The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling slides back into action for the home stretch of the 2014-15 season with the inaugural Syncrude Elite 10.
On top of being an all-new event, the Syncrude Elite 10 mixes the game up a bit by featuring match play rules. The unique format was introduced to help give the tournament a unique identity from the other Pinty’s Grand Slam tournaments.
What match play means is that teams compete to win the most ends in a game rather than how many total points they score. To take an end, teams must either score two or more points (with hammer) or steal one or more points (without hammer). If neither team claims the end, points do not carry over and the hammer switches sides.
Programming Notice: Watch the opening draw of the Syncrude Elite 10 live Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West & Pacific | TV schedule
Basically, it’s similar to a skins game only the major difference is points do not carry over when there’s a blank end.
The scoreboard will also undergo changes as you will not see 2-1 or 4-2 posted but rather +1 or +2 to indicate how many ends a team is up by.
Before the Syncrude Elite 10 kicks off Thursday in Fort McMurray, Alta., let’s take a look at the men’s teams set to compete and how their seasons have gone so far.
TEAM CARRUTHERS
Lineup: Reid Carruthers (skip), Braeden Moskowy (third), Derek Samagalski (second) and Colin Hodgson (lead)
Hometown: Winnipeg
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 5th
Carruthers and his all-new rink have been rising up the ranks on the World Curling Tour this season and made a splash at the Safeway Championship in February beating Team McEwen in the final to represent Manitoba at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier.
Team Carruthers defeated Team Jacobs in the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard final in October to capture their first title together. They also qualified for the playoffs at both the National and Canadian Open Grand Slam tournaments this season. Carruthers won the 2013 National playing on the front end for Team Jeff Stoughton and now seeks his first Pinty’s Grand Slam title as a skip.
TEAM EDIN
Lineup: Niklas Edin (skip), Oskar Eriksson (third), Kristian Lindström (second) and Christoffer Sundgren (lead)
Hometown: Karlstad, Sweden
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 7th
Sochi Olympics bronze medallist Edin has a new trio aboard this season. Eriksson, Lindström and Sundgren are an experienced bunch and captured the silver medal at the world championship a year ago.
Edin has adjusted just fine with his new teammates and ran the table at the 2014 European Championship with a perfect 11-0 overall record to win the title. They enter the Syncrude Elite 10 finishing runner-up at the Pomeroy & Suites Prairie Showdown this past Sunday.
TEAM EPPING
Lineup: John Epping (skip), Travis Fanset (third), Patrick Janssen (second) and Tim March (lead)
Hometown: Toronto
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 8th
Two-time Pinty’s Grand Slam champ John Epping joined his current teammates for the Players’ Championship to finish last season and after a successful run to the playoffs they decided to stick together.
They’ve continued to click capturing a World Curling Tour title this season winning the Gord Carroll Curling Classic in November. The team also reached the semifinals at the Masters that month and finished runner-up at the Ontario Tankard in February.
TEAM GUSHUE
Lineup: Brad Gushue (skip), Mark Nichols (third), Brett Gallant (second) and Geoff Walker (lead)
Hometown: St. John’s, N.L.
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 3rd
Gushue reunited with 2006 Olympic championship teammate Nichols this season and the results have been golden on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling circuit as they’ve captured two of the three titles winning the Masters and Canadian Open.
Team Gushue has had an outstanding record over the past six Pinty’s Grand Slam events, reaching the final four times as well as making one other semifinal appearance. Expect Gushue to be the fan favourite for the Syncrude Elite 10. His rink was far and away the people’s choice during last year’s National in Fort McMurray where they made the final.
Gushue won his 12th career Newfoundland and Labrador Tankard title in February and finished fourth at the Brier.
TEAM HOWARD
Lineup: Glenn Howard (skip), Richard Hart (third), Jon Mead (second) and Craig Savill (lead)
Hometown: Penetanguishene, Ont.
