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St. Petersburg Cup Preview

July 16, 2008

It's almost time for the first event of the 2008-09 curling season to start. The St. Petersburg Curling Cup will kick off in Russia on July 25, bringing some of the best teams in the world showcase the sport in Russia, with the hopes of boosting interest in that country. The only North American representative will be Newfoundland's Team Gushue, who will try to work out the kinks in his new team before the real season begin.

This Russian event is only for fun, with no prize money or CTRS points being handed out, but don't count on anybody taking it easy. With legendary names like Pal Trulsen and David Murdoch in the mix, expect some intense rivalry.

Pal Trulsen, as many of you will remember, is a former Olympic gold medalist and one of the all-time best skips to have ever played the game. He will skip Team Norway-1 and will play in Pool B at the event, which is arguably the tougher of the two pools. The pool also features former world champ David Murdoch from Scotland. Murdoch became a household name a few years back when he started dominating international play. This year he had a great showing at the world mens championship, taking home a silver medal after losing to Canada's Kevin Martin in the gold medal game. The pool also has the powerful Andy Kapp from Germany. Kapp, though they had a rough time at the latest world mens, is usually a consistent and tough team to play against. Trulsen will take on Kapp in the second draw of the tournament while Murdoch will battle with the home-town favorite Team St. Petersburg-2. Pool B has a bye in the opening draw.

In Pool A, we have the only Canada team at the event. Brad Gushue has restored the majority of his gold medal winning rink for the 2008-09 season, bringing Jamie Korab back into the lead position. The last time the Gushue-Nichols-Korab combination was together, they won a gold medal at the Olympic and game within one win of being crowned Brier champions. In addition to welcoming Korab back to the team, another new face to Team Gushue this year will be Ryan Fry, formerly of Team Jeff Stoughton. Gushue told Curling Scoops earlier this month that the St. Petersburg tournament will be a great opportunity for this new combination to get to know eachother and work out the kinks before the real season begins. The Canadian team will take on the other local team, Team St. Petersburg-1, in their opening draw.

Another well known name found in Pool A is Thomas Ulsrud from Norway. Ulsrud represented the country of Norway at the last world mens championship. Though perhaps not well known as the other Norwegian at this event, Ulsrud young team is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous teams on the World Curling Tour. They will play Team Russia in the first draw.

The top two teams from each pool will advance to Sunday morning's semi-final. The action gets underway on July 25th.