By Jonathan Brazeau

OAKVILLE, Ont. — Giulia Zardini Lacedelli, you just made the list.

No, not pro wrestler Chris Jericho's infamous list of those who have crossed him. We're talking about the entry list for the GSOC Co-op Invitational.

The Grand Slam of Curling's competition committee selected 12 men's teams and 12 women's teams for its first event of the season, running Oct. 13-18 in Victoria, with the final four spots to be determined through the newly established GSOC Satellite Events circuit.

The series has partnered with high-profile tour events to help teams qualify into the Grand Slams.

The Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, held last weekend at the Oakville Curling Club, served as a qualifying event for the GSOC Open, Dec. 1-6, in Thunder Bay, Ontario. We caught up with a handful of curlers during the tournament to share their thoughts on the Satellite Events series plus a few other tidbits.

FIRST END: Zardini Lacedelli was the first to benefit in the women’s division, having secured a berth to the GSOC Co-op Invitational after her team reached the semifinals of the Euro Super Series last month in Stirling, Scotland.

Since champion Alina Pätz and runner-up Xenia Schwaller already had their spots secured as competition committee selections, the invite was passed down to Zardini Lacedelli's Italian team.

The GSOC Co-op Invitational will be special for her team as it's not only Zardini Lacedelli's first Grand Slam since moving up to skip, but also rookie lead Rachele Scalesse’s Grand Slam debut.

Zardini Lacedelli is 25th in the world, meaning her team wouldn't have made it into the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the year in previous seasons when qualification was more strictly tied to rankings.

"It's great," Zardini Lacedelli said. "It wasn't our goal for the first few months of the season, but we had a great week in Stirling, so it will be great to go back to the Slam. It's Rachele's first Slam, so we're very excited."

Having Grand Slam spots up for grabs in the Satellite Events is motivating Zardini Lacedelli as a bonus for doing well.

"Definitely they give you that (importance), but also I guess it gives you even more will to go and do good because you want to go to the Slam," she said. "It's like a two-for-one. You do good in a tournament, and then you qualify for a Slam, so it's very nice."

SECOND END: John Epping is no stranger to the Slams, having played in over 70 of them during his career and winning four titles, including three as a skip.

After forming a new Winnipeg-based club over the off-season, Epping now finds himself on the outside looking in, and he's keen to return. The Satellite Events series could be Epping’s express ticket back in.

"We're right on the cusp, so of course, it would be nice to get off to a good start this season and give ourselves a chance to be in those," said Epping, who sits 16th in the world rankings. "But at the end of the day, I always say, especially with a new team, it's a marathon, not a sprint, and it might take some time to get things rolling. But yeah, we'd love to be back and playing in as many Slams as possible."

The Toronto native played out of Northern Ontario during the previous two seasons alongside brothers Jake and Tanner Horgan plus Ian McMillan, who lives in Winnipeg but was born in Dryden. With the Horgans moving on to join Brendan Bottcher, Epping welcomed B.J. Neufeld and Ryan Wiebe to the club.

"First time on the ice together and obviously it's going to take a while to figure things out, but really enjoying the opportunity to play with B.J.," Epping said. "Somebody that I've respected a lot over the years. I've battled a lot on the other side and spent a lot of time off the ice with. I'm really looking forward to the journey with him.

"Then adding Ryan, who's a young guy with lots of talent. I'm excited for him to be part of, say, a more experienced team, and hopefully, we can get him to some big games so that he can feel some big wins as well."

THIRD END: The Satellite Events system has essentially replaced the Grand Slam's Tier 2 system from previous seasons and should help strengthen the pipeline between the top flight and the rest of the tour.

Instead of holding one or two Tier 2 tournaments alongside their own events, 12 tour stops spread out around the world will help qualify teams for Grand Slams this year.

Calgary's Kayla Skrlik has played in four Tier 2 Grand Slams, as well as a few majors, and likes the transition to the Satellite Events model as a player and on the admin side as well.

Skrlik sits on the board for the Autumn Gold Curling Classic, one of the best women's tournaments on tour, taking place Oct. 8-11 in Okotoks, Alberta. That event will serve as a qualifier for the GSOC Masters happening the following month in Medicine Hat.

"That's also really nice for us; it sort of keeps our event alive as well," Skrilik said. "Now that it's on a good schedule with the Slams, we never have to worry about it. I like the change."

Skrlik has a new lineup this season with former skip Myla Plett at third, plus second Sarah Koltun and lead Samantha Fisher, who had played out of B.C. with skip Corryn Brown.

The team got out to a good start in Oakville, reaching the quarterfinals after qualifying A-side at 3-0, including a 6-4 victory over eventual champ Pätz.

"We've practised so much," said Skrlik, whose team is No. 31 in the world rankings. "Myla and I started throwing our first rocks at the end of June together. Sarah came and started throwing at the very beginning of August with us quite a bit. I know it seems new because we've only played three games, but it's nice to get to know them and throw a lot before the first competition."

Being a Satellite Event has helped bring the calibre of game up quite a bit at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard.

"There are a ton of Slam teams out here. There are a ton of good games happening right off the bat," she said. "I think it brings a really strong field to the event. It’s fun to play in September, a strong field, and see how you match up against everyone."

FOURTH END: Winnipeg's Jordon McDonald likes that the Satellite Events will allow different teams to gain access into the Grand Slams.

"It gives a lot of local teams a chance to play to get in Slams, which is nice," he said. "I think for our team, it's tough because we have to really select the events we want to play in and it involves a lot of travel, but overall I think it's good and it'll bring some stronger fields to some of the smaller events as well, which is nice."

