Olympics

A Brief History of 'The World has Caught Up to Canada'

This weekend, only 7 of the 16 playoff teams at the Grand Slam were Canadian, leading to another round of declarations that the world has caught up to Canada.

This declaration, however, might be one of the longest running traditions in Canadian curling. So we wanted to look back at just a few of the times when we’ve been told about curlers around the world having caught up to their Canadian counterparts.

2002

Leading into that year’s world championship, a CBC article declared that “the world is catching up…”

Later in the article, Kevin Martin is quoted as saying “The Canadian public hasn’t seen it yet…the longer it goes , the more difficult it’s going to get for Canada to win.”

Randy Ferbey adds that “anybody can jump up and bite you, and that’s why it’s very difficult.”

2003

In the Globe & Mail, Bob Weeks wrote that “the world has caught up. Not only are there teams from around the globe competing, but almost all of them have at least a semi-legitimate chance to win.”

2006

An AP article in the Los Angeles Times, warned curling clubs against being unprepared for the influx of new players following the Olympics, citing the “Americans’ Olympic success.”

In describing the situation leading into those Olympics, the Devin Heroux recalled that “the world was still trying to catch up to Canada when it came to curling.”

2009

A Bob Weeks article leading into the world championship was titled “Rest of world catching up to Canada.”

Kevin Martin is quoted in the piece as saying “gone are the days when we were able to keep winning without much effort” and that “it’s kind of scary looking into the crystal ball and thinking what’s going to happen 10 years down the road.”

2014

There were no think pieces about the world having caught up to Canada in 2014. I wonder why?

2018

Following the American men’s semi-final win over Canada, Time declared that “in curling, the world’s catching up to Canada.” In that same article, Marc Kennedy is quoted as saying “it’s a really f—-ing hard game at this level…this is the new normal for Canada. We have to get used to it.”

Dave Feschuk argued in the Toronto Star that one of the reasons the world was catching up (or had caught up) was because of Canadian coaches. After noting that “the overriding feeling in the women’s curling world was that Homan’s lack of success had as much to do with the rise of the international field as it did with her sub-par form,” Feschuk attributes a lot of that rise to Canadians coaching internationally. He notes that 6 of the top 7 teams in the field were coached by Canadians, who could be described as “simple mercenaries - contract coaches hired by national sporting federations bent on finding success.”

2022

In a long-form piece for Sportsnet about changes to Curling Canada’s approach, Kristina Rutherford stressed that “casual curling fans may want to take a deep breath, because Canada isn’t the favourite it once was.”

In his season summery for CBC, Devin Heroux declared that “the world has caught up and curling is no longer Canada’s game to dominate.”

2021 Curling Commercial Rankings

Here is how Scott ranks the 10 most frequent curling commercials we saw during the bubble. Sean’s rankings are below. For our full analysis, check out this week’s episode.

10) Home Hardware - “Local is Local, buy Local”

9) AMJ Campbell - “Moving is Relaxing”

8) OK Tire “More Safety”

7) Kruger - “Poopy Diaper”

6) New Holland - “Epic Agriculture”

5) Tim Hortons - “Our Coffee was Bad”

4) Curling Canada - “Aspirational Children”

3) Tourism Calgary - “Come Look at our Buildings”

2) Curling Canada - “40 Years of Kruger”

1) Scotties - “Floor Curling”

Sean’s Rankings

10) Ok TIre - “More Safety”

9 AMJ Campbell - “Moving is Relaxing”

8) Home Hardware - “Local is Local, Buy Local”

7) Kruger - “Poopy Diaper”

6) New Holland - “Epic Agriculture”

5) Curling Canada - “Aspirational Children”

4) Tim Hortons - “Our Coffee was Bad”

3) Curling Canada - “40 Years of Kruger”

2) Tourism Calgary - “Come Look at our Buildings”

1) Scotties - “Floor Curling”

New Olympic Trials Qualification FAQ

On Wednesday, Curling Canada announced a new process for how teams will qualifiy for the Olympic Trials. There has been some confusion, so hopefully this clarifies this a little.

What was the announcement?

Curling Canada announced a new qualification event that will take place in the fall.

So the current schedule is:

New Olympic Qualification Event (Pre-Pre-Trials) - early fall (dates & location TBD)

Pre-Trials (October 26-31, location TBD)

Olympic Trials (Nov. 20-28, Saskatoon)

Why do they need a new event?

There are multiple ways teams normally qualify for the Olympic Trials. Here is how teams would have qualified for the 9-team field

2019 Canada Cup Winner

2020 Canada Cup Winner

2020 Scotties/Brier Winners

2021 Scotties/Brier Winner

Highest 2-year CTRS team (2019-20, 2020-21 seasons)

Next Highest 2-year CTRS team (2019-20, 2020-21 seasons)

Highest CTRS team (2020-21 season)

Pre-Trials Qualifier

Pre-Trials Qualifier

If there is a team that would qualify twice under these criteria (a team wins both the Canada Cup and Scotties, for instance) the spot goes to the next highest CTRS team.

