Canada’s Bottcher tops Dropkin to remain undefeated at Canadian Open

CAMROSE, Alta. - Canada's Brendan Bottcher earned a 4-2 win over American Korey Dropkin to remain unbeaten at the Grand Slam of Curling's Canadian Open on Thursday night.

Taking a 2-0 lead into the fourth end, Bottcher's rink had its lead cut in half. After a scoreless fifth, the two sides exchanged singles, with Bottcher having the last laugh in the eighth end.

Brad Gushue of St. John's, N.L., suffered his first loss at the triple-knockout competition, falling 6-3 to Sweden's Niklas Edin.

Meanwhile, Reid Carruthers topped fellow Canadian Colton Flasch 7-5. Carruthers scored a single in each of the final two ends to run away with the victory.

Brandon to host 2023 Manitoba Curling Hall ceremony

It was an easy decision for the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame and Museum to hold its upcoming banquet in Brandon.

Canada’s Gushue tops Whyte to advance at Canadian Open

CAMROSE, Alta. - Canada's Brad Gushue picked up a six-end, 5-1 win over Scotland's Ross Whyte to advance at the Grand Slam of Curling's Canadian Open on Wednesday.

Gushue of St. John's, N.L., opened the game with a single and after two scoreless ends, he proceeded to add another in the fourth. In the fifth, Gushue put the game out of reach by scoring a triple.

Canadian Brendan Bottcher also put forth a strong effort, defeating fellow countryman John Epping 7-2 in six ends at the triple-knockout competition.

Italy's Joel Retornaz ousted Canada's Reid Carruthers 6-3, while Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller topped the Netherlands's Wouter Gosgens 6-3.

Reigning national champion Einarson dumps Lawes in five ends at Canadian Open

CAMROSE, Alta. - Reigning national champion Kerri Einarson defeated Kaitlyn Lawes 7-1 on Wednesday afternoon at the Grand Slam of Curling's Canadian Open.

Einarson needed only five ends to complete the victory at the triple-knockout competition.

In another all-Canadian Draw 6 matchup at Encana Arena, Abby Ackland scored a single in an extra end for a 5-4 win over Isabelle Ladouceur.

Canada's Jennifer Jones edged Italy's Stefania Constantini 6-5 and Sweden's Isabella Wrana shaded South Korea's Eun Ji Gim 7-6.

Long Road to Nationals: Provincial curling playdowns kick off this week

The long road to the Canadian curling championships begins in earnest this week with the kickoff of the provincial playdowns, a process that will eventually fill the fields for the national showcases later this winter.

For defending champions Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue, they only have to circle dates on the calendar. Einarson has an automatic berth as the Canada entry at the Feb. 17-26 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Gushue will wear the Maple Leaf at the March 3-12 Tim Hortons Brier.

Other teams must go through playdowns in order to represent their province or territory. And some high-profile rinks had to take the long route through last-chance qualifiers just to lock up spots in those events.

For example, Robyn Silvernagle recently earned a last-chance berth in the Jan. 25-29 Saskatchewan championship in Estevan while Mike McEwen picked up a spot in the Jan. 23-29 Ontario Tankard in Port Elgin.

Ideson to skip Canadian entry at 2023 world wheelchair curling championship

OTTAWA - Mark Ideson will skip the Canadian entry at the 2023 world wheelchair curling championship, while Collinda Joseph and Dennis Thiessen will wear the Maple Leaf at the world wheelchair mixed doubles playdowns.

Ideson, who plays lead, will be joined by fourth Jon Thurston, third Ina Forrest, second Gil Dash and fifth Marie Wright at the March 4-12 competition in Richmond, B.C., Curling Canada announced Monday.

The two competitions will be held over the same time period at the Richmond Curling Centre.

Ideson, who won Paralympic gold in 2014, skipped Canada to a 7-4 record at the 2021 world playdowns in Beijing. Canada was eliminated after dropping a 6-4 decision to the United States in a qualification game.

Forrester nabs Viterra berth

For the first time in four years, Hayden Forrester will be competing at the Viterra Championship.

Brandon men’s bonspiel returns

For the first time in three years, the Brandon men’s competitive bonspiel is back at the Brandon Curling Club.

In The Rings: Formative steps underway for curling players’ association

A new quadrennial has done little to improve the often perplexing elite curling scene. A sport that still clings to amateur roots despite a growing shift to professional status seems stunted by a lack of unity among the various power brokers.

Many elite domestic and international curlers have had issues for years with scheduling, convoluted ranking point setups, rule changes and in many cases, a general lack of communication.

"There's not a whole lot of working together with this," Canadian skip Matt Dunstone said in a recent interview. "It's a bunch of separate entities running their own thing."

Rylan Hartley is hoping to change that.

THE HOG LINE: Freeman’s dream season continues with U18 provincial title

Jace Freeman had some high expectations of what he thought his rinks could accomplish entering the 2022-23 curling season.

Wettig heading to the Brier with Nunavut rink

The opportunity to compete at a major curling event is nothing new for Sheldon Wettig.

Olympic champ Edin named interim president of new Curling Players’ Association

Olympic champion Niklas Edin of Sweden has been named interim president of the new Curling Players' Association.

The international group was organized by Curling Live streaming service co-founder Rylan Hartley, the association said Thursday in a release.

Executive group members include representatives from Europe (Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni, Edin), Canada (Tyler Tardi, Emma Miskew), the U.S., (Korey Dropkin, Tabitha Peterson), Pacific-Asia (Japan's Anna Ohmiya and J.D. Lind) and Next Gen (Canada's Tanner Horgan and Mackenzie Zacharias).

A number of elite players have agreed to join the association by signing an initial letter of support, the association said. The group plans to hold seminars next year and canvass active competitive curlers around the world over the next two months for their support.

With high-performance review underway, Curling Canada hopes new quad yields results

Curling Canada is hoping an ongoing high-performance review will help put the federation on track for success after a disappointing showing on the international stage last season.

Canada's lone curling medal at the Beijing Olympics was a men's bronze and the gold shutout continued at the world championships.

One of the top priorities on the organization's to-do list for the new quadrennial is hiring a high-performance director to succeed Gerry Peckham, who is serving as a consultant ahead of retirement.

Chief executive officer Kathy Henderson said Curling Canada received an "enthusiastic and highly skilled response" from the curling market and high-performance community for the position.

HOG LINE: Provincial playdowns picture becoming clearer

While the biggest curling news in the province this week is easily Jason Gunnlaugson’s sudden departure from Reid Carruthers’ rink, the majority of the teams in Manitoba are currently planning out their schedules so that their game is in tip-top shape for their biggest events of the season.

Carruthers curling team splits with third Jason Gunnlaugson

WINNIPEG - Reid Carruthers' curling team and vice-skip Jason Gunnlaugson have split up.

The Manitoba team called the separation "a mutual parting of the ways" and said a search was underway for a replacement in a Twitter post Monday.

Carruthers, Gunnalugson and front-end players Derek Samagalski and Connor Njegovan formed a team in April.

Carruthers of Winnipeg is ranked ninth in the world in men's curling by the World Curling Federation.