S2223 M Preview

#BetweenTheSheets: Men's Season Preview

Hot Topics, #TeamUpset, #PowerRankings and Predictions

New Season. New Look. Who Dis?

That may be what curling fans are saying when the men hit the ice to start the season.

To say there has been change among the men's game this offseason would be an understatement.

#FreeAgentFrenzy was loud and proud. And now we wait to see the results.

The women's season preview was released from the hack earlier this week.

As they say inside Chippendales, "Bring on the men!"

For consistency, lets go with the same preview format.

Time to heat up the ice with some Hot Topics, wave the flag for our potential #TeamUpset challengers, reveal the pre-season Power Rankings and close it off with some light predictions.

#HotTopics

The Curling "Key Game"

Everyone knows it is inevitable. Change is coming and we are going to see the results of it this curling season.

Did curling just participate in its own version of the "key game" though?

It would seem many of the men's teams entered the lockerroom near the end of last season, dropped their brooms and then played a game of school yard pick 'em to find their new team.

There was some serious teammate swapping going on at the end of last season and throughout this offseason.

We are seeing many new faces on new teams, especially in Canada and Switzerland.

Now we await to see which new teams find success early? Find success later in the season? Or just straight up ride the struggle bus for the season and try their luck in #FreeAgentFrenzy next summer.

It will happen folks. Not every new team is going to equate to winning ways and success on tour.

Since the season means nothing towards the "Big Picture" (i.e. Winter Olympics), the feeling out process for this season is low risk in many ways for players. 

If you strike gold with a new team, you are laughing all the way to the bank. If you struggle and just aren't able to find your perfect match, back to Curling Tinder you go before the season really starts to matter in 2023/24.

Again, CurlingGeek has done a great job at tracking all the changes: http://teams.curlinggeek.com/

Get familiar with those new teammates and where your fav player(s) will be curling this season. There has been A LOT of change.

How will it all work out? Time will tell...

Fantasy Sports vs. Online Betting

Hey, did you hear? Online betting is now legal. No longer "coming to Ontario" but rather has officially arrived.

All those online betting commercials grew tiresome by the end of the season. Has curling sold its soul to the online betting devil? Possibly....

I am very interested to see how all these online betting sponsors truly help evolve and #growthesport over time. Will they? Or will they just be after the gambling revenue with the sport possibly paying the price?

I am on the fence with this one rock heads.

But rather than dive into that debate too much, how about we talk about the difference between online betting and fantasy sports.

Online betting is quite simple. You bet on a team to win. Or a trifecta for Top 3. Or various prop bets we have come to know and love at the Super Bowl (i.e. colour of winning team Gatorade, Heads/Tails opening coin toss, time to sing the national anthem). Your bet wins, you win.

Fantasy Sports is a bit different. It usually lasts for an entire event and/or season. Fantasy Hockey. Fantasy Football. Fantasy Baseball. Fantasy Basketball. All the Big 4 sports have it.

Fantasy Soccer continues to see growth around the world, not just in Europe. 

Fantasy WNBA debuted this season on ESPN and saw strong turnout.

Fantasy Sports have different play options too. You can pick winners for each game, each week. You can go based on Confidence when you pick the winners of each game and rank them in order of how confident you are in your pick.

For example, if we look at the upcoming PointsBet Invitational, a Pick'Em Game using confidence points would have you pick the winners of the opening round games and assign the point value from 1 - 8. 8 being the game you are most confident in while 1 is least confident. If your team wins the game, you earn the confidence points you allocated.

Online betting sounds sexier and perhaps "cooler" as you can win big money quick. But you can also lose big money quick.

Fantasy Sports tailors more to the sport itself. Fantasy Sports is for FANS and not just those who like to gamble.

Sure, money can be involved in Fantasy Sports. Private leagues sometimes have an entry fee to play for the season with winner(s) taking home a share of the purse.

Where is the Fantasy Sports option in curling? We see how online betting has made its way into our house but where is the Fantasy Sports?

CurlingZone has tried it. OfficePools has offered it. But neither has really invested in making it a REAL thing. It is hit and miss on when it is offered.

