...And We’re Back! 2021 GSOC Masters Preview

The GSOC Masters will finally be upon us from October 19-24 at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ontario. Known as the first major of the curling season, this year's event will get a facelift in the wake of the inaugural 2021-22 season. 

What changes will we see?

Identical to the usual Canadian Open slam, this year's edition of the Masters will field 16 teams instead of the usual fifteen. I expect this has been done to accommodate the Olympic process. Contrary to past seasons, many teams have already competed in numerous spiels already thus far into season, with many of these events fielding a roster of teams as strong as this slam. However, the usual high-stakes of the slams will apply here, especially with many competing teams lacking arena ice. The extra squad on both the women's and men's sides will truly benefit from the expansion.

The format has also changed, with the three pool round robin being transformed into the dreaded triple knockout. The rules are simple: win three games, and you're into the playoffs. Lose three games, and you're out. Two teams will advance out of the A-side with unblemished 3-0 win-loss records, three will qualify in the B-event, and three more through the C-road.

The playoffs have seem to be unaffected. One thing to note is that the playoffs were tweaked for the Champions Cup and Players' Championship in the bubble, with the top two men's and women's teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. It seems like that system was more of a bubble thing and the regular eight teams to the quarterfinals will take place.

Another change will be that the complex will house four sheets to accommodate social distancing, as opposed to the usual five sheets. This will be identical to the Calgary bubble. 

Who will we be seeing?

Arguably my favourite part of the sixteen team expansion is the amount of depth on both the men's and women's side, but notably with the ladies.

Only five Canadian women's teams will be present in Oakville. We all know that Canada no longer is the one and only dominating force of curling. A landmark 11 international teams will compete for the trophy. What's even crazier? A record six teams from the Pacific-Asia region will be vying for the top spot. Three teams from South Korea (E. Kim, M. Kim, and Gim) and three more teams from Japan (Fujisawa, Yoshimura, and Koana) will make an appearance. It will be Gim and Koana's grand slam debut.

Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, and the United States will also be represented. One thing to take note of is that Team Laura Walker seemed to decline their invitation and will not play in Oakville. The British women's program is still being experimented with, meaning that Scotland and Muirhead will not be represented on the women's side of things.

Eight Canadian teams will contest the title on the men's side. The most impressive thing here is that Scotland will field three teams (Mouat, Paterson, and Whyte). I'm not quite aware of what the facts are, but it sounds like that could very much be a slam record as well. In other news, Team Matsumura from Japan will be welcomed back to the slam circuit after attending two events in previous seasons. Minnesota's Team Ruohonen and Stirling, Scotland's Ross Whyte will make their GSOC debuts.

Even as a Canadian, I'm thrilled to find out that these teams have reached the top 16-ish in the world and will be on display on national television, as well as international streaming. This is great for the game!

Men's Division

• Team Brendan Bottcher (Edmonton)- 2021 Brier Champion
• Team Peter de Cruz (Geneva, Switzerland)- 2021 Swiss Olympic Trials Champion
• Team Matt Dunstone (Regina)- Defending Masters Champions
• Team Niklas Edin (Karlstad, Sweden)- 2021 World Men's Champion
• Team John Epping (Toronto)- 4-time Slam Champion
• Team Jason Gunnlaugson (Winnipeg)- 2020 Manitoba Champion
• Team Brad Gushue (St. John’s, N.L.)- 2020 Brier Champion
• Team Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.)- 2014 Olympic Champion
• Team Kevin Koe (Calgary)- 2019 Brier Champion
• Team Yuta Matsumura (Kitami, Japan)- 2018 Pacific-Asia Champion
• Team Mike McEwen (Winnipeg)- 7-time Slam Champion
• Team Bruce Mouat (Stirling, Scotland)- 2-time defending Slam Champion
• Team Ross Paterson (Glasgow, Scotland)- 2018 GSOC National Champion
• Team Rich Ruohonen (Minneapolis, USA)- 2018 USA Champion
• Team Yannick Schwaller (Bern, Switzerland)- 2019 European Runner-Up
• Team Ross Whyte (Stirling, Scotland)- 2018 World Junior Runner-Up

