#PowerRankings W26

#BetweenTheSheets: When 3 Becomes 1

Curling version of Groundhog Day results in a new #1 ranking

Have you ever experienced Deja Vu? That feeling like you are reliving a moment from the past?

Or have you watched the movie Happy Death Day? You feel like you are caught in a time loop where the same results flash before your eyes over and over and over again?

Well if you are following along with this season's Grand Slam of Curling results, you may feel all of the above over the past few months.

The locations change. The teams change. The finalists change. But the teams hoisting the trophy on Championship Sunday remain the same.

Curling's version of Groundhog Day!

Team Anna Hasselborg and Team Brad Jacobs continue to dominate the grand slam landscape this season as both teams once again collected another title this past weekend in Yorkton, SK.

The Meridian Canadian Open end result looked eerily similar to what we saw at the Tour Challenge and The National. Team Hasselborg and Team Jacobs standing tall above the competition and now collecting their #3peat.

Both moving closer to the record books trying to complete career majors. #HERstory and #HIStory in the making as we head into the final major of the season: The Players' Championship.

But Hasselborg and Jacobs domination are not the only story lines drawing the attention of curling fans around the world. What about Canada's struggle on the women's side of the game? Or, from a more positive #growthesport mentality, the emergence of international teams becoming consistent threats at the slam level.

#PoorCanadaEh! The blog has been talking about it for a few seasons now. Mainstream media, online forums and fb groups are talking about it now as well. The world is not catching up. The world has caught up and they have passed us. Collectively, yes, Canada still has the most top contending female curlers in the world. But results-based, the international teams have surpassed us. Look at the playoff bracket in Yorkton. Only 2 Canadian teams reached the playoffs (Einarson, Jones). Both lost in the QF. The 2020 Canadian Open marked the first time no Canadian teams had reached the SF at a GSOC event. The SF were a #PACC vs. #ECC battle, with each side claiming a win. In the final Europe would reign supreme again of course but both regions can lay claim to surpassing their North American rivals....for the moment.

The Canadian teams are still good, lets not undersell the capabilities here. The international teams are just as good and sometimes better. From a collective #growthesport movement, this is great news. We can only hope these results continue to help foster the #NextGen of athletes in these countries around the globe. But back home in Canada? Fans are becoming concerned. Not that they should be though.

Look we cannot live in a world where Canada just dominates every sport and wins every major title and gold medal. What fun is that? I like parity. I like seeing more strong teams and developing nations in all sports. We should be taking the opposite approach, especially for our Canadian female teams. These results should light a fire under us to get better, be better and win more.

Hockey. Basketball. Baseball. Football. All of these sports have teams posting locker room motivation quotes or pictures from their opposition/rivals to help fuel the fire to win. Maybe our Canadian teams should be doing the same. Take those pictures of Team Hasselborg hoisting the trophies and look at them before and during the slam. Add the picture of those Swiss teams winning world championships over the past few years. Rather than be down or upset about the results, use them as motivation. And bring it on!

And while Team Hasselborg and Team Jacobs climb the rankings mountain to solidify the #1 spot, their wins could also become a blessing in disguise for their competition. What happens with the season-ending Champions Cup?

The qualification has changed this year. Did you know Champions Cup is only a 12-team field now? There are no auto spots for #wct winners. Hmmm, strange no? Seems like we are creating quite the division line between #gsoc and #wct. So what happens with qualification now?

Hasselborg booked her spot with the Tour Challenge win. But she also won the European Championship, The National and now The Canadian Open. That opens up three Champions Cup spots for someone else on tour. Jacobs winning the past three slams opens up two additional spots in the Champions Cup men's field.

A team who won a tour title with a high Strength of Field multiplier now has a chance at playing in the prestigious event. At this point of the season we should have 8 of the 12 spots booked: 2019 Players' Championship, 2019 Champions Cup, 2019 Masters, 2019 #PACC, 2019 Tour Challenge (Tier I), #ECC2019, 2019 National and 2020 Canadian Open. The remaining spots are reserved for: 2020 Scotties/Brier, 2020 US National, 2020 World Junior and 2020 World Champion.

BUT we only have 5 women's teams qualified due to Hasselborg's qualification events domination. And we only have 6 men's teams qualified due to Jacobs owning the slam majority. This means we will have some #wct winners in Olds, AB at the end of April.

Who are the leading contenders?

The Top 3 women contenders are: Team Stern (Canad Inns Classic, 11.39 SFM), Team Homan (Canada Cup, 11.14) and Team J. Jones (Shorty Jenkins, 9.37)

The Top 3 men contenders are: Team Epping (Canada Cup, 11.68), Team Schwaller (Baden Masters, 7.05) and Team Mouat (Perth Masters, 7.01).