ESPN offers a ton of options. Even the CFL has CFL Fantasy Games on their website to play.

Why has Sportsnet / Grand Slam of Curling not initiated a season-long #GSOC Fantasy Curling game?

TSN? The Season of Champions? And no Fantasy Sports option on your site?

I think the rollout of a Fantasy Sports option would be of more interest to the majority of curling fans compared to online betting. 

I have been saying this for YEARS in this blog space, usually in this EXACT space of a season preview. 

Where. Is. Fantasy. Curling????

Where is the parity in men's curling?

This seems like a growing question of concern in the sport, especially with the men's game. I have heard this topic be discussed at Brier's, world championships, slam events and even at the Olympic Trials.

We may love the players and cheer for the teams but people are starting to feel like the competitions are really coming down to the same handful of teams each event, each season.

Yes we love the teams competing at the Brier. We were excited to cheer on our favs at the Olympic Trials.

But when curling fans remove the heart from the discussion and focus with their head on handicapping potential winners, the list of teams is quite short.

Team Flasch's run at the Brier was amazing. It was a surprise. And it got people excited. But was it just a one-off? Fans may have loved it but did anyone really doubt Team Gushue winning the championship?

Even with 3 players, they were considered the favourite going into the final.

Gushue. Koe. Bottcher.

Maybe at times Jacobs and Dunstone earned some street cred as possible challengers but it has been those Top 3 for a number of seasons.

Edin. Mouat. Canada.

When we look at the world championship, it almost seems like a foregone conclusion the podium will be Sweden, Scotland, Canada in some order. Switzerland being the main challenger.

Outside of those 4 though, who has a realistic shot at the podium on a consistent basis?

Is this helping or hurting the sport?

I suppose if you are a big fan of those teams, you may be quite content with those consistent results.

This blog has great relationships with Team Edin and Team Mouat. Brad Gushue and Kevin Koe have always been very gracious with their time to do post-game interviews with the little blog. As has Matt Dunstone and Brad Jacobs.

But, remove the heart from the equation, I am not sure this is what we want to see for the sport.

It feels like the Big 4 domination we saw in men's tennis over the past 20 years.

What is the motivation to stay in a sport when you are possibly only aiming for, at best, a Top 10 world ranking by the end of the season but having no real shot at the Brier and/or world championship trophies?

I am not saying athletes and teams are just going to throw their hands up and give up, they will still compete. And everyone still holds true to the old sports motto of "anyone can beat anyone on any given day".

But it has become less and less frequent.

When you look at the women's field, even just from a provincial standpoint, you may be able to name a few teams in each province who legit have a shot at making the Scotties.

Can we say the same comparison for the men? I am not so sure. And I say so not meaning to disrespect any team or any province/territory competition.

With all the changes even, did we not just see the "key party" of elite teams swapping in and out players to stay elite?

Did any of those Top Tier teams get weaker? Nope!

Did any of those Tier II (not in the GSOC definition but in the teams ranked 10 - 25 way) teams get considerably stronger to become legit Brier favs? I am not so sure.

We need to see how the season plays out of course and it is why we play the games.

Men's teams, prove me wrong! I am all for seeing new names claiming tour titles and emerging as legit championship contenders.

And top teams, maybe you just are THAT good. And, if so, great work and keep going.

As is noted in tennis, don't blame Federer/Djokovic/Nadal for just being that much better than everyone else in their prime. It is what it is. We still celebrate each of them for how they can dominate.

But every so often, at every grand slam, part of you kind of hopes for a surprise, right?

Thomas Ulsrud

The season preview would be remiss not to mention Norwegian curling royalty Thomas Ulsrud!

The curling world mourned the loss of a true legend in the sport on May 24, 2022 when Ulsrud passed away from cancer at the age of 50.

Ulsrud has been a fan favourite inside curling houses for years.

A world champion (2014), 2-time Euro champion (2010, 2011) and Olympic silver medal winner (2010), Ulsrud was not just successful on the ice but off of it as well.

Everyone remembers the #PantsDance! Ulsrud truly embodied the idea of loving what you do. He really seemed to love being on the ice competing.

