Power Rankings - W11

#BetweenTheSheets: Power Rankings - Week 11

The Sweep 16 + Tour Challenge shake up the mountain

The Power Rankings are back!

After taking last week off in preparation for the start of the season-opening #gsoc of the season, mountain viewings are now open once again.

And there is A LOT of curling for the Power Rankings to consider this week.

We saw Team McEwen and Team Homan dominate the #Sweep16 competition in winning the PointsBet Invitational.

This past weekend, Team Einarson silenced critics with their Tour Challenge win while Team Mouat showed up to remind everyone why they should be considered the #1 team in the world.

What will the mountain do with #TeamUpset results too?

We see you Team McDonald (Sweep 16 Final Four appearance) and Team Skrlik (Sweep 16 Finalist).

The mountain also had watchful eyes on the Tour Challenge Tier II 👀👀

How did these results shake up the Power Rankings Top 10?

Lets go climbing and find out...

#ButFirst, here is a quick recap of what has happened in the curling scene over the past few weeks:

#TheRunback

🥌 PointsBet Invitational (W) - Team Homan (ON) def. Team Skrlik (AB): Team Homan domination continued as they remained undefeated on their season when they picked up the #Sweep16 title in Calgary as the #1 seed. Their path to the final included wins over Team Wood (Sweep 16), Team Brown (Elite 8) and Team Lawes (Final Four). Finalist Team Skrlik defied the odds in reaching the championship as a #10 seed, upsetting higher seeds along the way: Team Inglis (Sweep 16), Team Carey (Elite 8) and Team Cameron (Final Four).

🥌 PointsBet Invitational (M) - Team McEwen (SK) def. Team Gushue (NL): Last year McEwen shocked the system with their run to the Final Four as a #10 seed, this year as a #3 seed they went 2 games better in claiming the title. Their path to the final included wins over Team Wipf (Sweep 16), Team Asselin (Elite 8) and Team Jacobs (Final Four). For #1 seed Gushue, their path to the final contained victories over Team Sherrard (Sweep 16), Team Kleiter (Elite 8) and Team McDonald (Final Four).

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier I (W) - Team Einarson (MB) def. Team Homan (ON): It was "B" for "Best" on the women's draw as both finalists qualified for the playoffs via the B-side. For Einarson, they lost their opener (vs. Constantini) and then never lost again in claiming the title. Their playoff run to the final included wins over fellow B-qualifier Team Wrana (QF) and #CSideGrind Team Fujisawa (SF). For Homan, their path to the final included wins over 2 C-qualifiers: Team E. Kim (QF) and Team Lawes (SF).

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier I (M) - Team Mouat (SCO) def. Team Gushue (NL): It was a perfect week of curling for Scotland's Team Mouat, going 6-0 to claim the Tour Challenge title. The victory also secured the Career Slam for the lads, having now won every major. Mouat, who qualified A-side, scored playoff wins over #CSideGrind qualifier Team Craik (QF) and B-qualifier Team McEwen. For Gushue, it was the long road to the final having qualified via the #CSideGrind and scoring playoff wins over B-qualifier Team Whyte (QF) and fellow C-qualifier Team Dunstone (SF).

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier II (W) - Team Black (NS) def. Team Yoshimura (JPN): The #CSideGrind can produce #TeamUpset champions folks. Just ask Team Black! #TeamBluenose started 1-2 but reeled off 5 straight wins to claim the title. Their playoff path included defeating A-qualifier Team MacMillan (QF, after being down 1-3 playing 8 without hammer) and fellow C-qualifier Team Ha (SF). Yoshimura was undefeated entering the final, having qualified A-side and scoring playoff wins over C-qualifier Team B. Peterson (QF) and B-qualifier Team Tabata (SF). Worth noting, this is Sayaka Yoshimura's second Tour Challenge Tier II finals loss, previously reaching the final in 2018 (losing to Switzerland's Team Stern), and third #gsoc finals loss (2019 Masters vs. Team Fleury).

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier II (M) - Team Kleiter (SK) def. Team Ramsfjell (NOR): Kleiter followed the same slide path as Tour I champions Team Mouat, going undefeated on the week to claim the title. The Sasky team qualified via the A-side and scored playoff wins over #CSideGrind Team Purcell (QF) and Team Mooibroek (SF). For Ramsfjell, they qualified for the playoffs via the B-side and reached the final with playoff wins over C-qualifier Team Waddell (QF) and defending champion/C-qualifier Team Casper (SF).

