Registered: Jan 2016
Location:
Posts: 240

It's called the Points Invitational. 16 men's and women's team will be invited and will be in Fredericton. The teams will be
-The top 12 teams in the new World CTRS
-The Canadian Junior Champions (Emily Deschenes and Landan Rooney)
-The Curling Club Champions (Tracy Larocque and NIck Deagle)
-Team selected by host commitee (Andrea Kelly and Jack Smeltzer)
-One team selected with a sponsor's exemption

It will be a straight knock out tournament. It's an interesting format for sure. No mention on if it's the death of the Canada Cup or if the winning team would represent Canada at the Pan Pacific.

https://www.curling.ca/blog/2022/06...in-fredericton/

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Registered: Nov 2008
Location:
Posts: 40

So half the teams will play one game only, and another quarter of teams play only two games. Only the teams who make the final get more than a triple-knockout's worth of games.That's a lot of time and travel sacrificed for not much curling, in a sport that already demands so much at the highest level.

I guess the top teams get a chance at a big pay-day early in the season? But do the top teams really need it, and does anyone else really have enough of a chance to actually want to show up, even for the novelty? And I can only assume no ranking points are available, not that they're worth all that much in year one of a four year cycle.

And what's the aim on Curling Canada's part here? This doesn't seem like the type of event you'd associate with a national governing body (sponsored by a gambling company no less).

Not to take away from creative new ideas, but personally, I just don't get this one.

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Registered: Apr 2016
Location: River Falls, WI, USA
Posts: 445

It’s worth mentioning that all of the invited teams will get $5000 up-front for travel costs, and there doesn’t seem to be an entry fee.

After that, you get $3000 if you win that first game, $6000 more if you win the second, $12000 more if you win your third, and $24000 if you win the fourth and final match. The ultimate winners will therefore have got a cumulative $50,000. (Each..one womens team and one mens team will get there)

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Registered: Mar 2019
Location:
Posts: 659

I like that they are bringing the junior winners and the club champs. Sure they will be the free spaces on the card (and the teams they replace--the 15th and 16th ranked would be almost free spaces too) but anytime they get some new blood in there instead of the same old same old names is a good thing. I enjoyed the pre trials playoffs last year as there were some new teams I had never seen just like the Mb/BC/SK playdowns which had new faces.

Last edited by hogged again on 06-21-22 at 02:02PM

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Registered: Aug 2018
Location:
Posts: 699

It's an interesting concept. There does seem to be lot of invitational events this season, going by the Events page from CZ.

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Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Southern Sask.
Posts: 364

At first I thought this sounded a little goofy but I am warming up to it now. It is a good event to kick off the year in Canada especially with the new teams. They will have their regular spiels to get more games in soon enough.

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