By Nathan Kanter

Edin, Homan favourites for Meridian Canadian Open

Dec 22, 2016 | 4:00 PM

Of all 12 Canadian men’s teams taking part in the Meridian Canadian Open happening at the Civic Centre this January, none are coming in as hot as Sweden’s Niklas Edin.

Edin has won two of three Grand Slam of Curling (GSOC) events this year; first, the Masters in Okotoks, Alta. in October; and then, the Tour Challenge in Cranbrook B.C. in early November. At the National earlier this month in Sault Ste. Marie (another GSOC event), he was knocked out in the semifinal by Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers.

Those two GSOC wins may be the first of his career, but he is also a five-time European Champion and won a bronze medal for Sweden at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

There are a few Canadian teams that could also be considered favourites, however.

Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue, currently ranked number one in the world, was hurt to start the 2016 curling season, but at the National earlier in December, he made the semi-finals just like Edin did.

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Gushue has six GSOC wins to his name, including two earlier in 2016 (he won the player’s championship in April after winning the Elite 10 in March). In the semis of the National, he also fell to eventual champion Brad Jacobs in a tight 5-3 game that was won on the last rock.

Speaking of other teams to watch, team Jacobs is another obvious choice. That aforementioned win in the Sault at the National was on home turf for three of the four team members and they also made the finals of the Masters, falling to Team Edin 5-4.

A third Canadian not to be forgotten is Reid Carruthers. Team Carruthers lost in the finals of the National to team Jacobs 4-2 and Carruthers also won the Champions Cup (a new GSOC event) on May 1, 2016 over Team Epping of Toronto.

And although team Epping is the defending champion of the Meridian Canadian Open, that win last year was their only GSOC victory since April 2012. In this season’s three major events so far, they have also only gone as far as the quarter-finals. They should not be considered favourites heading into this year’s tournament.

Instead, Edin is the hottest player entering play, while Gushue, Jacobs, and Carruthers are all not far behind.

On the women’s side, things are more wide open, but it’s very hard not to consider team Homan as the favourite.

In the 2015-16 curling season, Homan won three GSOC events (including last year’s Meridian Canadian Open) and made the finals in two others. This season, they made the finals in October’s Masters in Okotoks, Alta. but fell to Ontario’s Allison Flaxey. After that, they have disappointed at both the Tour Challenge and the National, falling in the quarter-finals in both.

However, they aren’t the only team to be inconsistent.

Jennifer Jones and her team haven’t made it past the quarter-finals in three GSOC events this season either, despite 12 wins in her career.

Team Jones did win the Champions Cup in the 2015-16 season, beating out team Homan 7-5 in the finals.

Other women’s teams of note include team Flaxey, team Sweeting, and team Einarson.

Flaxey, as mentioned earlier, won the Masters in October over team Homan. It was the first GSOC win of her career and they followed it up with a semifinals appearance at the Tour Challenge in November.

Beating Flaxey in that semifinal was Valerie Sweeting, who grew up in Mayfield, Sask., but moved to Alberta after her junior career and currently curls out of Edmonton.

Team Sweeting, like many of the top women’s teams, has also been inconsistent, however, having missed the playoffs at the Masters and bowing out in the quarters at the National.

Finally, team Einarson come in having won the last GSOC event early this month – the National, in Sault Ste. Marie. It was her first career GSOC win, but she made three semifinal appearances last season.

So although the women’s field is wide open, team Homan should have a leg up.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11