Canada Cup of Curling opens today

The Canada Cup of Curling opens today with three draws.
Women take to the ice for the morning draw, with Marie-France Larouche taking on Michelle Englot, Colleen Jones doing battle with Anne Merklinger, Shannon Kleibrink going up against Heather Smith-Dacey, Jo-Ann Rizzo playing Cheryl Bernard, and Jan Betker taking on the B.C. favourite Kelly Scott of Kelowna.
The second draw of the day also will feature women.
The men hit the ice for the evening draw, with the feature match-up being between Brier champion Randy Ferbey and former Canadian champ Pat Ryan.
The Canada Cup is the last event at which curlers can earn berths for the Olympic trials, slated for Dec. 3-11 in Halifax.
Winners at the Canada Cup earn:
•a berth in the 2006 Canada Cup (Jan. 31-Feb. 5);
•a berth at the Olympic trials; and
•more than $33,500 in prize money
Since six men’s and five women’s teams already have qualified for the Olympic trials, the men’s team that finishes seventh and the women’s team that finishes sixth could—in theory—end up earning berths.
Mark Dacey, Ferbey, Brad Gushue, John Morris, Ryan, and Jeff Stoughton have their tickets to Halifax while Kerry Burtnyk, Mike Harris, Wayne Tuck, and Kevin Martin have yet to qualify.
As for the women, Jones, Kleibrink, Larouche, Rizzo, and Scott all have trial berths, with Betker, Smith-Dacey, Merklinger, Bernard, and Englot as the rinks still hoping to qualify.
The final berths will be given based on Canadian Team Ranking System points.
As for the Canada Cup itself, there are two pools for both the women and men. Teams play four round-robin games against others in their pool, along with one crossover game.
The top two teams in each group advance then to the Page playoff, with A1 taking on B1 (winner goes to final, loser advances to semi-final) and A2 versus B2 (winner goes to semi, loser is eliminated).
The money breakdown: $750 per round-robin victory, $33,500 to the winners, $22,000 for second place, $10,500 for third, and, $5,250 for fourth.