The Path to the Road to the Roar

#BetweenTheSheets: The Path To The Road To The Roar

Ready to start sliding towards the Olympic Trials in Saskatoon?

It is a beautiful Fall day. You grab your favourite water bottle. Put on your favourite walking outfit. And you hit the trails to get some much needed exercise.

You find your entry to the path and start walking. Birds chirping. Sun shining. Small breeze. Everything is relaxing and perfect.

Then you hit a detour.

The path makes you turn left.

You shrug your shoulders and continue along the path as directed.

Another detour.

You now are going right.

"Ok, this is weird," you tell yourself but it is a nice day and you are out enjoying yourself so you venture on.

Another detour. Again?!

Another left. Followed by another left. Followed by two right's.

Now you look around and in true "The Simple Life" Paris Hilton-style you ask yourself, "Where the hell am I?"

Confused on where you are? How many turns have your taken? How many detours are there?

Welcome to the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials process.

The road to Saskatoon is exactly like the heading picture for this blog post.

There are a few different paths a team can take.

One is direct.

One veers a bit to the left.

And one will have a few twists and turns along the way to the right.

Which path which team takes? Well, choose your own adventure Canadian curling teams and good luck.

Hopefully you do not get lost along the way. Otherwise we may never see your smiling faces in Saskatoon in November.

We know the detours along the path. Those "detours" are called COVID-19.

Each variant adds another detour on the path, looking to roadblock some of us along the way and making the road to Saskatoon that much more difficult.

But alas, here we are. The first path towards Saskatoon will find some footing this week in Ottawa with the Trials Direct-Entry Event and the Pre-Trials Direct-Entry Event.

Who came up with these names? Whomever handles "naming conventions" at Curling Canada, I would be slightly frightful of my job status after all this is done.

Before we slide out of the hack with the preview and predictions for both events, lets first talk about this "process".

We get it. A new qualification process needed to be developed due to the COVID-19 detour. Teams have been unable to compete and earn points for qualification. We needed to set up something to whittle our way down to our #NobleNine in Saskatoon.

And the process, once finalized, isn't THAT bad. Honestly.

Outside of just hosting open qualification events, what else could be done?

To be honest, I would have enjoyed one open qualification event just to give those newly formed teams something to fight for in the early part of the season. Plus the storyline heading into Saskatoon of having an open qualification event winner go from no shot at the Olympics to competing in the Trials would be fun.

But yes, I know. We are looking to send the best of the best to the 2022 Winter Olympics and we don't necessarily want to "risk" a team just getting hot at the right time and winning the right to represent Canada.

Or do we? We have been sending our best teams to the Olympics and World Championships for many years. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we do not. It happens. Welcome to Sports!!

Maybe something to look at in the future for the next Olympic cycle though.

The big "miss" for Curling Canada is the marketing potential for this 2021 process.

Why not give each event a more distinct and fun name? Play off the Roar of the Rings idea still. People liked that marketing slogan. It worked.

The Road to the Roar worked as well. It sounds better than Pre-Trials or Direct-Entry.

It would appear someone got really excited with a google search, found the terminology "Direct-Entry" and wanted to use it over and over again.

Welcome to Direct-Entry Week!

Each event could have been individually marketed. Different colour schemes. Different marketing slogans. An overall theme to the Olympic trials would have been cool.

And we all know curling needs to keep re-inventing itself to stay relevant and "cool". Just ask the #NextGen batch of future Canadian champions.

Sure there was a risk fans would not be able to attend these events so you "invest" in a marketing campaign which may not garner much revenue from ticket sales. Oh well....

Risk = Reward.

We took no risk. We named our events with these ridiculous literal names like Pre-Trials Direct-Entry and added "Event" after each competition. BOOM! There is the marketing strategy.

Gross. Puke. No thanks.

At least the slams got it right having the rings be a different colour for each event. Some differentiation is better than nothing.

