Eight Ends: Ultimate guide to the GSOC Tour Challenge

Finally, the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling has come back to Thunder Bay, Ont.

It’s been 16 long years since the series rolled through Canada’s gateway to the west and what a way to return with the largest event on the circuit.

Sixty teams are set to hit the ice for the Tour Challenge at Tournament Centre. Here is a rundown of what you need to know before Tuesday’s opening draw from the event’s history, to which teams to keep an eye on, to tickets and TV information.

1st End: A brief history of the Tour Challenge

The Tour Challenge is one of the newest events in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling having been held annually since 2015 and featuring 30 men’s teams and 30 women’s teams split into two tiers.

Both Tier 1 divisions include 15 of the top-ranked teams based on the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit standings. The Tier 2 divisions showcase 10 of the next-ranked teams plus five teams from within the event’s region for a chance to shine plus an opportunity to move up the rankings.

Paradise, N.L., hosted the inaugural Tour Challenge and a packed crowd was on hand all week to cheer the province’s own Team Brad Gushue. The St. John’s crew put on an electrifying performance but fell just short of the crown losing to Team Kevin Koe in an extra end during the Tier 1 men’s final. Team Silvana Tirinzoni took the women’s title in a shocking finish stealing from Team Rachel Homan as the fog rolled through the arena and added an extra challenge for both teams. Team Jim Cotter and Team Kerri Einarson were the first Tier 2 champions.

From Newfoundland to B.C., the Tour Challenge went nearly coast to coast landing in Cranbrook for 2016. Team Niklas Edin won their second career GSOC title and second in as many weeks defeating Team Kyle Smith in the first-ever all-European men’s final in series history. Team Val Sweeting topped Team Michelle Englot for the Tier 1 women’s trophy. It was an Ontario sweep in the Tier 2 division with Team Greg Balsdon and Team Jacqueline Harrison victorious.

Last year’s Tour Challenge kicked off the 2017-18 campaign in Regina. Sweeting was successful in defending the Tier 1 women’s title although she needed to steal in the eighth to edge Team Anna Hasselborg. Team Gushue were able to catch “the one that got away” finishing with a perfect 7-0 record including a 9-1 shellacking over Team Steffen Walstad in the Tier 1 men’s final. Einarson reclaimed the Tier 2 women’s title to rejoin the elite ranks and Team Jason Gunnlaugson took the Tier 2 men’s trophy for their promotion.

2nd End: What’s at stake?

Winners of the Tier 1 division take home $25,000 of the $200,000 total purse plus berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup.

Points are also up for grabs towards the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship. The top four teams in the standings collect bonus prize money with $75,000 going to the winners.

Meanwhile, the winners of the Tier 2 division also receive prize money, however, the golden ticket is an invitation to face the top-tier teams at the 2019 Meridian Canadian Open in North Battleford, Sask.

3rd End: In case you’re just joining us

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season moves fast with two events already in the books.

Our 2018-19 campaign opened in September with the Princess Auto Elite 10 in Chatham-Kent, Ont. Gushue grabbed his 11th career title in the series and second at the match-play event following a 1 UP victory (two ends to one) over Reid Carruthers’s crew. Team Hasselborg captured their first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title in dominant fashion finishing off a 6-0 undefeated run with a 4-and-2 win (four points to none in six ends) over Tirinzoni.

Hasselborg made it 2-for-2 to start the season although the Canadian Beef Masters in Truro, N.S., was a different story. Team Hasselborg had to fight their way out of the tiebreakers and win four straight, including an 8-7 comeback victory over Team Homan in the final, to secure the title. There will be no three-peat, however, as Team Hasselborg are missing the Tour Challenge to prepare for the European Championships.

Team John Epping continued their strong start to the season to secure the Canadian Beef Masters men’s title. Epping held off Team Koe 7-4 in the final. Epping has now won all four different majors, three of them as a skip, while his new veteran front-end pairing of Brent Laing and Craig Savill have captured the Masters a record seven times.

