2015 Continental Cup of Curling

The 2015 World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling was held from January 8 to 11 at the Markin MacPhail Centre International Arena in Calgary, Alberta.^[1] The Continental Cup featured team events, mixed doubles events, singles competitions, and skins competitions, and the brunt of the points were in the skins competitions. TSN broadcast the event, as it has in previous years.^[1]

2015 World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling
Host city	Calgary, Alberta
Arena	Markin MacPhail Centre
Dates	January 8–11
Winner	Team Canada
Score Breakdown Discipline Canada Europe Team Round 1 2 1 Mixed Doubles Round 1 2.5 0.5 Team Round 2 2.5 0.5 Team Round 3 1.5 1.5 Singles 3.5 2.5 Team Round 4 3 0 Mixed Doubles Round 2 2 1 Team Round 5 3 0 Team Round 6 2 1 Skins Round 1 10.5 4.5 Skins Round 2 9.5 5.5 Total 42 18
« 2014 2016 »

The total attendance for the event was 22,606.^[2] Team Canada collected CAD$52,000 winners cheque and CAD$13,000 skins bonus. Team Europe collected CAD$26,000 losers cheque.^[3]

Competition background

In their 2013-2014 Annual Review,^[4] the World Curling Federation reported that they can no longer justify further involvement in the Continental Cup, and that the Canadian Curling Association will operate the event starting in 2015.^[5]

This edition of the Continental Cup would be the first in which the new system of competing teams would be implemented. It was intended that in this and future editions of the Continental Cup, Team North America would be replaced by an all-Canadian team entry, where team Canada would compete alternatively against Team Europe in odd years and Team World, made up of teams from the United States and non-European curling nations, in even years. However, this format would only last for the 2015 event. In this edition of the Continental Cup, six teams from Canada competed against six teams from Europe.^[6]

The same competition format as that of the previous year was used. Out of the sixty total points available, a majority of points would be needed to win the cup. The mixed doubles, singles, and team games were worth one point each, and ties were worth one half point each to both teams. The skins games were worth a total of five points. Six mixed doubles and six singles games were played, along with eighteen team games and six skins games.

Teams

The teams will be selected from the top teams in each region. Six teams from each region will compete against each other in the competition. The teams from Canada earn the right to represent Team Canada by virtue of winning certain events, namely the Canada Cup of Curling and the Canadian National Championships (the Brier and the Tournament of Hearts). The final two teams are the teams who represented Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

For Team Europe, the teams participating include Olympic bronze medallist Eve Muirhead, Olympic silver medallist Margaretha Sigfridsson, world bronze medallist Anna Sidorova, Olympic bronze medallist Niklas Edin, two-time world champion David Murdoch, and two-time European champion Thomas Ulsrud.^[3]

Team	Skip	Third	Second	Lead	Locale
Team Canada	Rachel Homan	Emma Miskew	Joanne Courtney	Lisa Weagle	Ottawa, Ontario
	Jennifer Jones	Kaitlyn Lawes	Jill Officer	Dawn McEwen	Winnipeg, Manitoba
	Val Sweeting	Lori Olson-Johns	Dana Ferguson	Rachelle Brown	Edmonton, Alberta
	Brad Jacobs	Ryan Fry	E. J. Harnden	Ryan Harnden	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
	John Morris	Pat Simmons	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	Calgary, Alberta
	Mike McEwen	B. J. Neufeld	Matt Wozniak	Ben Hebert	Winnipeg, Manitoba
	Coach: Rick Lang, Captain: Randy Ferbey
Team Europe	Eve Muirhead	Anna Sloan	Vicki Adams[a]	Sarah Reid	Stirling
	Anna Sidorova	Margarita Fomina	Alexandra Saitova	Ekaterina Galkina[b]	Moscow
	Maria Prytz (fourth)	Christina Bertrup	Maria Wennerström[a][b]	Margaretha Sigfridsson (skip)[b]	Umeå
	Niklas Edin	Oskar Eriksson	Kristian Lindström	Christoffer Sundgren	Karlstad
	David Murdoch	Greg Drummond	Scott Andrews	Michael Goodfellow	Stirling
	Thomas Ulsrud	Torger Nergård	Christoffer Svae	Håvard Vad Petersson	Oslo
	Coach: David Hay, Captain: Peja Lindholm

1. Wennerström did not play for Sigfridsson in Draw 1, and was substituted by Adams.^[7]
2. Wennerström did not play for Sigfridsson in Draw 9^[8] and Draw 10.^[9] Sigfridsson skipped at second, and Galkina played lead.

