SASKATOON — It’s right back to business for Rachel Homan and Brad Jacobs.
Just over two weeks after winning the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, the newly minted Olympic teams are ramping up for Milano Cortina with a couple of major tests on the Grand Slam of Curling tour between now and the 2026 Winter Games.
Both teams are hitting the ice this week for the HearingLife Canadian Open at Merlis Belsher Place, followed by the Players’ Championship, Jan. 6-11, at the Southeast Event Centre in Steinbach, Man.
“It's just more opportunities for us to get more reps in as a team and more practice,” Homan said Tuesday ahead of her first match against Italy’s Stefania Constantini. “Every game here is just as tough as we're going to see at the Olympics, so it's really good practice and prep for heading off to Italy.”
This week's Grand Slam of Curling event features seven of the men's teams and eight of the women's teams that will be competing in the Winter Olympics, including Homan and Jacobs, giving them a sneak preview of what's to come.
"If you play teams that you've never played before, there are a few more unknowns. I think everybody has played all the top teams over the course of the last three years," Homan said. "I think it's more of a comfort that you know the style of game and the nuances of their game and trying to elevate ours to beat that."
Still, it’s a bit of a different beast once the Maple Leaf is on their backs in Italy.
“You're in a very different time zone for us. We're used to playing in Canada, and all the international teams have to kind of adjust to the time zone, so a little bit of an adjustment there and going over early and making sure that we'll be ready to go for the first game,” Homan said. “I think it's just a little bit different. There's only one team per country, whereas here there are quite a few, and so there's just a little bit more pressure that you're the only one representing your country and you want to do as best as you can."
Jacobs also said the two Grand Slams will be nice preparation, but he sees the lead-up time right before the Winter Olympics as key, too.
“I think the most important thing for us is going to be that four-to-five weeks in January where we'll get to have a lot of quality practice,” Jacobs said. “I think we get a lot of confidence from the way that we prepare. It's going to be that four-to-five weeks where we can rest, recover. We can train. We can be in the gym. We can be with our families. We can really just get our minds right going into the Olympics. It’s going to be very important for us.”
Both will be looking to carry phenomenal years into 2026. Homan and her Ottawa-based team of third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes won their second straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts and World Women’s Curling Championship gold medals in the first half of 2025 and have maintained the momentum by winning three consecutive Grand Slam titles in the fall.
Homan will be making a third consecutive trip to the Winter Olympics and is looking for her first medal after finishing sixth with her women’s team in 2018 and fifth in mixed doubles in 2022. With her world No. 1 club playing on another level, expectations are sky high, but then, they always are when you’re Team Canada.
“I think every time the Olympics comes around, Canadians want to bring back some hardware,” Homan said. “I think you know that's always the goal and that's what we have our sights set on."
Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., joined forces with the Calgary-based trio of third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert ahead of last season, forming a powerhouse lineup of Olympic medallists. The team won the Brier and earned bronze at the World Men’s Curling Championship.
The four have earned a combined 52 Grand Slam titles, but have yet to win one altogether, finishing runner-up twice last season. That's one thing Jacobs would like to cross off on his Christmas wishlist.
“I think everybody is ready for a well-deserved break at this point of the season, but at the same time, everyone's going to want to finish the season strong. I think that's it,” said Jacobs, who captured Olympic gold for Canada in 2014. “We've had a really awesome 2025 with winning the Brier earlier in the year. We had a great showing at the worlds and we were able to get bronze. We're certainly hoping to better that performance in February.
“But coming through and winning the trials, all of the major things that we wanted to accomplish and the goals that we had set for ourselves, we were able to accomplish, and that's pretty special. That's pretty hard to do. We still don't have a Grand Slam though this team, and so we're looking to battle hard for one of those.”
ROCK LEAGUE ROSTERS REVEALED
The big news of the day was the unveiling of the rosters for the six franchises competing in the inaugural season of Rock League.
The Curling Group’s professional league is set to begin in April 2026. Dates and locations for its first two seasons will be announced Thursday. Strategic advisors Jennifer Jones and John Morris assembled the rosters.
Jacobs, who will serve as captain for Shield Curling Club, said he feels great about his roster and believes that if you ask every GM and captain, they would say the same thing about their own lineups, too.
“We've got some Northern Ontario roots on our team, we've got some ladies from Switzerland and Sweden on our team, we've got a lot of talent,” Jacobs said. “I think our team's going to have a great dynamic. I think that'll be kind of our superpower and our secret weapon maybe for Shield Curling Club.
“I'm really happy about our roster. We get to start that whole process and play in April. I know that the announcement today is really exciting and still … we have our regular teams we're going to have to go out and compete in these events and Scotties, Brier, Olympics, lots still on the line going forward, but come April, I think everyone's going to be excited to actually get out there with those teams.”
Homan, who will captain Maple United, is also excited to play alongside her new teammates.
“Just a new fun thing to get together with new players and have a different format and learn the strategies we'll need to beat the other teams,” Homan said. “Everyone's team looks so good. I'm excited about our team. It looks amazing.
“We've got some mixed doubles players in there, we've got just some great talent up the lineup, so it's exciting to think about what's going to happen in April and everyone getting together on different teams and just having the top players at every position.”
HOMAN WINS, JACOBS LOSES ON DAY 1
Homan stole her way to an 8-1 victory over Constantini during Draw 4 action Tuesday night.
Tied 1-1 in the third, Homan swiped three critical points as Constantini’s last rock rolled right through the house untouched.
Constantini continued to struggle, giving up a steal of two in the fourth, one in the fifth and another in the sixth to bring out the handshakes.