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4th End: Tier 1 men’s division preview

This turned out well when we name dropped them the last time so can Pinty’s Cup points leaders Team Epping maintain the momentum? The Toronto club was also victorious at the Shorty Jenkins Classic in September and have altogether qualified for the playoffs in five of their six events.

Team Koe was on a red-hot roll at the Canadian Beef Masters winning six straight until Team Epping cooled them down in the final. Still, Koe put in a furious rally to cut a 5-1 gap down to one point heading into the final frame and forced Epping to have to make his last shot.

Team Gushue’s Masters title defence ended in the quarterfinals and capped a busy fortnight that saw them arrived in Truro straight from China. Now that they’ve had a week’s rest, expect this title defence to go a little bit more smoothly.

5th End: Tier 1 women’s division preview

We’ll have a new champion in the Tier 1 women’s division with Team Sweeting’s squad parting ways after last season. Coincidentally, Sweeting herself has linked up with last year’s Tier 2 champ Kerri Einarson. The all-skip squad, who have four title wins on tour, missed the playoffs at the Canadian Beef Masters falling to eventual champs Team Hasselborg in the tiebreakers, so it’ll be intriguing to see how they fare this time out.

With no Team Hasselborg, that also opens the door for Team Homan, Team Jennifer Jones and Team Casey Scheidegger to gain some ground in the Pinty’s Cup chase. All three have had solid starts to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. Jones falls into the same category as Gushue — having arrived straight from China to the Canadian Beef Masters and eliminated in the quarterfinals — and some rest at home should have them recharged here.

The crowd will be cheering loudly for Thunder Bay’s own Team Krista McCarville and we expect that energy to inspire their performance. We also expect to hear some moose calls, too.

6th End: Tier 2 preview

Here are five Tier 2 teams to watch out for:

– Team Lyburn: William Lyburn, who is one of the Original 18 skips of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, finished runner-up to Gunnlaugson in last year’s Tier 2 men’s final. Lyburn sports a different lineup this season, how will the new-look squad fare?

– Team McDonald: Skip Scott McDonald and second Wesley Forget (half of Team Codey Maus) have joined forces with third Jonathan Beuk and lead Scott Chadwick (half of 2016 Tier 2 champs Team Balsdon). They’ve been heating up earning a tour title last month in Gatineau, Que., and reaching the semifinals at the StuSells Toronto Tankard where they gave eventual champs Team Carruthers a run for their money.

– Team Muirhead: No, not Eve but Glen, her older brother, who calls the shots now on the club formerly known as Team Smith. Great Britain’s Olympic Team decided to dial it back this season but as we’ve seen in the past they have the winning pedigree and the talent to finish strong.

– Team Harrison: As mentioned above, skip Jacqueline Harrison won the Tier 2 women’s title in 2016, however, that was with a completely different crew. Her new squad features Allison Flaxey’s former teammates third Clancy Grandy, second Lynn Kreviazuk and lead Morgan Court. The trio captured a Grand Slam championship at the 2016 Masters with Flaxey.

– Team Yoshimura: They’re the highest-ranked women’s team in the Tier 2 division on the year-to-date standings with a title victory at the Oakville Fall Classic and runner-up finishes at the Colonial Square Ladies Classic and Paf Masters Tour. They’ve played in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling top tier before with former skip Ayumi Ogasawara.

7th End: Tickets

Full-event passes have been sold out for months, however, a limited number of single-draw tickets are still available at tourchallenge.goigniter.com.

If you’re attending the Tour Challenge, feel free to drop by the Pinty’s Pub & Grill zone for a one-of-a-kind experience watching the game right at ice level. Pun intended on feel free as there is no extra admission to enter, just come on down.

For fun between the draws, stop by the Grand Slam Social House located across the parking lot at the Best Western Nor’Wester Hotel where you can enjoy food and drinks plus live entertainment from local musicians.

8th End: Broadcast schedule

If you can’t make it to Tournament Centre, Sportsnet will be your exclusive home for live broadcast coverage beginning Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Online streaming is also available for the following broadcast draws, subscribe to Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or Yare (international).