News National

CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L. — The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling campaign continues with one more major test before heading into the holiday break.

The Boost National features 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world looking to wrap up 2018 on a high note. It’s also the fourth Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, which means we’ll be moving past the midway mark with just three events to go after the calendar flips.

Here is a full rundown in Eight Ends of what you need to know before Tuesday’s opening draw at Conception Bay South Arena.

Links: Tickets | Team Profiles | Game Schedule | Broadcast Schedule

1st End: A brief history of the Boost National

The Boost National is also the second major as one of the original four events in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling alongside the Canadian Beef Masters, Meridian Canadian Open and Players’ Championship.

Glenn Howard’s team claimed the inaugural title in 2002. Howard and Kevin Martin hold the record for most National titles won as skips with four apiece. Wayne Middaugh has four to his name too although he earned a pair of them while playing third for Howard.

A women’s division was added to the Boost National in 2015 with Team Rachel Homan capturing the first.

Team Bruce Mouat and Team Jennifer Jones are the defending champions. Mouat’s victory a year ago made history as he became the youngest men’s skip to claim a title in the series at age 23. Meanwhile, Jones extended her lead for most Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s championships to nine.

2nd End: What’s at stake?

Christmas will come early for two teams as the winners of the Boost National collect $30,000 from the $250,000 total purse plus berths to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale Humpty’s Champions Cup.

Bonus points are also handed out to teams based on their results here for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions. The top four teams in the standings earn additional prize money with $75,000 going to the winners following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship in April.

Both men’s and women’s divisions are split into three groups of five teams for round-robin play with the top eight overall advancing to the playoffs.

As per usual, all matches will be eight ends with the five-rock free guard zone. Each team will have 33 minutes, plus two, 90-second timeouts using the “Slam Time” System.

3rd End: When we last left our heroes

Team Rachel Homan was flying high again through last month’s Tour Challenge women’s division in Thunder Bay, Ont., running the table with an unblemished 7-0 record. Homan ran into the equally red-hot Team Tracy Fleury, who strung together six straight wins, but managed to prevail 8-4 in the final. It was the eighth title win in the series for Homan, who closed within one of Jones for the most Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s championships.

Team Brad Jacobs redeemed themselves from a dreadful Canadian Beef Masters run where they went 0-4 to bounce back into the winner’s circle. Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., crew posted a 6-1 record scoring two points in the final frame to dispatch Team Brendan Bottcher 6-5 during the championship game.

That leads to our next end …

4th End: Wozniak to sub for Fry

Jacobs will shuffle the lineup at the Boost National with third Ryan Fry on hiatus.

Second E.J. Harnden moves back to third, his previous position on the squad prior to Fry’s arrival in 2012. Subbing at second this week is Matt Wozniak, who won seven Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles with Team Mike McEwen.

Super spare Marc Kennedy turned out to be a great fit at third this past week at the Canada Cup in Estevan, Sask. The 2010 Olympic gold medallist, who stepped back from competitive curling at the end of last season, didn’t miss a beat helping the team finish at the top of the round-robin standings with a 5-1 record and earn a direct bye to the final where they defeated Team Kevin Koe 5-4 to capture the Canada Cup.

Your turn, Wozniak.

5th End: Men’s division preview

All eyes will be on the home-province heroes Team Brad Gushue. The crew from nearby St. John’s have done quite well on home ice in recent years and should bring their A-games once again. Gushue won his 11th GSOC title to start the season at the Princess Auto Elite 10 and also leads the Pinty’s Cup points race with a slim two-point margin over Team John Epping.

Speaking of Epping, his Toronto club will look to rebound from a sub-par performance at the Tour Challenge where they missed the playoffs and were unable to maintain the momentum from their Canadian Beef Masters victory.

We’ve seen three different title winners on the men’s side this season and Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe will try to make it four. Koe also aims to capture the Boost National to complete a skip’s career Grand Slam (i.e. win all four majors).

Who’s skipping Team Reid Carruthers this week? Fourth Mike McEwen was handed the keys for the Canada Cup as Carruthers took on a traditional third role. Well, that test drive didn’t work out, like at all, as they veered off course finishing winless at 0-6. We’ll just have to wait and see what lineup they’ll roll with here but they need to bounce back to avoid sinking any further.

Say hello to: Team Kirk Muyres and Team Scott McDonald. The Tour Challenge Tier 2 finalists (Muyres downed McDonald 8-3 for the title) are moving on up to the elite side thanks to their strong play on the circuit.

6th End: Women’s division preview

International teams actually outnumber Canadian teams in the women’s division eight to seven. Leading the charge is Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg. The reigning Olympic gold medallists opened the season winning their first couple Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles at the Princess Auto Elite 10 and Canadian Beef Masters. They dropped out of the Tour Challenge to prepare for the European Championships and that plan worked out as they won that event for the first time. Can they make it a Slam three-peat?

Can Team Homan extend their GSOC win streak? Homan was also able to take full advantage of Hasselborg’s absence at the Tour Challenge to leapfrog for first place in the Pinty’s Cup race and build a four-point lead.

Team Jones not only enter as the defending champions, but they’re also coming off of a title victory Sunday at the Canada Cup beating Team Kerri Einarson 8-5 in the final. It was the first championship for Jones with Jocelyn Peterman, who took over at second when Jill Officer stepped back from competitive curling after last season.

Einarson won the Boost National in 2016, however, that was with her former squadmates who have now aligned with Tracy Fleury. The teams squared off in the Tour Challenge semifinals with Fleury shading Einarson 6-3. Both teams should factor into the title picture here as well.

Say hello to: Team Sayaka Yoshimura and Team Jacqueline Harrison. Yoshimura’s club previously competed in the series under the guidance of skip Ayumi Ogasawara. Harrison is also no stranger to the series but has a new lineup featuring Alli Flaxey’s former teammates Clancy Grandy, Lynn Kreviazuk and Morgan Court. Both teams competed in the Tour Challenge Tier 2 division with Yoshimura finishing runner-up to Team Elena Stern.

7th End: How to attend

The Boost National has been a hot ticket ever since it was announced and full-event passes sold out within days back in the spring.

Have no fear, there are still individual draw tickets available. Visit mileonecentre.com or call 709-576-7657 to purchase your tickets.

While at the Boost National, feel free to come on down to the Pinty’s Pub and Grill Zone to watch the action up close like never before right at ice level. Your ticket also grants you access to The Cove with food, drinks and live entertainment to keep the house rocking between draws.

8th End: Broadcast schedule

Can’t make it to CBS? Broadcast coverage of the Boost National begins Thursday on Sportsnet and streaming online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international). See the broadcast schedule below.