#BetweenTheSheets: The Canada Curse in Oakville?
Can Canadian teams finally reclaim the podium on home ice?
Summer is over. Fall is here. Welcome to Labour Day long weekend rock heads.
Can you believe we are already saying good-bye to our summer months and hello to September? School is back in session. Golf season is winding down. Holiday's are over. But curling is here to sweep away your possible fall blues and get you excited for the shorter days and colder nights.
This week the #wct makes a stop in Oakville, Ontario for the #OakvilleFallClassic. This event is celebrating it's 5-year birthday as a tour stop and is quickly becoming the perfect fixture on the calendar as the starting point to the season.
But who is really seizing the advantage of this early tournament? If history has taught us anything it is to never ignore the past and use it to learn for the future. With that being said, is there a Canadian curse on the ice in Oakville?
The facts are there. Canadian teams have rode the struggle bus to and from the Oakville Curling Club. This event may take place on Canadian ice but the international teams OWN the event.
In the four-year history of the event only 2 Canadian teams have landed in the winner's circle. And those wins came in the inaugural year of the event back in 2015. Back then Ontario's Codey Maus (half of that team now being Team McDonald) and Jacqueline Harrison took home the titles. And both knocked off fellow Ontario teams in the finals (Pat Ferris, Mallory Kean).
The following year no Canadian team even reached the final. For the women we saw an all-Swedish finale with Team Hasselborg defeating Team Wrana. For the men, Scotland's Kyle Smith knocked off Heath McCormick.
In 2017, it was history repeating for the men's side of the draw. Again no Canadian team reached the final and a Scottish team took home the W. This time it would be Bruce Mouat collecting the winner's purse after defeating Korea's Kim Chang-min. The women would also see another European team come over and seize the title with Russia's Team Vasilyeva knocking off Ontario's Susan Froud. But hey at least one Canadian team reached the final right?
And as for last year? The Land of the Rising Sun dominated the podium with Japan's Team Matsumura and Team Yoshimura collecting the titles. There was some light at the tunnel for the #CanadaCurse however as at least two Canadian teams reached the finals. Team Dunstone made the final for the men, the first Canadian men's team to make the final since 2015. Another Ontario women's team would go the distance and fall just short when Erica Hopson was defeated by Yoshimura.
We have not seen a home nation victor since 2015. A combined 8 winners and only 2 of them being Canadian. 3 consecutive years of the double W for international squads. Only one Canadian men's team has even reached the final since 2015. Did Maus/Harrison jinx their fellow Canadian competitors with the W or have the international teams just came more prepared?
What happens in 2019? Does the curse continue or will the Canadian teams finally exorcise the demons of the past three years and reclaim Canadian victory on home ice? But if Canada does falter, we weary of a very strong Swiss contingent this weekend. Swiss Curling is going all in it seems as almost all of their top tier teams have made the flight to Oakville and look ready to seize the competition. Could we be saying #HoppSchwiiz by Sunday night?
Time to look at the 2019 field and off up the preview of the Oakville Fall Classic. Remember this is a #Tour250 event under the #TwineTime rankings system with the winning teams earning 250 points.
#TourLifePredictions
#OakvilleFallClassic (Tour 250)
Oakville, ON.
2018 Champion: Team Yoshimura
Format: 26-team RR with 4 pools of 5 and 1 pool of 6. Top 12 overall qualify.
Top Teams Entered: Team Tirinzoni, Team E. Kim, Team Muirhead, Team Sidorova
#Fav: This will be our first look at current world champions Team Tirinzoni from Switzerland. The last time we saw this team on the ice they took home the season-ending Champions Cup title in Saskatoon. So should we expect anything short of a deep playoff run this weekend in their season debut? I wouldn't bet against it. The big question around this team is how they handle the extra pressure this season of being world champions and knowing every team wants to knock them off. Last year was their first season together and while expectations were high I am not sure even they expected to finish the year with the resume they had. Enter Year II together and see how things go. Do they suffer the sophomore slump we discussed in the season preview? Or do they continue rolling right along looking to defend the world title and go one better to claim the Euro title as well? This is a good season opener for them against a strong field. They are placed in one of the tougher pools, drawing Korea's Team E. Kim, USA's Team Sinclair and Canada's Team Rocque. They should qualify...but it will not be easy.
#TeamUpset: Can an entire nation be declared #TeamUpset this weekend? The Canadian teams arriving to the ice in Oakville on paper look to be considered underdogs against their international opposition. Just look at the stats though. Of the 26 teams entered, only 10 are from Canada. 10?!? And this tournament is in Canada. Where are the Canadian teams? There are 16 international teams so since 16 >> 10 it would appear the Canada collective comes in as the #TeamUpset here. Add on the #CanadaCurse discussed at the top of the post and the Canadian teams have their backs against the wall. But don't undersell them completely either. There are a few strong contenders in the field reppin' the maple leaf. Kelsey Rocque has a new look team and could be a playoff contender. Hollie Duncan and Jestlyn Murphy had successful seasons last year and could push for playoff spots as well. But if you really want the #TeamUpset flag bearer keep your eyes on the new look Team Kaitlyn Jones. The 21-year old former junior champ is skipping the majority members of Team Flaxey circa 2015-2018. This could be a dangerous team. Jones is fearless at skip and has that #NextGen attitude to go out and prove herself on the women's tour. And she has a line-up supporting her who know each other quite well and found great success together (they did win a #gsoc event after all). They are in a tough pool with Russia's Team Sidorova and last weekend's finalist Team Koana from Japan. But the playoffs are within reach.
