Curling’s best look to finish Grand Slam season with a flourish (CP/CBC)

Rachel Homan won her first Tournament of Hearts in February and earlier this season was also victorious at The Masters. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

National women’s curling champion Rachel Homan can wrap up her breakout season in style this week at The Players’ Championship.

She can complete a sweep of the Grand Slam of Curling events with a victory at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Homan is one of the headliners in a deep 15-team women’s field. The strong men’s draw also boasts 15 teams, including world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden and Tim Hortons Brier champion Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Alberta’s Kevin Martin, Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton and 2006 Olympic champion Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador [which includes PEI natives Brett Gallant and Adam Casey] are also in the field. Toronto’s John Epping upset 2012 world champion Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont., in last year’s TPC final. Epping, the lowest-seeded skip in the men’s draw last year, hit the button with his final throw for a 7-6 win.

Alberta’s Heather Nedohin, Scotland’s Eve Muirhead and Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott are expected to contend in women’s play. Muirhead won the women’s world title last month while Ott is the 2012 world champion.

Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton defeated Winnipeg’s Cathy Overton-Clapham 7-3 in the 2012 TPC final in Summerside, P.E.I.

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