By Jonathan Brazeau
SASKATOON — Christmas came early for Team Yannick Schwaller and Team Silvana Tirinzoni.
The Swiss squads swept the titles in Saskatoon during the HearingLife Canadian Open at Merlis Belsher Place.
Schwaller defeated Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte 7-4 and Tirinzoni downed Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa 7-1 in Sunday’s finals.
Both champions should also send Christmas cards to the finalists, as they eliminated some thorns in their sides earlier in the playoffs. Whyte defeated Team Bruce Mouat in the semifinals, while Fujisawa knocked off Team Rachel Homan in the quarterfinals.
Let’s dive deeper with Eight Ends of takeaways from the event.
FIRST END: Oh no, Canada. The irony was not lost that there were zero Canadian teams in the finals of an event called the HearingLife Canadian Open. Not only that, but no Canadian teams even made it to the semifinals in the men’s or women’s divisions. Both shutouts were a first in the 25-season history of the Grand Slam of Curling.
Is this a small sample size or a troubling trend?
"That’s actually unbelievable, but at the same token that’s the way the curling world is today," Canadian curling legend Glenn Howard, who coaches Team Yannick Schwaller, said during Rock Channel's semifinals pre-game show with Devin Heroux. "The parity is unbelievable, and Canada has some work to do."
On the women’s side, it’s part of a larger issue, as there aren’t many Canadian teams competing in the Grand Slams to begin with. Team Rachel Homan is the only Canadian women’s team to make any semifinal round this season in the series, winning three straight titles at the AMJ Masters, CO-OP Canadian Open and KIOTI GSOC Tahoe. That run ended when Homan fell in the HearingLife Canadian Open quarterfinals to Fujisawa. Team Kerri Einarson has made two quarterfinals, losing to Homan at the CO-OP Canadian Open and Team Sayaka Yoshimura in the HearingLife Canadian Open.
Ten years ago, the 2015 Canadian Open featured nine Canadian women’s teams, just over half the field of the 16-team event. Homan and Einarson were the only two this year. The 2015 event also had just one team from Asia, South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim, while this year’s event had four from Japan and South Korea each, plus one from China.
Where are all the Canadian women’s teams? They're just on the outside in the No. 17-32 range, and they benefited from the event expanding this year to include a Tier 2 division, providing them with an opportunity to gain valuable points and move up.
There was an all-Canadian Tier 2 women’s final, and a thrilling one at that, as Victoria’s Team Taylor Reese-Hansen stole points in the seventh, eighth and extra ends to defeat Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes 6-5.
Five Canadian women’s teams qualified for the Tier 2 playoffs. Halifax’s Team Christina Black reached the semifinals, while Edmonton’s Team Serena Gray-Withers and Team Corryn Brown of Kamloops, B.C., made the quarterfinals.
“As a team that's kind of like middle-high in the rankings, this Tier 2 means a lot for us,” Reese-Hansen said after the inaugural title win. “Just being able to compete against similarly ranked teams and just compete against our competition out there, so it really means a lot. We're just really happy to come out with a win today."
Over on the men’s side, six Canadian teams competed in the Tier 1. Team Brad Jacobs and Team Brad Gushue made it to the quarterfinals, while Team Mike McEwen, Team John Epping, Team Rylan Kleiter and Team Matt Dunstone all missed the playoffs.
Dunstone was riding a three-event finals streak in the series, capturing the AMJ Masters and finishing runner-up in the CO-OP Canadian Open and KIOTI GSOC Tahoe. Jacobs, a two-time semifinalist this year and a two-time finalist last season, ran into a red-hot Team Whyte in the quarterfinals. Gushue fell to Team John Shuster to close the chapter on his Grand Slam of Curling career.
Teams often talk about peaking for the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, so it’s understandable if they were physically and emotionally drained, especially for a team like Dunstone’s after a heartbreaking runner-up result.
For now, we’ll chalk it up as a small sample size for the men’s teams, but something to monitor at the Crown Royal Players' Championship after teams have time to recharge over the Christmas break.
Let's also not forget we're coming to the end of an Olympic quadrennial, so the whole field will be ripping it up and starting over again in the fall.