Events

All times listed are in Mountain Standard Time (UTC−7).^[10] The draws for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were released on Wednesday night,^[11] and the draws for Sunday were released on Saturday afternoon.^[12]

Thursday, January 8

Draw 1

Team 8:30 am^[7]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Sweeting)	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	X	3	0
Europe (Sidorova)	1	1	2	0	2	1	0	X	7	1

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Jacobs)	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	4	1
Europe (Edin)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Homan)	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	3	7	1
Europe (Sigfridsson)	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	0

Draw 2

Mixed doubles 1:30 pm^[13]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Europe (Eriksson/Galkina)	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	0
Canada (Rycroft/Olson-Johns)	3	0	4	1	1	0	0	1	10	1

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Europe (Edin/Sidorova)	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	2	6	0
Canada (Miskew/Fry)	1	2	1	0	2	0	3	0	9	1

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Europe (Prytz/Nergård)	0	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	5	½
Canada (Homan/E. Harnden)	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	5	½

Draw 3

Team 6:30 pm^[14]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Morris)	2	0	1	0	1	2	0	X	6	1
Europe (Ulsrud)	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	X	3	0

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Jones)	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	4	½
Europe (Muirhead)	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	4	½

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (McEwen)	1	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	5	1
Europe (Murdoch)	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	4	0

Friday, January 9

Draw 4

Team 8:30 am^[15]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Jones)	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	X	4	0
Europe (Sigfridsson) [16]	5	0	2	0	1	0	1	X	9	1

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (McEwen)	0	2	0	2	0	0	3	X	7	1
Europe (Ulsrud)	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	X	2	0

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Sweeting)	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	4	½
Europe (Muirhead)	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	4	½

Draw 5

Singles 1:30 pm^[17]

Sheet A	Runthrough	Button	Port	Raise	Hit-and-Roll	Double	Total	Points
Canada (Sweeting)	0	5	5	4	5	0	19	1
Europe (Sigfridsson)	0	5	3	5	2	1	16	0

Sheet B	Runthrough	Button	Port	Raise	Hit-and-Roll	Double	Total	Points
Canada (Homan)	0	5	5	5	1	4	20	1
Europe (Sidorova)	0	3	2	4	1	1	11	0

Sheet C	Runthrough	Button	Port	Raise	Hit-and-Roll	Double	Total	Points
Canada (Jones)	3	3	5	3	1	5	20	1
Europe (Muirhead)	0	4	4	3	0	3	14	0

Sheet A	Runthrough	Button	Port	Raise	Hit-and-Roll	Double	Total	Points
Canada (Morris)	0	3	0	5	5	0	13	0
Europe (Murdoch)	5	3	5	3	5	0	21	1

Sheet B	Runthrough	Button	Port	Raise	Hit-and-Roll	Double	Total	Points
Canada (McEwen)	0	5	5	5	4	3	22	0
Europe (Ulsrud)	5	4	4	5	5	0	23	1

Sheet C	Runthrough	Button	Port	Raise	Hit-and-Roll	Double	Total	Points
Canada (Jacobs)	0	3	5	4	1	3	16	0.5
Europe (Edin)	5	3	5	0	3	0	16	0.5

Draw 6

Team 6:30 pm^[18]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Jacobs)	0	2	0	1	0	3	0	0	6	1
Europe (Murdoch)	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	2	5	0

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Homan)	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	4	1
Europe (Sidorova)	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	3	0

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Morris)	1	3	0	2	0	2	0	X	8	1
Europe (Edin)	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	X	3	0

Saturday, January 10

Draw 7

Mixed doubles 10:00 am^[19]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Europe (Andrews/Sigfridsson)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0
Canada (Wozniak/Sweeting)	0	0	4	1	1	1	1	0	8	1

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Europe (Sloan/Svae)	0	0	2	4	0	0	0	1	7	1
Canada (D. McEwen/M. McEwen)	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	0	6	0

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Europe (Muirhead/Murdoch)	0	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	5	0
Canada (Lawes/Morris)	1	2	2	0	0	1	0	2	8	1

Draw 8

Team 2:00 pm^[20]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Homan)	0	1	3	0	1	0	0	1	6	1
Europe (Muirhead)	0	0	0	2	0	1	2	0	5	0

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Morris)	2	0	0	0	2	1	2	X	7	1
Europe (Murdoch)	0	3	1	1	0	0	0	X	5	0

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Jones)	0	1	2	1	0	1	1	1	7	1
Europe (Sidorova)	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0

Draw 9

Team 6:30 pm^[8]

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (McEwen)	0	2	0	2	2	1	0	X	7	1
Europe (Edin)	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	X	4	0

