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Sweepers hailed as Olympic champion ties Roger Federer for Grand Slam titles VERNON, B.C. – Call it winning ugly. Edmonton's Kevin Martin lost two games in the round robin, was fortunate in the semifinal and then hung on to edge Winnipeg's Jeff Stoughton 5-3 to capture the 2010 Swiss Chalet National curling title. "I'm ready for a break," said Martin, whose team of third John Morris and sweeping superstars Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert earned $24,000 in the second Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event  of the season at the Wesbild Centre. "2010 was just an amazing year for our team, and to finish it off like that, it's a dream." The "Old Bear" of curling was clearly off his game in Vernon, but was saved numerous times by the powerful brushing of Kennedy and Hebert. In the fourth end, Martin threw a "soft" in-turn and his brushers leaped into gear. With Morris braying at the far end, the stone squeaked by a guard for a perfect shot. On his last shot of the game – Mar ...

Vernon mom beats five other contestants in star curling debut VERNON, B.C. – Teri Schiman's 10-year-old son has already been curling for five years, but it was the rookie curling mom who threw a winning stone toward the Capital One Million Dollar Button. Schiman was up against five other B.C. fans in the qualifying round for the national contest, and the closest throw to the button would earn a trip to Oshawa, Ont. for the third Capital One Grand Slam event of the season, the BDO Canadian Open. During the championship final on Jan. 30, one lucky contestant will have a chance to throw a curling stone for $1 million. Schiman's throw came in front of CBC-TV cameras and the competitors preparing for today's championship final of the Swiss Chalet National, Team Kevin Martin of Edmonton and Team Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg. When her stone slid to a stop in the back eight-foot ring, the boisterous crowd at the Wesbild Centre erupted in cheers. "My son is an awesome curler ...

Ontarians vanquished; six BC amateurs will throw for a chance at $1 million VERNON, B.C. – Just 36 hours after beating Kevin Martin for the first time in over three years, Jeff Stoughton has to do it again. Winnipeg's Stoughton dumped Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. 8-5 in one semifinal while Olympic champion Martin edged Toronto's Wayne Middaugh 6-5 in the other to set up an intriguing championship final at the Swiss Chalet National. Martin has a 26-18 career won/loss record over Stoughton, including a string of 12 wins in a row between the fall of 2007 and last Friday night, when Stoughton finally beat him 5-3. Middaugh held a 4-2 advantage at the midway point of the match, but a Martin deuce in the sixth end followed by a forced Middaugh single in the seventh opened the door for Martin to try for a winning deuce coming home. Middaugh had to make back-to-back wide draws in the final frame to maintain control. His first effort was perfect, but the second throw from the two-time ...

Big names bite back in final curling event of 2010 VERNON, B.C. – After a shaky round-robin performance, those familiar curling names found their footing in the first playoff round at the Swiss Chalet National. The second Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event of the season – and final championship of the 2010 calendar year – at the Wesbild Centre will feature Olympic champion Kevin Martin of Edmonton against Toronto's Wayne Middaugh in one semifinal, while Winnipeg's Jeff Stoughton takes on Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. in the other. The semifinals take place Saturday evening at 6:00pm Pacific Time, and are televised in Canada on CBC BOLD and also webstreamed at cbc.ca/sports/curling. International fans can watch online at: curlingtv.cansportlive.com Martin defeated Sweden's Niklas Edin 9-6 in one quarterfinal, stealing a point in the third end for a 3-2 lead and then grabbing a big four-count in the fifth. Edin, who finsihed fourth at Vancouver 2010, has beaten Mart ...

Canadian and WORLDWIDE live webstreams now available VERNON, British Columbia, CANADA – Capital One and iSport Media and Management are pleased to announce another weekend of live curling game coverage available worldwide from the 2010 Swiss Chalet National in Vernon. The second of four events in the 2011 Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series, the Swiss Chalet National began Wednesday night and featured 18 world-ranked men's teams battling for a $100,000 prize purse. Eight teams now remain and each of the three weekend playoff draws can be watched LIVE from anywhere in the world – International online viewers: grandslamofcurling.com/curlingtv Canadian online viewers: cbc.ca/sports/curling Canadian TV viewers: CBC and CBC Bold (semifinals only) International viewers can watch the entire weekend playoff action – the Saturday quarterfinals and semifinals, and Sunday championship final – for just CDN $7.99 -or- select preferred single matches at CDN $4.99 each. The web ...

