HUUURRRYYYY HAAAARRRDDD!! ~ Curling 2015

[AragornElessar]

Yeah, I know...Should have had it up for the Scotties, but when it became obvious what he final outcome would be, I lost interest. Her Highness may be a good curler, but that's it sadly and wish someone else would be wearing the Maple Leaf at the World Womens.

There, I said it. Fire away those who don't like it.

On to the Brier...What a week!! Although, between the Scotties and this week, I can't remember the last time I have seen so many pics happening and across the board too. Just weird. Even w/that, it's been entertaining and some of the shots made, but especially Gushue's runback to beat Koe and Alberta was just WOW!!

Of course we're cheering on Brad Jacobs and the boys from the Soo. Seem a bit off tonight, but hopefully that three Brad pulled off going into the break wakes em up.

One more thing...What do you think of this new format that IMO does nothing but hurts Curling in the Territories and forces them and whatever Province is in that stupid Pre Qualyifying Stupidity to have to play in it for that last spot in the Scotties and Brier? I think my feelings are rather clear, but just wondering about what other fans are thinking.

Oh and my respect and admiration for John Morris went into orbit earlier this week. He knew something needed shaken up w/the team and for him to suggest letting Pat Simmons take over and going down to play Vice/Third....That is someone worthy of being called a Champion and Class Act and can't praise this enough.

 

[Skate Talker]

Don't like what you said about Jennifer Jones but no need to "fire away" - She won after all.

As for the Brier - it has been a hot and cold week for all the teams it would seem, in terms of both strategy and execution. On the other hand, with the exception of Jamie's team who were clearly not on par with the other teams this week, most games had the excitement of feeling either team could just win it. Personally I think the new pre-qualification requirement may help to maintain more parity so we don't see as many over- matched teams as in the past. On the other hand, it would seem to me that we could easily end up seeing a defeated Team Canada end up have to per-qualify the year after they are unseated, if their province doesn't have another strong team with a good enough at the same Scotties where they lose their title. The fact is there was always pre-qualification for Northwest Territories/Yukon, just as there has always been for each and every provincial rep. How fair was it for Alberta to have only one rep for all those years where they easily had 3 teams in the top 10 in the country? Ditto for some of the other provinces in certain years. (This is akin to strong figure skating countries who have a maximum 3 entries when their skaters occupy the majority of the top 10 world rankings. innit?) There is no way to make everything fair all the time. At least this way has a chance of restricting the meaningless games or the gimme's we have seen so many years. I don't think the National Championship proper field should be expanded because it will just dilute the product. It is always a shame to see some not be represented but this is a good compromise to my mind, with even the lowest ranked getting a chance to play meaningful games on arena ice at the Brier venue.

Picks are happening more, it would seem to me, in games involving Team Canada. Johnny Mo's joking comments about his hot feet may be right on the mark. I was watching the "B" coverage with Dave Nedohin during the week Well before John's comment, Dave mentioned that his Ferbey team realized one year that they seemed to be experiencing more picks on average than other teams. They also thought of the hot feet possibility and decided to add some insulation inside their curling shoes with an immediate positive effect. Since, as the commentators yesterday mentioned, John does not even wear proper curling shoes I wouldn't be the least surprised to discover at least some of the "gripper marks" causing picks are coming from his feet.

So despite all that, I am in agreement with you about wanting Northern Ontario to win it all now that Gushue is out. He was a sentimental favourite for me though I would always have been happy to see either of these 2 teams make it to Worlds. (Also Brad was the only player in the playoffs that I have met. I was a Brier volunteer and his team was having a horrible week but he was still gracious and polite. I was sorry to see that he couldn't summon up much energy for the bronze medal game.)

During last night's semi-final I became exhausted listening to the incessant chatter of John Morris and wondered how quiet Pat Simmons managed to put up with it. It gave me new insight and respect for how Kevin Martin managed him for so many years. The Jacobs team is certainly not on the quiet side but they are more balanced as they all seem to operate the same way. They really are like a family in the way they bicker and take no notice of each other's bickering, pulling together to get the job done.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Congratulations to new world champions Niklas Edin, Oskar Eriksson, Kristian Lindström, Christoffer Sundgren, and Henrik Leek of Sweden Norway won silver, and Canada bronze. The voidy Finns made it to the playoffs, and the TSN commentators said they were thrilled with their results, because it means funding for them and the ability to travel.