SECOND END: Canadian curling icon Brad Gushue has bid adieu to the Grand Slam of Curling.
The HearingLife Canadian Open was the final event in the series for Gushue, who plans to retire at the end of the season. Although there’s still the Crown Royal Players’ Championship left to play, Gushue was No. 43 on the World Curling’s year-to-date rankings when the qualification cutoff date for the 12-team finale passed last week. There are also no sponsors’ exemptions for this one, ensuring the last Grand Slam of the season features the best of the best for the year, so Gushue couldn’t sneak in the back door.
It’s a bit bittersweet as Gushue has said in the past that the Players’ Championship is one of his favourite events of the season.
Gushue has played in six tournaments this season, the bare minimum towards the rankings. It also didn’t help that the PointsBet Invitational only qualified two teams for playoffs with just the one final, while three teams advanced at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials — meaning Gushue collected a handful of points in both events by not making it out of the preliminary stage. There were other missed opportunities as Gushue did not qualify for the playoffs in the AMJ Masters and declined an invitation to compete in the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe to prepare for the Olympic trials.
There's no denying he's one of the all-time greats, quite possibly even the G.O.A.T., and Gushue’s legacy is linked with the Grand Slam of Curling, with 15 men’s titles. The six-time Brier champion will now look to win a record-extending seventh as a skip in his hometown of St. John’s, N.L., in the new year and what an event that will be at Mile One Centre.
THIRD END: Switzerland’s sweep in Saskatoon was a monumental moment with Schwaller and Tirinzoni taking the titles.
Not only was it the first time two Swiss teams had swept major titles at the same event in the series, but it was also the first time teams from a country outside of Canada had accomplished the feat.
Men’s and women’s teams from Scotland and Sweden have won Grand Slam titles in the past, but not at the same time.
An all-Swiss final would be the next step, and it's something that could happen on the women’s side. Xenia Schwaller has reached two semifinals this season, but ran into Tirinzoni both times. We'd need a little luck for them to line up on opposite sides of the bracket for that to happen.
For what it’s worth, we’ve had one all-Scottish men’s final, with Ross Paterson defeating Mouat at the 2018 National.
FOURTH END: How many Grand Slam title wins does that make it now for Howard?
He won two Players’ Championship titles before the inception of the series while playing third for his brother, Russ Howard. He then captured 14 Grand Slam titles as a skipper himself. The win with Schwaller was his second as a coach after helping Jennifer Jones and her team take the Tour Challenge in 2023.
Howard joined Team Schwaller ahead of the world championship last season, and Schwaller gave kudos to him for not only helping them win their first Grand Slam title but also going undefeated through the week.
“If you step out there you want to win, every game you want to win, and that's something also, when Glenn came on, he imprinted a bit on us,” Schwaller said. “Every game you step on starts new. You want to win this and this is also what made us strong in the playoffs. No real downer in the round-robin, so we could go in with confidence and knew we can win every game."
FIFTH END: While Homan’s record run to Grand Slam finals ended at eight, Tirinzoni’s streak continues.
Tirinzoni has now made it to five consecutive Grand Slam women’s finals, good for third on the all-time list behind Homan (with her aforementioned eight) and Kerri Einarson (six straight from 2022-23).
That streak could extend. Tirinzoni has played in the past three Crown Royal Players’ Championship women's finals and is the double defending champion. Her team could also do something no team on the men's or women's side has done in the event by three-peating.
Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Homan has played in 11 Grand Slam finals, Tirinzoni has made nine and everyone else combined has eight. The last time neither Homan nor Tirinzoni made a Grand Slam women's final was the 2023 Tour Challenge, featuring Jones vs. Kaitlyn Lawes.
We've written and talked a lot in the past about Homan's unreal run, but full credit to Tirinzoni as well. Tirinzoni has made eight finals through nine events on tour this season, with four title wins. The outlier was the Autumn Gold Curling Classic, where Tirinzoni lost to Bo-bae Kang in the quarterfinals. Oddly enough, Tirinzoni lost just once in Saskatoon to … Kang!
