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The Hotline is back after a wild week in Victoria at the first Slam of the year that saw multiple controversies spring up around the points system and celebrating made shots, and John breaks it all down. He also gives his overall thoughts on the winners Yannick Schwaller and Kerri Einarson, and Team Einarson third Shannon Birchard joins the show to discuss winning the Slam, their new team dynamic, and balancing motherhood with curling. And finally, the Hotline is BURSTING after a busy week in Victoria, with John answering your questions about the new stats, sponsor's exemptions, and space aliens. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For all your curling needs, check out "The Choice of Champions" at goldlinecurling.com. Give us a call! 1-877-CURL-HOT (1-877-287-5468) to ask a question or tell us what's your mind. You can also email the show at [email protected].

We are less than a week away from the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, the Co-op Invitational, and so John calls up Taylor Reese-Hansen, Victoria-based skip, to ask her about her thoughts on competing in her first-ever Slam and that Slam being on home soil. The two also discuss the burgeoning Victoria curling community, her learning to curl in the remote outpost of Kitimat, BC, and why this particular lineup of hers has been so good over the last few seasons. Then GSOC broadcaster Brent Laing joins John to break down the event from his expert perspective, weighing in on some of the new rivalries on tour, the softer schedule some teams played to start the season, and to make some bold predictions for the first Slam. And finally, John takes your calls (and an email!) to discuss sharpening stones and the Canadian curling conundrum. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For all your curling needs, check out "The Choice of Champions" at goldlinecurling.com. Give us a call! 1-877-CURL-HOT (1-877-287-5468) to ask a question or tell us what's your mind. You can also email the show at [email protected].

John is joined this week by the newly-minted World #1 Yannick Schwaller, the first Swiss skip to ever top the table, and the two discuss what that means to the team, how they're approaching this quad, their two-coach system, and Curling Baby. And then John is joined by one of Canada's up-and-coming talents Serena Gray-Withers. The two go over John's victory in a sprint race over her entire team last season, if there will be a rematch, what Laura Walker has added to the squad, and the interview ends with a surprise.  Then John answers YOUR calls about this year's compressed schedule, Brad Gushue in the booth, and arena curling. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For all your curling needs, check out "The Choice of Champions" at goldlinecurling.com. Give us a call! 1-877-CURL-HOT (1-877-287-5468) to ask a question or tell us what's your mind. You can also email the show at [email protected].

The Hotline returns for your weekly dose of curling news and interviews, as John discusses the Rock League Season 2 announcement, the Korean Federation's decision to take Bo-bae Kang off of 4-player duty, and some World ranking changes before being joined by Jordon McDonald and Alina Pätz. Fresh off of a finalist finish in Oakville, the young skip Jordon McDonald joins John for his first-ever podcast interview as the two discuss balancing school and curling, his team's constant quest for improvement, Brad Jacobs' mentorship, and who the worst Mario Kart player is on his team. And then Alina Pätz calls in to discuss her team's rapid start to the season with 3 straight wins, what it's like returning to skipping, her new teammates, and the budding rivalry between her and Xenia Schwaller. Finally, John takes YOUR calls from The Curling Hotline, answering a fan question about the new rules around playing with 3. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For all your curling needs, check out "The Choice of Champions" at goldlinecurling.com. Give us a call! 1-877-CURL-HOT (1-877-287-5468) to ask a question or tell us what's your mind. You can also email the show at [email protected].

It's the first full-length episode of the brand-new Curling Hotline podcast, and the phone lines are burning up! First, Joanne Courtney phones in to discuss her brand-new position on the TCG Broadcast Team, what she's most excited for in the booth, and some bold predictions for the season. And then Bruce Mouat joins John, fresh off of a busy summer where he bounced around the UK to celebrate his Olympic silver medal. We discuss Grant Hardie departing the squad, how they're preparing for this new life without him, and the early impact Robin Brydone has had on the team. Then we finish up with some of YOUR phone calls, discussing the ESPN+ broadcast and Lebanese Curling. Also, John says the word "fabulous" like 12 times in this episode for some reason. Just really excited, I guess. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For all your curling needs, check out "The Choice of Champions" at goldlinecurling.com. Give us a call! 1-877-CURL-HOT (1-877-287-5468) to ask a question or tell us what's your mind. You can also email the show at [email protected].

The podcast is BACK! We just have a different name, and different cover art, and it's just John now. He explains everything in this little teaser episode, which also explains the show's new and exciting format, which includes YOU! Give us a call on The Curling Hotline at 1-877-CURL-HOT and let us know what's on your mind!

Eve Muirhead is returning to competitive curling to play mixed doubles with Bobby Lammie, and she sits down with John to discuss it all. We learn why now is the right time, why she didn't keep playing with Bobby after they won the 2022 World Mixed Doubles championship, what drove her to want to return, and what she hopes to achieve over the next four years (which she also announces she is committed to!). John also asks her about her Rock League experience and what she loved and didn't love about Season 1, with a look ahead to her reprising her role as Alpine CC's GM in Season 2. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. Check them out at goldlinecurling.com.

