Players' preview: Can McEwen complete career Grand Slam?

Players’ preview: Can McEwen complete career Grand Slam?

Mike McEwen has been money on tour this season and looks to cap his team’s impressive year at the Players’ Championship.

The Winnipeg-based rink has an extra incentive to win the fifth and final stop on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series: if McEwen claims the Players’ Championship trophy, his team will complete a career Grand Slam. McEwen could join an exclusive group of skips that have won all four majors such as Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh and Jeff Stoughton.

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Team McEwen should be considered the favourites fresh off of winning the inaugural Syncrude Elite 10, but a stacked pool in round-robin play could be trouble.

The chase also heats up for the Rogers Grand Slam Cup, awarded to the team earning the most points at the majors during the season. McEwen is tied atop of the table with Brad Gushue, however the Players’ Championship grants more points than the other events and the race is far from over.

Let’s take a deeper look at Pool A of the Men’s Division ahead of Tuesday night’s opening draw in Toronto.

TEAM MCEWEN

Lineup: Mike McEwen, B.J. Neufeld, Matt Wozniak and Denni Neufeld

Hometown: Winnipeg

WCT year-to-date OOM: 1st

Team McEwen has had a strong run this season winning eight events. On the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling side, they’ve captured the National and Syncrude Elite 10 titles and were finalists at the Masters. It’s also worth noting they finished runner-up the last time Toronto hosted the Players’ Championship in 2013.

TEAM GUSHUE

Lineup: Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker

Hometown: St. John’s, N.L.

WCT year-to-date OOM: 3rd

Team Gushue has won two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles this season taking home the Masters and Canadian Open. Gushue and Nichols, who also won the National together in 2010, could also reach the career Grand Slam milestone if they win the Players’ Championship. You don’t want to miss their final round-robin match against Team McEwen (April 10, 7:30 p.m. ET) as the two teams sit neck-and-neck atop of the Rogers Grand Slam Cup standings.

TEAM KOE

Lineup: Kevin Koe, Marc Kennedy, Brent Laing and Ben Hebert

Hometown: Calgary

WCT year-to-date OOM: 6th

Team Koe features half of the defending champs with Kennedy and Hebert winning the Players’ Championship a year ago on Team Kevin Martin. The new-look Koe rink has won two titles on tour this season and ran the table at the Boston Pizza Cup to represent Alberta at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier. The team earned a berth to the semifinals at the all-new Syncrude Elite 10 in March before running into the red-hot Team McEwen.

TEAM EDIN

Lineup: Niklas Edin, Oskar Eriksson, Kristian Lindstroem and Christoffer Sundgren

Hometown: Karlstad, Sweden

WCT year-to-date OOM: 7th

Team Edin went on a monster roll at the Syncrude Elite 10 in March — turning Fort McMurray into “Runback City” — and finished runner-up to Team McEwen. That matched a career-best for Edin, who also made it to the finals at the 2011 Players’ Championship. Team Edin will have a quick turnaround heading into the Players’ as they are currently representing Sweden at the Ford World Men’s Curling Championship in Halifax.

TEAM MICHEL

Lineup: Sven Michel, Florian Meister, Simon Gempeler and Stefan Meienberg

Hometown: Adelboden, Switzerland

WCT year-to-date OOM: 10th

Michel won gold at the world mixed doubles in 2011 with Alina Paetz and represented Switzerland at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He changed up his roster this year bringing in Meister and Meienberg from Pascal Hess’ team and bumping Gempeler up from lead to second. Team Michel finished runner-up at the Swiss Cup Basel and German Masters tournaments this season and captured the bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships.

TEAM BOTTCHER

Lineup: Brendan Bottcher, Tom Appelman, Bradley Thiessen and Karrick Martin

Hometown: Edmonton

WCT year-to-date OOM: 11th

Bottcher, the 2012 world junior champion, has had a breakout season on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series this year. The team reached the semifinals at the National to set a career high. Bottcher earned the sponsor’s exemption spot for the Canadian Open and after sliding into the playoffs through the C-side, the quarterfinals saw them match up against Team McEwen. Bottcher pulled off the upset over the top-ranked team with a stunning 6-3 victory. They’ve also won a pair of WCT titles this season and finished runner-up to Koe at the Alberta provincials.