8 Ends: All you need to know for the GSOC Canadian Open

CAMROSE, Alta. — The world’s best curling teams will face off in the final major tournament before the Winter Games.

Eleven Olympic-bound clubs highlight the 32-team field at the Meridian Canadian Open, which starts Tuesday and runs through to Sunday at Encana Arena.

There’s a lot more at stake than just warming up for Pyeongchang, South Korea, with the fourth tournament of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring a combined $250,000 purse plus points towards the GSOC Bonus Cup and berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup.

Here are the full details of what you need to know in Eight Ends.

1st End: A brief history of the Meridian Canadian Open

The Meridian Canadian Open is one of the original four tournaments in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series and ushered in the “Grand Slam” era in 2001. Wayne Middaugh captured the inaugural title in Wainwright, Alta.

Kevin Martin has won the most Canadian Open titles at five and only Martin and Mike McEwen (who claimed his two Canadian Open championships in January and December of 2011) have earned back-to-back titles.

Brad Gushue has appeared in the men’s final in each of the past four seasons winning in 2014 and again last year.

A women’s division was added to the tournament in 2014 with Scotland’s Eve Muirhead defeating Ottawa’s Rachel Homan for the title in Yorkton, Sask. Homan secured the women’s championship the following season winning her third consecutive Grand Slam title of 2015.

Casey Scheidegger is the reigning women’s champion stealing in the eighth end of last year’s final against Silvana Tirinzoni. It was actually Scheidegger’s first top-tier Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling appearance and what a start.

2nd End: Triple knockout 101

The Meridian Canadian Open has featured a triple knockout preliminary stage instead of round-robin and pools since a format switch in 2014. While triple knockout is common elsewhere on the World Curling Tour, the Meridian Canadian Open is the only Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament to have this format.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the triple knockout, here’s a primer: All 16 teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions begin in the A brackets. Winners stay in A while losers drop to B. Likewise, once teams are in B, winners remain on this road while losers fall to C. Here’s where things get dicey as the C stage is the last chance to qualify for the playoffs. A loss in C means C-you-later and instant elimination.

The neat part of the 16-team triple knockout is your opponent has an identical record as your team and every game matters. You don’t have games where one team has already qualified for the playoffs against a team that’s already been eliminated. As long as you’re still playing, you’re in it to win it.

Simply put, teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs. Two A teams (3-0 records), three B teams (3-1 records) and three C teams (3-2 records) advance to the playoffs.

As you can see from the records, teams that qualify via A play fewer games and also get some extra rest before the playoffs.

However, some teams perform better under pressure or need a game or two before they start rolling plus it never hurts to learn more about the ice and rocks. Also, if you’re going to take a loss, better to get it out of the way early, right?

3rd End: Men’s division storylines to follow

Can Gushue reach an unprecedented fifth consecutive Meridian Canadian Open final? Gushue has won two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles already this season and tops the Bonus Cup standings. It seems like it doesn’t matter which way they qualify as they’ve reached the playoffs via a different road during each of the three previous seasons.

All four members of Team Kevin Koe have won the Canadian Open before, however, those titles came with their former squads and prior to joining forces in 2014. Can they go into Pyeongchang on a high note? Sweden’s Niklas Edin, Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz, Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud and American John Shuster are also among those looking to do well here ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Scotland’s Bruce Mouat and Chang-Min Kim of South Korea shocked many when they faced off in the final at the previous Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament, the BOOST National, in November. Mouat topped Kim to capture his first career Grand Slam and at age 23 became the youngest male skip to win a championship in the series. What’s in store for the encore?

Although Team Laycock didn’t qualify for this tournament, half of the Saskatoon-based squad will still be in action with skip Steve Laycock subbing for Brendan Bottcher and Matt Dunstone filling in for Jim Cotter on Team Morris.

4th End: Women’s division storylines to follow

Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones looks to make history at the Meridian Canadian Open. Jones is the reigning Players’ Championship, Masters and BOOST National women’s champion and could become the first to hold all four major Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles at once. This feat has been dubbed the “Tiger Slam” after Tiger Woods pulled it off in golf.

Jones is also coming off a thrilling finish capturing her eighth Manitoba Scotties title Sunday after scoring two in the final frame to top Darcy Robertson 7-6. Oh and guess who Jones plays in the first round? Robertson, of course. It’s a big coincidence though as the brackets were set weeks ago.

Meanwhile, defending champ Scheidegger also enters on a spirited win capturing her first Alberta Scotties title. Scheidegger also pulled off the late comeback by stealing in an extra end to edge Shannon Kleibrink 8-6 Sunday. It’s amazing how Scheidegger has risen from a Grand Slam rookie just a year ago into one of the best in the world.

Like on the men’s side, expect a push from Olympic-bound teams like American Nina Roth, EunJung Kim of South Korea, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and Canada’s own Rachel Homan. Hasselborg and Tirinzoni missed the BOOST National as it conflicted with the European Championships, so expect them to attempt to make up for lost time here.

5th End: The quest for the Bonus Cup

We’re past the halfway mark in the chase for the Bonus Cup, awarded to the season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship in April.

With two titles apiece, Gushue and Jones have sizeable leads atop of the men’s and women’s standings, respectively. McEwen and Scheidegger have surged at the previous two tournaments to slide into the top-four territory.

Visit the Bonus Cup page for the full standings and breakdown of points. Roughly double points are up for grabs at the Players’ Championship too so we’ll likely see these battles come down to the wire.

6th End: Humpty’s Champions Cup spots on the line

The winners of the Meridian Canadian Open also earn berths to the Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 24-29 at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.

The field is filling up fast with Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling champions, European Championship winners and Pacific-Asia Championship victors having secured their spots.

HUMPTY’S CHAMPIONS CUP QUALIFIED TEAMS

NOTE: If a team wins more than one of the events listed (e.g. Team Gushue captures the Tour Challenge Tier 1 and Masters) the winner of the next ranked World Curling Tour event based on strength of field will receive an invitation to complete the 15-team field.

7th End: Tickets for the Meridian Canadian Open

Full-event and weekend passes plus single-draw tickets are available for the Meridian Canadian Open. Visit Camrosegsoc.goigniter.com or call 780-678-2868 to purchase yours today.

8th End: Televised?

If you can’t make it to Camrose, Sportsnet will be your exclusive home for Meridian Canadian Open coverage starting Thursday at 2 p.m. ET. CLICK HERE for the full TV schedule.

Also, watch via mobile/online streaming at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or gsoc.yaretv.com (international).