 

[Skate Talker]

I am happy for Edin & team. With the exception of Friday night's 1v2 Page game between Canada & Norway, the playoff games were not the best with one team struggling all game. Something about Koe - last year I found I was totally indifferent to Team Canada and their fortunes. This year with Simmons at the helm I enjoyed pulling for them and am glad they took pride in going out after the Bronze medal all guns blazing. Now just one Grand Slam left at the end of this week and we are done for another year.

 

[kwanfan1818]

If summer has to end, at least there's curling around the bend:
https://instagram.com/p/64frTsqo75/

 

[kwanfan1818]

More news: the World Team for the Continental Cup in Vegas this January has been finlized:

Men:

• Team Edin (Sweden)
• Team Ulsrud (Norway)
• Team China (to be selected in October)

Women:

• Team Pätz (Switzerland)
• Team Muirhead (Scotland)
• Team Ogasowara (Japan)

Coach is Pål Trulsen . Captain is Andy Kapp. (I'm still not over how Ferbey beat him in the World semis in 2005.)

The two teams from North America so far are Simmons and Jones, the 2015 Brier and Scotties winners. Coach is Rick Lang and captain is Ann Swisshelm. Two more Canadian teams will be the winners of the 2015 Canad Cup (first week of Dec), and the US teams will be based on World standings as of Nov. 17.

The known rosters are listed in this article:
http://www.curling.ca/blog/2015/08/27/team-world-named-for-world-financial-group-continental-cup/

 

[kwanfan1818]

The Curling News just linked to this video wishing Craig Savill well:
http://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/curling/watch-curlers-send-well-wishes-to-craig-savill/

The announcer said that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, and is about to start treatment.

I wish him the best prognosis.

 

[Seerek]

Grand Slam Season Winners (Thus Far)

Men
Tour Challenge: Kevin Koe
Masters: Mike McEwen
National: Brad Gushue
Canadian Open: John Epping

Women
Tour Challenge: Silvia Tirinzoni
Masters: Rachel Homan
National: Rachel Homan
Canadian Open: Rachel Homan

European Championships

Men: Sweden (Niklas Edin)
Women: Russia (Anna Sidorova)

 

[jersey1302]

Homan and Jones will be in the final for Scotties in my opinion. That ones too hard to call about who will win. I personally fav Jones, absolutely love their team and I try really hard not to be bias lol. They are just so incredibly nice and fun to be around. Seen them at a few curling events we have attended and they are always just so great to talk to. Very easy going and easy to converse with. I know a lot of people don't like her and thing shes snobby and stuck up but thats so far from the truth to be completely honest. When it comes to curling she just knows what she wants and she expects the most out of her game and her team. Mens curling I don't pay as much attention to so Im not sure who I would pick to rep Canada for them.

Internationally there are some great curlers. Always count in Muirhead even though she has dropped off in the last year or two. Sidorova is going to be a challenge this year to play too. Tirinzoni I don't know a heck of a lot about. Patz will also I'm sure fight to the death to defend her title at worlds too.

 

[kwanoverrated]

3 different Swiss teams have won a womens World title the last several years. it would be nice if Tirizoni finally got her turn. After all she has mostly been the Swiss #2 behind Ott so it must be frusterating for her to see the Swiss #3 and #4 both win worlds. Patz has generally been regarded the Swiss #4 (although probably not anymore) and won worlds last year. The depth there is incredible for such a small country.

I hope Gushue or McEwan win the Brier this year.

 

[jersey1302]

Nice to see Jennifer Jones win a competition this year after being close so many times. Her team won $54,000 in Banff at the Pinty's All Star curling skins tourney.

 

[clarie]

Still cheering for the "mean girls" aka Team Homan.....just realizing their potential this year with so many wins after breaking in newby Joanne last year. Also it looks as though Team Jacobs is shaking off their post Olympic slump....love both teams and love watching them. Also, it's nice to see so many great teams coming from Canada....us being a small country as well population-wise.

 

[Skate Talker]

lol - with more registered curlers per capita than any other country in the world. A couple of comments about the Continental Cup in Las Vegas - that was an intense final draw of Skins for sure - I think that may be the closest result ever.

I hate mixed doubles - too repetitious and it just.isn't curling. The attempt to jazz it up with all teams running on the same 20sec/20sec/30sec time clocks was the dumbest idea I ever saw - of course it was a big fail - the music cues and timers had problems, there were moments on each sheet where things came up as normally occurs during a game - confusion over whether a rock hit the boards, burned rocks, removal of a free guard zone rock that needs to be replaced, malfunctioning hog-line lights on the rock, etc. And don't get me started on the other team capitalizing if you don't use up all of your time. The only thing that was a tiny bit of an improvement was the concept of the Power Play, though as soon as the teams get used to that set up and work out their best strategies against it, it will just be one more end that gets played the same way over and over.