Grand Slam of Curling is proud to announce that Mike McEwen will be our guest on a live stream interview, where his fans can ask questions and get answers in real-time. On Saturday December 18th at 3pm PT (6pm ET), visit grandslamofcurling.com/chat/ to watch McEwen interact with the viewers. You may also post a comment below for a chance to have your question answered.

Stoughton beats Martin after remarkable three-year, 0-12 drought VERNON, B.C. – The eight-team playoff round of the Swiss Chalet National is set, and curling titans Glenn Howard and Kevin Martin barely qualified – in seventh and eighth positions. Leading the pack are the undefeated youngsters Niklas Edin (Sweden) and Mike McEwen (Winnipeg) who both finished at 5-0. In their final round-robin games, McEwen made a late charge to upend Toronto's John Epping 9-5 and Edin thrashed Jason Montgomery of Duncan, B.C. by an 8-1 scoreline. Martin, the Olympic champion from Edmonton, lost two of his last three matches to finish at 3-2, including a Friday night 5-3 loss to Winnipeg's Jeff Stoughton. It marked Stoughton's first victory over Martin in over three years, dating back to November 2007. Up to Friday night, Martin had won 12 head-to-head matches in a row. Stoughton, who finished at 4-1, was unaware of exactly how much time – and how many games – had elapsed. "It's b ...

McEwen and Edin – not Martin or Howard – are unbeaten at The Swiss Chalet National VERNON, B.C. – Sochi 2014 is a long way off, but the future of high-performance curling is already making noise as this remarkable 2010 Olympic year draws to a close. The playoff picture at the Swiss Chalet National at the Wesbild Centre is looming, but the two remaining undefeated teams aren't named Martin or Howard. Mike McEwen of Winnipeg and Niklas Edin of Karlstad, Sweden are the teams at 4-0, and both squads have built their young lineups for the drive to Sochi. Edin followed up Thursday night's win over current Olympic champion Kevin Martin of Edmonton with a solid 7-4 win over two-time Brier champion Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg. Stoughton, Martin, Edmonton's Don Walchuk and Toronto's Wayne Middaugh are all running second at 3-1. McEwen climbed to 4-0 with an emphatic 8-5 victory over three-time world champion Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. The loss dropped Howard to 2-2 with one g ...

McEwen and veteran Walchuk also winning at Swiss Chalet National VERNON, B.C. – Sweden's youthful Niklas Edin stole a 5-3 victory over Olympic champion Kevin Martin at the Swiss Chalet National at the Wesbild Centre. The win was the second in a row for the Swedes over Martin after four career losses. The fourth-place Olympic finishers first defeated the Edmonton titans at the Grey Power World Cup of Curling back in November. The battle raged for two hours but ended on a sour note – three notes, actually. On Martin's first shot of the final end, his squad was counting one while down a point and needing two for the victory. Martin missed his throw and, unbelievably, kissed a Swedish stone into shot position. A relieved Edin attempted to throw a guard, but his stone caught some debris and spun off course. The 25-year-old slammed his brush into the ice in frustration. A relieved Martin then attempted a makeable takeout for the win... and missed again. The Olympic rivals had ...

Airline locates luggage, team regains colourful swagger VERNON, B.C. – They were as green as The Grinch, but Team Glenn Howard are now pretty in pink. The winners of the recent Canada Cup were thrown into disarray before their first match of the Swiss Chalet National at the Wesbild Centre when Air Canada misplaced half of the squad's luggage. The usually green- or pink-wearing Ontarians found themselves sharing various articles of clothing, and lost 3-2 when New Westminster's Sean Geall make a double-takeout on his final shot of the game. However, the wayward bags arrived just in time for their second of three Thursday matches, and the pink-clad 2007 world champions logged a 7-4 victory over Team Bob Ursel of Kelowna. "That's a big win, a big win for Team Howard," said third Richard Hart. Leading the 18-team field with 2-0 won/loss records are teams skipped by Olympic champion Kevin Martin and ex-teammate Don Walchuk of Edmonton, 2009 European champion Niklas Edin of Karlstad, Sw ...