The finals of the Players’ Championship Sunday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto showed a famous name in Canadian curling is still as strong as ever, while a great Scot has emerged on the women’s side.
Glenn Howard, the 50-year-old from Coldwater, Ont., with a bio that includes four national and world titles, won the men’s final, beating Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen 4-3. It came down to the final shot in the final end, which saw Howard execute a double takeout and score the winning point with his shooter.
Howard recorded his 12th Grand Slam victory as a skip and second Players’ title since 2008.
His team collected $26,000 from the $100,000 purse plus an additional $50,000 bonus offered by Sportsnet for the team that finished with the most points in the four men’s Grand Slams on the World Curling Tour.
Howard won the $100,000 Canadian Open, which is the second of the Slams, which automatically ended the chance of Calgary’s Kevin Coe collecting the $1-million bonus Sportsnet offered if one team swept the Slams.
Howard and teammates Wayne Middaugh, Brent Laing and Craig Savill won the world championship a year ago but bowed out in the semifinals this year. But the Players’ has always been an important event for Howard as it brings together the top-15 teams annually on the World Curling Tour. Give him a chance at a $100,000 tournament, throw in some bonus money and it’s plenty of incentive.
Howard didn’t play his best game – in fact, he wrecked on his final shot in the seventh end to give up a steal of one – but came through with the clutch shot when it mattered most.
And he did a patented celebration at the end. Does anybody enjoy winning the big events more than Howard?
"It was kind of an interesting game, but, man, it feels good to be the Players’ champion," he said. "It’s huge winning this event…It’s a great feeling going into the summer and obviously into the fall next year."
For Howard, the 2013-14 season just might the most important of all his years in curling, which date back to the mid-80s. He is clearly in the twilight of his career – even though he has maintained he’ll continuing playing as long as he’s still competitive – but next year’s shot at reaching the Olympics is the big target. His older brother, Russ, was part of Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the 2006 Olympics.
Howard’s team has qualified for the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials this December in Winnipeg, where eight men’s and women’s teams will vie for the chance to represent the country at the Olympics.
"We’re not done," Howard insisted insofar as looking toward the Trials. "I’m personally in the best shape of my life. I feel great, my guys are in great shape. Age is only in your head sometimes. You start worrying about it and I’ve never felt better. I’m pumped. I’m ready to go. I can’t wait to get into next year. I’ll have a little break here in the summer and after next year assess things, but we’re as good as anybody right now and can’t wait to get to those trials in December and see if we can let the old guys keep playing."
McEwen’s team collected $15,500 for second place, plus a $30,000 bonus for finishing second overall in the men’s Slams. Fellow Winnipeger Jeff Stoughton, whom McEwen beat to reach the finals, collected the $20,000 bonus for finishing third in the Slams’ points.
McEwen, who has won three Grand Slams, which includes beating Howard in the 2011 Canadian Open, is 32 and his team represents one of the new guard. But it’s the old guard such as Howard, Stoughton and Edmonton’s Kevin Martin that refuse to go away.
Scotland’s Eve Muirhead won the women’s final, defeating Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson 8-5 in a repeat of the final at the 2013 world women’s championships. The 22-year-old Muirhead, who skipped her country’s entry in the last Olympics but did not place in the medals, is a four-time national and world junior champ who has clearly evolved as a major force at the women’s level.
Along with vice-skip Anna Sloan, second Vicki Adams and lead Claire Hamilton, this young skip from Perth is clearly part of the new guard in world women’s curling. The foursome is fortunate because it is paid by the Scottish government to curl full-time.
Scotland is one of several countries that pick a team to develop toward the Olympics.
The Scots collected $23,000 for the victory and padded their purses by another $12,500 for finishing first overall in points accumulated from the Players’ win and its semifinal finish in the Rogers Masters.
"We have had a great season and this tops it off," Muirhead said. "It’s tough to keep this going for the whole year and be good, but it’s just happened. I think it’s a massive confidence booster for us."
Ottawa’s Rachel Homan, who won the Rogers Masters and went on to win the national women’s championship and place third in the world’s in what became a breakout year, collected $7,500 in bonus money for points in the Rogers Masters and Players’.
Homan’s team entered the Players’ with a chance at the $100,000 bonus that Sportsnet made available for the women’s team that won the Rogers Masters and Players’ Championship but her team bowed out in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Sigfridsson and her team from Skelleftea collected $15,500 for the runner-up finish in the Players and $5,000 for finishing third overall in the two events.
"I think the Swedish girls are very consistent in the round robin stages, but I think when it comes to the playoff stages they’re a slightly different team and you can put a lot of pressure on them especially in the finals," Muirhead said.