Women's Worlds Recap & Men's Worlds Preview

It's a busy time of year in the curling world and we're excited to be talking about it all. We start by recapping what was a fun week at the Women's World Curling Championship. We talk about Rachel Homan's win, the game/shot of the year, and how the rest of the field broke down over the course of the week. We then move on to preview the field for the Men's World Curling Championship. We go through the field and talk about all 13 teams before offering up our picks for the week.

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Brier Recap & Women's Worlds Preview

In the midst of the very busy Season of Champions, we're back to recap the week that was at the Brier and look ahead to the Women's World Curling Championship. We start by recapping the Brier, including Gushue's run of dominance, a great week for Saskatchewan, and some of the best stand out performances of the week. At 31:05 we look ahead to the Women's Worlds by previewing all 13 teams in the field, including Silvana Tirinzoni going for her 5th consecutive title. We wrap the show by talking about our attempt to watch curling at Montana's during the Brier.

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Scotties Recap: Passing the Torch

We join you nearly live from the Ottawa Curling Club, home of Team Homan, to talk about an action packed week at the Scotties. From Rachel Homan capturing her fourth title to Kerri Einarson's remarkable streak coming to an end to the retirement of Jennifer Jones, there was a lot going on in Calgary and we try to cover it all.

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Super Scotties Preview

It's our favourite event of the year, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. To get you set for the week, we give our full preview, including the new playoff format, new rules, and the biggest storylines of the week. We also preview all 18 teams in the field, the expectations for each, and give our picks for how things will stack up at the end of the week. But before all that, we give our initial reactions to the news that this year will be Jennifer Jones' last Scotties as she steps away from the 4-person game.

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Best Active Rivalries

In the midst of the Season of Champions, we take a break from the on-ice results to discuss some of the best matchups that we're looking forward to seeing over the next few months. From cross Canada competition to international matchups, we go across the globe to identify some of the best active rivalries around the curling world.

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Name that Shot: Progressive Trivia Edition

We're back from a mid-summer break for another edition of Canada's Fastest Growing Game Show, Name That Shot! This time we're doing a progressive trivia version of the game, so play along with Scott as Sean gives clues that get increasingly easier and let us know how you scored.

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Postseason Power Rankings

We're back to start wrapping up the season that was in 2022-23! We start by stacking up all the teams in the 4-person game and seeing how they stack up against each other in our power rankings. Sean gives his list of the top 10 teams in the world while Scott offers up his feedback, including some honorable mentions. Let us know who you think we missed out in our rankings.

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Scotties Recap: Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back

We're back to review an eventful 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. We start by talking about Kerri Eirnarson's 4th straight Scotties title and her final win over Jennifer Jones. We then discuss another podium finish for Krista McCarville and a breakout week for Christina Black before going through some of the highlights from the rest of the field. 

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Scotties Trends Heading into Playoffs

We're back to chat about some of the trends we've seen this week at the Scotties. We discuss the playoff scenarios, the increase in scoring from last year, and time management for teams with more active front ends. We wrap up by talking about the rather interesting measures we've seen, the ice conditions, and the new look TSN booth. 

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Super Scotties Preview

It's time for our favourite event on the curling calendar, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. We talk about Joanne Courtney joining the TSN booth for the week and how strong the field is before turning our attention to each team. We go team-by-team through the pools to talk about the lineups, the favourites, and who we think will stand tall at the end of the week. We wrap up by talking about our special Scotties giveaway.  

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Scotties Field Set, Dumb Pregnancy Rules, & Best Bonspiel Formats

Recorded before the David Murdoch to Curling Canada news, Sean and Scott talk about a busy weekend in curling as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts field is set. They talk about the provincial championships from the weekend, the Wild Card selections, and a rather stacked pool for the Scotties. They then turn to 2 announcements by Curling Canada, including the very strange pregnancy policy and the new qualification format for next season's PointsBet Invitational. FInally, the guys talk about their bonspiel experience over the weekend and what formats work best when heading to a 'spiel. 

