Masters Preview

#BetweenTheSheets: A TKO From Oakville

The GSOC returns with The Masters

Is it real?

This is not a dream, right?

Someone pinch me just to make sure I am awake and living in the real world.

Will the REAL #GSOC please stand up?

After all these months of #COVID19 wrecking havoc on our lives, in multiple ways, we are finally going to see the return of the Grand Slam of Curling!

Bring on the first major of the curling season: The Masters.

Ok, yes I do remember two slam events taking place at the end of last season inside the #IceBubble.

The Champions Cup and Players' Championship were great and all but come on, it didn't feel like REAL slam events did it?

Take nothing against the teams who chose to compete at those events. It was not easy.

And take nothing away from those teams who took home the titles, namely Team Mouat (x2), Team Homan (Champions Cup) and Team Einarson (Players' Championship).

But we are back living in a slam world with fans in the stands and the look and feel of a "regular" GSOC event.

We can talk about winning majors. Chasing the calendar slam. Chasing the career grand slam.

The return of the Pinty's Cup. Slam winners earning spots in the year-end Champions Cup.

And we can go back to debating formats and qualification and all the other "drama" discussions.

Look, COVID is still very much alive and well in our country and around the world. We cannot ease up on this thinking or try to lie to ourselves with a different narrative.

But we also can all use the distraction at times. MLB playoffs are back. NFL and NHL seasons are underway. And curling grand slam trophies are ready to come out of their cases and into the hands of curling athletes.

Before we dive into the competition itself hitting the ice in Oakville, lets talk about some minor changes to the first major of the season.

Gone is the, arguably, dreadful pool format. Welcome the TKO (Triple KnockOut)!

The #TKO format is fairly common on tour so teams and fans alike are familiar with the premise. 

You start with your A-side bracket. Winners move along until we have 2 A-qualifiers.

Losers drop to the B-side bracket. Again, winners move along until we have our 3 B-qualifiers.

And again, losers drop into the #CSideGrind trying to earn one of those final 3 qualifier spots in the playoffs.

Think of March Madness bracketology but without the "one and done" mentality. Teams can afford a loss here or there...just not 3 of them!

The biggest advantage might be eliminating the need for those pesky TB games or the horrible draw to the button TB procedure. Why is that the system we use to eliminate teams? Gross. Yuck. See ya.

If you want to keep playing, it is quite simple: Win and In!

The bracket system also increases the amount of teams. We have become accustomed to slam events drawing 15 teams into the competition. Well an odd number of teams a bracket does not make.

Welcome to the #Sweet16!

Now, of course, here sits our problem. The never-ending problem this blog has with the sport. You know what it is folks: The Rankings!

Qualification to the slams is based on a cut-off point of the rankings. Unfortunately the rankings system is still, arguably, needing some tweaks and adjustments.

When an elite player can pose a tweet asking for when their points would be allocated from an event, the system/policies/procedures in place obviously are not as tight as they should be.

But we need to fill the field. We need to use something. And we need a cut-off date. None of this is new and it is what it has to be...right now at least.

So if we are going to shift into a #Bracketology world for a major, should the teams not be seeded and drawn against one another based on the ranking? We use them for qualification. Should we not also use them for seeding and opening round pairing? 

And, if so, I suppose the fair system would be to seed the teams based on the cut-off point? Or do we allow teams to still acquire seeding points from events held between the cut-off qualification date and a set deadline before the event itself, say one week?

For sake of argument lets say the cut-off for seeding was two weeks before the event, which would mean Oct. 4 would be the date to solidify points and seed the teams into the draw.

As with any bracket event featuring 16 teams, we know how the matchups should play out in the first round: 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15, 3 vs 14, 4 vs 13, 5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10 and 8 vs 9.

This system has worked for NCAA March Madness for YEARS and is a system generally favoured by fans across all sports. Common sense, yes?

Did curling do this? Tough to tell....

