Players' Championship Preview

#BetweenTheSheets: Players' Championship Preview

Welcome to the final major of the season

"The more things change, the more they stay the same"

This has been the championship theme for curling in 2023.

We saw it at the Scotties.

We saw it at the Brier.

We saw it at the World Women's Curling Championship.

And then we wrapped up the World Men's Curling Championship with a different result.

Sweden's Team Edin was unable to stay #5Alive and lost in the QF round of the playoffs.

And a new foursome ascended to the throne as Kings of Curling: Scotland's Team Mouat.

Mouat defeated Canada's Team Gushue in the final Sunday afternoon to earn their first world championship...and end the Scottish streak.

Switzerland's Team Schwaller captured bronze earlier in the day on Sunday by knocking off 2022 world bronze medal winner Italy's Team Retornaz.

For what it is worth, #TwineTime did accurately predict all 6 #WMCC2023 playoff teams, both finalists AND the final result in the preview post. Just sayin' 😁

The championship theme may have been disrupted in Ottawa but could it be retained in Toronto?

When looking at the defending champions at the Players' Championship, it just might happen once again.

The Players' Championship is the ultimate event on the curling calendar. Teams strive to what to compete at this prestigious event.

It is the final major of the curling season and steeped in rich history and tradition.

The Players' Championship has been around since 1993, predating the current #gsoc system. It is the event often recognized as the conclusion of the curling season (even though the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships and Champions Cup events remain).

Jennifer Jones and Kevin Martin remain the #GoldStandard for the event, having won the finale trophy 6 and 8 times respectfully.

Plus, look at the venue. The Mattamy Athletic Centre, formally known as the historic Maple Leaf Gardens, creates the perfect backdrop. Who wouldn't want to curl at Maple Leaf Gardens?

The final major serves a double championship purpose. Not only will the event crown the 2023 Players' Championship champions but also the 2022/23 Pinty's Cup winners.

Team Einarson and Team Edin have one hand on the Pinty's Cup right now but with cup points being increased for this event, the championship trophy is still up for grabs.

Normally a #gsoc win nets the team 12 points with subsequent points being 9 (Runner-up), 7 (SF), 5 (QF) and 1 (non-playoff team per win).

For the Players' Championship, the point distribution will be: 25 (Champion), 19 (Runner-up), 15 (SF), 11 (QF) and 2 (non-playoff team per win).

2021/22 Pinty's Cup winners Team Mouat and Team Hasselborg will need to win the Players' Championship and hope for some #TeamUpset results along the way to retain the Cup this season.

And with a field littered with experience and teams coming off world championship appearances, the fight for gold will be as competitive as ever before.

Worth noting, how great is it to see this event go back to just the Top 12 teams in the world? And back to the regular pool system where, for the RR portion of the event, you actually compete against the same teams in your own pool.

Last year this event was a 16 team triple knockout.

Other slam events this season featuring a pool format saw the RR portion be Pool vs. Pool games rather than competing against the team in your own pool.

Bring back our championship theme for the 2023 Players' Championship: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And this is a format we can retain for the foreseeable future please!

Ready to have the rings drip in gold as teams chase down a Players' Championship title?

#TwineTimePredictions

Players' Championship

Toronto, ON

2022 Champions: Team Hasselborg (women) and Team Mouat (men)

Format: 12 team RR with 2 pools of 6. Top 6 overall advance to the playoff bracket with Top 2 teams earning a bye to the SF.

WOMEN

Pool A

#Fav:

The most decorated Players' Championship winner is here. As are the defending champions. But does anyone want to bet against Team Einarson?

They already have a #gsoc title to their credit this season (Masters) and have reached every slam final as well.

In fact, dating back to this very event last season, Einarson has reached every #gsoc event final since. If they can get back to the final this year, it will be 7 Grand Slam of Curling finals IN A ROW!!!

Not to mention they are coming off a bronze medal win at the World Women's Curling Championship, replicating their result from last year.

When it comes to slam season, no team delivers a draw to the pin better than Team Einarson.

#TeamUpset:

The B.C. champs, Team Grandy, will be the dark horse in this pool. Every other team they will face off against has extensive slam (and international) experience.

For Team Grandy, this will be their 3rd slam of the season, having won the Tour Challenge Tier II event and competing at the Masters (DNQ).

But don't let the lack of #gsoc experience fool you either. Remember this is a fighting team.

They have curled A LOT this season. They have won A LOT of games this season.

And remember their Scotties performance? Surviving a TB and reaching the Championship Round before being ousted by eventual Scotties finalists Team Jones.

This team will come to Toronto playing with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

#W2W4:

Team Hasselborg will try to #DefendTheIce and erase the disappointing final result at the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship, where they finished 4th on home ice. They may have some revenge on their minds as well, losing that bronze medal game to Canada's Team Einarson.

