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Canadian teams will
take their first steps toward the 2022 Winter Olympics this December in
Estevan, Sask.
The 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup — one of curling’s most
competitive and hard-fought events — will take place Dec. 5-9 Affinity
Place in Estevan, it was announced today by Curling Canada.
It will be the 14th renewal of the Home Hardware Canada
Cup, featuring this country’s best men’s and women’s curling teams
playing for a share of a $140,000 cash purse ($70,000 to each gender). In
addition to the cash prizes, the winning men’s and women’s teams will be
guaranteed of a berth in the 2021 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials, which will
be the final qualifying event for the 2021 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings
Canadian Curling Trials — the event that will decide Canada’s four-player
teams for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Additionally, the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup champions
will qualify for a World Curling Federation World Cup event during the
2019-20 season.
“We’ve seen time and time again that Saskatchewan plays
host to first-class curling championships, on and off the ice, and we’re
excited to see Estevan stepping up to host the 2018 Home Hardware Canada
Cup,” said Resby Coutts, Chair of Curling Canada’s Board of Governors.
“Adding to the excitement will be the chance for fans to see many of
Canada’s new-look men’s and women’s teams under one roof as they start
their pursuit for Olympic glory.”
Seven men’s and seven women’s teams will be invited to
play at the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup. With new teams being formed
for the 2018-19 season, the Order of Merit standings — which allows new
teams to combine the points individual players carried over from former
teams — as of May 1 will be used to determine six invitees of each
gender. The seventh team will be the top non-qualified team on the
Canadian Team Ranking System as of mid-November.
It will be the first time a Curling Canada Season of
Champions event has been staged in Estevan, but the city proved itself
capable earlier this year by hosting a successful SaskTel Tankard
provincial men’s championship at Affinity Place. It will be the third
time the Home Hardware Canada Cup has been played in Saskatchewan; it was
played in Moose Jaw in 2012 and in Yorkton in 2009.
“Today marks another great occasion that will showcase the
City of Estevan, its people and the surrounding communities,” said Roy
Ludwig, Mayor of Estevan. “We are proud to be chosen to host one of
Curling Canada’s premier competitions. This event will bring many people
to our city and allow us the opportunity to share our community with
people across Canada. Estevan has hosted provincial curling events in the
past and with that success it’s our time to try our hand at a
national event. We know that the unique experiences; the attractions and
many historical sites will enhance the experience of the people that come
to our community and surrounding area.”
“Being a huge curling fan, I am so excited to see that
Estevan will be hosting the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup,” added Lori
Carr, MLA for Estevan. “We welcome all the teams, families and fans that
will be attending this event. I have not doubt our great base of
volunteers will help ensure this event goes smoothly.”
Opened in 2011, Affinity Place is the home of the
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Estevan Bruins, and seats
approximately 2,200 for hockey.
“There is a significant appetite in Estevan for
championship curling, and I know that today’s announcement will be
well-received in our community,” said Host Committee Vice-Chair Helen
Fornwald. “We’ll be working extremely hard over the coming weeks and
months to make sure the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup goes off without a
hitch, and that competitors, fans and officials all leave with smiles on
their faces.”
“It was shown during the recent Tim Hortons Brier that the
Saskatchewan curling community truly gets behind big events, and we’re
confident Estevan will be ready to host Canada’s best teams in December,”
said Ashley Howard, Executive-Director of CURLSASK. “The SaskTel Tankard
showed everyone that there is a vibrant group of curling fans and
volunteers in Estevan, and I know they’ll be hard at work for the next
eight months to make sure the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup is a success
story.”
It will be the 14th Home Hardware Canada Cup. The event
was staged in Kamloops, B.C., for the first six years. It has since been
played in Yorkton, Medicine Hat, Alta., Cranbrook, B.C., Moose Jaw,
Camrose, Alta., Grande Prairie, Alta., and, most recently, in Brandon,
Man., in 2016, where teams skipped by Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers and
Jennifer Jones prevailed.
The Home Hardware Canada Cup isn’t played in Olympic
seasons, and is replaced in the schedule by the Tim Hortons Roar of the
Rings.
Tickets will go on sale in early May. Details will be
announced close to the on-sale date.
“Home Hardware is proud to sponsor the 2018 Home Hardware
Canada Cup,” said Terry Davis, President and CEO, Home Hardware Stores
Limited. “As a 100 per cent Canadian-owned and operated company, we feel
pride in celebrating the many accomplishments of Curling Canada with the
millions of Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast.”
(Curling Canada Press Release)
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