Slam Curling Tiebreakers Are Back

Sportsnet, owners of the Grand Slam of Curling, have reversed course and will reintroduce tiebreakers for the next two events in their tournament series.

Both the WFG Masters, Dec. 12-17 in Saskatoon and the Co-op Canadian Open, Jan. 16-21 in Red Deer, Alta. will see tiebreakers return to the event format.

The final event of the season, the Princess Auto Players’ Championship Apr 9-14 in Toronto, was intended to feature tiebreakers and as such there are no changes planned.

A quiet athlete furor began to build during first two Slam events in October and November, where pre-game draw-to-the-button shootouts—known as the LSD, or Last Stone Draws—were used to confirm the final playoff berths.

The World Curling Federation has labelled the cumulative LSD scores the DSC—Draw Shot Challenge—and moved away from tiebreakers some years ago.

Athletes recently voiced their displeasure after some teams at The National in Pictou, N.S. were eliminated with 2-2 pool won/loss records. In previous years, tiebreakers would be held between the end of pool play and the start of the quarterfinal round.

Team Brad Gushue was one of the squads that fell victim via their shootout score in Pictou, which put a stop to their streak of 27 consecutive Grand Slam playoff rounds.

Following an enquiry by The Curling News, a Sportsnet spokesperson provided the following statement:

After discussion with the players and careful consideration, we have decided to reintroduce tiebreakers to the World Financial Group Masters and Co-op Canadian Open.

We believe it’s important to experiment with formats in order to run highly competitive and entertaining events. We will continue to evolve and strive to do what’s best for the players, host communities, broadcast, and fans based on our ongoing conversations.

There will be no changes to the Princess Auto Players’ Championship.

The Canadian Press reports that following The National, players met with event organizers to discuss format, tiebreaker and pre-game setup adjustments that were implemented without their input at the first two Slam championships of the season.

Another change saw teams battle opponents outside of their own four-team pools.

Some athletes had posted their displeasure on social media. Former Slam player Brent Laing, who now competes in mixed doubles with his wife Jennifer Jones, posted a series of open questions that gained traction from players and fans alike.

Laing’s series ended on a poignant note.

This marks the second notable spat between curling athletes and championship event organizers in the same month. Weeks ago, Gushue publicly tore a strip off the World Curling Federation over a number of grievances during the Pan Continental Championships.

The Grand Slam series is credited with introducing multiple format and event changes over the years, many of which—such as the five-rock Free Guard Zone and “No Tick” rules—have been widely implemented throughout the sport.