Team Adam Casey ranked in the top ten men’s curling teams in Canada, heading into upcoming Grand Slam event

PEI’s Adam Casey rink, hot off an Ontario cashspiel runner-up finish this past weekend, are heading into their first Grand Slam event, the National, from November 19-23 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on the elite list of the top 10-ranked men’s curling teams in Canada.

The latest Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) standings have the Casey rink in 9th place. CTRS standings are determined through points earned in various curling bonspiels held worldwide throughout the season. The points are the basis of the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit and are also used as criteria in identifying teams that qualify for the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

Click to view men’s CTRS standings

teamcasey

Photo collage from Team Casey’s Twitter page:top left: Adam Casey, top right:Josh Barry, bottom left: Anson Carmody, bottom right: Robbie Doherty

Team Casey was formed this season when Casey, who was curling with the Brad Gushue rink in St. John’s. returned to PEI and joined up with 2013 Canadian Junior Champion Josh Barry, originally from New Brunswick, but currently taking courses at  UPEI,  along with Summerside native and Casey’s former teammate Anson Carmody, and Charlottetown’s Robbie Doherty, a former Canadian Mixed champion..

The CTRS standings currently see Mike McEwen of Winnipeg in 1st place with 172,000 points followed by Olympic champion Brad Jacobs, with 107,000, and Gushue in third with 105,000. John Epping of Ontario and Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg round out the top five, with     Kevin Koe of Alberta, Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg, and Glenn Howard of Ontario in positions six through eight. Casey is 9th with 60,820 points, with Steve Laycock of Saskatchewan rounding out the top 10.

Team Casey has amassed four runner-up finishes, and two fifth place finishes in the CTRS events they have entered this year, coming second in the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic in Brockville ON (losing to Brad Jacobs in the final), the  CookstownCash presented by Comco Canada Inc. this past weekend, the  Dave Jones Molson Mayflower cashspiel in Halifax, and the Curl Atlantic Championship in Charlottetown. They placed fifth in both the Challenge Chateau Cartier de Gatineau, and the Gibson’s Cashspiel in Lower Sackville NS.

They’ll have some stiff competion in their inaugural Grand Slam, although Casey is no stranger to the Slam events, having competed in a number of them with Team Gushue, who is also competing at The National, and won the recent Masters Grand Slam event.

Other entrants include:

Olympic gold medallists Team Brad Jacobs, looking to win a Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament in their hometown, and coming in as the top-ranked skip on the World Curling Tour.

Mike McEwen, who has four tournament titles and a runner-up finish at the Masters so far this season, along with fellow ‘Pegger Reid Carruthers, formerly on Jeff Stoughton’s team, who won the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard in October.

John Epping from Toronto,  a two-time Grand Slam champion, capturing the 2008 National and 2012 Players’ Championship. The rink reached the semifinals at the Masters this season.

Ontario’s Glenn Howard, who is the defending National champion but sports a new-look rink this season with Riichard Hart coming out of retirement to rejoin the team this season while Jon Mead moved over from Team Stoughton. Craig Savill is team lead.

Jeff Stoughton, from Winnipeg, who won The National in 2013,

(includes info extracted from an article by Jonathan Brazeau at the Grand Slam of Curling site)

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