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20 Years of the World has Caught Up to Canada!" Plus, it's Sherry Anderson's World & Another Slam in the Books

At last week's Grand Slam, only 7 of the 16 playoff teams were Canadian, including only 2 on the men's side. This led to a fresh round of declarations that the world has caught up with Canada. This prompted us to look back at 20 years of this declaration and whether it's (finally) time to retire this narrative.

We also talk about Sherry Anderson winning her fifth(!!!!) consecutive Canadian senior championship and the ways the finals played out at the Masters.

To see the articles mentioned in the episode, check out this blog from our website: A Brief History of "The World has Caught up to Canada'

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News Update: Plush is Out, Pan Continental Championship is In

In this episode, Sean talks about the resignation of Jeff Plush from USA Curling, how the decision was announced, and what this means for the organization moving forward. He also talks about Niklas Edin's injury before previewing both the A & B side of the inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championship. He is then joined by a special guest to make their picks for the week.

Curious Strategies at the National

In this episode, Sean and Scott talk about what was a fun weekend at the first Grand Slam of the season in North Bay. They discuss some of their big takeaways from the week (2:40) before getting into a couple rather curious strategies decisions from the playoffs. They debate Niklas Edin's decision in the semi-final against Matt Dunstone (7:10) and the pros and cons of being down 2 with hammer compared to tied without coming home. They also go back and forth about Kerri Einarson's decision in the fourth end of the final against Silvana Tirinzoni and the benefits of sitting 4 heading into skip's rocks (16:50). They finish by again asking for improvements to the Grand Slam website (25:00) before commenting on the on going situation with USA Curling (30:35).

You can check out Rocks Across the Pond's episode on USA curling here.

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Grand Slam Oddsmakers

In this episode, Sean and Scott go through the men's and women's fields for this week's Boost National in North Bay, ON. They give their odds for each team's chance at emerging victorious and get some clarification on the schedule live on the pod.

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Bracket Busted! No More Extras!? And are Shooting Percentages Inflated?

In this episode, Sean and Scott look back at the Pointsbet Invitational. They talk about wins for Reid Carruthers and Jennifer Jones as well as which teams stood out, the new timing rules, and what was up with the teevee schedule. They also debate the draw the button at the end of tied games, the state of the extra ends, and how to make end of game scenarios more exciting. They then move on to the shooting percentages for the week and ask whether they may be inflated and why that could be happening. They wrap up by talking about the uSports championship and who will represent Canada at the World University Games in January.

Our Fall Training episode is available here: Spring (umm...Autumn?) Training

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Bracket Challenge!

In this episode, Sean and Scott go through their bracket for this week's PointsBet Invitation in Fredericton. They go through both the men's and women's brackets as they build towards their winner picks. If you want to compete against the guys and the chance for $1 million if you get a perfect bracket, head over to sweep16.ca

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Setting Team Schedules - 2022 Edition

In this episode, Sean and Scott talk about how teams have set their schedules for the 2022-23 curling season. They start by looking at the recent changes announced by the World Curling Federation to the world rankings system and some of the player reaction. That's followed by going through the season schedules for 6 Canadian teams to see how they have set themselves up for the Season of Champions. They start with Team Homan and then move on to Team Koe, Team Lawes, Team Carruthers, Team Galusha, and Team Gauthier.

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Invitational Matchups Set, Early Season Results, & Eve Muirhead's Legacy

In this episode, Sean and Scott talk about what's happening in a strangely busy August in the world of curling. They start by talking about some early season events (2:00) before moving on to the first round matchups for the PointsBet Invitational coming up in September (Women - 7:00; Men - 22:40). They wrap up by talking about Eve Muirhead's retirement, legacy, and whether she is the greatest Scottish player of all time (35:20).

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What's the Word? New Team Edition

This week, Sean and Scott go through some of the biggest new teams announced during curling's free agent frenzy. They go through 10 women's and 10 men's teams and give their words to describe each of the new lineups. They also talk about how they think the teams will stack up next year and how some of the most competitive provinces will look as we enter the new Olympic quad.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com