#W2W4: The dangerous Swiss. Canada may have 10 teams entered but the 4 Swiss teams are all legit playoff contenders and could take over the playoff bracket by the weekend. Of course Tirinzoni leads the charge but look at the other three teams. Team Stern was one of the surprise teams of the year last season, winning the Tour Challenge Tier II title and quickly becoming one of the hottest young teams in the world. Team Feltscher is back in their second full year together, led by two-time world champ Binia Feltscher (also a #TwineTimeFam member). And speaking of world champion pedigree, Irene Schori, who won her world championships with Feltscher, is also back in year two with her new squad. Interestingly enough Feltscher and Schori were drawn into the same pool and open the competition against one another in Draw 1. These are four contending Swiss teams folks. But keep your eyes on the new look Team Muirhead too. How will they do in their first event together? And can the Japanese teams continue to find success early in the season, led by Team Koana and defending champ Team Yoshimura? It is quite feasible to see 8-10 of the qualifier teams be international teams.
Qualifiers: Team Tirinzoni, Team Yoshimura, Team Stern, Team Gim, Team Sidorova, Team E. Kim, Team Jentsch, Team Murphy, Team Feltscher, Team Koana, Team K. Jones, Team Sinclair
Championship: Team Tirinzoni def. Team E. Kim
MEN
#OakvilleFallClassic (Tour 250)
Oakville, ON.
2018 Champion: Team Matsumura
Format: 28-team RR with 4 pools of 5 and 2 pools of 4. Top 12 overall qualify.
Top Teams Entered: Team Schwaller, Team McDonald, Team Muyres, Team Morozumi
#Fav: Keep the #HoppSchwiiz theme going here in Oakville right? And why not when you have Team Schwaller in the competition! Schwaller comes to Canada fresh off a huge title win last weekend in Baden, knocking off world champion Team Edin in the final. They have started their season undefeated and with a tour title. It does not get any better than that folks. And this is a strong team. A team this blog has been praising for a few seasons now. They also drew into, arguably, an easier pool to give them a better slide path into the playoffs. They are joined by Canada's Team Roy and Team Lawton (both from Quebec) as well as Italy's Team Retornaz (always a dangerous threat) and USA's Team Dunnam. They should enter the playoffs with their perfect season record in tact and, if so, could they go undefeated in back to back weeks and claim two titles right out the gate?
#TeamUpset: There are a few #TeamUpset potential flag bearers in this field. Matt Hall (a #TwineTimeFam member) returns to Ontario and is back to skipping after winning a world junior title with Team Tardi last season. Never underestimate a #NextGen champion. Speaking of junior success, keep an eye on Switzerland's Team Hess. They reached the QF last weekend in Baden and have momentum going into this event. Both Horgan boys are skipping their own respected teams this season and both will be competing here this weekend. Too bad they were drawn into different pools though. A Horgan vs. Horgan battle sounds exciting. And keep an eye on the Team Kean. Mark Kean returns to skipping duties this season with a new team. Can the former Ontario champ recreate lightning in a bottle like he did when he won his lone provincial title in 2015?
#W2W4: This is actually a very wide open field with many teams being playoff contenders. On first glance at the draw there is a good argument to be made for anywhere from 15 to 18 teams being playoff contenders. Of the 28 teams entered, 14 of them are Canadian so we have a 50% chance out of the gate to see the #CanadaCurse end for the men's draw. In fact one entire pool is comprised of all Canadian teams. This means we are guaranteed Canadian teams in the playoffs; however, it also means they basically devour one another early. The other interesting part of this draw is because there are 2 pools of 4 teams, those pools actually draw against one another for the RR. So Pool E will take on the 4 teams in Pool F rather than compete against their fellow Pool E teams. In theory, this could create havoc for the playoff picture. You could have all 4 Pool E teams defeat all 4 Pool F teams and at the end of the RR have 4 undefeated teams in the same pool all qualify for the playoffs. How weird would that be? And, lets even say we have 3 3-1 teams from the same pool, if you were drawn into a harder pool and finished 2-2 and missed the playoffs because of this wacky draw loophole, how would you feel? Heck we could also have all of the teams square up with 2-2 records and due to crazy TB procedures see only 1 from the entire group reach the playoffs. Keep your eyes peeled on those Pool E vs. Pool F RR games folks. They could have HUGE impacts on the playoff picture.
Qualifiers: Team McDonald, Team Matsumura, Team Schwaller, Team Muyres, Team C. Kim, Team Yamaguchi, Team Hess, Team Retornaz, Team T. Horgan, Team Ruohonen, Team Ferris, Team Morozumi
Championship: Team Schwaller def. Team Matsumura
What say you rock heads? Agree with the predictions? Do you see 2019 being the year Canada finally reclaims the titles in Oakville? Share your thoughts and predictions through the comment section or via social media. Lets get those curling conversation going!
#StayTuned
This is the long weekend after all so after the rocks stop spinning in Oakville the blog will return next week with the updated Power Rankings. Will the results shake up the ranking mountain? Only time will tell.
This is quite sad news and goes completely against the #growthesport model. Dupont has been the face of Danish curling for many years. She represented Denmark at the 2010 and 2018 Winter Olympics. I watched her compete live at the 2010 Winter Olympics (as shown in the picture above). She has won world silver (2007) and bronze (2009) as well as European silver (2002) and bronze (2008, 2009). Hopefully this will be a short-term leave of absence from the sport.
While the blog is sad to see Dupont take a step back from the game, the rationale behind the decision is fully respected and commended. As we fight for growth in Canada for more events, more money and more TV time, let us also remember many teams from nations around the world are fighting for respect, relevance and basic recognition as elite sport athletes. Hopefully everyone involved in the sport can work together to continue ensuring the sport grows in ALL nations.
Enjoy the long weekend rock heads!
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