It is worth nothing technically there are four #wct events higher than the Baden Masters but those event winners would already have qualified (Team Jacobs, Team Bottcher, Team Epping).

This could get interesting to follow down the final few months of the season. #StayTuned

Speaking of tour winners, time to take a look at those who found success this past weekend (#INturn) and those who struggled (#OUTturn).

#GunnerRunback

#INturn

#SwedishVikings - When you are hot, you are hot....and Sweden's Team Hasselborg is ON FIRE!! I am surprised the ice stays frozen when this team is playing. Three straight slam titles. A Euro title. What a season! Plus skipper Anna Hasselborg announcing her pregnancy. This is feeling like one of the most special seasons we have seen from any team. Hasselborg accomplished the #3peat at the Canadian Open with a championship victory over up and comer Team M. Kim from Korea (more on them in a second). Hasselborg qualified out of the B-side and went 6-1 overall in picking up their 5th career slam win. The team is only a Players' Championship win away from picking up the career major. And what is the next slam? The Players'. Who reached the final last year? Team Hasselborg. Could this team re-write #HERstory and win not only 4 straight but also pick up the career major slam? Wow folks....

#FearTheMoose - Do Team Hasselborg and Team Jacobs have a secret side bet going on here? When one wins, the other follows suit. Hasselborg collected the #3peat early Sunday afternoon only to see their fellow Tour Challenge/National winners do the same a few hours later. Jacobs picked up their third straight slam with a oh-so-close championship final win over rival Team Epping. Chalk up another W for Jacobs over former vice Ryan Fry. This is becoming a great rivalry to watch over the season and hopefully continues in the future. Jacobs did one-up Hasselborg though, qualifying out of the A-side and going a perfect 6-0. The win was slam title #7 for Jacobs and his first at the Canadian Open. Jacobs is only a Masters win away from the career major.

#TeamUpset - Did you pick Team Kim for your fantasy curling team this weekend? I did! And if you didn't, shame on you. This is a very strong young team, just barely out of junior age requirement, and already making a path on the curling ice. From the Curling World Cup victory last year to the Tour Challenge Tier II win this season to now playing their first Tier I event and reaching the championship final, there is a lot of like about the future of this team. Team Kim may have lost their opening two games at the Canadian Open (vs. Fleury, Stern) but then rattled off three straight wins to qualify via the #CSideGrind (vs. Rocque, Homan, Muirhead) and picked up two more playoff wins (vs. Einarson, Kovaleva) before running out of gas in an extra end final vs. Hasselborg. The resume of victories for a debut slam appearance is very impressive.

#YoungBucks - Speaking of Tour Challenge Tier II champions, USA's Team Dropkin also made quite the impression on the ice at their Tier I debut. The self-proclaimed Young Bucks shocked a few people in reaching the A-side final (def. Mouat, Dunstone and lost to Jacobs) and qualifying for the playoffs out of the B-side (def. De Cruz). Picking up victories over 2018 Euro champ Mouat, 2018 Olympic bronze De Cruz and 2019 Masters champ Dunstone is pretty impressive for a slam debut. The bucks hit a trap in the QF game, losing to Team McEwen but a strong debut for Team Dropkin puts them on the map as an up and coming team to watch out for in the future. I would be scared to face them at the upcoming USA Curling Championships. Could we see them carry this momentum into a USA title and world championship appearance? This blog said years ago Korey Dropkin would represent USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics. That prediction is looking pretty solid right now!

#GlynhillChampions - Most curling eyes were focused on the ice in Yorkton but there was another tour event taking place over the weekend in Glasgow, SCO. And while one Korean team was surprising us all with their run towards a grand slam title, another was actually collecting a tour title of their own. Korea's Team E. Kim, 2018 Olympic silver medal winners, defeated Sweden's Team Wrana in the championship final. Team Kim went undefeated collecting the title, posting a 3-0 RR record before successfully navigating the playoff bracket.

#QRollCall - Congrats to those teams who reached the playoff bracket at the #MeridianCanadianOpen and #GlynhillInternational over the weekend. Reaching the SF: Team Kovaleva, Team Fujisawa, Team Gushue, Team McEwen (Canadian Open) and Team Sidorova, Team Feltscher (Glynhill). Reaching the QF: Team Einarson, Team J. Jones, Team Roth, Team Tirinzoni, Team Howard, Team Schwaller, Team Mouat (Canadian Open) and Team Y. Han, Team Jentsch, Team Schori, Team Nakajima (Glynhill).

