Local curling fans who witnessed the top seven men's teams in the country compete on TSN at the sa国际传媒 Cup of Curling last weekend can experience it live, and then some, at the Victoria Curling Classic.
Champion Jeff Stoughton, finalist and defending Brier and World champion Glenn Howard, Kevin Martin, Kevin Koe, Mike McEwen, John Epping and Brad Gushue are all slated to attend the March 20-24 event at Archie Browning Sports Centre.
The possibility of this year's Brier champion pulling out still remains, but, with the Ford Men's World Championship slated for Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre just six days later, chances are the Canadian rep could show and spend some practice time on the arena ice once it's in.
In any regards, that star-studded field will be joined by Thomas Ulsrud of Norway (or Team Pants as they are more well known thanks to the outrageous Loudmouth trousers they helped make famous).
In total, there will be 24 international men's teams as Niklas Edin and Oskar Erikson of Sweden, Japan's Yusuke Morozumi and Naoki Iwanaga, Sven Michel from Switzerland and Craig Brown of the U.S. have committed to the $76,000 triple-knockout event that has a $25,000 top prize.
"We're looking forward to Ulsrud being here, he's quite popular," said organizer Al Sutherland.
"It's going to be an amazing field. The teams love coming here, they love to golf while they're here, they love to be downtown and the fans are really going to enjoy this event."
The men's champions from the U.S., Switzerland and Scotland, all as yet undetermined, will also be in Victoria.
Tickets, set at $99 plus HST for full-event passes until Dec. 31 and $110 from Jan. 1 on, are available at the Victoria Curling Club on Quadra or by calling the VCC at 250-386-6396.
Eight of the 24 teams will qualify for playoffs with quarter-finals set for the Saturday evening, and semifinal and championship game on Sunday.
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