For this Olympic trials process, that is what we were given. Nothing. 

Poor naming conventions. Confusing pathway system. Detours.

And at the end of the day, curling fans (and athletes) are left with their hands in their air saying, "Where the hell am I?"

But the blog digresses. At least we can have events. At least we have a qualification system in place, whether agreed upon by many or not. Something beats nothing.

And after the 18 months we have all endured, curling is on the ice and we have something to get excited for.

Critique aside, bring on the process and lets start our journey on the Path to the Road to the Roar in Saskatoon.

Before we start, lets first congratulate (and remind everyone) those teams who already punched a ticket to Saskatoon for the actual 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

For the men: Team Epping (2019 Canada Cup), Team Gushue (2020 Brier), Team Bottcher (1st 2018/19 CTRS), Team Koe (2nd 2018/19 CTRS), Team Jacobs (1st 2019/20 CTRS)

For the women: Team Homan (2019 Canada Cup), Team Einarson (2020 Scotties), Team J. Jones (1st 2018/19 CTRS), Team Fleury (2nd 2019/20 CTRS)

With Bottcher and Einarson winning the Canadian championship last season, and having already secured a spot in Saskatoon, an extra spot was created. This spot will be awarded at the Trials Direct-Entry Event this week in Ottawa.

Worth noting, those teams competing in the Trials Direct-Entry Event who do not punch a ticket to Saskatoon this weekend will have a second Olympic life as they automatically qualify for the Pre-Trials in October in Liverpool, NS.

So yes, 3 of the 5 women's teams will advance to Saskatoon and 2 of the 5 men's teams. 50% of the field in the Direct-Entry Event will leave Ottawa with Olympic Trials tickets. And the rest "drop" to the Pre-Trials.

Hmmm, could there be some extra critique similar to what we heard earlier this week with a federal election. Is this the best use of financial resources? Having a 5-team event where half the field qualifies for the Trials? 

Did we REALLY need this extra event? Could we not have just used the same process as before with a Pre-Trials and Trials? I could even bite on the Pre-Trials Direct-Entry as a last-chance qualifier.

But this Trials Direct-Entry Event seems a bit pointless. If we cannot afford a proper marketing concept, why can we afford this 5-team event?

Ah yes, those "detours" of COVID-19 will be the response and "excuse" for getting us here I suppose.

Oh well, grab your fav walking beverage, off we go...

#TourLifePredictions

Trials Direct-Entry Event

Ottawa, ON

MEN

Format: 5 team RR. Top 2 teams will qualify for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

Teams Entered: Team Dunstone, Team Flasch, Team Gunnlaugson, Team Howard, Team McEwen

#Fav

Hard to pick a fav given the resume of these 5 teams. They are all strong and all "deserve" a spot in the field in Saskatoon.

But who likes a fence sitter? Not this blog...so lets pick a #Fav!

Why bet against Matt Dunstone and the Sasky champs?

Back-to-back Brier bronze medal wins in 2019 and 2020.

Dunstone and Kirk Muyres have been to the Trials together before, in 2017 when they finished 2-6 (Team Laycock).

Braeden Moskowy was there in 2017 as well, curling with Team Carruthers who will now be his competition at this event. Moskowy also missed the playoffs in 2017, finishing with a 4-4 record.

All three of these guys have some unfinished business to take care of in terms of Olympic Trials.

But past Trials history aside, this is arguably one of the hottest teams on tour the past few seasons. A #GSOC title. The aforementioned Brier podium finishes. Tour titles.

As this blog always states, "consistency, consistency, consistency" will win you championships.

This team consistently has proven it can hang, and beat, any team in the world. 

Failure to win a coveted #GoldenTicket this weekend would be considered a mild upset and a major disappointment for this team.

#TeamUpset

From one Sasky team to another. Bring on Colton Flasch and his relatively new team.

Team Flasch came together before the beginning of last season. COVID-19 wrecked havoc on getting to see Flasch, Catlin Schneider and the Marsch brothers (Kevin and Dan) really compete on tour.