Win or lose, he had a glowing smile on his face and his competitors always spoke highly of him. He was the true Sportsman of Curling.

I only met him on a few occasions. I was very fortunate to have a few post-game interviews with him at events. He was always polite and honest in his responses. And it did not matter "where" you were from or the "media" you were representing, he treated everyone with equal respect.

Trust me, this is not always the case folks.

While Ulsrud was moving towards retiring from the sport, I think many curling fans still did not believe he would ever "officially" hang up the slider. A true testament to how big of a fan fav he was and will always be.

The curling ice will never be the same without him.

RIP Thomas Ulsrud!

#TeamUpset

Similar to the women's preview and as a reminder, for a team to earn #TeamUpset consideration, they need to be ranking outside the Top 20 to start the season.

Here are 5 teams with #TeamUpset potential:

1. Team Asselin (Quebec, #26) 

When Mike Fournier made the decision to curl out of Ontario next season, people were wondering what would happen to Quebec curling. Who would step up and be the next team for #Labelleprovince?

Well the answer arrived when Felix Asselin announced his new team, sticking with Martin Crete and Jean-Francois Trepanier and adding bro Emile Asselin. This team could make some BIG noise on the ice this season...and no, that is not a crack at Crete's ability to yell.

The Quebec championship will not be a cake walk for them of course. Team Desjardins and Team Roberge will be strong challengers. But Asselin should be considered the pre-season favourite.

This team is on the cusp of the Top 20. I would not be surprised to see them chasing down a Top 15 (or better) final ranking by the end of the season.

2. Team Sturmay (Alberta, #24) 

Koe. Bottcher. The faces who run the Alberta curling scene. Both teams will look a bit different this season, after a successful Alberta round of "key game", and both will be dominant favourites in Alberta.

BUT, if either slip up, Karsten Sturmay will be right there to seize the opportunity.

This is a new look team who just happened to get some slides in together at the season ending Champions Cup in May. An early advantage for them perhaps?

Sturmay is still curling with Glenn Venance but have added championship pedigree in Kyle Doering and J.D. Lind (vice) with Kurtis Goller at lead.

Lind will not be playing all events with the team of course. He is still the national coach of Japanese women's curling. When he is able to play though, he will slot into the vice role.

This is one of those sneaky, fly under the radar teams folks. They can be THAT good and can knock off any team they play against if they are on top of their game.

I had a chance to chat with the team in Olds and they are very excited and very confident heading into the season. Two emotions which bode well for any new team.

Plus they are nice guys and sometimes it is fun to just root for the nice guys. 

3. Team Kleiter (Saskatchewan, #59) - 

Is this the season for #NextGen success? If so, Saskatchewan's Rylan Kleiter is ready to seize the day.

Saskatchewan is a fairly wide open province this season. Yes, Team Flasch is the perennial favourite of course. But the main challengers could come from a number of places.

Kody Hartung. Dallan Muyres. Steve Laycock. All familiar names who have seen success before.

But Rylan Kleiter may be the most dangerous name in the bunch. Team Kleiter made no change in the off-season. This is the same team who found an abundance of success as a junior team, 4 straight SK junior titles remember. Time to translate those successes into the men's game.

Do not be surprised to see Team Kleiter in that Sask provincial final next winter folks.

4. Team Jeong (South Korea, #44) - 

Not familiar with ByeongJin Jeong from Seoul, South Korea? You might want to get acquainted with the name quick...

This team has already become the hottest team on tour this season...and it is only August.

They won the Korean Curling Championship in June, going 8-1 in the RR and knocking off familiar Korean champ Chang-min Kim in the final.

The team followed up their win by kicking off their tour schedule at the beginning of August at the Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic. They went undefeated to claim the title, including wins over Japan's Team Morozumi in the RR and final.

Their Korean title means they are the official Team Korea for the season, representing their nation at the inaugural Pan-Continental Championship and World Men's Curling Championship (pending qualification).

The 25 year old skip is not new to the curling scene. He spent a few seasons curling with Soo-hyuk Kim, including winning bronze at #PACC 2018 and representing Korea at the 2019 world championship (13th place).