Why change now?

With no competitive season this year, teams haven’t been able to earn CTRS points.

Who had already qualified for the Olympic Trials?

On the women’s side, Rachel Homan (2019 Canada Cup) and Kerri Einarson (2020 Scotties) had qualified.

On the men’s side, John Epping (2019 Canada Cup) and Brad Gushue (2020 Brier) had qualified.

Curling Canada also announced that Tracy Fleury, Jennifer Jones, Brad Jacobs, Brendan Bottcher, and Kevin Koe have qualified based on 2018-19 and 2019-20 CTRS points.

This means there 5 spots in the women’s field and 4 spots in the men’s field left to fill.

Why not just use the Pre-Trials to fill the rest of the spots?

Because Curling Canada doesn’t want to get yelled at.

Really?

Pretty much. Teams that played a lot on tour 2019-20 and were hoping to do the same in 2020-21 to secure a berth into the Trials on points don’t want to go to a last chance qualifier. With the existing system, Curling Canada wants to prioritize playing on Tour and reward teams that are successful throughout the season. Having everyone go to a last chance qualifier shifts the balance and increases the opportunity for teams that don’t play as much.

What is the new event?

We’re calling it the Pre-Pre-Trials. This replaces the berths in the Trials that come from CTRS points.

Who will play in the event?

Curling Canada is using a combination of CTRS points and World Rankings to determine the field. But these teams will be in the field.

Women’s Teams: Suzanne Birt, Corryn Brown, Laura Walker, Casey Scheidegger, Kelsey Rocque

Men’s Teams: Mike McEwen, Jason Gunnlaugson, Glenn Howard, Colton Flasch

How many spots will be available?

3 women’s teams and 2 men’s teams.

Will there still be a Pre-Trials?

Yes. The teams that lose at the Pre-Pre-Trials will be in the Pre-Trials field.

Think of it like the Page Playoff. The Pre-Pre-Trials is the 1-2 game. Winners go straight to the finals, but the loser has to go through the semi-final.

The Pre-Trials will determine the final 2 teams in the Olympic Trials field.

Will the bubble change things?

Maybe. If a team that hasn’t already qualified for the Olympic Trials wins the Scotties or Brier, they will take one of the berths in the Trials field. That will take a spot away from the Pre-Pre-Trials.

For instance, if Sherry Anderson wins the Scotties, she gets a spot in the Olympic Trials and the 5 teams at the Pre-Pre-Trials will compete for 2 spots.

If a team that has qualified for the Pre-Pre-Trials wins the Brier or Scotties, they will no longer play in the Pre-Pre-Trials.

Does this make any sense?

Sort of.

Seriously??

There was no ‘right’ answer here. This is a compromise where Curling Canada is giving tour teams the edge for getting to the Trials, which is the intent of the process. Without a full season, it would be unfair to award all the spots in the Olympic Trials and force everyone else to go to the Pre-Trials, so offering 2 paths to the top teams not yet qualified seems fair.

Will this change?

Maybe? If it’s not possible to host these events, Curling Canada will have to pivot again. For now, though, this is the plan.

Is Canada guaranteed to be in the Olympic field?

No. The World Curling Federation has altered its qualification process for the Olympics. So far, only China (as the host) is guaranteed to be in the field.

The six teams that make the playoffs at the upcoming Men’s and Women’s World Championships qualify for the Olympics. The rest of the field will be filled out through a last chance qualifier in the fall.

What happens if Canada needs to send a representative to play in an Olympic qualifier?

To this point, Curling Canada hasn’t publicly addressed this ity.

Nobody involved in Curling Canada wants this to happen. It would be an angsty summer for Curling Canada if this were to happen. No team would want to play, as it would significantly alter preparations for the Olympic Trials in December. Fortunately for Curling Canada, it’s unlikely that Canada will miss the playoffs, but not impossible. Chelsea Carey’s team missed the playoffs in at the 2019 World Championship. This year’s fields will be strong as all countries want to secure their place in the Beijing 2022 field as soon as possible.

What about mixed doubles?

The mixed doubles Olympic Trials will take place from December 28-January 2.

Since the field is much larger (16 teams), Curling Canada has more wiggle room for the mixed doubles.

4 teams have already qualified:

Rachel Homan/John Morris

Jennifer Jones/Brent Laing

Nancy Martin/Tyrel Griffith

Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant

The 12 remaining teams will come from a combination of this year’s mixed doubles championship, CTRS points, and a Pre-Trials event in December.

Now what?

Wait to see if they can pull off the bubble.