They come in as a little bit of an unknown. Not unknown as in we don't know who they are but unknown in terms of curling resume as a team.

We know of Flasch's success with Team Koe in the past. Schneider was a member of Team Dunstone, winning the Brier bronze in 2019.

We know this team can compete. But are they ready to step up the game and snag a #GoldenTicket?

#W2W4

This feels like a mini-Brier, right? Almost like the days of Relegation where we have this mini-RR tournament where one team walks away breathing a sigh of relief and the other teams just walk away.

Of course in this case two teams will walk away happy but still, you get the point.

Glenn Howard is a legend. Hard to imagine an Olympic Trials without him. Plus, could this be his last Olympic cycle? We all would like to hope not but you never know. And if it is, it only seems fitting he is playing right to the end of the process as far as he, his body and his team can go. They are coming in hot, having already picked up a tour title this season and qualifying in their other two events.

Fun stat, Howard is aiming to compete at his 7th (7!!) Olympic Curling Trials. AMAZING! The 59 year old continues to turn back the clock and prove age is just a number. And he has reached a Trials final before, losing out in 2009 to Kevin Martin.

Who else is a bit sad knowing Wayne Middaugh will not be in Ottawa with Team Howard this week?

Jason Gunnlaugson is the wild card of the group. We know Gunner can shoot the lights out. We have seen him on the Brier ice now and know he can produce the big shots. But we also know he can be prone to hanging out inside messy houses and making his work much harder than it has to be.

Gunner is also aiming for this 3rd Trials appearance. He was an alternate in 2013 for Team Morris, losing the final to Team Jacobs, and made his debut in 2009, finishing 0-7.

What should we expect from Team McEwen? I can see this team going 4-0, 0-4 and everywhere in between. What gave the advantage to Team Dunstone is what hurts Team McEwen: consistency. A challenger? Always. A championship contender? Still unknown...and the clock is ticking.

But to Mike McEwen's credit, remember he did reach the final of the 2017 Olympic Trials, losing out on a final draw to Kevin Koe. He also has some unfinished business with the Trials.

Also, can we get through the RR without a TB? Or would we just call it a playoff? Or is it a qualifier among the qualifier?

Either way, with 5 teams competing and the Top 2 advancing, odds are pretty strong we see two teams tied with 3-1 or 2-2 records fighting for the final Trials spot.

Will any team go undefeated? Odds would say no given the level of competition. Could we see three teams finish 3-1? What if 4 teams go 2-2?

Could a weird TB procedure like LSD/DSC be used to eliminate a team and send them into the Pre-Trials?

It could happen. It might happen. Yowie Wowie!!

Olympic Trials Berths: Team Dunstone, Team Howard

WOMEN

Format: 5 team RR. Top 3 teams will qualify for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

Teams Entered: Team Birt, Team Brown, Team Rocque, Team Scheidegger, Team Walker

#Fav

When the field was first announced, I think many would have tagged Alberta champs Team Walker as the early favourite here with fellow Albertan rivals Team Scheidegger right behind them.

Fast forward to September 2021 and I actually think a new #Fav has emerged. Hello Team Brown!

This team is on the cusp of becoming a regular champion contender. They reached the Championship Pool at the 2020 Scotties and just missed out on the same in 2021.

Those learning experiences will help them along this path, starting in Ottawa.

The two-time defending B.C. champs have looked very strong in the early goings of this season. 2 Alberta Curling Series Events. 1 championship. 1 SF finish.

What do we say rock heads? "Consistency, consistency, consistency"

#TeamUpset

We do not often see a team from Atlantic Canada in this position, knowing they are 2 or 3 wins away from a spot in the Olympic Trials. But here we are with PEI's Team Birt.

Suzanne Birt is a regular name on the tongue of Canadian curling fans. She has competed at 12 Scotties. She has represented PEI at the past 3 Scotties. She is a two-time Canadian junior champ and a world junior champ.