If we look at the men's opening draw at The Masters, here are the Sweet 16 games:

Mouat vs. Ruohonen, Dunstone vs. De Cruz, Bottcher vs. Paterson, Edin vs. Gunnlaugson, Gushue vs. Whyte, Schwaller vs. Epping, Jacobs vs. Matsumura, Koe vs. McEwen

Team Mouat is slotted into the top position so they would appear to be the #1 seed, no? Which, in turn, would mean Team Ruohonen is the #16 seed.

But Team Jacobs is the #1 ranked team in the world so shouldn't they be the #1 seed? If they were, odd to see them placed in the lower middle section of the draw. And, if they are #1, that would mean Team Matsumura is #16, yes?

Hmmm....

Ok, now lets just, for fun, assign seeding based on the proposed Oct. 4 cut-off date. This is common with grand slam events in tennis where the final seeds for entered players is determined the week before the event. 

Can a player enter a tournament the week before, win and see their ranking rise? Yes of course but the seeding needs to be finalized prior to just the week before opening day. Hence a cut-off point.

As stated above, for sake of argument, we are going to allow a two-week window. If we did so, here is the order of the seeds starting with #1 and ending with #16 (rankings based on CurlingZone website for Oct. 4):

Team Jacobs, Team Epping, Team Mouat, Team McEwen, Team Bottcher, Team Gushue, Team Dunstone, Team Koe, Team Schwaller, Team De Cruz, Team Whyte, Team Paterson, Team Edin, Team Gunnlaugson, Team Ruohonen, Team Matsumura

In this instance, the first round games would be:

(1) Jacobs vs. (16) Matsumura

(2) Epping vs. (15) Ruohonen

(3) Mouat vs. (14) Gunnlaugson

(4) McEwen vs. (13) Edin

(5) Bottcher vs. (12) Paterson

(6) Gushue vs. (11) Whyte

(7) Dunstone vs. (10) De Cruz

(8) Koe vs. (9) Schwaller

Games in italics equals actual first round games scheduled at The Masters. Not bad, 4 of 8 match. Gotta like it, right?

Now how about how the seeds are partnered? In theory, should the higher seeds win, the two A-qualifier games would feature 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3.

This means our brackets would feature Jacobs vs. McEwen and Epping vs. Mouat.

This also means our brackets should be structured with the familiar March Madness system, namely 1/16 vs. 8/9, 4/13 vs. 5/12 and 2/15 vs. 7/10 and 3/14 vs. 6/11.

The top half of the bracket would include: Jacobs, Matsumura, McEwen, Edin, Bottcher, Paterson, Koe and Schwaller.

The bottom half would include: Epping, Ruohonen, Mouat, Gunnlaugson, Gushue, Whyte, Dunstone and De Cruz.

The actual top bracket for The Masters features: Mouat, Ruohonen, Dunstone, De Cruz, Bottcher, Paterson, Edin and Gunnlaugson.

The actual bottom bracket features: Gushue, Whyte, Epping, Schwaller, Jacobs, Matsumura, Koe and McEwen.

What system are we using for GSOC TKO events? Are the teams not seeded based on rankings? Are we not using a similar Bracketology structure we see in all sports, not just March Madness?

And if the bracket structure is different, what is it? Why is it used? How was it determined?

Look, at the end of the day I get it. As I said above, "Win and In". 

But shouldn't the entire system be more transparent and obvious? Shouldn't a #1 seed play a #16 seed or a #5 seed play a #12 seed? Shouldn't the teams be seeded based on those rankings and the bracket drawn up as such?

How are Jacobs/Epping/Gushue all in the same quadrant of the bracket? At most only two would be together but all 3? 

I think I busted my bracket in trying to figure it all out. When, in reality, why are we even left asking?

With March Madness, we already know the system in place. All we do is slot the teams into their position in the bracket based on the seeding.

The flaw with March Madness is human nature in seeding. Sometimes we feel a team is seeded too high, other times not high enough and occasionally a team is left out of the field entirely. Human Nature!

But with curling, the human nature/subjective integrity is gone...or at least it should be.

We have a bracket model done for us.