McDonald, No. 14 in the world rankings, added that it depends on what a team is trying to accomplish during its season.

"I think for our team, we've been to a couple of Slams, so it's not quite as important to us this year, but a lot of other teams that haven't quite cracked the Slams yet, it's a huge opportunity for sure," he said. "It's just super awesome to have an event where you're playing into a Slam. I think that's different, and towards the end of the week, it'll put a lot of pressure on certain teams, especially when you have Satellite Events where you already have teams in the event."

A runner-up result in Oakville could be a silver lining for McDonald.

Although Danny Casper claimed the men's title, defeating McDonald 9-5 in the final, his American club is No. 6 in the world rankings. If Casper maintains a top-12 ranking when the qualification cutoff date passes on Nov. 3, his team will get into the GSOC Open based on points, with the Oakville qualifier berth going to McDonald as the event's finalist, should he accept.

FIFTH END: Marco Hösli appears to be doing everything he can to get back into the Grand Slams.

Hösli competed in the Euro Super Series and is in action this weekend at the AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic in Cornwall, Ontario. His Swiss squad has also signed up for the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic two weeks from now in Vernon, B.C., which will serve as the final qualifier for the GSOC Co-op Invitational.

(We’d like to believe Hösli would have tried to enter the Karuizawa International in Japan as well if not for the fact that it's also taking place this weekend.)

At No. 12 in the world rankings, Hösli is on the doorstep, looking to return to the party. He likes that the Satellite Events offer a little more on the line.

"I think there's definitely some aspect of more importance here because you don't only play for money and points,” he said. "That's cool. You get this in every event, but you can also win a spot in the Slam, so I think it's even a cherry on top for your team."

Hösli, who throws third stones on his Glarus-based team, was one of the few who didn't make any lineup changes over the off-season, sticking with his younger brother Philipp Hösli at fourth, Simon Gloor at second and Justin Hausherr at lead.

That could give them a bit of an advantage out of the gate, as they can just pick up where they left off last season and don’t have to worry about growing pains that new teams experience.

"I guess it's easier to start a season when you know each other and everything is like played in," Hösli said. "We just know how it goes, and it makes stuff a bit easier."

SIXTH END: First there was the "dream flow" hairstyle, then there was the 'stache, but Epping is down for life with his latest look.

Epping is now sporting a tattoo of a grasshopper on his right arm, a unique bond after helping coach Xenia Schwaller’s Swiss squad to the world championship last season. (Schwaller plays out of the Grasshopper Club in Zurich.)

"Yeah, you know what? It's funny. I was trying to motivate them at their national championship and in the world championship this year. I'll get a tattoo, and then, what do you know, they won back-to-back against [Team Tirinzoni] and won the nationals and then went on a heck of a run," Epping said.

"As we got into the playoffs, they started to remind me that, OK, one more win, one more win, and you're going to [get a tattoo]. And of course they held me to it when it happened, but what a kind of a special way to commemorate that win."

Considering they have an average age of 23, and they won the world championship just a little over two years after capturing gold at the world juniors, it’s no wonder the one word Epping uses to describe the group is "incredible."

"People forget how young they are. You watch other young teams play them right now, and they'll say, oh, we're playing the world champion team, our team's so young, and they forget that our girls are so young," Epping said. "It's such an impressive thing that they did, the composure, and especially under the high-pressure games.

"Kudos to Xenia’s dad, Andi, who was a great guiding force for them. I'd like to think that I was able to help them along the way too and keep things light. They're just a lot of fun to be around. We have a ton of fun, but they work so, so hard."

Should Team Schwaller require more motivation, don’t be surprised if Epping ends up sporting a full sleeve of ink in the future.

"I'm just going to keep adding too," he said with a laugh. "Apparently they say once you get one, you get kind of addicted to it."

SEVENTH END: McDonald, 23, has been a name to watch on the Canadian curling scene, having played in the past three U25 NextGen Classic finals and winning the title twice. The higher-ups are keeping tabs too.

McDonald's Winnipeg club — which also includes third Jacques Gauthier, second Elias Huminicki and lead Cam Olafson — was named to Curling Canada’s National Team Program (NTP) as a development team this season, giving his squad more access to resources from the national governing body.

McDonald came close to qualifying for the Brier last season, finishing runner-up in provincial playdowns to Braden Calvert, and it's one of the goals he's hoping to accomplish this year.

If not through provincials, there's also a backdoor into the Brier this year, as one spot is available for the top-ranked team on the 2026-27 Canadian Teams Ranking System (CTRS) that doesn't win playdowns.

"I think our goals this year are just solely to get a bunch of points," McDonald said. "The Brier is definitely on our radar this year for sure. I think that we kind of have two routes to get there: the Brier wild-card or the provincials. Obviously, we're gonna have to play provincials either way, but we'd love to just have a great year on the tour, get some points and make our jobs easier going into provincials.

"The other thing is just we're really trying to see improvement with our team this year. We're not really focused too much on results this year. Obviously, it's awesome if we get results, but it's our first year on the NTP. We're very lucky to get selected for that, so we're just trying to use that, improve and get better."

EIGHTH END: Zardini Lacedelli is skipping on tour for the first time in her career, after handling vice duties for Stefania Constantini during the previous Olympic cycle.

There’s some familiarity, as third Elena Mathis and second Marta Lo Deserto were also part of that team that represented Italy on home ice at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina last February.

The 23-year-old Zardini Lacedelli is enjoying her new role and was quick to credit her teammates for the smooth transition.

"It's great," Zardini Lacedelli said. "No, I have to say, I really enjoy it, and also playing with these girls is very easy. They (help me) do my job very easy, very nice."