But she is also 39 years old now. I know, I was shocked as well. She certainly does not look it. And she definitely still curls as strong as ever.

This might be her best chance to earn a spot in the Trials. Back in 2017 we saw no team East of Ontario make the Trials. We saw only one team from Atlantic Canada make the Pre-Trials (Team Breen).

If Team Birt can pull this off and claim a #GoldenTicket this weekend, it would be HUGE for continuing to develop and #growthesport in the Maritimes.

#W2W4

Could we get the Alberta sweep?

3 spots on the line. 3 Alberta teams. It could happen folks.

Team Walker is coming off a Scotties bronze medal win. They reached the final of the tour event at Saville a few weeks ago and the QF last weekend in Sherwood Park. And they welcome lead Nadine Scotland back to the lineup this week, returning from her maternity leave. It would be VERY shocking to see this team fail to finish Top 3.

Team Scheidegger is not to be overlooked either. Casey Scheidegger and her foursome were at the Trials in 2017, finishing 3-5. They have some unfinished business as well. Remember, the 2017 Trials were held in Ottawa...coincidence this event is held in Ottawa as well?

Scheidegger is also back on the ice full-time with the team and they have been off to a hot start of their own this season, reaching the SF at two Alberta Curling Series events already.

And can Team Rocque complete the trifecta for the Wild Rose province? Kelsey Rocque will be looking for her first Trials appearance and could lean heavily on the front end experience of Dana Ferguson and Rachel Brown. "Pooks and Fergie" were also at the 2017 Trials with Team Val Sweeting, just missing the playoffs with a 4-4 record.

Interesting to also note, Rocque, Walker and Scotland all competed in the 2017 Pre-Trials. All 3 reached the playoffs with Rocque/Walker competing together and losing the B-SF while Scotland reached the playoffs through the now infamous TB bracket before falling in her playoff game to Team Tippin. 

This is a weird one, I must admit. When have you ever seen an event where over half the field walks away smiling and happy?

We will here. 3 of the 5 teams will punch a ticket to Saskatoon. The remaining 2 earn a ticket to Nova Scotia.

It feels strange, no? I almost would have preferred to see only 2 qualifiers here and then add the final qualifier spot to the Pre-Trials event where more teams are competing.

There is just something odd and off about this 5 team event. Should going 2-2 or even 1-3 be "good enough" to earn an Olympic Trials spot?

I am not so sure...but it may happen this weekend.

Olympic Trials Berths: Team Walker, Team Brown, Team Scheidegger

Pre-Trials Direct-Entry Event

Ottawa, ON

WOMEN

Format: 8 team triple knockout with 3 qualifiers. A and B qualifier face off with winner advancing to the Pre-Trials. Loser drops to face C qualifier for final Pre-Trials spot. 

Teams Entered: Team Brothers, Team Galusha, Team Howard, Team Hunkin (Silvernagle), Team K. Jones, Team Mann, Team St-Georges, Team Wark

#Fav

Could it be? Has it finally happened? Is a team from The North now considered a #Fav?

Damn right!

Hello Team Galusha and bring on the #PolarPower.

Why shouldn't this team be considered the #Fav in this field?

They have hit the ice the past few weeks in Oakville and Kitchener-Waterloo, qualifying both times and winning a tour title last weekend. They come in as the hottest team in the field.

We have always said one of the biggest drawbacks for a team from The North is not getting consistent ice and playing time. Team Galusha solved their own problem with smart scheduling to lead into this very event.

And the strategy paid off. They enter with confidence. They enter fresh off a tour win. Plus it is not like this is an unknown team. 

Kerry Galusha has 18 Scotties appearances under her belt.

Sarah Koltun has 8 Canadian Junior and 6 Scotties appearances.

And Jo-Ann Rizzo reached the 2013 Olympic Trials final, curling with Team Sherry Middaugh and losing the final to Jennifer Jones.