Jennifer Jones will try to add to her record Players' Championship haul but we are also on a farewell (for now?!) tour for Mackenzie Zacharias as the team announced this weekend she would be taking a step back from the sport. 

If we want to talk about keeping streaks alive, Einarson's finals run is impressive but we must give a shout out to Korea's Team Gim. They have now reached 3 straight #gsoc SF (Tour Challenge, Masters, Canadian Open). Can they continue their streak or even go one better and reach their second slam final (2022 Champions Cup)?

And be very weary of USA's Team Peterson. They missed the playoffs at world's with a 6-6 record; however, if looking at their player percentages during the week, they were easily one of the Top 6 in the competition. They may feel a bit slighted with their final result and want to come out swinging for the fences to make up for the disappointing finish.

Einarson, Hasselborg and Peterson may have a slight advantage early on in the RR as they wrapped up competition at the world championship only a few weeks ago. The other 3 teams in this pool, Gim, Jones and Grandy, have been sitting and watching.

Projected Standings:  1. Team Einarson  2. Team Gim  3. Team Jones  4. Team Hasselborg  5. Team Peterson  6. Team Grandy

Pool B

#Fav:

Given they just won another world championship, and went undefeated in the process, are you going to bet against Switzerland's Team Tirinzoni?

They dominated the world championship. It was not even close if we are being honest. 

There was Team Tirinzoni. And then the other playoff teams. And then the rest of the field.

They were that much above and beyond the competition. It was remarkable to see...and a streak we may never see again.

Sure, Tirinzoni has struggled at the past two slam events, failing to qualify for the playoffs at the Masters and Canadian Open but remember they also won the National to start the slam season.

If they are not suffering from a championship hangover, expect to see them in the playoff picture by the weekend.

#TeamUpset:

What do we make of "Team Scheidegger" at this event?

Both sisters will not be competing in Toronto. They will be replaced by Chelsea Carey and Jamie Sinclair.

Regular second Jessie Haughian will be joining Team Hunkin next season while sister Casey Scheidegger is taking a step back from the sport.

Kate Hogan will be skipping her own team next season, back in Manitoba, and will be joined by current teammate Taylor McDonald.

The return of Jamie Sinclair could be the wildcard factor here. As she prepares to join Team St-Georges next season, this will be a perfect tune up event. Remember she is a former champion here, having been the 1st American team to win a #gsoc title in 2018.

Carey and Sinclair also reached the QF at the Masters this season with the former Team Carey lineup.

#W2W4:

Rachel Homan will try to do what Anna Hasselborg did last season at this event...complete the career grand slam.

Homan has won every other #gsoc title. The only outstanding miss on the mantle is the Players' Championship.

And she will have a slightly altered lineup in front of her this week with Rachelle Brown stepping in at lead while Sarah Wilkes is on maternity leave.

Perhaps this pool will be the #SuperSpare pool with Team Homan and Team Scheidegger sporting spares this week.

Watch out for Team Lawes. While we speak of spares, this team has had their fair share of them during a pregnancy season. Skipper Kaitlyn Lawes is back in the house though. Vice Selena Njegovan welcomed her baby to the world a few weeks ago. One has to believe #SuperSpare Laura Walker will be stepping in once again in Toronto?

And while Team Fujisawa may be mildly disappointed with their world's results, they arrive in Toronto as the most recent slam champion, having won the Canadian Open. Can they go back-to-back?

Which Team Wrana will show up this week? The one who reached 2 SF this season (Tour Challenge, Canadian Open) or the one who DNQ at 2 other slam events (National, Masters)?

Projected Standings:  1. Team Homan  2. Team Tirinzoni  3. Team Fujisawa  4. Team Lawes  5. Team Wrana  6. Team Scheidegger

Playoff Qualifiers: Team Einarson, Team Homan, Team Gim, Team Tirinzoni, Team Jones, Team Fujisawa

Players' Championship Final: Team Einarson def. Team Homan

MEN

Pool A

#Fav:

Fresh off a world championship final this past Sunday, can Team Gushue continue their strong play this week in Toronto?

The big question mark on this team is how they rebound from a tough, and emotional, championship final loss.

Will they be physically and emotionally tired heading into this event?

Or will the quick turnaround work in their favour to help them put aside the loss on Sunday and get right back on the ice to pick up wins?

They won one slam already this season (The National) and reached the SF at two others (Tour Challenge, Canadian Open). 

We know they are always a slam threat. It will just be a question of whether that Sunday loss still stings this week.

#TeamUpset:

Did Norway's Team Ramsfjell earn their deserving stripes this past week with their performance at the world championship?

Not many expected them to do as well as they did, reaching the playoffs with an impressive 10-2 record before being eliminated by Italy's Team Retornaz.