#YOG2020 - Congratulations to Norway on picking up the gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Champery, SUI. Norway finished 3-2 in the RR and advanced to the playoff round due to their victory over fellow 3-2 Group C competitor Great Britain. In fact, they stole 4 in the final RR game vs. France to pick up the win, knowing they needed a win to advance. In the playoffs they defeated two 4-1 teams (Italy and Russia) to reach the gold medal final. They would collect the gold with a victory over Japan, also 4-1 in the RR. Russia would take home the bronze medal after knocking off #TeamUpset contender New Zealand. Props to fellow QF teams: Canada, Germany, Switzerland. This is the first YOG medal for Norway, Japan and Russia. Past YOG gold medal winners include Tyler Tardi/Mary Fay (Canada, 2016) and Michael Brunner/Elena Stern (Switzerland, 2012). Congrats to Team Norway: Grunde Burass, Nora Ostgard, Lukas Hostmaelingen and Ingeborg Forbregd. If history teaches us anything, become familiar with these four names now.

#WQE2020 - Grand slam titles. Tour titles. Youth Olympic gold. While some teams were enjoying celebrations, other were representing their country with a bit of pressure on their shoulders. In Finland the World Qualification Event hit the ice looking to round out the world championship field with the final two spots. For the men, China, Russia and Japan would emerge as the playoff teams. China defeated Russia to book one spot in the field while Russia regrouped to win the final spot knocking off Japan. China and Russia advance to the world championships, which is huge in this being the first year to collect Olympic qualification points (not that China needs them of course as Olympic hosts). For the women, South Korea tops out once again. Hmmm, seems to be a theme this week on the women's side isn't there. Team M. Kim makes a slam final. Team E. Kim wins a tour title. Team Gim wins the WQE and books South Korea a spot in the upcoming world championship. We might want to start considering South Korea as a top curling nation folks! Korea, Italy and Turkey would reach the playoff bracket. Turkey advanced through the TB procedure after finishing tied for the final spot with fellow ECC nations Estonia and Norway. Korea defeated Italy to earn the first spot while Italy would book the final spot defeating Turkey in a rematch of the #ECC2019 B-division final. Congrats to China, Russia, South Korea and Italy!


#OUTturn

The Homan Streak - Remember when Team Homan was setting the ice on fire with a winning streak of 3 straight #gsoc titles? Well the team is on another slam streak but in the opposite direction. The grand slam ice has run very cold for Team Homan. Team Homan failed to qualify in Yorkton once again. They have now failed to qualify at every slam this season. Since the #3peat of their own last season, they have only qualified at one slam out of the past six. Who saw that coming? We know this is still a strong team. A Scotties threat. And always a slam contender. But this streak has to start becoming a major cause of concern for the Homan camp.

Swedish Slip Up - Euro champions. Continental Cup champions. The National runner-up. Things seemed to be trending up for Team Edin in the later part of 2019 and beginning of 2020. And then the Canadian Open came around and they hit a roadblock. It was a bit of a surprise to see the world champs go 0-3 this past weekend. And they have had success at this event in the past with a SF result last season and finals appearances the two previous seasons. The contract between outdoor and indoor weather coupled with throwing technique and changing ice conditions may have played a strong factor in the result. Not a cause for concern but anytime Edin fails to collect a win at a slam it is a major surprise.

#LandOfTheSettingSun - Japan will not field a team at the upcoming World Men's Curling Championship. Let that sink in for a second folks. Japan will not participate this year. Japan, the same nation who finished 4th a season ago, will not be back in 2020. This is pretty big news and a huge hit against Japanese curling's Olympic hopes. 2020 marks the first year nations can earn Olympic qualification points. Japan's men will earn 0 points this year meaning they are going to need to do some work in 2021, which includes winning #PACC and a Top 4 finish at the world championship. Team Matsumura's loss to Russia in the final qualifier was a huge surprise and Japan's failure to qualify for the world championship might be one of the biggest shocks of the season.


Grand slam results always cause a shake-up on the mountain. And, from the title of this post alone, you already know we have a NEW #1.

But who else made a climb this week. We have a Top 10 debut to get excited about. And who took a tumble down a few spots?

#PowerRankings

WOMEN

1. Team Hasselborg - 8730 (LW: 1)
2. Team Einarson - 5634 (3)
3. Team Fleury - 5468 (2)
4. Team Tirinzoni - 5325 (4)
5. Team Fujisawa - 4550 (5)

Hon. Mention: Team J. Jones, Team Homan, Team M. Kim, Team Carey, Team Walker

The #SwedishVikings win not only created #HERstory but also opened up a pretty sizable lead atop the Power Rankings mountain. Hasselborg now has a 3000+ point lead and has pretty much solidified the year-end #1 spot in January. Quite impressive!