The Polar Power is strong right now...and what a HUGE story it would be for Canadian curling and The North to see a Territorial representative advance to the Pre-Trials.

Pressure is on being a favourite and coming in with the hot hand though.

#TeamUpset

Another fan favourite who is just starting to build a resume will also look to put a shock to the system in Ottawa.

Can the Quebec champ Team St-Georges build off the surprising success of the 2021 Scotties?

Laurie St-Georges has been to 3 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, finishing runner-up in 2018.

2020 proved to be her coming out party, excelling at tour events, reaching the Quebec Scotties final and winning the Quebec Mixed Doubles title with partner (on and off the ice) Felix Asselin.

She followed it up with her first Quebec Scotties title in 2021, played in her first Scotties and reached the Championship Pool in her debut appearance, finishing 6-6 overall and winning the Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship Award.

So what can "Elsa" do next?

Why not come to Ottawa, knock off a few teams from out West and "steal" an Olympic Pre-Trials berth?

They may be considered one of the longshots in the field but didn't we say the same thing inside the #IceBubble? We all know how that turned out...

#W2W4

This event will have WAY more pressure than that other event taking place at the same time. For these teams there will be no second chance. Win and In. Lose and Olympic dreams are dashed for 4 more years (or forever for some players).

This will be a tough field as all 8 of these teams are coming in with various resumes. Whether having strong results already this season or relying on experience of the past, an argument could be made any of these teams has a legit chance at nabbing a Pre-Trials ticket.

I am excited to watch this one play out because, honestly, I really have no idea how it will end up.

As an aside, keep an eye on Nova Scotia's Jill Brothers. More importantly their alternate. You may know her. Kim Kelly. She could be the wildcard on the bench for this team.

Qualifiers: Team Brothers, Team Galusha, Team St-Georges

Pre-Trials Berths: Team Brothers, Team Galusha

MEN

Format: 8 team triple knockout with 3 qualifiers. A and B qualifier face off with winner advancing to the Pre-Trials. Loser drops to face C qualifier for final Pre-Trials spot. 

Teams Entered: Team Chambers, Team Gauthier, Team Grassie, Team Lyburn, Team Meachem, Team Roberge, Team Ryan, Team Wiebe

#Fav

Can you go from World Junior Curling champion to Canadian Olympic Trials competitor in the span on one year?

If you answered "No", stay away from Jacques Gauthier. He is ready to prove you wrong this week.

Ok it may seem weird to list a junior champ as a #Fav in this field but why not?

This #NextGen team seems primed to make the leap from junior champ to men's challenger in the shortest time frame possible.

And, if history has taught us anything, Gauthier does not take the stereotypical path to success.

Lets not forget, he did not even win his home province of Manitoba in 2020 before claiming the Canadian junior title as Team Manitoba 2. #HIStory was made. Why not do it again?

It will be interesting to see Gauthier face off against former junior teammates as well in J.T. Ryan and Zack Bilawka (Team Wiebe).

#TeamUpset

Speaking of #NextGen, could the future be now?

Gauthier is a challenger, we know his resume. But what about those fellow junior competitors J.T. Ryan and Ryan Wiebe?

Gauthier won the 2020 Canadian junior title but lets not forget 2019 when Gauthier curled as vice for J.T. Ryan and reached the Canadian junior final before falling to Tyler Tardi (Gauthier's cousin). Ryan also reached the SF in 2018, again losing to Tardi.

If Gauthier is not able to wave the #TeamUpset / #NextGen flag in Ottawa, maybe J.T. Ryan will?

And if both of them falter, could Ryan Wiebe be the true #TeamUpset dark horse pick?

Out of all the teams in the field, Wiebe may be the one curling fans are least familiar with. But do not pair familiarity with competitive challenger. You can be one without the other.

We have seen it time and time again where a team enters an event, flies under the radar and goes into attack mode at the right time, stealing a tour title.

