Monthly Archives: July 2023

DUNSTONE & BOTTCHER TEAMS PRE-QUALIFIED FOR 2024 REGINA BRIER

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(Curling Canada Release) Three teams that will compete at the 2024 Brier, presented by AGI, are now confirmed for the event’s run from March 1-10, 2024, at Brandt Centre in Regina.

Following his record-breaking fifth Canadian men’s curling championship as skip earlier this year in London, Ont., Brad Gushue and his team from St. John’s, N.L., return to the 2024 Brier as Team Canada.

Curling Canada photo

Today, Curling Canada confirmed Team Brendan Bottcher of Calgary and Team Matt Dunstone of Winnipeg will also be part of the 2024 Brier as pre-qualified teams based on their 2022-23 Canadian Team Ranking System performances.

The Brier’s long and storied history has seen plenty of firsts throughout its 97-year history and the event in Regina marks another first. It will be the first time three teams have pre-qualified for the Brier this far in advance of the event. The changes to the qualifying for the Brier, Scotties and Canadian Curling Trials were announced in April.  

Team Dunstone — with vice-skip B.J. Neufeld, second Colton Lott and lead Ryan Harnden — earned 69 wins and 22 losses during the 2022-23 season. Highlights included winning the Prism Flow Red Deer Curling Classic in Red Deer, Alta., and DEKALB Superspiel in Morris, Man. Team Dunstone also represented Manitoba at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier and earned second overall after claiming a spot in the final against Team Gushue.

Team Bottcher — which includes vice-skip Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert — finished second overall in the CTRS this past season. Team Bottcher earned three first-place finishes on the curling tour last season, including two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling victories at the Co-op Canadian Open in Camrose, Alta., and the Kioti Tractor Champions Cup in Regina. The team concluded the season with a 50-18 win/loss record.

There will be a fourth pre-qualified team for the 2024 Brier, with the top non-qualified team on the 2023-24 CTRS standings after the provincial and territorial playdowns earning a trip to Regina. 

Those four teams will compete with the 14 Member Association champions for the right to represent Canada at the 2024 World Men’s Curling Championship from March 30-April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, pending qualification through the 2023 Pan Continental Curling Championships from Oct. 29-Nov. 4 at Kelowna, B.C.

Ticket sales for the 2024 Brier have been strong, particularly for the championship weekend, and fans will need to act quickly to nail down their preferred seats. New premium seats have recently been added and are now on sale.

Here’s a look at what will be available:

  • Full Event Package ($486-$522) — A single ticket to every draw of the 2024 Brier.
  • Championship Weekend Package ($234-$252) — A single ticket to every draw from Friday, March 8, to Sunday, March 10.
  • Opening Weekend Package ($120-$138) — A single ticket to all draws from Friday, March 1, to Sunday, March 3.
  • Weekday Package ($69-$75) — A single ticket to all three draws on either Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. 

All ticket purchases are subject to PST as well as standard facility and ticket-service fees. 

Ticket packages will be available online curling.ca/tickets, or in person at the Brandt Centre box office. All other ticket inquiries should be sent to briertickets@curling.ca or by phone at (639) 709-5575.

A WIN FOR HOCKEY CANADA!!

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Word has come out (see curling.ca) that Curling Canada C.E.O. Katherine Henderson is moving on. She will become the next C.E.O. of Hockey Canada.

With Katherine Henderson at the Olympics in Korea – cheering Kaitlyn Lawes & John Morris in quest of their gold medal

I have two initial reactions. First – what a great hire by Hockey Canada. Second – what a loss for Curling Canada.

I had the privilege of serving on the Curling Canada Board of Governors in Katherine’s early years as our C.E.O. I have no more than an observant sports fan’s perspective on the challenges facing Hockey Canada, but those observations tell me she is perfect for the job.

Katherine is a strong leader, an intelligent well-spoken woman, and a person who really cares. She cares about the staff and the Board members, the staff-board relationship, and most importantly about the people who play the game (and after all, those are the people every sport association exists to serve!).

It might be fair to say, despite curling having some challenges of its own, that hockey needs her more than we do at this moment in time.

Good luck Katherine! Good luck Hockey Canada! Good luck to the next Curling Canada C.E.O. – you’ll have a tough act to follow but your skill set will serve curling in important ways, just as Katherine’s did.

JONES & HOMAN JOIN EINARSON WITH 2024 NATIONAL SCOTTIES ENTRIES

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A change for Curling Canada Scotties qualifying is good for the teams and for the national events/Curling Canada being able to promote name teams almost a year in advance. Not so good for provincial championship events, specifically the 2024 Scotties in Morden. They lost Team Einarson as an attraction when the Gimli four repeated as national champion. Now they have lost Team Jones (confirmed today, see below) and the local attraction of her young teammates who represented Altona for many years. It was proposed nearly a decade ago and has been inevitable for a few years – that the CTRS teams should be removed from the pool before provincial play. The argument then was that they were an important attraction to fans in the provincial event. The argument now may be that with Einarson and Jones teams both absent, there may in fact be more teams interested in playing at the provincial level.

(Curling Canada Release) Three of the 18 teams that will play at the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts next February in Calgary have been confirmed.

Four-time defending champions Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., clinched the first berth into the 2024 Scotties, set for Feb. 16-25 at the WinSport Event Centre in Calgary, by capturing the 2023 Scotties title earlier this year in Kamloops, B.C. Today, Curling Canada confirmed that Team Rachel Homan of Ottawa and Team Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg will be part of the 2024 Scotties field as pre-qualified teams based on their 2022-23 Canadian Team Ranking System performance.

It will be the first time three teams have pre-qualified for the Scotties this far in advance of the event. The changes to the qualifying for the Scotties and Brier, as well as the Canadian Curling Trials, were announced in April.

Team Homan  — the team is rounded out by vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes — finished second in the CTRS this past season thanks to a pair of victories on the Pinty’s Grand Slam circuit — the Hearing Life Tour Challenge in Grande Prairie, Alta., and the Kioti Tractor Champions Cup in Regina — and posted a 50-17 record overall.

Team Jones — with third Karlee Burgess and front-enders Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine —  was third in the CTRS standings. Team Jones, representing Manitoba, captured the silver medal at the 2023 Scotties and also won the inaugural PointsBet Invitational last September in Fredericton, N.B. Team Jones finished the 2022-23 season with a 68-35 record.

There will be a fourth pre-qualified team for the 2024 Scotties in Calgary as the top non-qualified team on the 2023-24 CTRS standings at the conclusion of the provincial and territorial playdowns will earn a trip to Calgary.

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TICKETS & INFORMATION:

Tickets are available online through Ticketmaster at curling.ca/tickets. All ticket inquiries should be sent to scottiestickets@curling.ca or by phone at 587-885-0953.