Preview: Can Northern stay ahead of the pack?

TORONTO — Northern United aims for a third straight win out of the gate in Rock League when it takes on Alpine Curling Club in a battle between European-based franchises Wednesday, Noon ET, at TMU Mattamy Athletic Centre. 

The franchise featuring captain Bruce Mouat is the lone undefeated team remaining, with wins over Maple United and Shield Curling Club to start.

Alpine (1-1) lost its opener to Shield on Monday and picked up its first win over Frontier Curling Club on Tuesday.

Northern was victorious in both of its mixed doubles games with different lineups no less. Kristin Skaslien and Yannick Schwaller earned a 5-4 comeback victory over Maple, while Giulia Zardini Lacedelli and Rasmus Wranå scored four points in the eighth end to down Shield 9-6. Northern GM Christoffer Svae must have liked what he saw in the second match, opting to keep the same lineup intact.

Wranå, who captured Olympic gold in mixed doubles in Milano Cortina, will face off against fellow Swedes Almida de Val and Oskar Eriksson, who will handle mixed doubles duties for Alpine for a third straight time. De Val and Eriksson split their first two games, losing 6-4 to Shield and rebounding with an 8-4 victory over Frontier Curling Club. Wranå and Eriksson have also played together on the men’s tour for 10 seasons with skip Niklas Edin.

The women’s game should be a great showdown between Northern’s Isabella Wranå and Alpine’s Alina Pätz. The two have faced off twice in Players’ Championship finals in this building, with Wranå winning her first Grand Slam of Curling title in 2023 and Pätz taking the rematch with skip Silvana Tirinzoni the following year. 

Meanwhile, Mouat meets Alpine skip Joël Retornaz on the men’s side. Retornaz defeated Mouat during their most recent meeting in round-robin play at the Winter Olympics. 

Maple United vs. Frontier Curling Club — 3:30 p.m. ET

Maple (1-1) will look to maintain the momentum from its first win Tuesday over Typhoon Curling Club, while Frontier (0-2) is hoping to snap its two-match losing streak to start.

Maple has scored a league-leading 39 points, in huge part thanks to mixed doubles duo Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant’s 11-5 victory against Typhoon. The Canadian Olympic duo will take on Korey Dropkin and Taylor Anderson-Heide. 

Despite losing both matches, Frontier’s women’s team has done its part winning back-to-back games. Stefania Constantini skipped them to a 7-3 victory Monday over Typhoon before having to return home for a prior commitment. That necessitated a lineup switch as Tabitha Peterson moved up from third to skip against Alpine on Tuesday and pinned the draw to the button for two points in the seventh end to win 8-7.

Cory Thiesse shifted over from mixed doubles to throw third, with Sarah Wilkes remaining at second and super spare Linda Stenlund joining the franchise at lead for the interim. Constantini is expected to return to the lineup for Friday’s match.

Captain Rachel Homan helms Maple’s women’s team, which was denied a win and a sweep against Typhoon as Anna Hasselborg made the draw on her last to win 6-5. Homan edged Peterson for the final spot on the podium in Milano Cortina to earn Olympic bronze.

Maple will continue with its unorthodox men’s lineup, featuring Mike McEwen skipping and throwing lead stones, Tanner Horgan at second, Colton Flasch at third and handling vice skip duties, and Ross Whyte at fourth. The four are starting to gel as seen in their 6-3 win over Typhoon.

Frontier also features a skip at lead, although John Shuster is taking a traditional approach to his new/old role as he’s not in the house and is actually sweeping. Don’t forget Shuster used to play lead back in the day, earning bronze at the 2006 Winter Olympics. The actual skip for Frontier is Danny Casper.

Shield Curling Club vs. Typhoon Curling Club — 7 p.m. ET 

Both franchises were winners on opening day but are now reeling from losses. Oddly enough, they have also scored the same number of total points with 34 apiece. 

Shield captain Brad Jacobs and his men’s team won both of their games over Alpine and Northern. Amos Mosaner has also headed home due to a prior commitment, and fellow Italian Mattia Giovanella will come off the bench in his super spare role. Giovanella will play lead, with Dan Marsh moving to second. 

Jacobs meets longtime tour rival Niklas Edin, who skips Typhoon’s men’s team. They’ve played 40 times over their careers in tour events, the Grand Slam of Curling, world championships and the Winter Olympics, with Jacobs ahead all-time at 25-15. Will that advantage hold with their new Rock League teams? 

Shield’s Kerri Einarson is looking for her first women's game win in Rock League. She also goes up against a familiar tour foe in Typhoon's Anna Hasselborg. They’ve met 28 times and it’s an even 14-14 split between them. Hasselborg was victorious both times they squared off earlier this season in the Grand Slam of Curling. The two-time Olympic gold medallist also defeated Einarson in this building in the 2022 Players’ Championship final, as Hasselborg became the first women’s skip to complete a career Grand Slam.

Marlee Powers and Jake Horgan will get a second go at mixed doubles for Shield after losing to Northern. They will take on Tori Koana and Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, who are 1-1 in their mixed doubles games.

How to watch Rock League live

Canada: CBC Sports that will bring the league’s inaugural season to fans across Canada with more than 40 hours of live streaming coverage on CBC Sports’ digital platforms, including CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, and the CBC Sports YouTube channel. In addition, coverage of the playoffs, semifinals, and championship matches - three games in total - will broadcast nationally on CBC TV.

United Kingdom: Playoff games on BBC iPlayer‍.

Korea: All games on CHZZK (Naver)‍.

‍USA: All games available on ESPN+.

Outside of Canada: All games available on DAZN‍.

Worldwide: Full access globally on RockChannel.com.

Catch around-the-rings coverage of every match, with live commentary, for free.

Purchase the event pass ($4.99 USD) for full access to every individual game, live or on demand. Individual games can also be purchased separately ($0.99 USD).