Grand Slam Of Curling: Players’ Cup

1 The Tragically Hip Way, Kingston, ON, Canada, Ontario K7K 0B4

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December 15, 2026 at 8:00 am
Event date:
December 20, 2026 at 8:00 pm
Event end:

The Grand Slam season finale

The GSOC Players’ Cup is the fifth and final event of the 2026–27 Grand Slam of Curling season, running from 15 to 20 December 2026. It is the new name for the Players’ Championship, a tournament that dates back to 1993 and is regarded as one of professional curling’s most prestigious titles. Its honour roll is headed by Kevin Martin with eight men’s titles and Jennifer Jones with six on the women’s side, while Silvana Tirinzoni’s team became the first in either division to win three in a row.

Format and field

Unlike the other Slams, which feature 16 teams per division, the Players’ Cup is reserved for the top 12 men’s and top 12 women’s teams of the fall. Teams earn championship points at Grand Slam events and the new GSOC Satellite Events, which replaced the former Tier 2 tournaments, and only a team’s best six results count. The qualification cut-off is 7 December 2026, so the field will be confirmed after the GSOC Open in Thunder Bay. Each division plays a round robin leading into playoffs.

The titles were last decided at the Players’ Championship in Steinbach, Manitoba, in January 2026, when Ross Whyte beat Kyle Waddell 6-3 in the men’s final and Silvana Tirinzoni edged Kerri Einarson 6-5 for the women’s crown.

Host city and venue

Kingston, Ontario, hosts the event at Slush Puppie Place, the downtown arena opened in 2008 and home of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. It seats about 5,000 for ice events and has strong curling credentials, having staged the 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier. It is the city’s first Grand Slam since the 2011 Canadian Open, the event that saw the first official use of the five-rock rule. A GSOC Wheelchair Invitational runs alongside the main event at the Royal Kingston Curling Club, with its final at Slush Puppie Place. Kingston sits on Lake Ontario at the head of the St. Lawrence River, roughly halfway between Toronto and Montreal.

Tickets

Full-event, weekend and day passes are available through Ticketmaster, with early-bird pricing offered when the season schedule was released. Single-draw tickets go on sale on 3 November 2026.