We have a ranking system we follow (holding back the commentary on whether that system is right or not of course).

We have a cut-off date for qualification and, as such, could even be used for seeding if we wanted.

Where is the problem here?

Yet, based on the discussion above, it sure seems there are many unknowns when it comes to the draw.

Applaude #GSOC for shifting to the exciting TKO format. We get an extra team into the field. TB are eliminated. And we get the unknown of who meets whom in each round. Plus Win and In!

Now if we can just formalize the process and open the doors of transparency just a bit more, we may actually find the "perfect" solution to our major events.

Of course, as in fine #TwineTime tradition, I digress off topic. But always leave food for thought.

Lets shift the attention to the major event itself. For this year's Masters preview, lets mix it up a bit and try something different.

Time to bring the #Bracketology back to the ice and look at each quadrant of the competition.

Who are the favs? Could we see a #TeamUpset emerge, also known as a #BracketBuster?

And, of course, fill out the bracket with predictions.

#TourLifePredictions

The Masters

Oakville, ON

2020 Champions: Not Held (2019 Champs - Team Dunstone & Team Fleury)

Format: 16 team triple knockout with 8 qualifiers

MEN

"Red Rock" Quadrant

Teams: Team Bottcher, Team Mouat, Team Edin, Team De Cruz, Team Dunstone, Team Paterson, Team Gunnlaugson, Team Ruohonen

#Fav

Winner of the two slams held last year inside the #IceBubble, pretty tough not to side with Team Mouat this week. The Scottish lads are also riding a bit of a high right now, having been named to represent #TeamGB at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. A bit of pressure removed from their shoulders.

Mouat also happened to win a tour event already this season in Oakville and have consistently been making the playoff rounds in each tour event they enter. Anything short of a playoff run here would be a disappointment.

Expectations have always been on this team to be a playoff contender but the needle has been pushed even more. We no longer just expect this team to contend for a playoff spot. We now expect them to challenge for every title.

#BracketBuster / #TeamUpset

Speaking of Scottish curling, lets see how Team Paterson responds to knowing their Olympic aspirations have ended for 2022. Will they come out with extra fire in the belly wanting to prove they can still be the best Scottish team on the ice? Or do they come out with a deflated feeling of the air being let out of their balloon?

It has been an up and down early part of the season for the team. They failed to qualify in their first two events but then reached a tour final in Kitchener-Waterloo and a QF in Basel. They did just miss the playoffs in Champery last weekend though.

And keep an eye on USA's Team Ruohonen. Often under-appreciated, especially behind the likes of Team Shuster and #NextGem Team Dropkin, this is still a very strong team capable of busting some brackets. 

They have qualified in all 4 events played this season, reaching two championship finals and the SF in the other two. Sure one event was a US Open Contender (SF) and the other was the Olympic Qualifier (Winner) but still, consistent results build confidence. They reached a tour final in Winnipeg a few weeks ago too.

#W2W4

Half of this bracket are recent world championship participants. In fact all 3 podium finishers at the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship heading the quadrant we refer to as "Red Rock". Champions Team Edin, runner-up Team Mouat and bronze medal winners Team De Cruz are all dangerous contenders.

Of note, Team Edin is coming off a title win in Penticton last weekend so they are riding the hot hand. And if you want to know how the world champs celebrate a W, just look at the Instagram pic posted by Niklas Edin Sunday night after their victory. Men of Curling 2023 calendar, here they come #DadBod4Life 😂

As an aside, can we get more social media content like this from our players and teams? Yes we get it you have to name and thank your sponsors but if we scroll through your SM and that is all we see....why should we follow?

Similar comments could be made for Team De Cruz as with Team Mouat above. De Cruz is on their way to Beijing for the Olympics as well, having defeated rival Team Schwaller 4-0 in the Best-of-7 Switzerland Olympic trials. They have also reached 2 tour finals and a SF this season. And they arrive in Oakville fresh off a tour title in Basel a few weeks ago, having defeated Edin (F), Schwaller (SF) and Mouat (QF) in the playoffs. Yowie Wowie....do not underestimate the Swiss!

