#PowerRankings W10

#BetweenTheSheets: Remember Those Days In September

Enjoying a quiet curling weekend...with official winter curling weather

How did you celebrate the last weekend of September rock heads? Enjoy a nice walk outside? Take in the beautiful colours of Autumn? All the orange and yellow mixed in with a hint of green still. September usually brings some great pictures of Fall trees across our great country.

Unless you live in Calgary or most of Southern Alberta this year. Then you get the photo above. As IG user mayyy-who captured this weekend, Calgary turned into a city covered in a white blanket. Snow arrived. And it arrived. And arrived. And arrived. ALL weekend! It started late Friday/early Saturday and did not stop until Monday. Sure the temperatures were not horrible all weekend but did we really need non-stop snow all weekend?

As Canada's own Deborah Cox serenaded us with the words "I remember that day in September..." when curling's winter weather arrived WAY earlier than we were ready for. Sounds like another hit right?

On the plus side, what better excuse to stay inside, cuddle up on the couch and track some curling at events taking place around the world.


The final weekend of September was a modest one on the World Curling Tour. The women and men only had two events taking place. Similar for those competing on the mixed doubles circuit. A third event started at the end of the weekend in South Korea but more on that a bit later.

No pre-story this week. No big issue to discuss. No topic to debate. It snowed all weekend. I got a bit of a cold. Boooo-urns!

Lets just go right into the results on the ice shall we?

#GunnerRunback

#INturn

• Team Homan is Back! At the #ColonialSquare in Saskatoon, the #1 team maintained their position and put the rest of the world on notice they are still the leading contenders in any event they enter. Homan qualified via the A-side and went a perfect 6-0 to claim the title, defeating Team Fleury in the championship final on Monday. Homan's victims included Team Howard, Team Koana (twice), Team Fujisawa and Team Anderson. They also took home the first #Tour1000 title of the season on the women's tour.
• The road to the Scotties looks to go through a familiar name in Nova Scotia. Mary-Anne Arsenault and her team won the #CurlingStoreCashspiel event in Lower Sackville this weekend, knocking off main provincial rival Jill Brothers in the final. Team Arsenault went 4-0 in the RR and capped up the perfect weekend winning both playoff games.
• It was a Thompson vs. Thompson battle in the #CurlingStoreCashspiel men's final. And no this was not an episode of TinTin! Stuart was able to #DefendTheIce when his team knocked off Kendal's team in the championship final. Stuart Thompson struggled a bit in the RR, going 2-2 and just squeaking into the playoffs as the final qualifier. They knocked off previously undefeated Team Murphy in the SF before defeating brother Kendal in the final. We talk about wanting to build rivalries in the sport. What better than a little brotherly love rivalry in the Bluenose province? Imagine those holiday get together's!
• At the #TallinnInternational in Estonia a new Finnish face emerged victorious. Jermu Pollanen, who throws lead stones but skips the game, lost the opening RR game and then went on a tear dominating the field the rest of the way to claim the title. Pollanen knocked off fellow #TeamUpset finalist Team Truksans from Latvia in the final. Pollanen had an OOM ranking of 166 by the way! He now sits #113.
• The #NextGen movement continues to make great strides on tour this season. This past weekend saw two strong up and coming teams produce big results. In Saskatoon, Alberta's Team Skrlik continued their momentum from winning a tour title the previous week. They were placed in the opening draw, meaning they had the longest road to an A-qualifier but they pulled off 3 straight W's to reach the qualifier game. One of those wins happened to be against Jennifer Jones! Skrlik would lose the A-qualifier to Fleury, the B-qualifier to Jones and the C-qualifier to Beth Peterson. In Lower Sackville, Matt Manuel went 4-0 in the RR (including a victory over defending NS Tankard champ and eventual champ Stuart Thompson) before losing a SF battle vs. Kendal Thompson. This blog warned you in the preview not to sleep on young Team Manuel this season folks!
• At the #ColoradoCurlingCup mixed doubles event, we saw familiar faces holding the victory cheque on Sunday. Sarah Anderson and Korey Dropkin went a perfect 7-0 on the weekend to claim the title. They knocked off Kira Brunton / John Morris in the final. Outside of the extra end W in the SF (vs. Scotland's Team Stirling/Kingan), they blew out their opposition all weekend. Look at some of these score lines: 8-1, 13-2, 11-0. The final was 11-6 and that was considered one of their closest games. The duo was the #TwineTime pick this weekend against, mostly, US opposition and they proved once again why they are the #1 US mixed doubles team. Can we just slide them into the 2022 Olympics now?
• At the #BramptonCurlingCup, the duo of Clancy Grandy and Pat Janssen were perfect on the weekend riding a 7-0 record to claim the title. The duo knocked off perennial MD contenders Desjardins/Desjardins in the final. 
• Special shout-out time to those additional teams who reached the playoff brackets this past weekend: Team Anderson, Team J. Jones (Colonial Square SF), Team Koana, Team Fujisawa, Team Holland, Team Peterson (Colonial Square QF), Team Birt, Team Phillips (Curling Store SF), Team Muskatewitz, Team Krause (Tallinn SF), Team Regza, Team Lottenbach, Shalamitski (Tallinn QF), Team McMakin/Fenson (Colorado SF), Team Agre/McLean, Team Podoll/Parry, Team Bear/Stopera, Team Clark/Bond (Colorado QF), Team Westlund Stewart/Stewart, Team Tuck/Tuck Jr (Brampton SF), Team Wasylkiw/Konings, Team Sutherland/Ryn, Team Cottrill/Cottrill, Team Holyoke/Lawes (Brampton QF), Team Shipmaker/Aprile, Team Richard/Churchill, Team Longo/Inglis, Team Greenman/Zuliana (Brampton PO).

