#BetweenTheSheets: Penultimate Days To The Masters
Teams made final preparations for the opening major of the season
The countdown is on.
The days, hours, minutes and seconds are quickly ticking away until curling returns to national television for another season.
Having attended the #CCAutumnGold Classic over Thanksgiving weekend in Calgary, many fans were salivating for the chance to see curling on their tv sets again.
The rock heads were talking about the upcoming Grand Slam of Curling season. Being in Calgary, fans were already getting excited for the year-end slam, The Champions Cup, being in nearby Olds, Alberta. Fans want to see their favourite teams and the best teams in the world finally get the #gsoc season started.
Teams take different approaches to preparing for a grand slam event.
Some teams play as many events as possible to not only earn points to qualify for slam events but to keep those sliders cool and those brooms on the ice. More competitive curling can be a good thing.
A team can decide to play a major (not "major") event, like the event in Champery, and have strong results. They can qualify and go deep in the playoffs. They can earn more points. They can win more money. For one team it was JUST enough to qualify them for the upcoming European Championships (more on that below). Momentum, positive momentum, and confidence are keys to success.
Or competing can be a double-edged sword. If you enter a big tournament, like this past weekend in Portage, do you also run the risk of struggling? What if you underperform? Are you left with a mental block heading into the opening major of the season? We know psychology can play just as important a factor in success as skill. Poor results can leave you wondering what went wrong and left trying to just block out the mistakes over the final 2 to 3 days before boarding a plane.
And then you have the other argument. Don't step on competitive ice right before the slam. Take a more easy, relaxing approach. Spend some time with family and loved ones. For some, get some work in before taking more time off to curl. Find the work/life/curling balance.
Teams may decide to do light practices. Hit the gym to stay in good physical shape. Toss a few rocks here and there but do not overdue it. Why put extra stress on your body before an important event?
For some teams competing this week they are on the cusp of staying above the #IceBubbleWatch for future #gsoc events. They need the results this week to stay in the field. While those teams on the bubble may be competing the same weekend to gain points to overtake you for future slam events.
It is all a mental game being played in between events, in between slams. Did you navigate the right schedule? Are the results proving to help or hinder your future success? Is the opposition gaining on you or passing you? Or are you more fresh and mentally ready to take down the "top dogs" because you didn't play the weekend prior? Or you feel you can take those big names down because you did play and won?
There is no magic formula here. Sometimes one option works for one team but not for another. Sometimes one option works before one slam but not before another. Assuming, of course, you get the chance to prepare for the next one.
If RuPaul's Drag Race has taught me anything, it all comes down to one important word: "Choices!"
Time to see which teams took a positive slide out of the hack this weekend and which took a stumble....some of whom are heading to North Bay this week.
#GunnerRunback
#INturn
- OH CANADA! Team Canada was able to #DefendTheIce in Scotland this weekend claiming gold at the World Mixed Curling Championships. The Canadian team (Colin Kurz, Meghan Walter, Brendan Bilawka, Sara Oliver) followed up the win a year ago to hand Canada their second world mixed title. The Canadians defeated Germany in the gold medal game, a rematch of their event-opening RR game (also won by Canada). Canada would go a perfect 11-0 en route to claiming gold and create history in being the first nation to #DefendTheIce. This team also becomes only the second team to ever navigate an undefeated record (Russia, 2016). Norway (after losing to Canada in the SF for the second straight year) would once again win bronze, this time defeating South Korea.
- #TeamOranje = #TeamUpset! Netherlands' Team van Dorp rode the orange crush to a tour title at the #MastersChampery this weekend. They defeated Norway's Team Ulsrud in the championship final. The Dutch boys often fly under the radar at large events but they went 7-0 over the weekend. Both finalists entered the championship battle with undefeated records. Huge momentum for van Dorp, who is not only preparing for European's but also has qualified to compete in the Tour Challenge Tier II.
- Another cheer of #HoppSchwiiz! This seems to be a consistent chant on the #wct as of late. But this time it was cheers for yet another Swiss team. Team Stern surprised a few with their #CanadInnsClassic title victory over Team Homan. Stern stole the winning point in an extra end when Homan's final draw did not curl enough. Stern got revenge over Homan for a loss earlier in the event in an A-draw SF. Stern lost the B-final (vs. Einarson) and reached the playoff bracket through the #CSideGrind. Stern made a late push for the European spot to represent Switzerland but ended up JUST missing out against defending world champion (defending Euro silver medal winner) Team Tirinzoni 124.1 - 130.5. Wow!