Meanwhile, Jacobs’s first game since winning the trials didn’t go his way as his team fell 5-4 to Mike McEwen’s Saskatoon squad in a shootout during Draw 3.
After Hebert drew for a piece of the button, McEwen landed fully on the lid and pumped his fist as the crowd roared for the home team.
“Any Grand Slam event, national, we feel so well supported. It's been exciting to play in Saskatoon in a few Slams,” said McEwen, who is from Winnipeg and linked up with the Saskatoon-based trio of third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Dan Marsh two years ago. “I'm excited especially for Friday night when we play Team Epping. I'm really looking forward to that night. We've got such good local sponsors, provincial sponsors, just fans and friends and just a really good curling community here. It's exceptional, and I can say that even coming from Manitoba.”
It was a steal-fest from start to finish. McEwen swiped back-to-back points in the first two ends for an early 2-0 lead. After Jacobs drew for a point in the third, the steal train reversed course. Jacobs stole two in the fourth as McEwen rolled heavy on his last and picked off another point in the fifth to lead 4-2.
McEwen stopped the bleeding with a single in the sixth, and Jacobs blanked the seventh to retain the hammer coming home. Needing to make a triple, Jacobs jammed it to give up a point and require a shootout to solve things.
“It felt like a rebound from how much we controlled the game in the first half to looking like we were bowing out with a loss in the second half,” McEwen said with a laugh. “Just proud of the guys for hanging in there and fortunately, I made up for a big miss early in the game. I made three in a row at the end, I guess if you include the draw of the button, so fortunately, I was able to come through for the guys.”
MCEWEN MAKES THE CUT FOR PLAYERS'
While the HearingLife Canadian Open is a homecoming for his teammates, the Players’ Championship in Steinbach will be special for McEwen.
With the qualification cutoff date this past Monday for the 12-team Grand Slam finale, McEwen earned enough points this past weekend at the RBC Dominion Western Securities Showdown tour event in Swift Current, Sask., by reaching the quarterfinals.
“Whoa, did we have to grind. It was a little bit different format, but we're like the last seed, the 16th seed to survive the first round and stay alive, and we won. We got off the ice midnight Saturday, and we snuck into the playoffs with two late, very cold, shivery wins. They didn't have the heat turned up too much in there,” McEwen said. “We had to and fortunately, that was enough to push us ahead of Team Xu, China, and maybe the Japanese team, the teams that were just kind of playing that (Olympic Qualification Event).”
There are sentimental reasons as well. McEwen explained that he really wanted to qualify for the Players’ Championship, not only because it's in his backyard, but he also reached the 2010 Manitoba provincial final in Steinbach.
“Older rink, but man, it was packed in there,” McEwen said. “It was awesome, and we made it all the way (to the final). ... One of the very many that we lost to Jeff Stoughton, but that might have been the first one.
“I just remember it was like we're the new kids on the block. We have the Neufeld brothers (B.J. and Denni), myself, like all my family is from that Steinbach, Morris type area, so I was like, I do not want to miss this one. And a new arena. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be really good.”
THE NEXT EPISODE FOR PLYS
The GMs for the six Rock League franchises were also announced Tuesday.
Chris Plys, who currently plays third for skip John Shuster, was named GM for the American-based Frontier Curling Club. Among the 10 players on the team are captain Korey Dropkin and his Olympic mixed doubles partner Cory Thiesse.
"I think, first of all, we have just a fantastic mixed doubles team that we can throw out there at any given time that's proven,” Plys said. “World champs, so it's like you can't really ask for much more on that side. A lot of the American players I'm really comfortable around and know them, know their games. … I'm still a fan of the game even as a current player and Grant (Hardie) is just such a special player. Having E.J. (Harnden) and Stefania (Constantini) and Sarah Wilkes, it's just like the names that you get to have a hand in their journey on that side, too, is very special.
“I hope we'll have a lot of fun as a team together — I mean, I know we're gonna do that — but I just hope I can do whatever I can to make that experience for them all they're kind of hoping it would be as well.”
Plys said it is a bit weird that he will be jumping right into the role of GM after he steps back from competitive curling at the end of the season.
“It's definitely like hit the ground running after being done playing, but no, I'm super excited about it,” said Plys, who has competed in two Winter Olympics and seven World Men's Curling Championships. “I love curling. It's given me a lot over my life and, like I said, I'm still just a fan of the game and just how good it's become. That's part of the reason why I'm deciding to step back, because it's just the amount of work that goes into playing in these things and playing in Rock League and doing all that kind of stuff is just a lot.
"I think this is what every kid dreamed about that grew up curling, that eventually there would be a professional league and something that was more than just the tour and the grind and everything else is just super exciting."
Plys believes all of the changes from The Curling Group have been well received by the players and the fans as well.
"It's made the games a bit more exciting, and even if things don't work every time, they're still willing to go back to the drawing board," he said. "I just think the game's in a great place, and it's just nice to have people that really care about the growth of the game as much as the players do that are kind of helping run this thing."
Team Shuster, from Duluth, Minn., opened play in the HearingLife Canadian Open against Matt Dunstone's Winnipeg-based team in Draw 2. It was an interesting matchup between teams that were coming off disappointing runner-up finishes in their respective national Olympic trials.
Plys said it felt good to come out with the 8-3 win. Perhaps he was motivated after Rock Channel commentator Brent Laing tabbed Dunstone as "Lainger's lock."
“I'm not going to lie, this is a hard time. Dunny feels the same way as we do, probably, when everything you look forward to for four years is kind of taken away,” Plys said. “It can be difficult to get up for curling for a little while, so it feels good to get a win though, for sure.”