We said we would only be back in case of emergency, and there's no question the #1 team in the world undergoing a change is such a case. Grant Hardie joins John to discuss shaking up the Scottish curling scene, as he moves to skip his own rink with Ross Whyte throwing fourth stone, and Robin Brydone goes the other way to join Team Mouat. After nine years, two Olympic silvers, and two World titles, Grant explains why it was time to move on from Team Mouat, and his desire for a new challenge reigning above the easy choice to stick with the program. We discuss why it was the right time, why he wants to return to skipping, the difficult phone call with his cousin Hammy McMillan, and Ross Whyte's emergence on the world stage allowing for this move. It's a conversation you won't want to miss. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For all of your curling needs, please visit goldlinecurling.com

John and Robbie convene for one last time to do a final curling news round-up, and who knew we'd be talking about a May that would be this busy? Niklas Edin announces retirement, Brad Gushue heads south of the border, Australia nets its first-ever World Curling medal, and a bunch of team change news all happened in the last few weeks, and we get to the bottom of it all. It's a been a long and great season and we put it all to rest in this one. A special thank you to you, the listener, for supporting us all season long. It's been a wild ride with all the Slams, Olympics, and Rock League coverage, and you've been amazing all year-round. We appreciate it so much and we'll see you back here in the fall (and maybe in the summer once or twice if something crazy happens). And a thank you as always to Goldline Curling for presenting this episode and a bunch of episodes throughout the season. Couldn't have done it without you! For all your curling needs, please visit goldlinecurling.com.

It's an emergency podcast of sorts as we managed to snag a one-on-one with Brad Gushue, the brand new High Performance Director of USA Curling, on the eve of his first trip to the States in his official role. It was news that came as a bit of a shock to the curling world when it was announced yesterday, and we ask Brad all about it, from how the role came to be his, why he chose to come back into the curling world so soon after retiring from competitive play, and why he made the decision to lead the USA's program after so many years representing Canada at the highest level. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For all of your curling needs, visit goldlinecurling.com.

John is joined for a two-pack of interviews with two men who have had quite the last few months, Paralympic gold medal-winning skip Mark Ideson and Matt Dunstone's new second, Mark Nichols. Mark Ideson is up first, and him and John discuss why this Paralympics was the most memorable of his career, how wheelchair curling continues to grow, Rock League, and of course, that final shot of the Paralympics that secured the gold medal for Canada. Then Mark Nichols joins the show to run down his incredibly busy year, right from the moment he found out his long-time teammate Brad Gushue was retiring until now, where he finds himself joining the reigning Canadian champions, Team Matt Dunstone. He reveals how close he was to actually retiring himself, what is keeping him motivated to keep playing, and what intrigues him about the partnership with Matt. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. For the high performance curler out there, be sure to head to goldlinecurling.com to register for their brand-new incentives program, a first in curling history. And while you're there, you can check out all the products you need to get ready for next season.

Now that the craziness from Rock League has died down, John and Robbie reconvene to discuss all the team changes they missed over the last few weeks. And there was a lot! From Mark Nichols joining Matt Dunstone all the way to the Middaugh family becoming a curling team, we talk through just about every major change and give our opinion on it all. And speaking of changes, Goldline CEO Pete Townshend then joins the show to discuss their new sponsorship model. Curling fans have questions and Pete has answers about how their new merit-based system is going to work, what it means for every tier of the game (including juniors!) and why they feel it's the best move for both Goldline and the game of curling itself.

Rock League Season 1 is now in the books and John and Robbie sit down to discuss it all. We talk about Shield CC's big win, Typhoon's surprise run to the final, and recap some of the biggest surprises and disappointments on the ice this week. And of course we also talk about everything that was decided before a rock was thrown: the format, the rules, what can be improved for next season, and more. All the details you wanted about Rock League but were afraid to ask! This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. Get your last-minute curling shopping done before the summer kicks into high gear at Goldlinecurling.com.

In Part 2 of our chats with the Rock League GMs, John sits down with Maple United's Glenn Howard, Shield Curling Club's Carter Rycroft, and Northern United's Christoffer Svae. John starts with Glenn, who played in a pro league once and gets the inside scoop on how that compares to now and why the Rachel Homan/Xenia Schwaller pairing is exciting for both the team and curling in general. Then we find out what Carter and Bompi have been up to for the last few years, how Carter prepared to get involved at the highest levels of the game again, and why Bompi thinks entertainment is just as important as winning in Rock League. We are less than one week away from first rocks at Rock League and we are ready to go! This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. Their end-of-season sale is happening NOW with a ton of great deals and free shipping on any order over $150. Check it out at goldlinecurling.com.

We are just over a week away from Rock League's debut, and a lot of fans are asking about the rules and what exactly is going to differentiate Rock League as a live experience from curling events in the past. Thankfully, John sits down with The Curling Group's rules guru Brent Laing and the CEO himself to get the scoop on what exactly the rule changes are, why they were made, and what has Nic very excited–and a little nervous–as we head into the first-ever Rock League season. This episode is brought to you by Goldline Curling. Their end-of-season sale is happening NOW with a ton of great deals and free shipping on any order over $150. Check it out at goldlinecurling.com.