This new team has already shown to be a #TeamUpset flag bearer within the summer months.

Lets see what they can do once the full season is underway. Keep your eyes on them!

5. Team Purcell (Nova Scotia, #47) - 

Quick, name the top ranked men's team from Nova Scotia?

If you said Team Purcell, you would be correct.

So how can the highest ranked team from the province also be a #TeamUpset mention?

For starters, we have not seen them fully compete on the men's tour so who knows how they will perform.

But, they are the defending Canadian junior champs and won bronze at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championship.

Similar to Team Kleiter, this is the same team we saw dominate the Canadian junior scene last season. They were even labelled a "Junior Super-Team".

Expectations may be high but these young guys seem to have the game to back it up.

They may not dominate. They will take their tough losses. But if they can rebound well, stay positive and stay focused, they may be a team to finally show the transition from junior to men's curling is not as scary as many make it out to be.

Also note, there seems to be a slight theme to the #TeamUpset section here, highlighted by a number of #NextGen stars (Asselin, Kleiter, Purcell). Perhaps this batch of #NextGen stars can help eliminate that parity problem mentioned above?

#PowerRankings

1. Team Mouat (Scotland)

The most dangerous mindset to see in an opponent is when they have two things on their agenda: Redemption and Revenge.

Enter Scotland's Team Mouat!

It was a tale of two seasons for the Scottish lads last year. The high of winning a second Euro championship. The early domination on #GSOC ice. The disappointment of coming so close to winning Olympic gold. And being unable to compete at the world championship.

If you do not think these boys are coming into the season with fire in their eyes, you are sadly mistaken.

This is, right now, the best team in the world. Regardless of results and championship trophy wins, I do believe this entire line up is the strongest team stepping on the ice. 

If they all play to their strong abilities, they can defeat EVERY team they play against.

They have the motivation. They have the hunger. They have the age advantage (lets be real).

Team Mouat starts the season in the same position I think they will end the season on the Power Rankings mountain.

2. Team Edin (Sweden)

Team Edin pulled the Double Double last season. They won Olympic gold and brought home another world championship.

What can they do next?

And perhaps that is the only concern with this team heading into the season.

Do we see an Olympic hangover? How does a team who has won everything stay motivated and keep that hunger alive?

We know one of Niklas Edin's big goals every season is to win the European Curling Championship. He always will get amped up and excited for that event, one where he is 7-time champion. In fact, in 12 appearances Edin has played in the final 10 times!

Edin lost his Euro title last season, falling to the Scottish lads in the final. And that loss might have been the extra motivation needed to win the Olympic and world titles.

So perhaps that is Edin's motivation this season? Win back his Euro title. And again try to #DefendTheIce at the world championship.

But will those goals be enough to keep him motivated for the next 4 years? Is the ultimate goal trying to #DefendTheIce in Italy in 2026?

And how will Edin's body hold up for another Olympic cycle?

We know this is going to be a great team and win a lot of games. But there are lots of questions too.

3. Team Gushue (Newfoundland & Labrador)

Curling fans across Canada may still be mourning the loss of their "Team Gushue" but folks, dry those eyes. The team is not dead. In fact, they only replaced one member of a dominant championship team.

From the lens of their competition, they are still the top team in Canada.

Brett Gallant is gone, now curling out of Alberta (more on him below).

E.J. Harnden slides into the second position after the disbandment of Team Jacobs.

To say this team is stronger or weaker with the slight alteration is comparing an apple to an apple. Either way, you know what you are biting into.

The Canadian champs are still going to be the favs throughout the season. Harnden will add some intensity to a relatively quiet team, which can be a fresh bolt of energy sometimes.

And that is in no way a slight against Gallant. Gallant and Geoff Walker were the tag team front end tandem everyone loved. A change does not equate fault against the past nor saying one is better than the other.

Anything short of another deep Brier run, probably playing to #DefendTheIce in the final, would be a mild upset for the season.

4. Team Koe (Alberta)

We talk about how Kevin Koe can do Kevin Koe things on the ice. Well he can also do what he wants off the ice.