Do not count out Team Dunstone either. The champs are here to #DefendTheIce and while they may not have been able to do so in 2020, absence makes the heart grow fonder as they say. The Sasky boys have been regular playoff bracket contenders this season but seem to hit a wall in the playoffs. 3 tour events. 3 playoff appearances. 1 SF and 2 QF finishes.

We have seen a similar result for Dunny on slam ice. This will be "The Sheriff's" 22nd #GSOC appearance. He has 1 title. He has 4 QF showings. The remaining appearances? Eliminated in the RR/TKO. Do we get #DunnyIsMoney this week or do the statistical GSOC results hold true?

Predictions: Mouat def. Ruohonen, Dunstone def. De Cruz, Bottcher def. Paterson, Edin def. Gunnlaugson, Mouat def. Dunstone, Edin def. Bottcher, Edin def. Mouat (A-Qualifier)

"Yellow Rock" Quadrant

Teams: Team Jacobs, Team Epping, Team Gushue, Team Schwaller, Team McEwen, Team Koe, Team Matsumura, Team Whyte

#Fav

Taking Brad FTW!

Oh, which Brad you ask? Tricky you...good question. Can I take both?

In keeping with tradition, Team Gushue hit the ice with a late season start. We only saw them compete at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard event over Thanksgiving weekend. How did they do? They only went 6-0 and captured the title.

The question surrounding this team will be how they fare against teams who have been competing for a few weeks now. One event, a title and perfect start to the season is nice but the extra weekends of competition can be nice too. Although this is Team Gushue we are talking about...not like they need it.

Plus Gushue reaching the playoffs at a slam event is the equivalent to the sky being blue. Gushue has only missed the playoffs 3 times since 2014. Remarkable achievement! And he is a two-time champion here.

As for Brad Jacobs, well his team is listed as the #1 ranked team in the world. And their 2021 season certainly supports the ranking. 3 tour events. 3 finals. 1 title. They are 17-2 on the season, including starting the season with an impressive 12-match winning streak.

The back-to-back finals losses could be slightly concerning, although losing to guys named Mouat and Koe in championship finals is nothing to hang your head about either.

Jacobs will also be chasing #HIStory this weekend. The Masters is the only major title missing from Jacobs' resume. A victory on Sunday would etch his name in elite company with Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Jeff Stoughton and Mr. Gushue as skips to have won all 4 major titles.

#BracketBuster

No question who is slotted here. If you are a regular follower of this blog you are very familiar with the love affair between TwineTime and Ross Whyte.

The blog has been talking up Mr. Whyte for a few seasons now, saying this is a dark horse contender ready to take the world by storm. Whyte is Right thus far. 

He has learned from the best in the game, being an alternate for Team Mouat during their Euro win in 2018 and the world championship final last season. Not to mention Whyte has skipped his own success in the junior ranks, winning world silver (2018) and bronze (2019).

This team has already played 5 events this season. They have qualified in 4. They have reached 3 finals. They have picked up 1 title. They also have a 6-5 season record vs. teams also in this field.

They may be making their #GSOC debut but they have played most of these teams already, picking up wins against many top contenders. Do not sleep on this #BracketBuster!

#W2W4

Yikes! The "Red Rock" quadrant may have the heavy international/world championships vibe going but the #YellowRock quadrant feels like a Brier field of destruction.

Jacobs. Gushue. Koe. All Brier champs. All have represented Canada at the Winter Olympics.

Epping. McEwen. Regular contenders at the Brier and will be main contenders at the 2021 Olympic Trials next month in Saskatoon.

And never discount the international flare here either with Switzerland's Team Schwaller and Japan's Team Matsumura alongside our #BracketBuster from Scotland.

The bracket turned out some interesting opening match ups here. Canada vs. The World in 3 of the 4 opening games. Plus an all-Canada tilt between two top teams.

Who wins out early? Canada? The World?