And while this may only be the 3rd ever slam event for the young Norwegian team, remember they made the SF at their slam debut (Masters) earlier this season.

Similar to Gushue, if they can park the disappointing QF loss over the weekend and focus on the task at hand in Toronto, they could be a surprise playoff team once again.

#W2W4:

Niklas Edin! We saw him make amazing shots in Ottawa. But we also saw his world championship streak come to an end. Which #KingNiklas shows up in Toronto?

It would not be surprising to see Team Edin start a bit sluggish this week. No doubt they will be disappointed in not only having their world championship streak end but not even have the chance to play for a medal over the weekend will sting.

On the flip side, this is a championship team who has taken tough losses in the past and can rebound. Remember, they have played 3 slams this season. They reached the final each time and won a title (Tour Challenge).

Speaking of overcoming disappointment, how will Team Koe and Team Bottcher respond this week? We last saw them taking their leave in London at the Brier. They have been sitting and watching their opposition, for the most part, compete this past week. What mental state will they be in?

For Team Koe, they are preparing for a transition into next season as second Brad Thiessen will step back from the sport at the end of the current season. Next season, Koe will welcome Jacques Gauthier to the team to replace Thiessen.

And what do we make of "Young Buck" himself Korey Dropkin? Dropkin has been the class of USA men's curling the past few seasons but struggled at USA Nationals and watched main rival Team Shuster take the title and compete at world's last week.

The theme for this pool this week is Resiliency!

All 6 teams will feel like they have something to prove given how their most recent competitions ended up with tough losses.

Projected Standings:  1. Team Bottcher  2. Team Gushue  3. Team Edin  4. Team Koe  5. Team Ramsfjell  6. Team Dropkin

Pool B

#Fav:

The Champs Are Here!

In more ways than one...

Team Mouat is coming off their 1st world championship win on Sunday.

And they are the defending champions here.

In fact, if they can #DefendTheIce in Toronto, they will become the 1st team in the history of the event to accomplish the #3peat.

The only cause of concern for the young Scottish lads is whether the world championship hangover is a deep one or not. You know those boys, and all their supporters in Ottawa, were out celebrating hard on Sunday.

As they should!

#TeamUpset:

When you watch your main rivals hoist the world championship trophy, it must give you extra motivation to be even better in the future.

If so, Team Whyte is going to be even more dangerous of a competitor than ever before.

For Whyte, seeing Team Mouat continue to improve and find more success on the ice has to be a motivating force.

We have seen this team land on the playoff bracket at a major earlier this season (Masters) but we also saw them fall short of the playoffs at their other 3 #gsoc appearances (National, Tour Challenge, Canadian Open).

If they can use the motivating factor of Mouat's win, coupled perhaps with a bit of world championship hangover for 3 of their opponents, they could get on a roll and steal a playoff ticket.

#W2W4:

This is the Rivalry Pool.

We have the All-Scot rivalry: Team Mouat vs. Team Whyte

We have the #BuffaloHunt rivalry: Team Carruthers vs. Team Dunstone

We have the Bronze Battle rivalry: Team Retornaz vs. Team Schwaller

And while each team still has to play the others in the pool, those teams in those specific rivalry situations would love to finish higher in the standings compared to their rival.

Would Whyte love to be the eliminator of Mouat?

Retornaz earn revenge on Schwaller for taking the world bronze from around their necks?

Carruthers and Dunstone may be friends off the ice but Dunstone has had the more successful season and is the face of Manitoba curling now. Can Carruthers get that title back?

And lets not forget about the Jacobs Effect! We know Brad Jacobs is no longer in retirement phase, coming back earlier this season to curl with Team Carruthers.

Well it is now official as Jacobs will join the team full time as their import.

We saw them play together at the Canadian Open, where they DNQ. But that was as a #SuperSpare (at least as announced at the time). This is now the official team. They will want to come out swinging and put their opposition on notice heading into next season.

Projected Standings:  1. Team Mouat  2. Team Dunstone  3. Team Schwaller  4. Team Retornaz  5. Team Carruthers  6. Team Whyte

Playoff Qualifiers: Team Bottcher, Team Mouat, Team Gushue, Team Dunstone, Team Schwaller, Team Edin

Players' Championship Final: Team Mouat def. Team Bottcher

What say you rockheads? Agree? Disagree?

Who do you think will hoist the final major trophy of the season?

And who are you cheering for to win the season-long Pinty's Cup?

#StayTuned

As mentioned above, the season does not end with the conclusion of the Players' Championship.

Another world champion is still to be crowned at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Korea.

And the final event of the season, Champions Cup, hits the ice in Regina at the beginning of May to officially bring the 2022/23 season to a close.

The blog will be back to preview both of those competitions.

For those competing in Toronto, good luck and good curling.

Curling fans, you still have energy for these final weeks of the season too, right?!?!