“I was mesmerized by the building itself”
TORONTO—Very quietly, this city’s vast curling history has been further elevated by hosting a decade of elite Grand Slam of Curling tournaments at the former Maple Leaf Gardens.
But as the current hosting run comes to an end, what is in store for the future?
Next year, the Players’ Championship heads to Steinbach, Man. with a surprise January date, following a decision to have all 2024-25 Slams completed before the Olympics in February.
Event staffers tried to book the Mattamy Athletic Centre for the revised dates, but the venue—which has played host to 12 of the last 14 championships, and the last five in a row—was unavailable.
As today’s playoffs get underway for the “last Toronto Slam” at Church and Carlton Streets—with defending champion Brad Gushue missing after another early exit—the event’s top volunteer is weighing the sea of memories.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with the Players’ Championship since it first came to Toronto in 2013,” recalled Paivi Liitela, manager of the Leaside Curling Club and a former president of the Toronto Curling Association.
“The first year just seemed like such an incredible amount of work. I remember being there the weekend before the event, and unloading the AMJ truck.
“I sat in the Mattamy Centre for hours, mesmerized as they installed the ice. I was mesmerized by the building itself. It was fascinating just to see how everything came together.
“I can’t even imagine how many steps I walked in that week. I don’t think I had a chance to watch a single game, but it was so much fun and so worth it.”
In 2015, Liitela—who has headed the event’s volunteer corps from day one—got a surprise phone call during the women’s final, and was asked to head to the lounge ASAP.
“I was told Kevin Martin is going to interview me during the fourth end break,” Liitela said.
“Oh my God! I never in my entire life thought I’d make it onto a national TV broadcast.”
Another favourite memory comes from 2018, when Korea’s Team Kim Eun-Jung—aka the Garlic Girls—competed for the first time, fresh off their Olympic silver medal performance on home ice at Gangneung.
“They held an autograph session one day, and the the fan lineup was unbelievable,” said Liitela. “There were hundreds of people lined up the full length of the concourse, and then some. It was an absolute zoo in there.”
(This week, the Players’ Championship featured “Korea Day” with one of the team’s games livestreamed with Korean commentary.)
While most Grand Slam events suffer from early- to mid-week attendance issues, Toronto can produce crowds on the final weekend.
This week, under the tutelage of new owners The Curling Group, a special Battle of the Sexes exhibition on Monday was a sellout, while a themed Pride Night on Friday also jammed the 3,850 seats.
(For the record, Bruce Mouat’s jet-lagged world champions defeated Rachel Homan’s world champions on the Monday night, adding to the rich history of such exhibitions.)
The 2024 championship will be remembered as the event where Jennifer Jones played the final four-player game of her storied career.“That was so special,” recalled Liitela. “All of the teams stayed out on the ice until JJ finished her game, and the ovation she received at the end was just amazing.”
Since coming to Toronto, the women’s Players’ trophies have gone to a wide variety of teams—Jones, Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson, Anna Hasselborg and Isabella Wraana of Sweden, and even the first title won by a U.S. team, skipped by Jamie Sinclair.
Scotland’s Eve Muirhead, however, leads the way with three titles won—in 2013, 2015 and 2016, the latter with Winnipeg’s Cathy Overton-Clapham sparing at third.
On the men’s side, two teams have won two Toronto Players’ crowns—skipped by Gushue and Kevin Koe—while Mike McEwen’s original Manitoba foursome lost three finals in the first four years.
“The greatest part of the Players’, for me, is all of the friendships I’ve made over the years,” said Liitela.
“I’ve met people from virtually every curling club in the Greater Toronto Area, and there’s a core group of volunteers who have been involved in virtually every championship since day one.
“At the end of each event, it's always, ‘See you next year!’”
That farewell message will change this weekend, but a slammin’ return to T.O. might still be in the cards.