 

[Seerek]

Scotties field is set

Team Canada (Jennifer Jones)
Alberta (Chelsea Carey)
British Columbia (Karla Thompson)
Manitoba (Kerri Einarson)
New Brunswick (Sylvie Robichaud)
Newfoundland and Labrador (Stacie Curtis)
Northern Ontario (Krista McCarville)
Nova Scotia (Jill Brothers)
Ontario (Jenn Hanna)
Prince Edward Island (Suzanne Birt)
Quebec (Marie-France Larouche)
Saskatchewan (Jolene Campbell)
Northwest Territories (Kerry Galusha)
Nunavut (Geneva Chislett)
Yukon (Nicole Baldwin)

Notables Missing (did not win provincials):

Val Sweeting
Rachel Homan
Mary-Anne Arsenault
Stefanie Lawton
Kelly Scott

 

[Skate Talker]

Watched Sportnet coverage of some of the provincials and was happy every win was a team I was pulling for so now I can say -
Go Jennifer, Kerri, Chelsea, and Jenn (so great to see you back on the National scene)!

 

[pat c]

Sask's rink - Jolene Campbell was on the rink that won the mixed doubles in Canada last year. We'll see how she does.

Anyone watch the match up between team Canada and Alberta?

 

[Skate Talker]

yup - Jennifer off to her usual slow start. When she started to get it in gear, Chelsea combined her strong curling with almost all the luck to be had that game. By that I mean at least one really great shot was a roll the opposite way to the one she called that nestled in perfectly. What can one say - when you're hot you're hot.

I am pulling for Jennifer to repeat but also really like Alberta, Manitoba, Northern Ontario and Ontario. The others I either don't know much about, or am not a particular fan of.

So far there have been some pretty wild games so the ladies almost all seem to be having trouble catching on to the ice. Hopefully things will improve as the week progresses. I would really like to see some more consistent curling.

 

[pat c]

It seems like a weird situation in Grande Prairie. Games that are close that I wouldn't think would go that way, and run away train wrecks........yes, hopefully it will settle down.

 

[Seerek]

Final

Alberta (Chelsea Carey) def. Northern Ontario (Krista McCarville) 7-6

 

[Skate Talker]

So the final round robin game on Friday was full of suspense - loved it. Friday and Saturday's games were disappointing to me, but since I felt the correct 4 teams were in the playoffs I was still pleased to know we would end up with a team that could make waves at Worlds. Sunday's games were much more fun to watch, actually, when I was not as tied up in the outcomes. That said, the games were both exciting to watch and the final outcomes were as I preferred. It was hard to see Lang's daughter in tears though. It was ironic that McCarville has an extra-point draw come up short in 9, similar to what happened to both her opponents in the playoffs. When Carey had to make a draw for the win I was wondering if the draw jinx would continue but Chelsea was up to the challenge. It really was nice to actually see one of those games won on a make, rather than a miss.

(Now bring on the Brier! What an interesting field that is.)

 

[Skate Talker]

Wow - hot start to the Brier this weekend. These teams are taking no time to figure out the ice. 5 of the first 10 games went to extra ends. First game I watched, Manitoba vs. Newfoundland/Labrador, Manitoba loses in an extra end and the winning skip shot 94%. Today commentator is saying skips need high 90's to win. Seriously, even the lower-seeded teams are firing on all cylinders and forcing the favourites to put up their best games to stay ahead. Very few games are going less than 10 ends. Stupendous curling.

 

[Seerek]

World Women's Championship Results - Swift Current, Saskatchewan

Gold - Switzerland
Silver - Japan
Bronze - Russia
4th - Canada
5th - Scotland
6th - USA

 

[kwanoverrated]

Sucks the exciting and interesting Japanese team lost to that boring Swiss team who are mechanical and only hit. The only comfort I take from their win is the inspiring story of the 3rd who is still playing and winning battling cancer, incredible stuff. However they are tedious to watch with their playing style, like a reincarnation of the Colleen Jones team.

 

[Seerek]

Final results of 2015-16 season

Men's World Championship

Gold - Canada
Silver - Denmark
Bronze - United States
4th - Japan
5th - Norway
6th Sweden

Players Championship

Men - Brad Gushue def. Brad Jacobs
Women - Eve Muirhead def. Jennifer Jones

Champions Cup

Men - Reid Carruthers def. John Epping
Women - Jennifer Jones def. Rachel Homan