Predictions: Gushue def. Whyte, Schwaller def. Epping, Jacobs def. Matsumura, Koe def. McEwen, Gushue def. Schwaller, Jacobs def. Koe, Gushue def. Jacobs (A-Qualifier)

Qualifiers: Team Edin, Team Gushue, Team Mouat, Team Jacobs, Team Dunstone, Team Koe, Team De Cruz, Team Whyte

MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Team Jacobs def. Team De Cruz

WOMEN

"Red Rock" Quadrant

Teams: Team Hasselborg, Team Fleury, Team Jones, Team Homan, Team Peterson, Team Yoshimura, Team Rocque, Team Koana

#Fav

No true curling fan cannot say they are are not looking forward to seeing Sweden's Team Hasselborg back on the ice this week.

They did take home 3 slam titles before the pandemic hit after all. They are ALWAYS a threat to add to their slam resume.

Last time we saw them on #GSOC ice, they reached the SF at the Players' Championship inside the #IceBubble. Of course that followed the finals loss at the world championship and the shocking 0-for record at the Champions Cup.

Fast forward, new year who dis? It has been a slow build for the #SwedishVikings this season.

They kicked off the year as one of two women's teams playing in the Baden Masters, where they just missed the playoffs with a 2-2 record.

The next 3 tour events resulted all in playoff appearances. And the trajectory of success went one round better each time. QF (Euro Super Series) --> SF (The Challenger) --> F (Womens Masters Basel).

So should we just add to the "-->" and add the 🏆 emoji?

#BracketBuster

The last team in the field almost retains the #TeamUpset label by default. For this major, that distinction goes to Japan's Team Koana.

With Team Muirhead not making the trip to Oakville, Team Koana punched a ticket to the slam ice for the first time.

Many curling fans may not be as familiar with Koana compared to a few other big name Japanese teams (i.e. Team Fujisawa, Team Yoshimura) but do not underestimate them due to lack of familiarity.

We have seen this team compete at a world championship, back in 2018 when they finished 5-7 and one game out of the playoff picture. Since that appearance, this team continues to build and get better each season.

We have only seen them on tour once this season, back in August when they went 5-0 to claim the title in Hokkaido. The path to the final included a RR win over Team Yoshimura, a SF win over Team Nakajima and a final victory over Fujisawa.

This team has the potential to bust your bracket and bust it early. 

Will they have beginner's luck or debut struggles?

#W2W4

Unlike the #YellowRock quadrant, more on that in a second, this section of the bracket is fairly even with Canada vs. The World.

Going into this event, many people noticed only 5 Canadian teams qualified. 4 of them ended up in this #RedRock quadrant.

Can Team Homan or Team Fleury or Team Jones or Team Rocque keep the Masters title in Canada? Can they derail the International Invasion? It will not be easy.

Team Fleury comes in as the champs looking to #DefendTheIce. We saw them at the Autumn Gold a few weeks ago. Some games they looked like champions. Other games they struggled. 

Of course lets remember they came to Calgary off back-to-back tour titles and with a remarkable 14-game winning streak. They actually upped the winning streak to 17 before the A-qualifier loss to Team Muirhead. They lost the B-qualifier (vs. Gim) as well before rebounding to quialify via the #CSideGrind, including the qualifier W vs. rival Team Einarson.

Fleury has been one of the hottest teams on tour this season and nobody should underestimate a return run to the Masters title in Oakville. And look at their opening game. A 2019 Masters final rematch vs. Japan's Team Yoshimura.

But also watch out for USA's Team Peterson. Speaking of the Autumn Gold, they were the champions after defeating Fujisawa in the final. Similar to Fleury, Peterson started hot at the Autumn Gold before falling in the A and B-qualifier games. They rallied with the #CSideGrind, went back on a roll and blitzed their way to the championship.

Two tour events this season. Two championships. An overall record of 13-3 and they come to Oakville on a 5-game winning streak. And look at those 5 teams they beat: Scheidegger, Rocque, Muirhead, Carey and Fujisawa.

Rival Jamie Sinclair was the first USA team to win a slam (2018 Players' Championship), can Team Peterson be far behind?

