For the first time since the double-touch controversy that took over the Olympics in February, Oskar Eriksson and his Swedish teammates will play in a Grand Slam of Curling event in Canada this week.
Eriksson, the focal point of the whole thing, did play a week in Canada after the Olympics last year at Rock League, where he was met with light boos from the Toronto crowd.
However, with the Curling Group debuting the first professional curling league in history, where curlers are placed on a franchise and don’t play with their regular teams, that moment was more about marking a milestone.
So, will the fans in Victoria, B.C. boo the Swedish squad throughout the week at the Grand Slam of Curling's Co-op Invitational, especially when Eriksson faces Canada's Team Brad Jacobs in a much-anticipated Olympic rematch on Friday?
It would be weird, considering the stereotype of curling fans, but that is just one of the storylines to watch this week during the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season.
What you need to know
For the most part, the Grand Slam of Curling rules that you were familiar with at the end of last season will apply for the first event of the year.
Each team will have continue to have one blank per game. Thinking time is down another minute to 29 minutes from 30 minutes last season and timeouts will now be 60 seconds compared to 90 seconds in 2025-26. Both teams will get two per game.
Extra ends will be a thing, but only in the semifinals and finals. If the game is tied after eight ends in the preliminary round, tiebreakers and quarterfinals, a shootout will determine the winner.
Teams to watch during the week
Every team competing in the Co-op Invitational could be listed in this section. With so many new teams, the storylines are obvious: How will they look in their first big tournament together?
But there is more meat on the bone than just that. How will Jacobs, the defending Olympic gold medallist who didn’t change his lineup, look in the first Grand Slam of the season? Will new world men's No. 1 Yannick Schwaller, from Switzerland, prove his team deserves that ranking?
Here is one team on each side you should be paying extra attention to this week.
Rachel Homan, Canada
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Homan’s squad play a women’s four game. The last game they played together in competition was their win in the bronze-medal game at the Olympics.
Unlike some other teams, who have been on the ice competing since August, Homan and her squad have decided to ease into the first year of the quadrennial. When the 20-time Grand Slam champion from Ottawa takes to the ice this week with her teammates, it will be the team's first event of the 2026-27 season.
A solid week with at least a semifinal berth, and nobody will have worries about the fact they haven’t played a tournament yet this season. A rough week, however, could cause some Canadian curling fans to panic and ponder if they should’ve played in a couple events prior to the Grand Slam..
Oskar Eriksson, Sweden
Along with playing in Canada for the first time since the double-touch controversy at the Olympics, this week will also mark the first time in nearly 20 years the top Swedish men’s team won’t have Niklas Edin on it. Edin retired from the game after last season, going out with a win at the world championship for the eighth time.
Now, the team he created in 2017 will be skipped by Eriksson. Even though the team has won six world championships together, there will be a lot of pressure on Eriksson and his fellow teammates to continue having the same type of success. A good start to the Slam calendar would go a long way in proving they can contend for championships without the legendary Edin.
Games circled on the schedule
The schedule-makers really knew what they were doing with this event. There are so many must-see matchups throughout the week, but to keep the list short, here are five to focus on:
Draw 4 - Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
Rachel Homan vs. Kayla MacMillan
This will be the first game of the season for Homan’s squad in women’s play. Homan will skip the 'road team' as the reigning Olympic bronze medallists face a Victoria-based rink that has added Val Sweeting.
Draw 7 - Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT
Brad Jacobs vs. Brendan Bottcher
First real test for Bottcher’s new team to see where they stack up against Canada’s best in Jacobs.
Draw 11 - Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT
Xenia Schwaller vs. Alina Paetz
Battle of the best two Swiss women’s teams. Paetz has beaten Schwaller in three finals this year. Schwaller won the world title last season.
Draw 14 - Friday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. PT
Yannick Schwaller vs. Grant Hardie
New world No. 1 Schwaller, a cousin of Xenia, faces Great Britain's newly formed Team Hardie, ranked second in the world.
Draw 16 - Friday, Oct. 16 at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT
Brad Jacobs vs. Oskar Eriksson
First time these two teams will face each other since the double-touch drama at the Olympics.
The Co-op Invitational will be available on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting Tuesday with Draw 2 at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT. Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ will air three draws per day Tuesday through Friday. Sportsnet+ and CBC will carry the Saturday quarterfinals, while CBC will air the semifinals on Saturday evening. Championship Sunday will see the women's final on Sportsnet+ and men's final on Sportsnet ONE.
