Kerri Einarson showed she can be a super stealer on Saturday.
Einarson's Canadian rink is off to the Co-op Invitational final in Victoria B.C. after defeating the world No. 1-ranked Eun-ji Gim of South Korea 8-4 in the semifinals of the Grand Slam of Curling event.
Deuces were wild in the first half of the game as both teams converted a multi-score end each time with the hammer to be tied 4-4. The second half was the difference as Team Einarson made life difficult for the Koreans.
The Canadian skip outclassed Gim in terms of strategy calls, leading to steals in the fifth, sixth and seventh ends to seal the deal.
Einarson will face South Korea's Team Kang, skipped by Kyeong-ae Kim, in the final.
It’s familiar seeing Team Einarson in the final of a Grand Slam of Curling event, as she will be chasing Slam title No. 7 on Sunday, but this year she's playing with a new lineup.
Jocelyn Peterman, brought in during the off-season to replace longtime third Val Sweeting, is now holding the broom for Einarson’s skip stones. Peterman throws lead stones, while Karlee Burgess and Shannon Birchard each moved up a position in the throwing order.
This is only the team's fourth event together. They have come together faster than many other newly formed teams.
It is only the team's fourth event together. They have come together pretty quickly, compared to other newly formed teams.
Saturday’s results (Full scores and standings)
Draw 17 - Tiebreakers
Paetz 5, Zardini Lacedelli 4
Ueno 9, Miura 7
Draw 18 - Women’s quarterfinals
Kang 5, Wrana 4
Einarson 6, Ueno 5
X. Schwaller 8, Paetz 5
Gim 7, Hasselborg 6
Draw 19 - Men’s quarterfinals
Hoesli 6, Hardie 5
Jacobs 5, Bottcher 3
Ramsfjell 8, Epping 2
Y. Schwaller 5, Dunstone 3
Draw 20 - Semifinals
Kang 7, X. Schwaller 6
Einarson 8, Gim 4
Y. Schwaller 6, Jacobs 5
Ramsfjell 7, Hoesli 4
Fantastic week for defending goal medalists
Considering the last competitive men’s four game Team Brad Jacobs played before this week was back in March at the Brier, they looked pretty darn impressive.
The Alberta rink rolled through the round-robin, going 4-0, including a win over Sweden’s Team Oskar Eriksson in their first match since the double-touch controversy that took over the 2026 Olympics. During those four games, they averaged just seven ends per game. A regular Slam game is eight ends.
Going into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, Jacobs had the highest conversation rate with hammer at over 90 per cent, per the GSOC broadcast. However, they didn't have the same success in the playoffs. Jacobs lost in a tight semifinal match against world No. 1-ranked Team Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland.
It's clear this season isn’t going to be about a gold-medal tour for the reigning Olympic champs. Every event they show up – they chose to play a light schedule this season – they want to win.
Going forward, they will be looking to win their first Slam together since joining forces in 2024-25. They did reach two finals in the first year, but failed to win.
Schwaller, meanwhile, will battle Team Magnus Ramsfjell of Norway in the men's final.
Defending world champs don’t give up
Talk about a roller-coaster of emotions.
Team Kang – skipped by Kyeong-ae Kim (this is Bo-bae Kang’s team, but since she won the national title for mixed doubles, she will be focusing on that this season) – looked to be cruising to victory against Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller.
One second Team Kang was up 6-2 after five ends, the next second it was tied 6-6 and going to an extra end after Schwaller stole in back-to-back ends.
Full credit to Kim for not letting the previous ends creep into her mind, and nailing the shot to win the game 7-6 in the extra end, but this is more about Schwaller.
The defending world champs easily could’ve given up after the first five ends. But they stuck with it and showed a lot of fight that will only help them moving forward in the season.
Pair of new Canadian men’s teams flame out in the quarters
It's hard to make the playoffs at a Grand Slam. To make it in your first attempt as a new team is impressive.
That’s what Canadian teams Matt Dunstone and Brendan Bottcher did this week.
Even though losing in the quarterfinals wasn’t the result either team was striving for at the beginning of the week, it should represent a great building block.
You can see the talent is there, it’s just a matter of getting a more reps as a team, both practising and playing games. From the beginning of the week to the quarterfinals, there were signs of improvement – especially the communication of each shot.
They got better at making the decision of what shot to play in the first place, as well as executing the shot from a sweeping and line-call perspective..
Of course, it’s to be expected that the more Bottcher’s team plays, the more comfortable they will get.
The same goes for Dunstone. Mark Nichols is the only new player on the team.
For Bottcher, if there is one area of the game you would like to see him improve, it’s his strategy calls. During his quarterfinal against Jacobs, there were calls made in ends with and without the hammer that, looking back, Bottcher might want to redo.
One in particular was during the fourth end. Bottcher was down 3-1 with hammer and with his first shot he wanted to play a quarter-rock double to hopefully land behind a guard at the same time.
Bottcher wanted to hit only a quarter of the first stone because he had one of his own in the back of the house that Jacobs’ rock could jam on. After much discussion with the team, Bottcher decided to go ahead with the call.
He hit too much of the first Jacobs stone, jamming on his own while also not getting the role behind the guard. This left Jacobs an open hit and Bottcher had to settle for one.
If Bottcher didn’t care so much about keeping his stone in the back of the house, he could’ve played the double with a much better approach that would have landed him behind the guard.
Yes, Bottcher would take a potential three off the board, but the chances of scoring two would become much higher.
This is his first season back in the house calling the game after spending two years playing second for Brad Gushue, who retured after last season. So, it’s going to take time for Bottcher.
The women's final Sunday starts at 3 p.m. ET/ noon PT on Sportsnet+, while the men’s final will start at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet+.
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