🥌 Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic (W) - Team Kang (KOR) def. Team Zhang (CHN): All the talk about Japan being a curling hotbed for female teams, Korea has entered the chat folks. Team Bobae Kang from Songhyun, Korea added another tour title to the Korea Curling Association resume. Kang reached the playoffs with a 3-2 RR record and survived a TB against Team Reese-Hansen. They would reach the final with playoff wins over Team Ryan (QF) and Team Wang (SF) before avenging their RR defeat to Zhang in the final. For Zhang, they qualified for the playoffs with a 4-1 RR record, earning a bye to the SF where they would defeat Team Sasaki to reach the final.

🥌 Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic (M) - Team Xu (CHN) def. Team Pierce (BC): China is back in the winner's circle, adding to the success of Asian nations this season. Team Xu qualified for the playoffs via the B-side and reached the final with wins over fellow B-qualifier Team de Jong (QF) and A-qualifier Team Abe (SF). The win over Abe avenged the A-qualifier loss earlier in the event. For Team Pierce, they came very close to a successful #DefendTheIce while welcoming Matt Blandford at vice. Pierce was a perfect 5-0 entering the final having qualified A-side and picking up playoff wins over C-qualifier Team Lee (QF) and B-qualifier Team King (SF).

🥌 MCT Atkins Curling Supplies Classic (W) - Team Kim (KOR) def. Team Robertson (MB): Another Korean team to keep an eye on? You better believe it curling fans! Suhyeon Kim and her team were perfect in Winnipeg this weekend, robbing home town fans of a provincial win. Kim went 4-0 in the RR to qualify for the playoffs and picked up wins over Team Dundas (QF) and Team McLeod (SF) to reach the final. For Robertson, they qualified for the playoffs with a 2-1 RR record and scored playoff wins over Team Terrick (QF) and Team Watling (SF).

🥌 MCT Atkins Curling Supplies Classic (M) - Team Calvert (MB) def. Team Dunnam (USA): Another team winning a weekend title with an undefeated record? Yup, why not?! There seems to be a theme on the opening weekend of October. Team Calvert, welcoming Ian McMillan as Super Spare skipper, were 5-0 in the RR before playoff victories over Team Peters (QF) and Team Irwin (SF). Dunnam qualified for the playoffs with a 4-1 RR record and reached the final with playoff wins over Team McDonald (QF) and Team Colli (SF).

🥌 Superstore Lady Monctonian (W) - Team Quillian (NB) def. Team MacDiarmid (NS): A perfect 6-0 weekend for Quillian in claiming the title. After posting a 4-0 RR record, Quillian scored a SF win over Team Mallais to reach the final. For MacDiarmid, they qualified for the playoffs with a 3-1 RR record and picked up a SF win over Team Hilliard to reach the final.

🥌 SwissCurling Prometteurs Cup (M) - Team Iseli (SUI) def. Team Schnider (SUI): An all-Swiss final on Swiss ice, must be nice! Team Iseli would be the last Swiss standing though, going perfect on the weekend to claim the championship. After posting a 5-0 RR record, Iseli earned a bye to the SF and scored the W over Team Klossner to reach the final. Schnider qualified for the playoffs with a 4-1 record but needed the slightly longer path to the final, scoring playoffs wins over Team Wildhaber (QF) and Team Totzek (SF). The victory over Totzek avenged their only loss of the event from the RR. 

🥌 Aly Jenkins Mixed Doubles Memorial (MD) - Team Koana / Aoki (JPN) def. Team Martin / Laycock (SK): The Japanese duo avenged their only loss of the event from the RR in the final to secure the title in Martensville, SK. Koana/Aoki qualified for the playoffs with a 4-1 RR record before playoff wins over Team Weagle/Epping (QF) and fellow Japanese duo Team Matsumura/Tanida (SF). Martin/Laycock reached the final with an undefeated record, going 5-0 in the RR and having playoff victories over Team Gamble/Kalthoff (QF) and Team Springer/Springer (SF). Take note, last year's winner was Sweden's Team Wrana/Wrana and look where they ended the season. Does this event foreshadow the next world champion?

The blog did not have full previews for all the tour events this past weekend (my bad!). However, there were previews and #TwineTimePredictions for the #Sweep16 and #TourChallenge events.

🥌 PointsBet Invitational (W) - 11 of 15 games correct in the bracket, including both finalists and the winner.

🥌 PointsBet Invitational (M) - 11 of 15 games correct in the bracket, including both finalists and the winner.

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier I (W) - 5 of 8 playoff qualifiers, including one finalist (Homan).

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier I (M) - 5 of 8 playoff qualifiers, including one finalist (Mouat).

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier II (W) - 4 of 8 playoff qualifiers.

🥌 Tour Challenge Tier II (M) - 5 of 8 playoff qualifiers, including one finalists (Kleiter).

Solid #BracketMania predictions with both finals and both winners being correct. Not too bad!

Average TKO predictions though at the Tour Challenge, correct with a few finalists but no winners.

