After decades of being ignored, the city of Toronto – Canada’s largest – will finally host a major curling championship.
Sportsnet announced today that the third and fourth events in the 2013 Grand Slam of Curling series have been confirmed. The National takes place January 23-27 in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia and the season-ending Players’ Championship, featuring both the top men’s and women’s teams, will be hosted April 16-21 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
The first two Slams are The Masters, headed for Brantford, Ontario in November and The Canadian Open, announced yesterday for Kelowna, BC in December.
The Hawk, as it’s known, is familiar turf for the Slammers – this will be the third such event hosted there since 2003.
Photo: Ice level at the new Mattamy Athletic Centre
Meanwhile, the Toronto ice surface they call “Mattamy Home Ice” at the Centre is, for those who aren’t aware, rather hallowed ground. For this is the new home of the historic Maple Leaf Gardens.