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Eight Ends: Tour Challenge takeaways

PARADISE, N.L. — It was a short summer for many in the curling world with the beginning of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season this past week for the Tour Challenge.

The all-new Tour Challenge event featured an expanded field with 30 men’s and 30 women’s teams competing in two tiers of action with Rogers Grand Slam Cup points and spots in future events on the line.

The early start didn’t deter Newfoundland fans from packing the house at the Paradise Double Ice Complex as we kicked off the 2015-16 campaign with a bang.

Four teams were crowned champions in the end, with Calgary’s Kevin Koe taking home the Tier 1 men’s title in the extra end over local favourite Brad Gushue of St. John’s while Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland celebrated a stunning upset stealing in the eighth to top Ottawa’s Rachel Homan for their first series title in the Tier 1 women’s division. Both Koe and Tirinzoni can now book their two tickets to Sherwood Park, Alta., for the Champions Cup in late April.

Meanwhile, Jim Cotter, of Vernon, B.C., and Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson claimed the Tier 2 men’s and women’s titles, respectively, and will make their returns to the top group by earning guaranteed spots at the Masters.

Here are eight ends of observations from the Tour Challenge:

1st End: Home-ice “curse” continues

Being the hometown or home-province favourite didn’t quite work out for teams last season with Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen (Masters in Selkirk, Man.), Brad Jacobs (National in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) and Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock (Canadian Open in Yorkton, Sask.) all falling in the final. Mind you, in the case of the Masters and Canadian Open, it was because they lost to Brad Gushue of St. John’s, who looked to dispel the notion of a so-called “curse.”

The Paradise crowd was right behind Team Gushue for every draw and every shot but Team Koe held the hammer in the extra end of the final and some clutch shot-making by Koe lifted them to victory and the inaugural title.

It’s hard to say the home teams are really “cursed” though when they do go on incredible runs to reach the finals, it just so happens they’re not the only team at the tournament catching a hot streak.

Team Koe dropped their opening game to Team John Epping of Toronto, but from there rolled off six consecutive wins to the championship. It was a good win for them after not reaching the final at any Pinty’s GSOC events in their first year together last season.

2nd End: Great crowd or greatest crowd?

All the curlers had a blast playing in front of the sold-out crowds, even when they were facing Team Gushue, because they love to see packed stands regardless of who they’re cheering for and it’s great for the growth of the game. Some curlers even went so far as to say it was the best atmosphere they can remember experiencing at a Pinty’s GSOC event in over a decade.

Night after night, fans filled the stands and it was electric hearing them roar, especially during Team Gushue’s walkout song “The Islander” by the Navigators where some of us in the production room underneath the stands thought the fans were going to stomp their way right through.

3rd End: Stay Frosty

It’s impossible to analyze the Tour Challenge event without addressing the unique situation the curlers found themselves in. Humid weather in Paradise led to frosty ice and tricky conditions that curlers had to play through.

At one point during the Team Eve Muirhead versus Team Alina Paetz game, nothing was getting into the house and a quarry of rocks were parked in the free-guard zone.

The women’s finals Sunday saw a layer of fog linger around ice-level, which also made for some difficult shot-making (but also some cool visuals). Curlers who were able to adapt to the conditions managed to make it through while others struggled.

4th End: U.S.A. is A-OK

Both Tier 1 and Tier 2 events saw American-based teams reach the semifinals. Team John Shuster, of Duluth, Minn., qualified in the Tier 1 men’s division and knocked off Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the quarterfinals while Team Jamie Sinclair, of Blaine, Minn., advanced to the final four in the Tier 2 women’s division.

Let’s refer to Nolan Thiessen’s blog from last season on why this is a great thing for the sport: the U.S. has a population of over 300 million people, that’s a huge market to reach that supports all kinds of sports. Why can’t curling be one of them? Although some Canadians might not want to hear it, American teams getting better and eventually winning Grand Slam events could snowball into bigger and better things for the game.

If you’d like to get to know more about Sinclair, watch our GSOC Spotlight video below:

5th End: Team Kim makes splash in debut

It was the Pinty’s GSOC Series debut for Team EunJung Kim from South Korea and they didn’t disappoint becoming the first Asian-based rink to qualify for the playoffs at a Pinty’s GSOC event. With the 2018 Winter Olympics set for PyeongChang, you can bet we’ll be seeing a lot more of Team Kim leading up to the games as they prepare to play on home ice.

6th End: Rocque rocks the rocks on the Rock

How’s that for wordplay! In all seriousness, two-time world junior champ Kelsey Rocque made her Pinty’s GSOC series debut at the Tour Challenge and the 21-year-old from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., had a strong showing by finishing the round robin with a 3-1 record, including an opening draw victory over reigning Alberta champ Val Sweeting, to reach the playoffs.

Speaking with Rocque after the event, she said qualifying had exceeded her expectations. Her team is definitely one to keep tabs on if you haven’t already.

7th End: Val Sweeting takes over @grandslamcurl

Reigning Masters champion Val Sweeting was given the reins of the @grandslamcurl Twitter account during Wednesday night’s draw and hilarity ensued.

Sweeting answered a ton of questions and even went into an extra end replying to fans via her personal account after the takeover wrapped up.

8th End: Marc Kennedy takes over @grandslamcurl

Before winning the Tour Challenge, Team Koe third Marc Kennedy was in control of our Twitter account during the Thursday night draw.

Like Sweeting a day prior, Kennedy was a pro at answering as many questions as possible and even fielded a few from his fellow curlers. (P.S. if anyone knows where Kennedy Street is located in St. Alberta, Alta., please let Kennedy know).

Extra End: Masters! Masters!

Next up for the Pinty’s GSOC series is the Masters, running Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro, N.S. The Masters is the first major on the season and here’s hoping the fans in Truro will raise the bar that Paradise set to start the season.

October 1-6, 2024 Bell Aliant Centre Charlottetown, PEI