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Wow, can you believe we’re already almost at the finish line for the season? After the Players’ Championship, there’s just one more event, the Humpty’s Champions Cup, and then we sign off for 2018-19.

The year has breezed right by but in case you’re just joining us, well, better late than never! Here’s a rundown of what has happened so far this season for you to get all caught up.

Princess Auto Elite 10: Chatham-Kent, Ont., Sept. 26-30, 2018

Our 2018-19 campaign began with groundbreaking history as a women’s division was added to the Princess Auto Elite 10 for the first time. That brought equality to the series as all seven events now featured both men’s and women’s competitions.

Team Hasselborg entered the record books as the first-ever Princess Auto Elite 10 women’s champions rolling right through the event finishing with an unblemished 6-0 record. Hasselborg capped off the run with a convincing 4-and-2 match-play victory (four ends won to none in six ends) over Team Tirinzoni. It was also the first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title for the reigning Olympic gold medallists from Sweden.

Team Gushue closed out the previous season winning the Humpty’s Champions Cup and picked up right where they left off by taking the Princess Auto Elite 10 men’s title. Gushue scored a 1UP match-play victory (two ends to one in eight ends) over Team Carruthers in the dicey final.

Canadian Beef Masters: Truro, N.S., Oct. 23-28, 2018

Team Hasselborg made it a 2-for-2 start on the season winning their second Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title at the Canadian Beef Masters. However, there was no undefeated run here as Hasselborg needed to battle out of a tiebreaker to qualify for the playoffs before getting back on track. Hasselborg also rallied late scoring three in the eighth end to edge Team Homan 8-7 during the nail-biting final, too.

The surprise of the week was Team Jones, Kaitlyn Jones that is, qualifying for the playoffs. The world junior champions from Nova Scotia received the sponsor’s exemption spot to enter the event and proved they were a worthy selection toppling the giants of the sport defeating Teams Tirinzoni, Einarson and Homan en route to the quarterfinals.

While the women’s final featured teams that had stayed together from the previous Olympic cycle, the men’s final saw two teams that retooled their rosters for the new quadrennial. Team Epping jumped out to an early lead and held off a surging Team Koe 7-4 to claim the Canadian Beef Masters men’s championship.

Tour Challenge: Thunder Bay, Ont., Nov. 6-11, 2018

Welcome to Thunder Bay, Team Homan! The club avenged the runner-up result from the Canadian Beef Masters just two weeks later at the Tour Challenge. Homan went on a tear through the Tier 1 women’s division posting a perfect 7-0 record including an 8-4 victory over Team Fleury, who had also entered the final undefeated, in the women’s final.

Third Emma Miskew pulled off this highlight shot during the semifinals against Team Roth.

It was a redemption story for Team Jacobs as well as the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.-based squad went winless through the Canadian Beef Masters and turned their fortunes around. Jacobs captured his fourth title in the series scoring two in the eighth end to beat Team Bottcher 6-5 as cheers and Northern Ontario moose calls saluted the crew. Thunder Bay legend “The Iceman” Al Hackner handed off the trophy to skip Brad Jacobs in a super cool moment.

The Tour Challenge is the largest event in the series with a bonus Tier 2 division featuring teams looking to move up the standings and into the top group. Team Muyres and Team Stern were victorious here and received promotions to the Meridian Canadian Open against the world’s best. In Team Muyres’s case, they managed to fast-track that as their strong start to the season saw them qualify for a berth to the Boost National as well.

Boost National: Conception Bay South, N.L., Dec. 11-16, 2018

A packed house was on hand to cheer the local favourites, Team Gushue. The b’ys gave their fans a bit of a scare falling into the tiebreakers (oh me nerves!) but managed to qualify for the playoffs. However, their run ended there as they were halted by the red-hot defending champs Team Mouat.

It turned into the first-ever all-Scottish final in the series with Team Paterson and Team Mouat clashing for the championship. Paterson edged out Mouat 4-3 in an extra end for their first title in the series.

Homan was the top women’s team of the week again and picked up another Grand Slam title defeating the all-new Team Einarson 4-1 in the final.

Then there was this shot-of-the-year candidate from Jacobs just as 2018 came to a close.

Meridian Canadian Open: North Battleford, Sask., Jan. 8-13, 2019

Both Bottcher and Homan brought their “A” games as the teams went undefeated through the Meridian Canadian Open’s unique triple knockout preliminary round and into the playoffs.

Team Bottcher turned it up a notch to pick up their first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title topping Team Epping 6-3 in the men’s final.

Homan captured her historic 10th women’s championship beating Tirinzoni 4-3. That also made it three in a row this season for Team Homan, which matched their women’s record from 2015.