Predictions: Koana def. Hasselborg, Peterson def. Jones, Homan def. Rocque, Fleury def. Yoshimura, Peterson def. Koana, Fleury def. Homan, Peterson def. Fleury (A-Qualifier)

"Yellow Rock" Quadrant

Teams: Team Einarson, Team Fujisawa, Team Tirinzoni, Team M. Kim, Team Kovaleva, Team E. Kim, Team Gim, Team Wrana

#Fav

The back-to-back Canadian champs are here.

The back-to-back world champs are here.

Obviously they are considered the #Fav in this quadrant, right?

I am not so sure. What about Japan's Team Fujisawa?

This team is having themselves a season. 2 tour events. 2 finals. Plus the epic comeback at the Japanese Olympic Trials, coming back from 0-2 vs. Yoshimura to win the trials in 5 games. They are 13-4 for the season and look VERY confident.

I watched this team play at the Autumn Gold Curling Classic over Thanksgiving weekend and they seem ready to create a historic season for themselves and Japanese curling.

Will they take a loss? Perhaps. Could they also run the table? Absolutely.

The focus for this bracket may be on Einarson or Tirinzoni and/or the Korean representation but it may just be the team from the Land of the Rising Sun that steals the show.

#BracketBuster

Korea will certainly draw attention this week but Un-chi Gim may be the Korea team who draws the smallest interest. And that would be a big mistake.

This may be the "quiet but deadly" team in this entire event. They don't have a ton of #GSOC experience, having only played the Tour Challenge Tier II in 2018 (QF finish) but Gim has won two #PACC titles (2010, 2013) and competed at 4 world championships.

They lost the Korean Curling Championship final to rival Team E. Kim but, since that loss, have played two tour events in Alberta, reaching the SF in Edmonton and the QF at the Autumn Gold.

The Autumn Gold is most notable as the team qualified for the playoffs from the B-side after back-to-back victories over Team Fleury and Team Jones.

Tirinzoni may want to watch out on that opening game. The bracket could bust early here folks!

#W2W4

Team Einarson vs. The World.

Canada's two-time defending champions are up against it with this bracket. If they want to qualify A-side, they are going to have to knock off all international competition. This almost looks like a mini-world championship (if we allowed Korea to have multiple entries of course).

Speaking of the Koreans, we could see 3 Korean teams in the A-SF and an all-Korean A-qualifier. Team M. Kim, Team E. Kim and Team Gim are all strong contenders not just in this bracket but for this slam title.

Of course add in Fujisawa and the #PACC nations are ready to compete.

Is this the event we finally see an Asian slam champion? The odds alone are certainly stacked in favour of seeing #HERstory on the ice over the weekend.

Predictions: Einarson def. Wrana, E. Kim def. Kovaleva, Gim def. Tirinzoni, Fujisawa def. M. Kim, E. Kim def. Einarson, Fujisawa def. Gim, Fujisawa def. E. Kim (A-Qualifier)

Qualifiers: Team Peterson, Team Fujisawa, Team Hasselborg, Team E. Kim, Team Fleury, Team Tirinzoni, Team Homan, Team Einarson

MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Team Fujisawa def. Team Fleury

There you have it rock heads. The #TwineTime preview for the first #GSOC major of the season.

What say you? Agree? Disagree?

You can download and fill out your own brackets for the MEN HERE and the WOMEN HERE.

Post your bracket predictions on SM using the #GSOC, #Masters and #Bracketology.

Can you complete the #PerfectBracket?

#StayTuned

While we get ready to crown our first #GSOC champion of the season this weekend, we will also start the path to celebrating out first world champion as well.

The World Wheelchair Curling Championship will take to the ice inside the Ice Cube in Beijing, starting October 23.

This will be a great test event for the upcoming Olympic/Paralympic Games where curling will take place at the same venue.

The blog will return later in the week with preview of the #WWhCC2021, which also serves as a Paralympic Games qualifier.

Until then, good luck and good curling to those stepping on the slam ice this week in Oakville.