nicsulsky<\/a><\/p>\nNow, Rock League has not been perfect through two days. The software on the video scoreboard reloads constantly. Crowds have been sparse, though organizers expect sellouts later in the week.<\/p>\n
At one point, the in-arena announcer quite literally could not tell heads from tails, incorrectly calling a coin toss between Mouat and Rachel Homan, leading to a brief moment of confusion.<\/p>\n
But if the goal of this one-week Rock League preview season is proof of concept, then you can see how it all might come together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so cool when you put a lot of athletes together and you see different sides of everyone,\u201d Sweden\u2019s Anna Hasselborg said. \u201cI would say you see the competitive side for sure in these people in how they want to get better everywhere. I think it\u2019s competitive on the ice but definitely more social than normal around everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the most interesting changes from your regular bonspiel has been strategy \u2014 four-person games are just seven ends, thinking time is roughly 80 per cent of normal, and a stone covering the pinhole in the final end is worth two points.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Team Homan joins CBC Sports to tell you why to watch Rock League:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775622068_509_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Team Homan shares excitement ahead of Rock League <\/p>\n
Team Homan stopped by the CBC Sports digital studio to share their excitement for the new curling league, Rock League, and why fans should tune in.<\/p>\n
Rycroft,\u00a0a 2002 Olympic silver medallist alongside Kevin Martin,\u00a0said his role has been more hands-on than he expected as he bounces between the three sheets. He has yet to make an in-game lineup change, another Rock League wrinkle.<\/p>\n
Players can be caught stealing glances at other\u2019s sheets throughout each match, though most have said they are simply focused on their own games until the final rock is thrown.<\/p>\n
Shield\u2019s Tracy Fleury said that the biggest adjustment has been with the two-point pinhole rule \u2014\u00a0while Jacobs used it to his advantage to down Mouat in their match in the most consequential application of the rule to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just gotta adapt. It’s exciting, I think, for the spectators to get to enjoy some new rules and excitement and stuff. It does make the games exciting at the end for sure,\u201d Fleury said.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon draw, Maple United beat Typhoon Curling Club 2-1, with the Canadian mixed-doubles duo winning 11-5 and the Ross Whyte-led men\u2019s team grabbing a 6-3 victory. Maple\u2019s Rachel Homan fell 6-5 against Hasselborg in the women\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Maple United defeats Typhoon Curling Club in Rock League action:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775622069_874_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Rock League: Maple United vs. Typhoon Curling Club match highlights<\/p>\n
Watch highlights of the Rock League match between Maple United and the Typhoon Curling Club in Toronto.<\/p>\n
Hasselborg, who had a draw to the button to beat Homan, admitted she forgot about the two-point rule until her last rock was halfway home, and wound up with just the single point for the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I made my draw, we were just cleaning it, and then we were like, \u2018Oh no, we can go for the pin for the extra points.\u2019 So far we haven\u2019t put it to the test really. I guess it\u2019s when we\u2019re down two or up two, that gets interesting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rycroft called out the seven ends as the most unusual part.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s actually confused us all because you got to remind yourself all the time. All of a sudden, [it\u2019s like], \u2018Holy heck, the game’s over,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Typhoon\u2019s Niklas Edin and Shield\u2019s Kerri Einarson, the thinking time has been a challenge \u2014 though in the opposite way that might be expected.<\/p>\n
Both skips left an unusually large amount of time on the clock in their first matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s serious on the ice, but it\u2019s really fun off the ice. When you\u2019re in that state of mind, you\u2019ve got nothing to lose kind of thing, win or lose it\u2019s always fun anyway. I just kinda felt like we played better because of it,\u201d Edin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was making shots and having fun and we were playing fast. We had so much time we could kinda start wasting time the last three ends.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pace of the games has prevented some interaction \u2014\u00a0Fleury said she barely spoke with regular teammate but Rock League competitor Emma Miskew when they faced off Monday, while Scotland\u2019s Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie said the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s so fast-paced that you don’t really have a whole lot of time, but it was nice to see [Miskew] in the house,\u201d Fleury said.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Shield Curling Club outlasts Northern United:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775622069_746_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Rock League: Shield Curling Club vs. Northern United match highlights<\/p>\n
Watch highlights of the Rock League match between Shield Curling Club and Northern United in Toronto.<\/p>\n
Most players have said communication between new teammates has been fairly smooth. Jacobs and Fleury pointed out that loud music somewhat hindered them in their first match, but the volume was quickly turned down.<\/p>\n
The potential for hog-line challenges has mostly been forgotten or ignored.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just hope no one uses it against me,\u201d joked Whyte.<\/p>\n
Those fans who have been in the crowd have carried plenty of enthusiasm, from wearing banana costumes (think \u201cpeeeeel!\u201d in curling lingo) to premeditated Typhoon and Northern chants.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, curlers have lingered around before and after their own games \u2014 like Homan taking a peek at Miskew\u2019s first match, or the entire Northern team hanging out at the rinkside bar after its opener.<\/p>\n
Yet on the ice, it\u2019s all business.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the flip of the coin for the hammer,\u201d Rycroft said. \u201cYou gotta pick two hammers, so somebody doesn’t get a hammer. So there’s just always all these little things that really make you think, which is good. You don’t want to be out there just going through the motions.\u201d<\/p>\n