When you have the resume and curling calibre Koe has, you make the call. You get to hand pick any player in the country to play with and, odds are, they are not ignoring that phone call.

Every curler is going to swipe right on Kevin Koe...you just hope Koe swiped right on your profile.

Koe's main Alberta rival over the years has been Team Bottcher. So what do you do? You take the opposition's front end. Welcome aboard Bradley Thiessen and Karrick Martin.

And how do your round out the team? You take the hottest #NextGen free agent available and slot him in at vice. Hello Tyler Tardi.

This may be the quietest team on tour this season but also the most dangerous, chalk full of high potential.

The combo of Koe/Tardi in the back end could be huge. Tardi is a total team player. And will be a sponge in the house, soaking in everything he can from a legend like Koe.

Koe will have the support system he needs in a quiet, positive up and comer wanting to win and wanting to learn and improve every game. I think they can feed off one another's strengths.

Do not be surprised if this team captures a Brier championship in Year 1 together.

5. Team Dunstone (Manitoba)

Sasky fans may be in slight mourning seeing Matt Dunstone move back to home (and rival) province Manitoba this off-season.

Dunstone resurrected Sask curling on the national scale with his results. From Brier bronze medals to winning a #GSOC title, Prairie curling fans were excited for what the future would hold.

And then the decision came and Team Green had a slightly different shade.

From the personal standpoint, smart move for young Dunstone. He is living in B.C. but has his family in Manitoba. Curling out of the home province allows him to be closer to his loved one's and, especially at a young age, this is important. You cannot discredit a decision based not just on wanting to win but also personal in wanting to be with family. Props to you Mr. Dunstone!

Dunstone will be joined by B.J. Neufeld, Colton Lott and Ryan Harnden.

This is one mother-tucking team!

I like the Dunstone/Lott combo coming into play here. Add in the highly successful resumes from Neufeld and Harnden and this could be the recipe for success.

Manitoba is never a cake walk province. But Team Dunstone should be considered the early favourite.

6. Team Whyte (Scotland)

This one might catch people off guard. But hear me out.

Ross Whyte has quickly become one of the best up and coming #NextGen curlers in the world.

He has world junior success in winning silver (2018) and bronze (2019).

And he has been learning from the team sitting atop these rankings, Team Mouat, for the past few seasons as their alternate.

He was with the team at the Olympics. At world championships. At European championships. At the Champions Cup.

When you surround yourself with success, you can learn to become success.

No changes can mean big things when facing opposition still trying to find their slide as a team.

They have already stepped on the ice this season, coming off a QF finish at the Baden Masters last weekend. In Baden, they knocked off Team Brunner, Team Totzek and eventual champions Team Walstad.

Ross Whyte may only be 23 years old but this is a team competing (and winning) far beyond their years already.

This could be their breakout season.

7. Team Bottcher (Alberta)

While rival Koe added youth to his new team, Brendan Bottcher went with the experience approach.

Bottcher added world and Olympic champs to his new team, joining forces with Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert.

When you are trying to form a super-team for an Olympic cycle, surround yourself with those who have been there. A smart play from the analytical Bottcher.

Kennedy has been to 3 Olympics. Hebert has been to 2. Gallant is fresh off his first.

Kennedy and Hebert went together with Team Martin in 2010 and Team Koe in 2018.

Kennedy was the alternate with Gallant and Team Gushue in 2022.

In a strange way, skip Bottcher is the odd man out right now. All the other members are familiar with one another and have been together in one way or another.

That experience and comfort for the other 3 plays into the advantage for this new team. 

If Bottcher can find his spot and quickly ease into comfort with the rest of the team, this is going to be a dangerous team.

Lots of experience. Lots of opinions. Lots of winning. 

Time will tell if that all that adds up to new team success though.

8. Team Schwaller (Switzerland)

Switzerland is going to be very interesting to watch this season.

For the past few seasons we have watched Team De Cruz and Team Schwaller battle for Swiss Supremacy.

Similar to the "key game" in Canada, Switzerland played a game of swap in / swap out during the offseason.