- At the #MedicineHatClassic, two young and upcoming #NextGen teams collected tour titles. Team Skrlik took home the women's title, knocking off China's Team Wang in the final. Skrlik went undefeated on the weekend with a 5-0 record. On the men's draw, Team Sturmay wrapped up their first tour title of the season when they defeated Team Gunnlaugson in the final late Monday afternoon. The championship final was a rematch of the A-qualifier Saturday night, when Sturmay got the best of Gunner as well en route to going undefeated.
- At the #StroudCashSpiel, welcome back to the ice Julie Tippin and Krista McCarville. Tippin, curling with a new team based out of Quebec, won the title in their debut event over Team McCarville. McCarville was also making their tour debut of the season. For the men, a Northern Ontario team would take home the championship with Team MacEwan (not to be confused with McEwen out of Manitoba) defeating Team Camm in the final.
- We saw our first #wct event in New Brunswick this weekend with the #SteeleCup in Fredericton. A familiar face took the women's title with Team Crawford defeating Team Quillian. Unfamiliar with the name Quillian? Well the last name may have changed but the team is the same. Team Quillian is formally known to many curling fans as Team Robichaud, skipped by Sylvie Quillian (nee Robichaud). On the men's ice, Scott Jones and his NB foursome knocked off Atlantic Canada rival Team Murphy from NS in the final.
- We saw some great #NextGen results this weekend. But lets give a special shout out to a young Manitoba team who turned some heads all weekend in Portage and a team from The Rock turning heads in Ontario. Props to Team Zacharias. Zacharias put in the work this weekend, going 5-3 on the weekend. Part of their 5 wins include defeating Team Roth and Team Roque. And their losses were to Team Einarson and twice to Team Tirinzoni, including a #CSideGrind qualifier. They were also a late addition into the field as a replacement team. And NL's Team Steep was perhaps the #TeamUpset in Stroud going 3-1 in the RR leading to a SF finish.
- Time for the #QRollCall. Props to the following teams for reaching playoff brackets this weekend. Reaching the SF include: Team Retornaz, Team Schwaller (Champery), Team Muyres, Team C. Kim (Medicine Hat), Team Ferris, Team K. Jones, Team Froud (Stroud) and Team R. Comeau, Team Smeltzer, Team J.Comeau (Fredericton). Reaching the QF include: Team Schnider, Team Lottenbach, Team Whyte, Team Edin (Champery), Team Matsumura, Team Meachem, Team Jacobson, Team Pahl (Medicine Hat) and Team Heggestad, Team Krell, Team Dunnam, Team Kean (Stroud).
#OUTturn
- The blog talks about #TeamUpset from the positive side but sometimes results come in over the weekend and it is the failure to win resulting in a big upset story. We saw a few top ranked teams struggle this weekend. One of the ultimate upsets of the season came in Portage with home province favourite Jennifer Jones. The team finished 2-3 and failed to qualify, not even reaching a qualifier match. Their losses were to two Japanese teams (Koana, Nakajima) and #PolarPower Team Galusha. While the losses were to good teams and not "bad losses", the fact Jones failed to qualify at a big event on home ice is shocking.
- Similar result for Switzerland's Team De Cruz in Medicine Hat. De Cruz made the decision to not #DefendTheIce in Champery and compete in southern Alberta instead. The result certainly could not be what they were expecting, especially coming off a big tour title a few weeks ago in Basel. De Cruz won their opener vs. Pahl (who ended up qualifying) and lost three straight games to be sent home earlier than expected. Their failure to qualify, coupled with main Swiss rival Team Schwaller reaching the SF in Champery, results in De Cruz JUST missing out on qualifying for the European Championships. Team Schwaller sweeps by De Cruz 133.21 - 130.42. Wow!
- So you like TB disasters right? Well did you follow the women's bracket in Medicine Hat this weekend? Heading into the final draw, Team Sherrer just needed a W over Team Fleming to secure the last playoff spot and prevent a plethora of TB games. Fleming ended up winning the game in an extra end. Bring on the DRAMA! Only 6 teams could reach the playoffs in a 12-team field. 5 spots were secured. 6 teams were tied for the final playoff spot. The TB bracket equated to the actual playoff bracket. The first round of the TB bracket hit the ice at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday with the winners back on the ice Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. The crazy schedule and bracket was an #OUTturn but we will give props to Team Fleming as a noteworthy #INturn. Fleming won the final RR to force the drama and ended up winning 3 straight TB games to reach the QF. They played 5 games in less than 24 hours folks. Amazing!
With all these results, did we see some movement on the Power Rankings mountain? Lets take a look at the updated rankings heading into The Masters.
#PowerRankings
NATION
- Canada - 4650 (LR: 1)
- Sweden - 3380 (2)
- Switzerland - 3330 (3)
- Scotland - 2843 (4)
- China - 2160 (5)
Canada was able to #DefendTheIce in Scotland and retain their gold medal ranking points from last season. What is interesting is the Maple Leaf did not actually gain any ground on their Top 5 competition.
