Pick ’em: No clear favourite in men’s curling season
The days of just one or two Canadian men’s curling teams being clear favourites on the domestic scene are in the rearview mirror.
With the first Grand Slam of the new campaign to begin next week, the 2019-20 season is tough to call. At least five rinks are in the upper tier of a loaded Canadian landscape.
Brendan Bottcher won three Grand Slams last season. Kevin Koe is the reigning Tim Hortons Brier champion. Peterborough native John Epping kicked off the season with backto-back World Curling Tour titles. Brad Jacobs is coming off a WCT win in Toronto and fellow veteran skip Brad Gushue is in the mix, too.
To use a Vegas term, it’s essentially a pick ’em.
“There’s the usual suspects at the top,” said Sportsnet curling commentator Mike Harris. “But the big changes I think are Jacobs getting Marc Kennedy on board, and you’ve got Ryan Fry going to play with John Epping. I think that team is much improved, as well.”
Kennedy has been in form in the third position after taking a season off. Fry and Epping, meanwhile, have created an impressive back end with Mat Camm moving to second and Brent Laing to lead with Craig Savill the odd man out.
“Both of those teams have an A-plus upside, I would think,” said TSN curling commentator Russ Howard.
Koe, Epping, Bottcher and Jacobs own the first four spots on the Order of Merit standings ahead of reigning world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden.
There are other Canadian contenders to keep an eye on.
Mike McEwen beat reigning Olympic champ John Shuster of the U.S., in the final of the Uiseong International Cup in South Korea. Scott McDonald is coming off a breakout season and Matt Dunstone is close to cracking the top 10 on the Order of Merit.
Veteran skip Glenn Howard is still in the mix, and two-time world junior champ Tyler Tardi looks like the real deal. Other names to watch include Braden Calvert, Jason Gunnlaugson and Kirk Muyres.
Russ Howard thinks Jacobs, who won the Brier in 2013 and added Olympic gold in ’14, could be in position to return to previous heights.
“Brad Jacobs has been very underestimated, in my opinion,” he said recently. “Pat Simmons drew the pin to beat him in a Brier final. Koe made an unbelievable shot and beat him on a measure (in another Brier). He’s been within a shot or two of winning maybe three or four Briers, and he’s an Olympic gold medallist.”
Season 2 of the Olympic quadrennial is traditionally where things start to get interesting. Teams that made lineup changes after the 2018 Pyeongchang Games have a season of reps under their belt. Spots for the Olympic qualifier ahead of the 2022 Beijing Games will be available starting next month at the Canada Cup in Leduc, Alta.