check out the sights of Old Town Stockholm with a little help from super spare (and team tour guide) Alison Kreviazuk. The two-time Masters champion now lives in Sweden and filled in for Dawn McEwen during the event.

4th End: McEwen defends title in Toon Town

Speaking of McEwen-esque seasons, the originals themselves Team Mike McEwen came out on top once again in Saskatoon after successfully defending the Point Optical Curling Classic title.

Red pants ruled the day as McEwen won three playoff games Monday highlighted with an 8-4 victory over Team Reid Carruthers in the all-Winnipeg rink final for their first championship of 2015-16.

After winning a remarkable eight titles last season, one has to wonder if this isn’t just the first of many, but the first of how many for McEwen this year.

Why yes, in fact somebody should make that a website — didmcewenwinaspielinseptember.com — and just have it show a giant “YES” sign.

5th End: Team Flaxey heating up

Team Allison Flaxey topped Team Erika Brown 7-3 to capture the women’s title at the KW Fall Classic Sunday. Team Flaxey finished the tournament with an overall 6-1 record, continuing their strong showing from the Shorty Jenkins Classic where the finished runner-up to Team EunJung Kim.

Flaxey, the 2014 Ontario provincial champion, now sits 26th on the WCT’s total order-of-merit list and sixth on the year-to-date rankings. The team had a roster shakeup during the off-season losing third Katie Cottrill (now skipping her own team) and second Kristen Foster (back in Manitoba and playing on Team Jill Thurston).

Lynn Kreviazuk returned to the rink at second and they’ve added Clancy Grandy at third. Grandy skipped her own rink to the Ontario Scotties semifinal last season and has formed a solid 1-2 punch with Flaxey in the back-end.

6th End: Curling tour rundown

China’s Rui Liu got the single in the extra end to defeat Ian Dickie of Newmarket, Ont., 6-5 for the KW Fall Classic men’s title.

Michelle Montford thumped Beth Peterson 10-3 in six ends to capture the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic in Winnipeg. The men’s final saw David Bohn score two in the extra end to edge 2013 Canadian junior champion Matt Dunstone 4-2.

Halifax’s Theresa Breen captured the Appleton Rum Cashspiel in Lower Sackville, N.S., with a 5-1 win over Moncton’s Shannon Tatlock in the women’s final. Brent MacDougall claimed the men’s title with a 5-3 victory over Jamie Danbrook in the all-Halifax rink final.

7th end: Coming up this week

Reigning Brier champions and world bronze medallists Team Pat Simmons of Calgary make their season debut at the Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic in Vernon, B.C. Also competing is hometown favourite Team Jim Cotter, who are Truro-bound for the Masters as the Tour Challenge Tier 2 winners.

On the women’s side of the event is an Olympic reunion with Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard rejoining with her old rink that earned the silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Bernard, who stepped back from competitive curling last year, is a three-time winner of the tournament. Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink, another Canadian Olympic skip, will also be in action along with the likes of Team Chelsea Carey of Calgary, Saskatoon’s Team Stefanie Lawton and Team Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton.

Elsewhere, the Avonair Cash Spiel takes place in Edmonton while down east is the Sobeys Classic in New Glasgow, N.S. Overseas, the Swiss Cup Basel men’s tournament runs in Basel, SUI.

8th end: Don’t miss Masters Mondays

This past Monday we introduced “Masters Mondays” as we look back at the top moments in the history of the Masters leading up the event.

We knew Mike McEwen’s four-score in last year’s men’s final had to be included so we kicked off our countdown with that amazing shot to get it out of the way.

Keep it here for more highlights every Monday leading up to the 2015 Masters, running Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro, N.S.