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LONDON, Ont. — The Grand Slam of Curling is back and bigger than ever for its milestone 25th season.

The series returns to the ice Tuesday for the start of the AMJ Masters at the Western Fair Sports Centre.

The AMJ Masters will also serve as the first major test for teams that have already secured their spots for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, as well as those still looking to book their tickets following the Olympic trials later this fall.

Tickets are available for the AMJ Masters. Visit GSOCtickets.com to purchase yours today.

Can't make it to London? Live streaming for all AMJ Masters Tier 1 games, plus the Tier 2 finals and GSOC Wheelchair Invitational medal games, will be available for free on the all-new rockchannel.com. For more details about Rock Channel, please read the streaming FAQ.

Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins with Draw 10 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT.

Here’s everything you need to know before the opening draw.

FIRST END: THE POT DRAFT

The AMJ Masters features the top 16 men’s teams and top 16 women’s teams on the world rankings. Both divisions were split up into four pools of four teams in a pot draft, similar to the FIFA World Cup draw. You can thank Team Mouat lead Hammy McMillan Jr. for coming up with that idea.

Teams were slotted into four pots based on their rankings — Nos. 1-4, Nos. 5-8, Nos. 9-12 and Nos. 13-16 — then drafted into the pools. Only one team per pot could slot into each pool.

There’s another twist. Teams will play four round-robin games: three against their pool opponents plus one crossover game to be determined following the conclusion of pool play.

Although teams know which pool they’ll face (Pool A vs. Pool C and Pool B vs. Pool D), exactly who they’ll play will be based on the standings inversely, e.g. the top team in Pool A will play the lowest team in Pool C, and vice versa, thus giving teams an extra incentive to perform well in their pools.

SECOND END: NEW RULES

Wait, there’s more. Extra ends will not be played during the round-robin stage. If a game is tied after eight ends, a draw-to-the-button shootout will be used to decide the winner.

Teams will receive three points for a regulation win (in eight ends or less), two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss.

Extra ends will be back on the menu for the playoffs, as eight teams in both divisions will qualify for Saturday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are also set for Saturday with the finals on tap Sunday.

If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning.

See the full match schedule by CLICKING HERE.

THIRD END: GUSHUE'S FINAL SEASON BEGINS

Let the Brad Gushue farewell tour begin. The Canadian icon announced last week that this season will be his last in competitive curling.

Gushue has won it all in curling: an Olympic gold medal, a world championship, six Brier titles and 15 Grand Slam of Curling titles. It’s going to be a special final year as Gushue will return to Halifax, where he won the Olympic trials 20 years ago, for another shot at reaching the Winter Games in Italy. Gushue has also already pre-qualified for the 2026 Montana’s Brier in his hometown of St. John’s, N.L., and you know that’ll be an electric and emotional event.

His team reached two Grand Slam finals last season, finishing runner-up to Team Mouat both times, but also missed the playoffs in the last two, ending the season on a downer at the Players' Championship. Gushue enters his first event of 2025-26 ranked 10th in the world.

FOURTH END: WHAT'S NEXT FOR MOUAT?

Speaking of Team Mouat, no one was hotter in the Grand Slam of Curling last season than the Scottish squad. Bruce Mouat skipped his team into the record books as they became the first to win four Grand Slam titles in a single season. Mouat also became the first non-Canadian skip to reach double-digit title wins in the series, capturing his 10th at the season-ending Players’ Championship.

What’s in store for the encore? The world No. 1 team reached the semifinals of the Baden Masters to start the season and ran the table at the Euro Super Series event. Mouat missed the AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic to attend a friend’s wedding and handed the reins to third Grant Hardie, who skipped the squad to the quarterfinals.

FIFTH END: CAN WHYTE REPEAT, OR WILL IT BE A JACOBS REVENGE TOUR?

The Masters was the one Grand Slam title Mouat didn’t win last season, however, compatriot Ross Whyte ensured it was a Scottish sweep of the men’s division. Team Whyte earned its first trophy in the series, defeating Canada’s Team Jacobs in the final. Can Whyte now defend the title? He’s up for the challenge and has already added to his haul this month by capturing the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard.

Coincidentally, Whyte drew into Brad Jacobs's pool and it might be the "Group of Death" for the event with Team Epping and Team Kleiter also in the mix. While Jacobs was busy winning the ATB Okotoks Classic title earlier this month, Epping took the AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic. Kleiter, last season's Tour Challenge Tier 2 champ, could upset the group.

Jacobs will be out for revenge after coming up short last season. He's an AMJ Masters title away from becoming the seventh skip in the men's curling to complete a career Grand Slam.

SIXTH END: MASTER OF THE AMJ MASTERS

All eyes in the women’s division will be on Team Homan. The Canadian club successfully defended its Canadian and world championships last season and reached the women’s final in all five Grand Slam events, winning the Canadian Open and National titles.

Homan finished 2024-25 with an outstanding 75-8 record, including a 30-6 mark in Grand Slams. That’s right, Homan lost only two games outside of the series, both at the women's worlds.

The Ottawa-based team had a bit of a setback — by its high standards — earlier this month at the AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic, losing 8-1 to Team Dupont in the semifinals after giving up a steal of five in the sixth end. It's early in the season, so expect Homan to brush it aside.

The AMJ Masters is a special one for skip Rachel Homan, who won the inaugural women’s championship in 2012. In total, Homan has reached the AMJ Masters final eight out of 12 times, picking up four title victories along the way. Consider Homan the master of the AMJ Masters.

SEVENTH END: WHO'S HEATING UP IN THE WOMEN'S DIVISION?

Anna Hasselborg and her Swedish squad are the defending women’s champions, after defeating Team Homan in last season’s final. Hasselborg was late out of the gate, making her season debut this past weekend at the KW Fall Classic and reaching the quarterfinals. Team Hasselborg went 4-0 through round-robin play, but drew a tough quarterfinal opponent in South Korea's Team Gim and lost 7-2. Like Homan, Hasselborg can shake it off here.

Silvana Tirinzoni and her team from Switzerland wrapped up last season by winning a second straight Players’ Championship and picked up where they left off by running the table at the Women’s Masters Basel earlier this month

Canada’s Team Einarson was another early event winner, going undefeated through the Saville Shootout. Second Shannon Birchard is back in the lineup after missing almost the entire past season recovering from a knee injury. Karlee Burgess has shifted over to lead with alternate Krysten Karwacki available off the bench.

Those are the top seeds in the pools, but perhaps we’ll see a new challenger?

EIGHTH END: TIER 2 AND WHEELCHAIR INVITATIONAL

Oh, we’re not done. The all-new AMJ Masters Tier 2 gets underway at the St. Thomas Curling Club in St. Thomas, Ont., plus the inaugural GSOC Wheelchair Invitational at the KW Granite Curling Club in Waterloo, Ont. The Tier 2 finals plus the GSOC Wheelchair Invitational medal games will join the top flight Sunday on the arena ice in London.