A month ago, I thought the men's side was a foregone conclusion. Brad Gushue's team has been lights out since the beginning of 2017. In fact, I was already awarding him the gold medal for PyeongChang (although Team Edin of Sweden hasn't been too shabby either in the past season). But at the previous Grand Slam, there were upsets aplenty with Gushue losing in the quarter finals and two teams playing in the finals for the first time (and neither of them Canadian). It just goes to show that any given week, some team can get real hot or real cold and anyone could win. The men's field is pretty tight with the Big Four (Gushue, Koe, Jacobs and McEwen) all being potential unsurprising winners (Big Five if you include Carruthers). I don't really have a rooting interest as none of the teams are really a favourite of mine (I need someone to replace the Glenn Howard shaped hole in my heart), but there are certainly teams I don't want to win.
After saying all that, I'm sticking with the favourite. Team Gushue to win. Dark horse pick is Team Morris.
For the women, the favourites are Homan or Jones. Going into the season, Homan was the hot team, but they've struggled so far this season while Jones has been on point. I look for Team Jones to be the first team to wear the maple leaf in two consecutive olympics. Dark horse pick is... oh I don't know... let's say Team Tippin. Because I like the teams that come through the pre-trials, apparently.
I would love to see lots of action in terms of the standings and have the teams moving onto the playoffs not to be clear until right until the end (including whoever finished first).
Also, I wouldn't mind seeing both national champions winning this thing (Gushue and Homan). With the inclusion of the wild card team at both the Brier and Hearts this year for the first time, it would add just that little bit of chaos to the tournaments if the Team Canadas aren't there (or at least be last year's runners up). I'm firmly on the curling version of #teamchoas.
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