SASKATOON — The Grand Slam of Curling season is ready to roll for its fourth stop of the season, the HearingLife Canadian Open, starting Tuesday at Merlis Belsher Place.
New for this season is a Tier 2 division, taking place at the Martensville Curling Club in Martensville, Sask. The Tier 2 finals will be played alongside the Tier 1 finals Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place.
Full-event, weekend and day passes plus single draw tickets are available for the HearingLife Canadian Open. Visit mbptickets.universitytickets.com to purchase yours today. Tickets for the Tier 2 event at the Martensville Curling Club are also available by clicking here.
Can't make it to Saskatoon? Stream every game online for free at rockchannel.com. Broadcast coverage in Canada on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins Thursday.
Here's what you need to know about the HearingLife Canadian Open in Eight Ends.
FIRST END: The HearingLife Canadian Open features 16 of the top men's teams and 16 of the top women's teams from around the world.
Both men’s and women’s divisions were slotted into four pools of four teams using a snake order of the rankings. Teams will play four games during the preliminary round: three against their pool opponents, plus one crossover game.
Crossover games were pre-determined based on the world rankings, with Pool A teams facing Pool D teams and Pool B teams facing Pool C teams. Teams ranked No. 1-4 will play their crossover game against teams ranked No. 13-16 in their opposing pool. Teams ranked No. 5-8 will play their crossover game against teams ranked No. 9-12 in their opposing pool.
For a printer-friendly version of the draw schedule, click here.
The Tier 2 division, featuring the next-ranked teams, will follow a similar format.
SECOND END: During the preliminary round, teams receive three points for winning in regulation (eight ends or fewer), two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss.
Preliminary play runs through to Friday, with the top eight teams qualifying for the playoffs. If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be staged Saturday morning to determine the final berths. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, with both finals on tap Sunday.
Although shootouts will continue to be used for the preliminary round, extra ends are back on the menu for tiebreaker and playoff games. As Brent Laing from the Grand Slam of Curling's competition committee explained in last week's Eight Ends, although shootouts are entertaining and help tighten up the length of the game, the players wished to have a more traditional format for tiebreakers and playoffs, particularly with the Winter Olympics coming soon.
THIRD END: Is this the final stop on the Grand Slam circuit for Brad Gushue? The St. John's skip announced in September that this season will be his last on tour. Although there's still next month's Players' Championship, Gushue is currently No. 21 in the world rankings and No. 41 in the year-to-date rankings, with the qualification cutoff date for the 12-team event now passed.
Gushue has captured 15 Grand Slam championships and is second on the all-time wins list among men's skips, behind only Kevin Martin (18). The St. John's, N.L., skip was the king of consistency, qualifying for the playoffs for a record 27 consecutive Grand Slam events, from the Elite 10 in March 2018 through to the Tour Challenge in October 2023. Gushue is the only skip to win seven different event titles in the series.
If the Grand Slam of Curling Hall of Fame existed, Gushue would be a first-ballot, unanimous selection with the waiting period waived.
Gushue snapped a three-event Slam slump by reaching the quarterfinals at the CO-OP Tour Challenge in Nisku, Alta., but his team skipped the most recent Grand Slam event to focus on the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials.
After this event, Gushue will compete in one more Brier on home ice in St. John's.
FOURTH END: Bruce Mouat and his Scottish squad enter the HearingLife Canadian Open as the double defending men's champions. Coincidentally, Mouat defeated Gushue during last season's final in Nisku.
Mouat has also won the past two Grand Slam titles, taking the CO-OP Tour Challenge during a return trip to Nisku and claiming the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe in Stateline, Nev.
Could the 12-time Grand Slam champ Mouat add one more before the calendar flips to 2026?
FIFTH END: Matt Dunstone has finished runner-up to Mouat in the past two Grand Slam events and has reached three straight finals, winning the season-opening AMJ Masters in London, Ont.
Dunstone and his Winnipeg team are coming off a tough loss at the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax, losing the best-of-three final in two games to Brad Jacobs's Calgary-based crew.
The Canadian clubs have faced two times in Grand Slam semifinals this season, with Dunstone winning both matchups. Considering Dunstone and Jacobs are No. 2 and No. 3 in the world rankings, expect both teams to contend again.
SIXTH END: The men's and women's fields are now set for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy.
Every men's team will be competing in Saskatchewan. Canada's Team Jacobs, Germany's Team Marc Muskatewitz, Great Britain's Team Mouat, Italy's Team Joël Retornaz, Sweden's Team Niklas Edin, Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller and Team Danny Casper of the United States are all part of the top-tier event, while China's Team Xu Xiaoming, Czechia's Team Lukas Klima and Norway's Team Magnus Ramsfjell are competing in the Tier 2 division.
Casper will be an interesting team to watch, riding the high from winning the USA Curling Olympic Team Trials and securing a spot in Cortina through the Olympic Qualification Event. His team won the AMJ Masters Tier 2 in September and has ascended to No. 7 in the world rankings.
Eight women's teams will be in action in the top flight: Canada's Team Rachel Homan, China's Team Wang Rui, Great Britain's Team Rebecca Morrison, Italy's Team Stefania Constantini, Japan's Team Sayaka Yoshimura, South Korea's Team Eun-ji Gim, Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg and Switzerland's Team Silvana Tirinzoni. Denmark's Team Madeleine Dupont will play in the Tier 2. Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States is the only four-player Olympic team not playing here this week.
SEVENTH END: Just like Mouat, over on the women's side, Homan enters as the event's double defending champion. Homan topped Tirinzoni during last season's final in Nisku.
Ready for more deja vu? Homan has won three straight Grand Slam women's finals to start the season, defeating Tirinzoni in all three, and now holds a record 20 titles in the series.
Her world No. 1 team from Ottawa is coming off an emotional win at the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials, with Homan heading to her third straight Winter Olympics.
EIGHTH END: Hasselborg is currently No. 5 in the world rankings, but you could argue her team should be higher.
The rankings right now account for a team's best six results of the season, plus 25 per cent of last season's points, but Hasselborg has played in only five events so far.
Expected a "market correction" this week, with Hasselborg sure to add a hefty haul of points here. The eight-time Grand Slam title winner Hasselborg has reached the past two semifinals in the series and just captured gold at the European Curling Championships.
The world No. 2 Tirinzoni did not represent Switzerland at the Euros, due to finishing third in nationals last season, but has remained active on tour, capturing back-to-back titles in Red Deer and Swift Current, Sask., and going undefeated through both events, too. Tirinzoni has lost just three games in the Grand Slam of Curling this season: all three finals against Homan.
The Tier 2 women's division will be interesting with several teams looking to score a berth into the Scotties Tournament of Hearts based on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points, if they fall short in provincial playdowns. Also, keep an eye on Montana's Canadian Curling Trials runner-up Team Christina Black, who won the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 2 title last season.
EXTRA END: The Curling Group, which owns and operates the Grand Slam of Curling, will be making a special announcement Tuesday for Rock League, its all-new pro league set to debut in April 2026. Stay tuned.
