It’s not often that a massive sporting event happens just three days into the year in a town like North Battleford.
That’s the scenario that will be playing here starting Tuesday and lasting through until Sunday as the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling’s Meridian Canadian Open takes place at the Civic Centre.
Even if you aren’t a massive curling fan, this is something worth checking out, as there are a number of star-studded teams among the 32 rinks that will be coming to town.
Plus, for many of the Canadian squads, this is their last chance to earn some momentum before they head to their provincial playdowns and try to make the Scotties Tournament of Hearts or the Tim Hortons Brier.
So who are the teams to keep an eye on over the course of this triple-knockout event?
Well allow me to fill you in, while I also make a foolish attempt in trying to predict a curling competition.
Men’s Field
Although Thomas Ulsrud and his magical pants from Norway sadly won’t be here, the 16-team bracket is very stout.
Unlike the women’s side of the bracket, there will be rinks from Saskatchewan in the field as Steve Laycock and Bruce Korte will be bringing their Saskatoon-based rinks to North Battleford.
Laycock, who was born in Yorkton, has won the last three men’s provincial playdowns and picked up a bronze medal at the Brier two years ago.
Rick Folk was the last curler to win a national men’s championship for Saskatchewan back in 1980, and Laycock’s easily the best bet to end that lengthy drought.
There will be some other Saskatchewan connections sprinkled throughout the field on the men’s side.
Moose Jaw’s Pat Simmons is the third for Brendan Botcher’s Edmonton squad, Regina’s Braeden Moskowy throws third stones for the Reid Carruthers’ rink out of Winnipeg and Ben Hebert of Regina is the lead for Kevin Koe’s Calgary based team.
The Carruthers foursome is among three of the main favourites for the Canadian Open, with the others being Sweden’s Niklas Edin and Brad Gushue of St. John's, N.L.
Carruthers, who won the Brier with Jeff Stoughton in 2011, is having his best year as a skip to date as he earned an Olympic Trials spot by winning the Canada Cup of Curling in Brandon, Man. back in December.
He also made it to the final at the most recent Grand Slam of Curling event, the Boost National, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. last month, where he lost in the final to defending Olympic gold medalist Brad Jacobs.
Although Gushue was out of action for most of the first half of the season with a hip and groin injury, his rink has played well in his absence by being in the mix at every bonspiel they’ve been in.
With that said, Edin is the skip to watch, as his rink has been the best in the world so far this year.
The two-time world champions won the first two Grand Slam of Curling events of the season, the World Financial Group Masters in Okotoks, Alta. and the Tour Challenge in Cranbrook, B.C., before capturing his fifth European Curling Championship.
With the way he’s playing right now, it’s hard to bet against Edin being in the mix to win his third world championship later this year and he’ll certainly be a favourite to capture a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Naturally, I’m going to be slightly biased in the press box when Team Jacobs plays since they are from my hometown, but they will be coming to North Battleford with confidence after winning in their own rink a few weeks ago.
On the other hand, defending World Champion Koe and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen, will both be eager to turn things around as they have been having sub-par seasons, by their lofty standards, on the cashspiel circuit.
Meanwhile, two sleepers to keep an eye out for are John Epping and John Morris.
It’s hard to classify Morris as a sleeper given all of his success over the years, but he’s flying under the radar a little bit compared to some of the other big name teams, and his Vernon, B.C. rink is always one to watch out for.
Epping, who is from Toronto, is the best curler yet to make it to the Brier and is one of the best shooters in the business.
He is also the defending Canadian Open champion after defeating Gushue in Yorkton in December 2015.
Rounding out the field are Greg Baldson of Kingston, Ont., Americans Heath McCormick and John Shuster, Scotland’s Kyle Smith and Charley Thomas of Edmonton.
Women’s Field
There are a couple of notable absences that makes this event pretty interesting as Scotland’s Eve Muirhead and reinging World Champion Binia Feltscher of Switzerland aren’t part of the 16-team field.
As mentioned earlier, there are no Saskatchewan rinks coming to North Battleford, but there will be a couple of skips from the province that will be competing.
Regina’s Michelle Englot is skipping her Winnipeg-based rink while Val Sweeting, who grew up in Maryfield, will be leading her Edmonton based foursome.
Sweeting has a Grand Slam of Curling event title to her name this season, as she won the Tour Challenge in November.
The other two event winners will also be in town this week.
Alison Flaxey’s Caledon, Ont. rink won the Masters, while Kerri Einarson and her team from East St. Paul, Man. captured the National crown.
This year has been an interesting one in women’s curling, as there has yet to be a rink that has stood out from the pack with a number of dominant performances.
It could be argued the most consistent rink has been Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, as the 2010 World Junior champion has been this year’s breakout performer.
With all that said, you can never count out Jennifer Jones.
The reigning Olympic gold medalists from Winnipeg have been the standard bearers for women’s curling over the last decade, and are coming off a big win at the Canada Cup last month over Rachel Homan.
Speaking of Homan, her Ottawa-based rink might be the most interesting team to watch this week.
Coming into the Canadian Open, which she won over Jones in December 2015 in Yorkton, the two-time Scotties champion has made it to the playoffs at 18 straight Grand Slam of Curling events.
With that said, the last calendar year has been a strange one for the team. Since they were upset in the Ontario Scotties playdowns last winter, they’ve yet to showcase their dominant form from the first half of last season on a consistent basis.
Two other rinks that will be looking for some momentum this week are Calgary’s Chelsea Carey and Russia’s Anna Sidorova.
Carey has struggled a bit after winning her first-ever Scotties title last year in Grande Prairie, Alta., while Sidorova will be looking to bounce back after losing the Russian playdowns in stunning fashion to eventual European Curling champion Victoria Moiseeva.
Also keep an eye out for Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni, who will have five-time Scotties champions Cathy Overton-Clapham joining her on the team this week.
Rounding out the field are Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga, Ont., Briane Meilleur of Winnipeg, Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton and China’s Bingyu Wang.
Lucas’ Predictions
As I wrote earlier, it’s pretty silly to try and predict a curling event as anything can happen, but I like making a fool out of myself.
On the men’s side, Carruthers is playing so well at the moment that he’s my pick to come out on top, even with guys like Edin, Gushue and Jacobs also being on the top of their game.
This might be a bit of a surprise, but I’ll have Carruthers beating Laycock in the final, as I think he’ll get an extra boost from playing in his home province.
You can pick a name out of a hat on the women’s side, but I have a sneaking feeling that Hasselborg will be rewarded for her strong play all season and come away with her first ever Grand Slam of Curling title over Jones.
With all that said, I’m sure this will all end with Homan running roughshod through the field and yours truly getting a pie thrown into my face during the post-game celebrations.
