A new curling era is set to begin
The last Grand Slam of the season, in an Olympic year, often marks the end of some team lineups—and careers, too.
This week’s Champions Cup in Olds, Alta. sees curling fans saying farewell to an unprecedented number of teams. At least six of the 12 men’s teams are splitting up or seeing significant changes take place, and the same is in store for at least four of the women’s teams.
It all ends with the championship finals on Sunday but for those feeling nostalgic, some teams are throwing and brushing together for the last time today.
“Leading” off is Team Jennifer Jones. They are 1-3 heading into Friday afternoon’s match with the 4-0 Anna Hasselborg, which means lead player Dawn McEwen could be finished with her truly stellar curling career by dinner time.
McEwen announced her pending retirement after returning home from the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. One of the greatest women’s leads of all time is saying goodbye, and the rest of her teammates are moving on.
Jones will join the youthful Manitoba squad skipped by Mackenzie Zacharias, while Kaitlyn Lawes and Jocelyn Peterman are teaming up with soon-to-be-ex-Tracy Fleury members Selena Njegovan and Kristin MacCuish. Alternate Lisa Weagle will turn her focus to mixed doubles with partner John Epping, whose men’s team is splitting and is 1-3 heading into the Friday night draw.
The Jones versus Hasselborg tilt has been selected for Sportsnet broadcast coverage at 2:00 p.m. eastern time.
Two sheets over, Brad Gushue will try to defeat the 4-0 Brad Jacobs. Gushue is 2-2 and needs the win to play tomorrow. Otherwise, today could mark the end of the road for the eight-year lineup that delivered multiple Slam and Brier titles, world championship medals and an Olympic bronze, as Brett Gallant is leaving to team up with a monstrous new Brendan Bottcher foursome.
Koe is 3-1 at present, which means there’s a good chance that John Morris’ last-ever men’s stones will not be thrown today, but rather on the weekend.
Morris in his final four-player event • Anil Mungal-SportsnetMorris is retiring from four-player and is believed to be aiming—like Weagle/Epping and the Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres pairing—for a sole focus on the mixed doubles discipline.
“Men’s Curling, it’s been a slice,” Morris posted online in March. “Thanks for the wonderful memories … I couldn’t have asked for better teammates! #retired”
Fleury (3-1) is teaming with Rachel Homan next year, and the fascinating question of who will skip the team hasn’t been answered. Homan’s current squad is 2-2 in Olds and could use a win in Friday’s night draw to keep themselves going for another day (or two).
Homan lead Joanne Courtney is famously stepping back from the sport—we’d be surprised if she ends up retiring outright—thus she is another we won’t see on the ice in the foreseeable future.
For the record, Courtney’s Tik Tokking is reaching new levels this week in Olds, as she’s managed to rope her skip into a few performances.
Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and Alina Paetz will continue next season, but without front-enders Esther Neuenschwander and Melanie Barbezat, who are retiring for good.
The three-time world champions are 3-1 heading into a Friday (6:00 p.m. ET) battle with European rival Madeleine Dupont (2-2). Dupont—who battled a bad back leading in to Beijing—and her sister Denise are another pair who may or may not continue at the high-performance level.
These players—all of them—must be thoroughly burned out. The weather is turning, the golf greens are ready, and the clock is ticking on quadrennial curling nostalgia … as a new era is set to begin this fall.