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 9th
Howard, a 16-time Grand Slam champ, returns to the scene of his most recent title victory. Team Howard claimed the Syncrude National last year in Fort McMurray after edging Team Gushue 7-6 in the final.
Howard’s rink is a bit different this time around though with Hart coming out of retirement to rejoin the team at third and Jon Mead moving over from Manitoba to play second. It was a surprise when Team Howard did not qualify for the Ontario provincial championship tournament and they should be hungry to get back out onto the ice.
TEAM JACOBS
Lineup: Brad Jacobs (skip), Ryan Fry (third), E.J. Harnden (second) and Ryan Harnden (lead)
Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 2nd
The incredible run for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics gold medallists continues. Jacobs captured the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic title to start the season and they reached the final at the National and Canada Cup of Curling tournaments.
Team Jacobs, who won the 2013 Brier, claimed the Northern Ontario championship to make a return trip to the national tournament. They came out of the gate on fire to top the round robin and took home the silver medal when Team Canada skip Pat Simmons drew to the button on his final shot to score the winning single in the extra end of the final.
TEAM KOE
Lineup: Kevin Koe (skip), Marc Kennedy (third), Brent Laing (second) and Ben Hebert (lead)
Hometown: Calgary
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 6th
Koe captured the Brier a year ago but opted to forge onward with a new powerhouse team. The four have won just about everything in curling. Kennedy and Hebert earned the 2010 Olympic gold medal, a world championship and two Brier titles on Kevin Martin’s rink while Laing grabbed a pair of Brier and world titles with Glenn Howard. They also combine for 36 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title wins.
This season they’ve won two World Curling Tour events, reached the semifinals at the Canadian Open and ran the table at the Alberta provincials to reach the Brier.
TEAM LAYCOCK
Lineup: Steve Laycock (skip), Kirk Muyres (third), Colton Flasch (second) and Dallan Muyres (lead)
Hometown: Saskatoon
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 4th
Team Laycock are hitting their stride this season picking up a pair of World Curling Tour titles — the Weatherford Curling Classic and the U.S. Open of Curling — and qualifying for the playoffs at all three Grand Slam events. Following a career-best runner-up finish at the Canadian Open in December, Laycock is closing in on capturing his first career Pinty’s Grand Slam title.
Laycock, who previously played on Team Pat Simmons, successfully defended the SaskTel Tankard title in February to represent Saskatchewan for a fifth time in his career at the Tim Hortons Brier. Team Laycock earned their first medal at the Brier after defeating Team Gushue for bronze.
TEAM MCEWEN
Lineup: Mike McEwen (skip), B.J. Neufeld (third), Matt Wozniak (second) and Denni Neufeld (lead)
Hometown: Winnipeg
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 1st
Team McEwen came out of the gate red-hot winning their first four events to kick off the season. They claimed hardware at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, the Point Optical Curling Classic, the Canad Inns Men’s Classic and the Challenge Chateau Cartier de Gatineau.
Playing in their eighth year together, Team McEwen continued their impressive start to earn their fourth career Grand Slam title at the National in November and followed that up by capturing the Canada Cup of Curling in December. They enter the Syncrude Elite 10 having captured the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown this past Sunday.
McEwen has qualified for the playoffs in five consecutive Grand Slam events stretching back to last season’s Syncrude National in Fort McMurray.
TEAM MICHEL
Lineup: Sven Michel (skip), Florian Meister (third), Simon Gempeler (second) and Stefan Meienberg (lead)
Hometown: Adelboden, Switzerland
WCT year-to-date OOM rank: 10th
Michel looks to improve upon his career-best Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling finish in a return trip to Fort McMurray. It was in Fort Mac a year ago, during the Syncrude National, when Team Michel finished the round robin with a 5-0 record and made it to the semifinals.
Michel changed up his roster this year bringing in Meister and Meienberg from Pascal Hess’ team and bumping Gempeler up from lead to second. They qualified for the playoffs at the Masters and captured the bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships.
