News Tour Challenge

It’s season’s eve for the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling with the Tour Challenge set to kick things off Tuesday afternoon in Regina at the Co-operators Centre at Evraz Place.

Being that it is an Olympic year and all roads lead to the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, winning the Tour Challenge will be key for teams looking to send an early message to the rest of the field and set the tone for the season.

TV coverage begins Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet.

Here’s a rundown of what you need to know before the opening draw.

First End: Wait … 60 teams?!

The Tour Challenge is the largest event on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tour with 60 teams in action.

Tier 1 features the cream of the crop with the top 15 men’s teams and top 15 women’s teams from the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit.

Tier 2 also includes 15 men’s teams and 15 women’s teams but with a twist. Both take the next 10 teams ranked on the WCT’s OOM but add five teams from within Saskatchewan. This gives local teams a chance to compete in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series and play on arena ice. For some this will be their series debut and provide a platform for them to show their stuff. Who knows, maybe one of them will be the next Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling breakout star.

Winners of the Tier 2 division earn spots to the next Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event, the Masters, taking place Oct. 24-29 in Lloydminster, Sask.

Second End: A brief history of the Tour Challenge

This is the third annual Tour Challenge with the previous two held on opposite ends of the country.

The inaugural Tour Challenge landed in Paradise, N.L., in 2015. A packed house cheered on home-province favourite Team Gushue, but the St. John’s crew came up just short to Team Koe in an extra end during the men’s final. Meanwhile, Team Tirinzoni stunned Team Homan in the women’s final stealing two in the eighth end as the fog rolled in and created some interesting playing conditions.

Team Cotter and Team Einarson were crowned the Tier 2 champions and both were worthy additions to the Masters with Cotter reaching the final and Einarson making it to the semifinals (defeating Tirinzoni in the quarterfinals no less).

The 2016 Tour Challenge travelled to the mountains of Cranbrook, B.C. Team Edin took their second Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title of the season while Team Sweeting emerged victorious on the women’s side. Team Harrison and Team Balsdon won the Tier 2 titles.

Third End: Tier 1 women’s division preview

All eyes are on the world champions Team Homan, who finished off last season in style capturing the Humpty’s Champions Cup.

Team Jones, winners of last season’s Players’ Championship, is also always a favourite as is the defending champ Sweeting.

Expect the unexpected: This past season saw several first-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s champions. Should that trend continue Team Hasselborg could be next in line. Hasselborg, who finished runner-up to Homan at the Humpty’s Champions Cup, already has her Olympic ticket punched as she will represent Sweden at the Winter Games in South Korea.

Fourth End: Tier 1 men’s division preview

Edin enters as defending champ and ranked No. 1 in the world. The team already opened the season in the win column capturing the Baden Masters title Sunday in Switzerland (more on that in a few ends). Keep in mind jet lag wasn’t an issue for Edin last season as the Tour Challenge was held in November and the team stayed put in Canada following their Masters win in late October.

Brad Gushue missed out on the Tour Challenge last season while he was recovering from a hip/groin issue and the reigning world champion will want to win this one badly because, well, he hasn’t won it before. That’s as good a reason as any, right?

If you recall, Team Koe was sharp out of the gate in 2015 when the event was held in early September. Can they do it again? There’s also Team Jacobs, winners of two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles last season and gunning to defend that gold medal at the Olympics.

Fifth End: Tier 2 women’s division preview

First off, are we sure this is Tier 2? It looks more like Tier 1.5 with several teams having played in the top tier before and looking to work their way back up such as Team Rocque, Team Einarson, Team Sidorova and Team Carey. There’s arguably more at stake here as a slip up could keep teams on the outside looking in for future Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events.

In Team Einarson’s case, her team has been down this road before winning the inaugural Tier 2 title in 2015. Their first title as a team vaulted them into the elite ranks and led to a win at the Boost National the following season. A less-than-ideal 2016-17 campaign (despite the National win) saw them slide in the standings.

Team Carey added Cathy Overton-Clapham at third this season to replace Amy Nixon, who retired from competitive curling. Overton-Clapham was the “super spare” for Team Sweeting and Team Muirhead in previous Grand Slam wins (and helped Team Tirinzoni reach a couple finals last season) and could work that magic again.

Sixth End: Tier 2 men’s division preview

Things will be just as tight in the Tier 2 men’s division headlined by the defending champs, Team Balsdon. However, the Kingston, Ont., squad got the job done last season with spare David Staples, who returns to the Tour Challenge with his regular group, Team Deruelle.

Six Saskatchewan teams will compete in the men’s Tier 2 with Adam Casey leading the way. The Saskatchewan-via-P.E.I. Casey and his Regina-based team represented the province at the Brier last season. Also, keep an eye on former Team Laycock second Colton Flasch, who now skips his own squad.

Seventh End: Quick hits

• Two-time Grand Slam champion Pat Simmons returns to the series with his new Winnipeg-based team featuring a trio of Canadian junior champions.

• Simmons and Team Walstad are both playing in Tier 1 as Team McEwen and Team Ulsrud declined their invites.

• Scotland’s Glen Muirhead will fill in on Team Howard this week for third Richard Hart.

• The five-player Team Fleury lineup will be without third Jenn Wylie this week as she’s expecting a baby soon.

Eighth End: Notes from the tour

Team Edin is 1-for-1 on the season capturing the Baden Masters title following a 5-4 victory over Team Ulsrud in Sunday’s final. The Swedish squad dropped their opener to Team Schwaller before winning six straight.

Team Tirinzoni successfully defended the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard following a 3-2 win against Team Middaugh in Monday’s women’s final. Team Mouat took the men’s title defeating Team Kim 6-4.

Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson beat Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant 7-3 to capture the Canad Inns Mixed Doubles Championship in Winnipeg.