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Sweeting)	0	2	0	3	1	1	0	X	7	1
Europe (Sigfridsson)	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	X	2	0

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final	Points
Canada (Jacobs)	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	X	3	0
Europe (Ulsrud)	1	3	0	3	0	0	1	X	8	1

Sunday, January 11

Draw 10

Skins 11:30 am^[9]

Values (points)	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	5
Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
Europe (Sigfridsson)		0		0		X	X		1½
Canada (Homan)	X		0		X			X	3½

Values (points)	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1		5
Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Button	Total
Europe (Nergård/Sidorova/Petersson/Saitova)	0		0			X		0	X[21]	1½
Canada (Simmons/Olson-Johns/Rycroft/Brown)		X		X	X		X			3½

Values (points)	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	5
Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
Europe (Edin)	X			0				X	1½
Canada (McEwen)		X	X		X	X	X		3½

Draw 11

Skins 6:30 pm^[2]

Values (points)	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	5
Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
Europe (Murdoch)			0	X		0			1
Canada (Jacobs)	X	X			0		X	X	4

Values (points)	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	5
Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
Europe (Ulsrud/Fomina/Svae/Galkina)	X	X					X		2
Canada (Morris/Sweeting/Thiessen/Ferguson)			X	X	X	X		X	3

Values (points)	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	5
Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
Europe (Muirhead)				X			X	X	2½
Canada (Jones)	X	X	X		X	X			2½

Statistics

The statistics for team play, including team skins play, are listed below.^[2] The percentages are calculated for each player by rating their shots in each game. Each shot the player attempts is scored out of four based on how well the shot is made.

Player percentages

Men

Leads  % Michael Goodfellow 88 Ryan Harnden 86 Christoffer Sundgren 85 Ben Hebert 85 Nolan Thiessen 83 Håvard Vad Petersson 76

Seconds  % E. J. Harnden 87 Matt Wozniak 86 Carter Rycroft 83 Christoffer Svae 81 Scott Andrews 83 Kristian Lindström 78

Thirds  % B. J. Neufeld 85 Oskar Eriksson 85 Greg Drummond 84 Ryan Fry 83 Pat Simmons 81 Torger Nergård 75

Skips  % Mike McEwen 84 John Morris 82 Thomas Ulsrud 80 Brad Jacobs 78 David Murdoch 67 Niklas Edin 66

Women

Leads  % Dawn McEwen 90 Ekaterina Galkina 85 Rachelle Brown 81 Sarah Reid 80 Lisa Weagle 77 Margaretha Sigfridsson 75

Seconds  % Joanne Courtney 88 Alexandra Saitova 83 Dana Ferguson 77 Vicki Adams 76 Jill Officer 74 Maria Wennerström 68

Thirds  % Margarita Fomina 83 Emma Miskew 83 Lori Olson-Johns 80 Christina Bertrup 79 Kaitlyn Lawes 75 Anna Sloan 71

Skips  % Jennifer Jones 82 Rachel Homan 80 Val Sweeting 80 Anna Sidorova 77 Maria Prytz 76 Eve Muirhead 70

Team percentages

Men

Team	%
Mike McEwen	85
Brad Jacobs	84
John Morris	82
David Murdoch	85
Niklas Edin	78
Thomas Ulsrud	78

Women

Team	%
Rachel Homan	82
Anna Sidorova	81
Jennifer Jones	80
Val Sweeting	79
Margaretha Sigfridsson	78
Eve Muirhead	74

References

1. "Canadian curling's first Triple Crown headed to Alberta!". Canadian Curling Association. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Team Europe confirmed for 2015 WFG Continental Cup!". Curling Canada. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
4. "Annual Review 2013-2014 Season" (PDF). World Curling Federation. p. 11: the WCF invested almost $2,000,000 USD [...] and unfortunately it has not really caught on beyond the North American TV market.
5. "Continental Cup of Curling continues reinvention". The Canadian Press. January 7, 2015. [CCA] has taken over complete control
6. "New direction set for curling's WFG Continental Cup". Canadian Curling Association. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "2015 World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling – Draw Schedule". Canadian Curling Association. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
11. "Early matchups set at World Financial Group Continental Cup". Canadian Curling Association. 7 January 2015. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
12. "Canada builds 20-7 lead at Continental Cup with afternoon sweep". Canadian Curling Association. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2015-01-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. Jones vs. Sigfridsson - 2015 World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling (Draw 4). TSN. Event occurs at 19:54.
17. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
19. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
20. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
21. McEwen vs. Edin (Skins)- 2015 World Financial Group Continental Cup Skins (Draw 10). The Sports Network. Event occurs at 2:03:41.

External links

• Official website