Lets check out curling's most viewed mountain ⛰

Remember, the parenthesis number behind each team is where they were ranked in last weeks Power Rankings post.

#PowerRankings

MEN

1. Team Mouat (2)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - Champions

It wasn't just about winning the title or going undefeated or completing the Career Slam...it was also in how dominating they really were along the way. In their 6 games played, they outscored the opposition 42-16. That is an average score of 7-3 (rounding up here). And against the best in the world.

No surprise they are #1!

2. Team McEwen (3)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - SF

The winning streak had to stop eventually. After winning 3 straight titles, including the Sweep 16 the week prior, the gas finally ran out of the tank for Team McEwen. But losing a slam SF against the eventual champions (and new #1 ranked team on the mountain) is still a "good loss" as we say.

3. Team Gushue (6)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - Finalist

Back-to-back finals is always a good thing and will always have you mountain climbing.

But one has to wonder if it starts creeping into the Gushue psyche when losing to McEwen (Sweep 16) and Mouat (Tour Challenge) in dominating fashion?

4. Team Schwaller (1)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - QF

The mountain was watching the Swiss team at the Tour Challenge. They did enter the opening slam as the #1 team atop the mountain after all.

It wasn't the QF loss that really dropped them from the top. 

It is more commentary on how good the 3 teams above them have played recently.

This is still one of the best teams on tour this season and always a threat. Plus the pink lettering on their jerseys was an A+ look!

5. Team Whyte (7)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - QF

Oh so close (yet again) for Ross Whyte.

He had Gushue on the ropes but Gushue was Gushue with his last rock in 8 and made the Scots pay. Does Whyte still feel satisfied with playoff appearances or start to get frustrated with near misses?

On the plus, the North Face vest over the team curling jacket this week was one hot look. The look of the weekend perhaps? The team jacket colors and design popped even more under the vest. Sponsors might not like it but curling fans did.

6. Team Hoesli (5)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier II - QF

The up and coming Swiss hold their own on the mountain this week, even if some may find this controversial.

Yes, they were competing in the Tier II but they did qualify out of the A-side before slipping up in the QF vs. the defending champs Team Casper.

They have proven they can hang on #gsoc ice. Lets see them against Tier I competition again. Their last Tier I slam was the 2022 Masters.

7. Team Kleiter (NR)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier II - Champions

A second team from Saskatchewan in the Top 10? And no teams from Alberta or Manitoba or Ontario mentioned yet either?

Has the curling landscape in Canada changed this much? You better start believing so folks.

What a two-week run it has been for Kleiter. They reached the Elite 8 in Calgary and then run the gauntlet at the Tier II in Charlottetown for their first slam title.

Do not underestimate what this team can do on Tier I ice either folks.

The blog has been high on Rylan Kleiter for a few seasons now...and this season is his official coming out party. Enjoy your invite!

8. Team Muskatewitz (4)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier II - QF

They lost an A-qualifier to the eventual champions.

They lost their QF after scoring 4 early to take the lead.

Will it be a looking back saying "What If" or looking back saying "We Can Do This!". Time will tell what mindset the young Germans take going forward.

HUGE Euro Qualifier series coming up in 2 weeks against main rivals Team Totzek. Totzek bettered them last year in this qualifier series. Does Muskatewitz get revenge this season?

9. Team Jacobs (NR)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - QF

Here we go...Alberta has entered the Power Rankings chat.

After a Final Four appearance at the PointsBet Invitational and a QF showing at the Tour Challenge Tier I, is Team Jacobs finally putting the pieces together as a unit and ready to flex their might?

If so, everyone better watch out. On paper, this is one of the best teams in the world.

We are just waiting for the consistent results (and tour wins?!?) to match.

10. Team McDonald (10)

Last Week: MCT Atkins Curling Supplies Classic - QF

Can we really blame the #NextGen team from maybe slipping up in the playoff round this weekend in Manitoba?

We see it happen in sports all the time when a #TeamUpset rides the momentum and high off a huge prior win only to hit the wall next time up.

McDonald was THE story of the Sweep 16, reaching the Final Four as a #13 seed and knocking off two-time finalist Team Dunstone and Team Koe along the way.

The mountain took notice of them BEFORE the PB Invitational. The blog warned everyone in the preview post they were the team with the highest #BracketBuster potential.

Now we will see how the team handles moving from #TeamUpset to #FanFav for the rest of the season.

Honourable Mention: Team Ramsfjell, Team Craik, Team Casper, Team Calvert, Team Asselin

WOMEN

1. Team Homan (3)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - Finalist

It would appear Team Homan did not take kindly to the mountain bumping them from the #1 spot before the Sweep 16.

They went out and crushed the competition in Calgary to win the PointsBet Invitational and #DefendTheIce, becoming the first women's team to accomplish the feat.