Sweden actually went one round better this year, failing to qualify last year but reaching the opening playoff round this year as the top fourth place team. Switzerland and Scotland both replicated their final placement of a year ago. And China, they once again did not field a team into the competition. Add is all up and after our first world championship the rankings actually look almost the exact same, minus Sweden gaining 15 points.
The big moves happened outside the Top 5. Russia failed to reach the podium, thus dropping from #6 to #8. Russia's QF loss was a gain for the #PACC nations of South Korea and Japan. Korea, who defeated Russia in the QF, moved up to #6 after their 4th place finish while Japan, failing to make the playoffs, still leap over the Russians into #7.
Outside the Top 10 the biggest drop falls to Spain. The Spaniards were unable to replicate their #TeamUpset silver medal run from a season ago. Their elimination in the opening round of the playoffs cost them a collective 410 point loss. Spain drops to #29 in the updated rankings, falling from #15.
The blog also wants to give a special shout-out to Kosova who collected their first-ever ranking points when they defeated Nigeria in the RR. We continue to support the #growthesport movement and it is exciting to see nations collect their first international wins on world championship ice.
MEN
- Team Koe - 6675 (LW: 1)
- Team Bottcher- 6223 (2)
- Team Paterson - 5382 (5)
- Team Mouat - 5380 (3)
- Team Epping - 4948.5 (HM)
Hon. Mention: Team De Cruz, Team Edin, Team Jacobs, Team Gushue, Team Matsumura
No change at the top as Koe and Bottcher remain in a basic dead-lock for the #1 spot. But the big move is from Scotland's Team Paterson. Paterson may not have stepped on the ice this weekend but, in thanks to removing points from their opposition due to the 52-week system, they are the big gainers moving up to a season-high #3. They surpass national rivals Team Mouat, which seems accurate given how Paterson did just knock off Mouat and Muirhead for the Scottish berth at the European Championships.
Switzerland's Team De Cruz enjoyed a quick two-week stay in the Top 5. They had the opportunity this weekend in Medicine Hat to stay Top 5, or even move up, but failed to qualify in one of the shockers of the season. Their loss was Epping's gain as Epping rejoins the upper part of the mountain at #5.
The Brad's continue to swap spots with Jacobs now passing Gushue for #8 but only 200 points separate the two rivals. And we welcome Japan's Matsumura to the Top 10 for the first time this season as they rode their QF appearance in Medicine Hat into the #10 spot.
We also see some bigger moves clawing towards the Top 10. Champery champion Team van Dorp climbed up to #18, less than 100 points behind #17 Team McEwen. Medicine Hat winner Team Sturmay moved up to #21. And the interesting #StarsAndStripes watch now sees Team Dropkin and Team Ruohonen tied for #23, sitting 15 points ahead of USA rival Team Shuster. Of course Shuster does have the advantage, competing at the grand slam this week.
WOMEN
- Team Homan - 8900 (LW: 1)
- Team Einarson - 6450 (2)
- Team Tirinzoni - 6235 (3)
- Team Hasselborg - 5640 (4)
- Team J. Jones - 3618 (HM)
Team Homan's run to the final in Portage increased her lead atop the mountain while, in comparison, Team Einarson failed to defend the finals points from last year and took an overall loss in total points even with the SF finish.
The big winner may be Team Tirinzoni. The world champs are still perfect on qualifying in events entered, following up the tour title last weekend with a SF finish this weekend. The gap is closing and the Swiss are only 215 points behind Einarson for #2 heading into the grand slam this week. Anything can happen as major events carry 2000 points for the champion.
Team Carey deciding not to compete in Portage, and thus not #DefendTheIce, sees them fall out of the Top 5. Team J. Jones, even though they failed to qualify, was actually able to reclaim their coveted #5 spot.
We also have a new debut in the Top 10. Switzerland's Team Stern cracks the Top 10 for the first time this season after their championship performance in Portage. Talk about a momentum boost heading into The Masters!
And we also see Team Fleury make a continuous climb up the mountain as they reach a season-high ranking of #7 after their QF finish this weekend. Fleury debuted in the Top 10 only 3 weeks ago and have been consistently making a climb towards the Top 5. They may just be the most dangerous team in the Top 10.
#StayTuned
FINALLY we welcome the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season. The Masters, also the first major of the #gsoc season, hits the ice this week in North Bay, ON. The blog will return later in the week with a full preview and predictions.
PLUS we add a new member to the #TwineTimeFam this weekend. Any guesses on who? I will give you a hint, SHE is competing in North Bay this weekend. 😏
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