Defending champ McEwen to open Elite 10 against Edin

Defending champ Mike McEwen of Winnipeg will kick off the Elite 10 in Victoria taking on Niklas Edin of Sweden in a rematch of last year’s final.

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling released the draw schedule for its fifth event of the 2015-16 season Friday. McEwen scored a 2 & 1 victory over Edin to capture the inaugural Elite 10 title and now looks to make it back-to-back in the match-play format tournament running March 17-20 at the Q Centre at West Shore Parks & Recreation.

Four-time Pinty’s GSOC champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s meets Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers and Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock plays Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher in the other two opening draw matches.

Meanwhile, women’s world-ranked No. 1 Rachel Homan of Ottawa will make Pinty’s GSOC history in Draw 2 facing Toronto’s John Epping. Team Homan won three consecutive Grand Slam titles this season and will become the first women’s rink to compete in a men’s invitational since Sportsnet acquired the series in 2012.

“We’re very excited for the opportunity to play in this unique event,” Homan said in a media release Wednesday. “The Pinty’s Grand Slams have provided such a great platform for teams to develop over the years and this will just add to that. We try to always just play our game and this will be no different. Just focus on our shots no matter who we’re playing.”

The Elite 10 features a match play format where teams attempt to take the most ends per game in order to win. While it may seem similar to a skins game, match play does not have carryovers as each end is worth the same amount. A $100,000 purse is on the line at the event.

A new incentive at this year’s Elite 10 is the winning team receives an invite to the Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 26 to May 1 in Sherwood Park, Alta. The brand new, season-ending Pinty’s GSOC event will feature all of the top winners on tour in one final showdown to close out the year.

Tickets are available for the Elite 10, visit thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets for more information. Can’t make it to Victoria? Sportsnet will have you covered, click here for the TV schedule.

Elite 10 Draw Schedule