Remember, Wiebe competed this past weekend at the Mother Club event and reached the SF. They are arriving in Ottawa with some momentum and confidence.

Side note, Mother Club winner Team Riley Smith failed to qualify for any Trials event. Unfortunate as the blog has been a supporter of Smith for a few seasons now. Sure would be nice to have that one extra open qualifier event for teams.

#W2W4

Manitoba vs. Canada?

8 team field. 6 teams from Manitoba. 1 from Saskatchewan. 1 from Quebec.

Odds and stats alone tell us both Pre-Trials tickets should go to the Buffalo province. But will that be how it shakes out?

And, lets be a bit critical here, what does this say about the curling landscape in Canada? Or, more importantly, the tour ranking system?

Are these Manitoba teams qualified to be here? 100% yes. No doubt. These are good teams.

But is the deck stacked a bit too much in favour of Manitoba? Are the Manitoba Curling Tour events worth too much? Some of these teams qualified for this event almost exclusively from competing at MCT events. Is that "fair"?

Props to MCT for building a great system and program. A similar approach is being looked at in Alberta and Saskatchewan. And we are all familiar with Ontario.

But why is this field loaded with Manitoba product? Is this proof the system is unbalanced? Perhaps.

Conspiracy theory aside, we still give props to all 6 Manitoba teams (and our friends from Sask and Quebec) for qualifying for this event.

Can Saskatchewan's Team Meachem and/or Quebec's Team Roberge deny Manitoba bragging rights?

Or will it be a Manitoba sweep? The province claims to be the best curling province in Canada. Time to put up or...well you know how that saying goes.

The Manitoba teams are VERY familiar with one another, having played many times at MCT events over the past few seasons. This can be both an advantage and disadvantage.

Either way, expect some surprises from this field. Similar to the women's event, it would not be surprising to see any of these 8 teams snag a Pre-Trials ticket.

Qualifiers: Team Gauthier, Team Chambers, Team Wiebe

Pre-Trials Berths: Team Gauthier, Team Wiebe

There you have it. 26 teams enter the arena in Ottawa. 5 will walk on the road with a #GoldenTicket. 9 more take a walking detour path knowing they have a second chance and the Olympic dream is still alive. And 12 turn around and head home.

If the #TwineTime predictions were to hold true, how about this for representation? BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Northwest Territories will have a team (or teams) to celebrate at the conclusion of Direct-Entry Week.

For the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, how great it would be to see better representation from across Canada rather than just 2 or 3 provinces?

PLUS remember the epic battle of Switzerland takes place at the same time.

Team Schwaller vs. Team De Cruz. Best of 7. 

Winner will represent Switzerland at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Quick preview? Tough to bet against how hot Team Schwaller has been to start the season. But Team De Cruz has been there and has more experience in these type of high-pressure games. #TeamBronze did win the Olympic bronze in 2018 and has 4 world championship bronze medal wins.

Quick prediction? A mild "upset" with Team Schwaller finally getting the time in the spotlight, advancing to the Olympics with a 4 games to 3 win over rival Team De Cruz.

All games will be streamed LIVE on the Swiss Curling Association YouTube channel.

#StayTuned

Due to #COVID19, there will be no fans in the building cheering on the teams this week. You have to feel for the teams competing in these two events. Having fans would have added to the excitement. 

But alas, here we are. Still. No TV coverage either. Wow!

Disappointing to say the least considering the field and the importance of these events. This is a great example of why curling is still struggling for mainstream sports relevance folks.

You can still catch the action though via the Curling Canada YouTube channel. Stream the action LIVE or go back and re-watch games you may miss. Some of us are "working" during these draws after all.

Cheer on your favs. Share on social media who you are cheering for. Send the love to your favourite team(s) anyway you can since they cannot get the love in person this week.

And, most importantly, for those athletes competing this week and keeping the Olympic dreams alive, good luck and good curling!