News Masters

When John Epping was putting together his team’s event list for the curling season, the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters tournament was the first one he marked down on the schedule.

“The Grand Slams have become this huge part of our season and you mark them off on the calendar,” Epping said. “You really work hard to play well in them. They’re our majors, it’s huge for our sport and it’s huge for our team.”

The Masters Draw Schedule | TV Schedule

The Masters is the first stop on the Grand Slam series this season and marks a major change on the curling landscape. It’s the start of a brand new Olympic cycle as teams prepare for the four-year road to the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and several teams made significant roster changes over the summer.

Reigning Brier champion Kevin Koe parted ways with his teammates and formed a new rink with Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert (both formerly with Team Kevin Martin) and Brent Laing (from Team Glenn Howard). Koe’s former teammates Pat Simmons, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen stayed together — retaining the Team Canada berth for the 2015 Brier — and added John Morris as skip.

Meanwhile, Jeff Stoughton’s team dismantled completely with Jon Mead joining Howard, Reid Carruthers skipping his own team and Mark Nichols returning to St. John’s to rejoin 2006 Olympic gold medal teammate Brad Gushue. Howard also added Richard Hart, who came out of retirement to replace Wayne Middaugh.

As for Kevin Martin, the 18-time Grand Slam winner retired from competitive curling after capturing the Players’ Championship and now joins Team Sportsnet as a broadcast analyst and insider.

Were you able to follow all of that? It’s certainly a different look since the Players’ Championship closed out the previous season.

Not everyone cleaned house as both Olympic champions Brad Jacobs and Jennifer Jones retained their rosters for another go. Mike McEwen also kept his team intact for the season and it’s paid off so far with four titles in four tournaments.

Two-time defending Masters champion Rachel Homan made one change after losing second Alison Kreviazuk and added Joanne Courtney from Team Val Sweeting.

Don’t count out one of the European teams from winning the women’s Masters title. Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson, who took home silver at the Sochi Games, has been knocking on the door of opportunity and has scored victories over both Jones and Homan already this year. Scotland’s Eve Muirhead, the Sochi bronze medallist, is another strong contender and defeated Sigfridsson to win the Players’ Championship in 2013.

The teams are different and so are the rules as the players gave the green light to implement the five-rock rule for all Grand Slam events. The rule, which was given a trial run in a few previous Grand Slam events, prevents players from eliminating stones placed within the free-guard zone from play until five rocks have been thrown. With more rocks on the sheet, teams are less likely to blank ends and can create high-scoring ends.

“With the incredible hitting ability of the top teams in our game, it seems that once a team is up two or three, the game is all but over (under the four-rock rule). With the five-rock rule there seems to be a better chance at a comeback,” said Craig Savill, lead for Team Howard. “At the very least, the team that is ahead must still be offensive and leave rocks in play, creating chances for the losing team to score points. As a fan, I would rather see lots of rocks in play than a bunch of wide-open ends with little to no offence.

“Playing the five-rock rule, I never felt comfortable with any leading knowing that a three- or four-ender was always in play. It will be interesting to see how teams’ strategy evolves throughout the year as they play more games under the five-rock rule.”

The Grand Slam of Curling has also expanded with an all-new men’s tournament, the Elite 10, and the Canadian Open adding a women’s division, joining the Masters and Players’ Championship as the co-ed events.

“It’s exciting for us,” said Kaitlyn Lawes, third for Team Jones. “We love being able to play in arenas and to have that support from Rogers and the Grand Slam series is a really big honour for us to be able to play and do something that we love and on a big stage.”

The Masters kicks off Tuesday night at the Selkirk Recreational Complex in Selkirk, Man. Sportsnet’s TV coverage begins Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT.