By Jonathan Brazeau
The AMJ Masters kicked off the Grand Slam of Curling schedule in London, Ont., and introduced a couple of twists to the format.
If a game was tied after eight ends during the preliminary round and tiebreakers, instead of playing an extra end, a draw-to-the-button shootout determined the winner. This also factored into the points system, as teams received three points for a regulation win (in eight ends or fewer), two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss.
Let's take a deeper dive into the numbers and how these format changes impacted the event.
FIRST END: Were there more shootouts than extra ends in previous Grand Slam events on average?
It's possible teams were playing more aggressively in the eighth end to avoid a shootout scenario if they needed the full points — or pulling a Minnesota Wild and playing defensively, knowing they had a better chance to win in a shootout than risk it all.
Here's a breakdown of extra ends in Grand Slam events from the previous two seasons.
| SEASON | EVENT | MEN'S EXTRA ENDS | WOMEN'S EXTRA ENDS | TOTAL EXTRA ENDS |
| 2023-24 | Tour Challenge | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| National | 4 | 6 | 10 | |
| Masters | 6 | 8 | 14 | |
| Canadian Open | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Players' Championship | 4 | 3 | 7 | |
| 2024-25 | Tour Challenge | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Canadian Open | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| National | 3 | 5 | 8 | |
| Masters | 4 | 5 | 9 | |
| Players' Championship | 4 | 3 | 7 | |
| AVERAGE | 3.9 | 3.9 | 7.8 |
During the AMJ Masters, a total of nine games required shootouts — five men's games and four women's games — putting things just above average.
What really needs to be studied: Why does the Masters typically yield more extra ends while the Canadian Open has the fewest? Even when the events are moved around on the schedule and held in different locations? Truly a mystery.
SECOND END: Here's where the fun begins: How many shootouts were won by teams that wouldn't have had the hammer in an extra end?
Although they still had the option of throwing first or last in the shootout, was it really much of an advantage?
Let's look at the total extra ends or shootouts played over our sample size and compare how many were won by the team that did not have the hammer.
| SEASON | EVENT | TOTAL | STOLEN |
| 2023-24 | Tour Challenge | 8 | 3 |
| National | 10 | 1 | |
| Masters | 14 | 1 | |
| Canadian Open | 4 | 1 | |
| Players' Championship | 7 | 1 | |
| 2024-25 | Tour Challenge | 7 | 0 |
| Canadian Open | 4 | 2 | |
| National | 8 | 0 | |
| Masters | 9 | 2 | |
| Players' Championship | 7 | 1 | |
| 2025-26 | AMJ Masters | 9 | 6 |
Wowzers. While the team with the hammer won 84.6 per cent of the time in an extra end during the previous two seasons, that number plummeted during the AMJ Masters to 33.3 per cent with the shootout in place. That certainly makes things less predictable.
Look at it this way: The AMJ Masters produced more stolen wins in the shootout than all of last season with extra ends in place.
Team Mouat factored into three of those, defeating Team Muskatewitz in a shootout when the Scottish squad wouldn't have had the hammer in an extra end, while losing to Team Hösli and Team Kleiter in shootouts with the hammer.
It should also be noted that four extra ends were played during the playoffs, and the team holding the hammer won all four games. Would those have played out differently in shootouts?
THIRD END: Did the points system result in fewer tiebreaker games?
It's always cleaner if teams advance straight from the preliminary round rather than having to play extra games or bring last stone draw (LSD) totals into the equation.
Comparing the AMJ Masters to past Grand Slam events that had a similar format — 16 teams, four pools of four — here's how that looks.
| SEASON | EVENT | MEN'S TIEBREAKERS | WOMEN'S TIEBREAKERS | TOTAL |
| 2023-24 | Masters | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Canadian Open | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2024-25 | Canadian Open | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| National | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Masters | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2025-26 | AMJ Masters | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Although the points system led to zero tiebreakers on the women's side, we still had two on the men's side, so it can go either way, from neat to messy. However, the fact that there's a greater chance for no tiebreakers with the points system in place means it's worth keeping.
Also, no team was eliminated based on LSD totals, which should be considered a win, even if tiebreaker games are inevitable. Since we are dealing with a sample size of one, it'll be interesting to see if that holds up in future events.
FOURTH END: The preliminary round format will remain the same for next week’s CO-OP Tour Challenge, with four pools of four teams.
Teams will still play three games against their pool opponents plus one crossover game, although the crossover game has now been pre-determined rather than based on the standings following the conclusion of pool play.
As for any other alterations to the format and rules of play, stay tuned.
FIFTH END: Team Homan’s dominance against Canadian competition continued this past weekend at the PointsBet Invitational in Calgary.
The Ottawa-based club captured the title for a third consecutive season with a 6-2 victory over Team Brown from Kamloops, B.C., in the final.
Just how dominant has Homan been against other Canadian teams? Here's a breakdown of Team Homan's win-loss records since the start of the 2023-24 season.
| SEASON | OVERALL RECORD | RECORD VS. CANADIAN TEAMS |
| 2023-24 | 67-7 | 40-1 |
| 2024-25 | 75-8 | 29-1 |
| 2025-26 (ongoing) | 16-2 | 9-0 |
| TOTAL | 158-17 | 78-2 |
Holy bananas! Homan holds a winning percentage of .975 against Canadian competition over the past two-plus seasons.
SIXTH END: You're probably now wondering who Homan lost those two games to? What if I told you it was against the same team?
Team Homan fell to Team Einarson during round-robin play in the 2023 Tour Challenge in Niagara Falls, Ont. Einarson also emerged victorious when they met in the final of the event last year in Charlottetown.
Before you can say, "Einarson has Homan’s number," keep in mind they have played each other 11 times over the previous two seasons, meaning Homan still holds a 9-2 advantage. Since the 2024 Tour Challenge final, Homan has won five straight against Einarson.
Also, check the date of that Tour Challenge final: Oct. 6, 2024. Homan has now gone a full year without losing to a Canadian team.
Oh, the Canadian Olympic curling trials are just over a month away in case you needed a reminder.
SEVENTH END: Team Dunstone is in pole position on the men’s side, following back-to-back title wins at the AMJ Masters and PointsBet Invitational.
The Winnipeg club captured the PointsBet Invitational with a 6-4 win over Calgary's Team Jacobs in a Brier final rematch. Dunstone is now 2-0 against Jacobs this season, having also earned a 6-5 extra-end victory when they clashed in the AMJ Masters semifinals.
Team Dunstone needed a bit of outside help getting into the PointsBet Invitational final, though.
Dunstone finished in a three-way tie at the top of Pool B with Team McEwen and Team McDonald at 3-1 records. Since there were no tiebreaker games and all three teams were even on head-to-head results at 1-1, the last stone draw numbers gave Dunstone the pass to the final.
It just goes to show you how the "game of inches" lives up to its nickname.
EIGHTH END: We’re only one week away from the start of the CO-OP Tour Challenge, the second Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, taking place at the Silent Ice Center in Nisku, Alta.
The draw schedule was locked in last week. To see all the round-robin matchups, CLICK HERE.
Full tournament and weekend passes, plus single draw tickets, are now available. Visit GSOCtickets.com to purchase yours today.
Can't make it to Nisku? Stream every game online for free at rockchannel.com.
Broadcast coverage in Canada on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins Oct. 16.