#OUTturn

• Saskatchewan Struggles in Saskatoon! Outside of Team Anderson (SF) and Team Holland (QF), the Sasky fans did not have a lot to cheer about this weekend. Heading into the event, there were 11 teams in the field. Only 2 reached the playoff bracket. Big favourite Team Silvernagle fell in the C-qualifier (to Anderson). The only other team to reach any qualifier game was Team Barker, who also lost a C-qualifier (to Koana). 11 teams. 2 qualifiers. Only 4 teams even reaching qualifier games. Not a great result for Sasky women on home ice.
• What happened to Chad Stevens? Stevens has been a consistent contender for the Nova Scotia Tankard in the past. While he has yet to reach the Brier pinnacle, he has come close. This weekend, at the season opening event in Lower Sackville, Stevens struggled. The team went 1-3 and failed to qualify. In a field comprised of provincial opposition, starting your season on a low is not ideal. Losing to provincial counterparts right out of the gate can wreck with one's mental game as well. It is only the first event so lots of opportunity to recover but not a great slide out of the hack for a guy looking for that first Brier appearance in a fairly wide-open province.

A #Tour1000 event on the women's tour plus a #Tour250. A few #Tour250 events for the men. There are certainly some opportunities for teams to gain points on a relative quiet final weekend of September. Now remember the event going on in South Korea wraps up mid-week so the results from that event, a #Tour500 dual event, will be included in NEXT WEEK'S Power Rankings blog post.

But this week is not just about the results on the ice. This week is also about the fallout from the Elite X going away against a ranking system taking into consideration only the results of the past 52 weeks. Those teams who competed at the Elite X last year....well those points at least are now ancient history! Could teams fall down the rankings without even stepping foot on the ice this week? Or could teams actually move up the rankings without throwing a rock as well?

Bring on the UPDATED Power Rankings!

#PowerRankings

WOMEN

1. Team Homan - 8660 (LW: 1)
2. Team Einarson - 6690 (3)
3. Team Hasselborg - 6640 (2)
4. Team Tirinzoni - 5735 (4)
5. Team J. Jones - 4188 (HM)

Hon. Mention: Team Carey, Team Kovaleva, Team Fujisawa, Team Fleury, Team Muirhead

The Elite X wrecked some havoc on the women's mountain this week. Team Hasselborg lost their points earned from winning the event. Team Einarson, who did not compete in the Elite X nor any #wct event last year during this past week, moves up to #2. A bump up the rankings for doing nothing. Not a bad week for #TeamSkipper.

As for Team Homan, it was actually a plus for them. They lost the SF points earned last year at the Elite X but they won the #Tour1000 event in Saskatoon. Take off 360 but gain 1000 sounds like good math to me!

Team JJ rejoins the Top 5 due to their SF appearance in Saskatoon and the fact Team Carey and Team Kovaleva were inactive this past week. Team Fleury makes their Top 10 debut this week after reaching the championship final in Saskatoon. Russia's Team Sidorova drop out of the Top 10...for now. They are competing at the tour event in South Korea right now, a #Tour500 event, and with a championship run there could rejoin the Top 10 next week.

MEN

1. Team Bottcher - 7673 (1)
2. Team Koe - 6675 (2)
3. Team Mouat - 5560 (3)
4. Team Edin - 5372 (4)
5. Team Epping - 4993.5 (5)

Hon. Mention: Team De Cruz, Team Paterson, Team Gushue, Team Matsumura, Team Jacobs

Not a lot of movement on the men's mountain this week. The biggest winner was actually Team Bottcher. With the Elite X points being removed from those teams who competed (of which Bottcher was not one), the team actually increased their lead on top by doing absolutely nothing.

There was a change among the Top 10 though. Team Dunstone dropped out of the Top 10 due to losing their points earned from winning a tour event in Vernon, B.C. last season. This same event has been moved to this upcoming week but the points are deducted now.

Add in the deduction of points for Team Jacobs from competing in the Elite X and Japan's Team Matsumura makes their Top 10 debut for the season. Whether they can hold on to the #9 spot is another story. Remember Team Dunstone, Team Howard and Team McDonald, respectfully sitting #12, #13, #14 on the mountain, are competing right now in South Korea. The event in Uiseong is a #Tour500 event too so there are lots of points on the ice for those three teams.

There is just over 300 points between #9 and #14 right now. Once we factor in the Uiseong points combined with the points earned this upcoming weekend, we could see a new look Top 10 next week folks.

#StayTuned

Hope you are ready for A LOT of curling this upcoming weekend rock heads. The men will be competing in 6 tour events. Two of those events, Stu Sells Toronto and Swiss Cup Basel, are #Tour1000 events while the remaining 4 are #Tour250.

For the women, 5 tour events highlight the weekend. There will be 2 #Tour500 events, one in Basel and one in Abbotsford, while the remaining 3 will be #Tour250 events.

And for those mixed doubles rock heads, there are 2 tour events as well this weekend: St. Gallen, SUI and Edmonton, AB.

LOTS of points on the ice this weekend. The blog will return later in the week with full previews and #TourLifePredictions.

Guess I better rest up....