by Anil Mungal
Martin, Koe, Howard, and Stoughton face off at Casino Rama.RAMA, Ontario – A solitary sheet of ice on the floor of the Casino Rama Entertainment Centre is ready for a weekend of top notch curling. This year the invited teams represent the four most recent Canadian skips to win the World Championships.
The teams will battle for a cash purse worth up to $75,000. The game format is "Skins" ... and no, this does not mean that Johnny Mo will be playing without a shirt. In Skins curling, a "Skin" is awarded for each end won, with the Skin value for each end increasing as the game progresses. A Skin is awarded if the team with the hammer scores two or more points or the opposing team steals the end. If neither of these occur the Skin is carried over to the next end and the total value at stake grows. At the completion of eight ends the team with the most Skin value wins the game.
The 1pm (ET) match on Saturday features the 2008 World Champions and returning Skins Champions, Team Kevin Martin, vs. 2010 World Champion Team Kevin Koe. The 8pm match features 2011 World Champion Team Jeff Stoughton vs. 2007 World Champion Team Glenn Howard. The winners of these two matches will advance to the final on Sunday at 1pm.
Friday consists of on-ice practice, and an evening cocktail reception where the players get a chance to socialize.
The Curling News will be blogging all of the games live from Casino Rama, right here on these pages, and tweeting (@curling) as well, so stay tuned folks!
For a look at previous Skins Game blog postings, why not browse around our pages? Pick a search term, such as "TSN Skins" or "Casino Rama Skins", type it into the search bar near the top right of this page and bingo... you are now exploring past Skins curling content.
Enjoy while we await the start of the 2012 edition!