“I think we all have to be proud about the first half of the season,” Tirinzoni said. “It was amazing. I think we all need a little break, but still, we have a lot of energy from all those wins and great playing. I think yes, we are ready for a break, but it's not that we are that tired."
SIXTH END: Japanese curling also had a moment at the HearingLife Canadian Open, with three women’s teams reaching the semifinals of a Grand Slam of Curling event for the first time.
Team Momoha Tabata, advancing to the semis for the first time ever as well, lost to Fujisawa.
"I love winning the game, but I love making history even more," said Chinami Yoshida, who throws third stones for Fujisawa.
Yoshimura, fresh off securing a spot in Milano Cortina through the Olympic Qualification Event, fell to Tirinzoni on the other side of the bracket. It was Yoshimura’s best performance in the Grand Slams since finishing runner-up in the 2019 Masters.
“I’m so proud of all of the teams,” said longtime Team Fujisawa coach and former national coach J.D. Lind. “I’ve gotten a chance to work with pretty much all of the teams as my time as the national coach. They’re great athletes but just great players, great people and they really work hard, so I’m very happy for everybody to see the hard work paying off over the years.”
SEVENTH END: Based on their performances in the HearingLife Canadian Open, watch out for Team Whyte and Team Shuster at the Crown Royal Players' Championship.
Whyte reached his second Grand Slam final of the season and fourth of his career. His first came almost exactly two years ago, coincidentally, at Merlis Belsher Place when the venue hosted the Masters. The event has bounced around the calendar a bit, and Whyte won the Masters last January in Guelph, Ont., then finished runner-up when it was held in London, Ont., in September.
As the anniversary of Whyte’s maiden title victory draws near, a second championship shouldn’t be too far behind.
Team Whyte was the top squad in the HearingLife Canadian Open based on percentages, shooting 86 per cent overall. The skipper led all players at his position at 85 per cent, while Euan Kyle was the top lead at 93 per cent for the week.
It was just one mistake from Whyte in the fifth end of the final that opened the door for Team Schwaller fourth Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel, who pulled off two absolutely amazing shots to score a game-breaking four points.
Meanwhile, Shuster’s run to the semifinals was just the second time he's made the final four in a Grand Slam event, and the first since the 2015 Tour Challenge. Losing the Olympic trials stings, but Shuster and his Duluth, Minn., crew have been on a phenomenal run on tour, having made it to at least the semifinals in all nine events that they’ve played.
No American men’s team has reached a Grand Slam final, but never doubt the 2018 Olympic gold medallist from pulling off another mira-curl.
EIGHTH END: Just when Team Joël Retornaz coach Ryan Fry thought he was out, they pulled him back in. Fry, who stepped back from competitive curling two years ago, got called off the bench to sub for third Amos Mosaner, who had to depart early due to prior commitments.
Fry helped the Italian club defeat Team Kyle Waddell 9-8 in Saturday morning’s tiebreaker to qualify for the playoffs. That put them up against top-seeded Mouat in the quarterfinals, and Retornaz’s run ended with a 5-3 loss.
Fry finished with an 88.67 shooting percentage, ranking first among all thirds. For the record, Mosaner was second overall at 85.33 per cent.
“When you get out on the ice, it comes right back to you, and then you start thinking, oh, I miss it. Then you get off the ice, and you're like, yeah, maybe not as much as I thought,” Fry said with a laugh. “But no, it was fun.”
With Team Retornaz set to host the world for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, perhaps it was a nice change of pace before business picks up big time in the new year.
“I think for our team it was a little break in the seriousness, which is good because we've been grinding pretty hard to get better and find those little percentages here and there,” said Fry, who has helped coach Retornaz to three Grand Slam title wins. “So to go into the Christmas break with a little bit of fun is a nice way to break it up as we start ramping up for February.”
EXTRA END: Need a last-minute stocking stuffer? Tickets are available for the Crown Royal Players’ Championship, the fifth and final Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, Jan. 6-11, 2026, at the Southeast Event Centre in Steinbach, Man.
The draw schedule was released late last week, featuring 12 of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams from around the world.
Visit tickets.southeasteventcentre.ca to purchase your tickets today.
