Teams announced for Princess Auto Elite 10 in Winnipeg
Olympic gold medallist John Shuster is coming to the Princess Auto Elite 10 in Winnipeg.
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling announced Monday the teams for the March 15-18 event at St. James Civic Centre headlined with the champions from the Pyeongchang Games.
Silver medallist Niklas Edin of Sweden and Canada’s Kevin Koe, who finished fourth, will also provide an Olympic feel at the Princess Auto Elite 10.
Winnipeg fans will have three hometown teams to cheer for with Mike McEwen, Reid Carruthers and Jason Gunnlaugson earning invitations.
Full-event and single-draw tickets are now available for the Princess Auto Elite 10! Visit elite10.goigniter.com to purchase your tickets today!
Shuster isn’t the only Olympic gold medal-winning skip at the Princess Auto Elite 10 with 2006 champ Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., and 2014 winner Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., also among the competition.
Toronto’s John Epping, who recently captured his first career provincial title, and 16-time Grand Slam champion Glenn Howard of Tiny, Ont., round out the 10-team field.
The Princess Auto Elite 10 is the fifth tournament of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and features unique match play rules where scoring is based upon winning ends. There are two ways to win an end: either counting two or more rocks with the hammer or stealing at least one rock without the hammer.
Blank ends result in a loss of hammer. While this may seem similar to a skins game, the key difference is in match play points do not carry over when there is a blank; all ends are worth one point each.
Games are played to eight ends. If the score is tied after eight ends, an extra end draw-to-the-button shootout will determine the winner.
Teams earn three points for a regulation win (within eight ends), two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss. The winning team qualifies for the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 24-29 at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.
Points are also up for grabs towards the Bonus Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions.
Teams were invited to the Princess Auto Elite 10 based on the World Curling Tour’s year-to-date rankings. In the event a team declined, the next-ranked team on the list received an invitation to complete the 10-team field. The draw schedule of matches is expected to be released in the near future.
Television coverage begins with the opening draw March 15 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and gsoc.yaretv.com (international). CLICK HERE for the full TV schedule.