Yannick Schwaller remains the skip of his team but he is now joined by former rivals Benoit Schwarz and Sven Michel. Pablo Lachat rounds out the team at lead.

Schwaller will now be tasked with knocking off former teammates Michael Brunner/Romano Meier/Marcel Kaufeler, who have their own new team with Brunner as skip.

Schwaller is coming off a debut world championship appearance and has been considered the up and coming top skip in Switzerland for a few seasons now.

In their first event together, they reached the SF at Baden Masters. Their only losses were in the RR to Team Mouat and the SF to runner-up Team Gosgens from Netherlands.

This is a strong Swiss team and should be considered a dangerous threat. Top 5 ranking end of season?

9. Team Flasch (Saskatchewan)

Dunstone is gone (as is his team). Kleiter might be the #TeamUpset. But the Sask title will go through Team Flasch this season.

Flasch added an electric current to the ice at the Brier last season, surprising many with the deep run to the playoffs.

When the team made the announcement they were sticking together, Sask curling fans nodded their head in approval and found the Team Green to rally behind.

The question for Team Flasch is how they handle being the front runner now.

Last season they were considered the underdog challengers to Team Dunstone. They knocked them off, sent Dunny back to Manitoba and dissolved their strongest opposition.

Now what?

As any champion will tell you, it is quite different going from the hunter to the hunted.

Pressure will be on the back of these 4 guys this season. Sask curling fans are passionate but growing impatient.

If they can channel the lightning bolt from the Brier last season and carry the momentum and energy into this season, watch out.

10. Team Retornaz (Italy)

When you look at the current world rankings, where would you expect to find Italy's Joel Retornaz?

If you said #6, good job. You obviously cheated?! LOL

Joking aside, Retornaz has been a team on the upswing the past few seasons.

They have been a consistent podium threat at the European Curling Championships, winning bronze in 2018 and 2021.

And they are fresh off their first podium finish at a world championship, winning bronze in 2022.

Sure the 2022 Winter Olympics were a bit disappointing, finishing with a 3-6 record. But vice Amos Mosaner did take home mixed doubles gold so there is still positives to take out of the overall experience.

The difference perhaps from past seasons to this season is confidence. I truly believe this team now believes in themselves and knows if they step on the ice and play their game, they can knock off any team in the world. I am not sure that high level of confidence has always been there.

We saw them kick off their season at Baden Masters, posting a perfect 4-0 RR record before falling short to Team Schwaller in the QF. They did pick up big W's over Scotland's Team Waddell and Canada's Team Flasch though.

Plus, Retornaz is a fan and peer favourite. Everyone loves the guy. And rightfully so.

This could be the big breakout season for the Italian foursome as they start building momentum to home ice advantage at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

#TourLifePredictions

2023 Tim Hortons Brier: Alberta (Team Koe) def. Team Canada (Team Gushue)

2023 World Men's Curling Championship: Scotland (Team Mouat) def. Sweden (Team Edin)

2022/2023 #1 World Ranking (End of Season): Team Mouat

#StayTuned

The previews are done.

The pre-season #PowerRankings are revealed.

And we have a few #TeamUpset challengers to keep our eyes on.

The blog will try to get back to the regular scheduled programming of pre-COVID days with previews of the upcoming weekend's action and reviews/hot topic discussions coming out of the weekend results.

The men hit the ice this upcoming weekend at the Euro Super Series event in Stirling, Scotland and the Curling Stadium Alberta Curling Series event in Leduc, Alberta.

And really, can someone work on these event names?!?

#THANKYOU

I mentioned this in the women's preview but it bares mentioning again in the men's preview.

Thank you once again to every curling athlete and fan who supported the #ForTheKids online auctions over the past few years.

Overall fundraising leading to a donation of $12,629.46 to Kids Up Front Calgary is still almost hard to believe for me. I always aimed to have my donation be over $10,000 but there was a small doubt in the back of my head wondering if I (we!) could make it happen.

We did it! And then some!!

I am beyond thankful to everyone who supported these efforts, whether through a donation or making a bid or sharing the link. Or all of the above.

The curling community came together and I am <still> speechless.

THANK YOU!!