• Women's Division

   Team Kerri Einarson (Gimli, Man.)- 2-time defending Scotties Champion
• Team Tracy Fleury (East St. Paul, Man.)- Defending Masters Champion
• Team Satsuki Fujisawa (Kitami, Japan)- 2018 Olympic Bronze Medallist
• Team Un-Chi Gim (Uijeongbu, South Korea)- 2013 Pacific-Asia Champion
• Team Anna Hasselborg (Sundbyberg, Sweden)- 2018 Olympic Champion
• Team Rachel Homan (Ottawa)- 11-time Slam Champion
• Team Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg)- 2014 Olympic Champion
• Team Eun-Jung Kim (Gangneung, South Korea)- 2018 Olympic Runner-Up
• Team Min-Ji Kim (Chuncheon, South Korea)- 2019 World Women's Bronze Medallist
• Team Tori Koana (Fujiyosida, Japan)- 2018 Japanese Champion
• Team Alina Kovaleva (Saint Petersburg, Russia)- 2021 World Women's Runner-Up
• Team Tabitha Peterson (St. Paul, USA)-  2021 World Women's Bronze Medallist
• Team Kelsey Rocque (Edmonton)- 2014/15 World Junior Champion (Rocque)
• Team Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau, Switzerland)- 2021 World Women's Champion
• Team Isabella Wrana (Sundbyberg, Sweden)- 2017 World Junior Champion
• Team Sayaka Yoshimura (Sapporo, Japan)- 2021 Japanese Champion

What's at stake?

A $150,000 CAD prize purse will be up for grabs in both divisions. The champions will receive $35,000 apiece, while second place nets you $20,000. 3rd/4th places are awarded $15,000, and 5th to 8th spots will get $10,000. Wins will be worth $3,000 for non-playoff teams.

Order of Merit (OOM) points will also be awarded based on performance, which is crucial for receiving an invite to the forthcoming slams.

Don't forget there's other things at stake: Team Mouat are looking for their third slam win in a row (2021 Champions Cup, Players'), as well as a fourth consecutive win in Canada after winning the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard earlier in September. Teams Homan and Einarson were the slam winners in the bubble and will be looking to replicate that success.

Teams Tracy Fleury and Matt Dunstone are the reigning champions, each collecting their first slam titles all the way back in the fall of 2019.

Who's coming in hot? 🔥🔥

Starting with the women, Fleury will be the team to beat. They've already captured titles in Oakville and Sherwood Park and are coming in firing. Einarson lost the final in Sherwood Park to Fleury, so they'll also be looking to ride their wave of momentum. Fujisawa is coming off a win at the Japanese Olympic Trials and a final appearance at the Autumn Gold, Kovaleva captured the St Petersburg Classic, Eun-Jung Kim prevailed at the Saville Shootout, and Rocque broke through the Trials Direct-Entry Event to qualify for November's Olympic Trials. Team Peterson have also just claimed the Autumn Gold in Calgary, making them the most recent triumph. 

The rest of the pack have a bit of catching up to do, but shouldn't be too worried. Hasselborg, Homan, Jones, and Tirinzoni have seen decent results with a few quarterfinal and semifinal finishes at numerous tour events leading up to October. Wrana has seen the same kind of results, but arguably being more impressive as a younger team.

Moving on the men, as stated before, Mouat. I'll just leave it at that. De Cruz recently won the right to represent Switzerland after winning their Trials, Dunstone and McEwen qualified for the Roar of the Rings at the Trials Direct-Entry Event, Jacobs won and were the runner-up at two events in Oakville, Koe made a splash in Okotoks and Swift Current, Ruohonen won in Minnesota, Schwaller has won two events (although they lost in their trials), and Whyte is climbing the ranks after success in Kitchener-Waterloo and a handful of playoff appearances. De Cruz is the most recent triumph on the men's side, taking the Swiss Cup Basel on home soil. Edin and Schwaller round out the top three teams at that event.

Epping, Gunnlaugson, Bottcher, and Paterson have seen mixed results and will seek to make a statement to the frontrunners. Although it seems like all the elite teams wanted to get back to full swing after a lockdown year, Bottcher and Gushue only started their seasons recently and will look to make a surprise attack. Gushue did win their lone event of the season, the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard.

Predictions!

Although I won't predict the winners, I'll take a stab at guessing the eight playoff teams.

Men's Division (in alphabetical order): 

    De Cruz

    Dunstone

    Edin

    Gushue

    Jacobs

    Koe

    Mouat

    Schwaller

    

Women's Division (in alphabetical order): 

    Einarson

    Fleury

    Fujisawa

    Hasselborg

    Homan

    Jones

    E. Kim

    Tirinzoni

Thank you for reading! Make sure to follow me on Twitter/Instagram @onthebuttonblog if you haven't already to support my blog :)