Team Einarson vs. Team Fleury. The rivalry in Manitoba nobody knew they wanted until the past year. What a great rivalry we are getting here too. This week they swap positions with Einarson having less than a 200 point lead. Get ready for that Manitoba Scotties folks.

And do not overlook the defending world champions in Team Tirinzoni. They are right behind the Manitoba twosome looking to bump themselves up the mountain. But it will not be easy as they are basically defending points for the rest of the season. They have the upcoming Swiss Nationals to defend and then, should the be successful, the world championship plus the season-ending Champions Cup. Not a lot of room to add to the rankings total but lots of climbing spots where they could slip up.

This week we welcome the newest member to the Top 10: Korea's Team M. Kim. What a run they made in Yorkton. The blog has been a huge fan of this team since last year and this quick steady climb up the mountain is not a surprise. Be careful those above them. This team could crack the Top 5 by the end of the season!


MEN

1. Team Jacobs - 6660.25 (LW: 4)
2. Team Bottcher - 5845 (1)
3. Team Koe - 4905 (3)
4. Team Mouat - 4714 (5)
5. Team Edin - 4695 (2)

Hon. Mention: Team De Cruz, Team Epping, Team Gushue, Team McEwen, Team Matsumura

This week's story is a duality of results among the Top 5. One goes up, one goes down.

Team Jacobs owning the #3peat as Grand Slam champions for the season catapults them onto the apex position. This is the first time a team other than Team Bottcher has been ranked #1 since Week 13. But are we really surprised? Winning three straight slams will quickly move you up the mountain.

A nice run atop the rankings for Team Bottcher, who slide down a spot this week. But look at those numbers. Less than 1000 points between the two. Should both reach the Brier, a Brier victory could decide who finishes atop the standings this year.

And while Jacobs enjoyed a climb, Team Edin took a rough tumble this week. Going winless at a slam will do that to you however as the world champs drop down to #5. And they are only 120 points ahead of #6 Team De Cruz. Plus Edin has world championship points to defend this year. It might be tough to climb back up the mountain at this point in the season.


NATION

1. Canada - 4935 (LR: 1)
2. Sweden - 3860 (2)
3. Switzerland - 3525 (3)
4. Scotland - 2618 (4)
5. China - 2350 (5)
6. South Korea - 2215 (6)
7. Japan - 1985 (7)
8. Russia - 1615 (8)
9. Norway - 1505 (10)
10. Denmark - 1341 (9)

Hon. Mention: Germany, Italy, USA, Czech Republic, Australia

The Top 8 remain the same but some of the gaps have changed between the ranking positions. The results of the Youth Olympic Games and #WQE2020 helped some nations close in on those above while allows others to create a bit of breathing room.

Canada holds strong at #1 but only picked up QF points at the YOG. Luckily for them their main Top 5 rivals all failed to advance further as well, with only Switzerland even reaching the playoff round (QF).

The big winner was the PACC region. Japan collected points for the YOG silver and WQE bronze, although the bronze doesn't get them a world championship spot so they could see a drop later in the year. China's men and South Korea's women both collected gold medals at the WQE, meaning a nice points grab and a spot in the upcoming men's and women's world championship.

Russia and Norway were also big winners this week. Russia collected a bronze at the YOG and a silver at the WQE to maintain their Top 8 spot. But coming on strong is Norway, who used a gold medal win at YOG to move above Denmark into #9 and close the gap on fellow Euro nation Russia.

Among the Top 15, Italy and USA swapped positions in thanks to Italy's silver win at the women's WQE and QF appearance at YOG while USA only collected one win at the YOG.

#StayTuned

Remember the Canadian Junior Curling Championships are underway in B.C. right now. ICYMI, the #TwineTime podcast welcomed a new member to the #TwineTimeFam last week with 3-time defending Canadian and 2-time defending world champion Tyler Tardi. We talked about Tardi's transition from junior curling as well as many other interesting topics. Download the full episode HERE.

There are many provincial championships hitting the ice as well. The blog will be back SOON with another addition of the #PlaydownParty.

And remember Tuesday is National Hugging Day. Add on top next Wednesday being #BellLetsTalk Day. Combine those and just find someone special to give a hug or, if you need a hug, find that person you trust and care about and ask for a hug. Give a hug. Get a hug. Make a positive impact on your's and others mental health. #VirtualHugs