Sure, they took their first losses of the season at the Tour Challenge but they still reached the final didn't they?

Consistency always wins out and no team is more consistent than Team Homan.

2. Team Gim (4)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - QF

The Korean champions are making a move up the mountain again, solidified behind their A-side qualification at the Tour Challenge.

BUT, this is becoming a growing concern for Team Gim in making the playoffs only to be ousted right away.

Consistent in making the playoffs? Not a problem.

Consistent in winning once in the playoffs? There is the issue.

3. Team Fujisawa (6)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - SF

They may have taken the long road to the playoffs but they still got there.

And they scored a HUGE playoff win over A-qualified Gim to reach the SF.

Fujisawa is always going to be the name in the draw no other team wants to see across from them. And this week in Charlottetown proved it once again.

Never count them out.

Although the 6 SF and 6 QF losses over the past 6 #gsoc seasons is a strange stat.

4. Team Tabata (5)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier II - SF

Enter another Japanese team on the mountain and back in the Top 4.

Team Tabata has risen to #1, dropped to #5 and now ascends a bit to #4.

The SF run at the Tour Challenge Tier II further proved how good this team can be. And they can be a Tier I threat as well...if they can finally get there.

Always tough to lose to a national rival but Team Yoshimura is no slouch either and has more #gsoc experience under the slider.

Consistency wise, Tabata has been one of the best this season.

5. Team Constantini (7)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - QF

Who handed Team Homan their 1st loss of the season?

Who handed eventual champion Team Einarson their only loss of the Tour Challenge?

Yup, both answers would be Italy's Team Constantini.

What a run they had in PEI, qualifying A-side and knocking off both finalists along the way.

Sure they slipped up in the QF vs. Team Lawes but the final result does not discredit their play to get there.

6. Team Lawes (NR)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - SF

Speaking about Lawes, welcome to the Top 10!

And rightfully so after the two weeks they have put in on the ice.

Final Four result at the Sweep 16.

SF result at the Tour Challenge.

Could they be the top threat to Homan this season at the Scotties?

8. Team Einarson (NR)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - Champions

This was a tough call for the mountain. Where do you rank the team who just won a slam title?

Yet, the previous week, were eliminated in the Sweep 16 by the #14 seed in the tournament?

Higher? Lower? It is debatable.

But after taking an opening game loss, while playing yet again with a different player, and then reeling off all the wins in a row to win the title...the mountain cannot ignore that stat.

Plus it was great to see Dawn McEwen back on the ice and hoisting a trophy right away, like she never left.

We still wish Shannon Birchard a speedy recovery though too. She is missed.

9. Team Tirinzoni (1)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier I - Did Not Qualify

A week not to remember for the Swiss champions. And one not many people would have predicted either, given they were coming to PEI on a high of winning a tour title.

Team Lawes ended up being their kryptonite last week though, knocking them off in an A-SF and C-qualifier.

And their other loss was to main Swiss rival Team Schwaller in a B-SF.

It will be interesting to see how they regroup from a disappointing weekend.

But they were also the #1 team on the last Power Rankings and the mountain is not ready to be THAT cruel...yet...

10. Team Black (NR)

Last Week: Tour Challenge Tier II - Champions

The #TeamUpset result of the weekend...and perhaps the season.

When Team Black started the Tier II competition with a 1-2 record, many curling fans probably wrote them off as having any chance to qualify for the playoffs, let alone win the title.

But isn't this why we love sports rock heads?!? They dusted off the sliders, avoided the negative thinking and never lost again.

And remember, it was only a year ago at the 2023 Sweep 16 where they were shocking the world with their Final Four appearance. 

This Tier II title is very deserving too. Black reached the SF at the 2022 Tour Challenge Tier II and the QF last year.

They may be the most unlikeliest of #gsoc champions we have seen (maybe ever??) but do not confuse unlikely with unlikeable.

The curling community was loving their win. As was home province Nova Scotia, becoming the 1st team to win a slam title and the first women's team from Atlantic Canada to do so as well.

#HERstory ✅

Honourable Mention: Team Yoshimura, Team Kitazawa, Team Ha, Team Skrlik, Team Hasselborg

#StayTuned

Are you ready to crown a world champion?

The 2024 World Mixed Curling Championship hits the ice in Scotland this week.

Plus there are some historic tour events to watch out for this weekend, including the Stu Sells Toronto and Autumn Gold Curling Classic in Calgary.

The blog will be back later in the week to preview the big events of the weekend.

AND, tune in to the Autumn Gold Curling Classic this weekend as #TwineTime returns to the commentary booth.

Enjoy the upcoming week and welcome to Rocktober!

Oh...that Kevin Koe team announcement, hey? Thoughts?!?!