The Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, also known as the Stu Sells Tankard, is an annual

bonspiel A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch. Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared ar ...

, or

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

tournament, that takes place at the High Park Club in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The event is held in a triple-knock out format, but was held in a round-robin for many years. The tournament is sponsored by Stu Sells, a local real estate company, and is part of the "Stu Sells Series" or events, which includes the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic, and a number of other junior and local tour events. The men's event became a

World Curling Tour The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and Doubles curling, mixed doubles curlers in the world. History The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later ass ...

event in 2011, but was later discontinued after the 2019 edition. The women's event became a World Curling Tour event in 2016, but was also discontinued in 2020. Both the men's and women's events are also part of the Ontario Curling Tour. The event is held at the High Park Club in

, excluding 2023 when it was moved to Barrie under the name Stu Sells Tankard. The 2015 event was a flash point in the Broomgate scandal, as it featured teams using Hardline icePad versus teams using the Balance Plus Black Magic heads, the latter of which were debuted at the event. The effectiveness of the Balance Plus brooms was so strong, that it was noticeably damaging the ice. Teams got so upset that they were forced to make a "gentleman's agreement" mid-way through the event to stop using either brush head so that the conditions were fair. However, when the Balance Plus sponsored

Glenn Howard Glenn William Howard (born July 17, 1962) is a retired Canadian curler who is one of the most decorated curlers of all time. He has won four world championships, four Briers and 17 Ontario provincial championships, including a record eight s ...

rink made it to the finals against the Hardline sponsored Mike McEwen rink, Howard gave McEwen an ultimatum: either stop using the Hardline brush heads for good, or we will bring the Black Magic heads back for the final. Team McEwen refused, and so the final featured the two teams and the rival brooms in action. The game, which lasted seven ends, ended up taking 3 and half hours, more than an hour longer than normal, as the McEwen rink had to "clean up" the ice after every Team Howard shot due to the damage the Balance Plus brush heads were doing. Ironically, it was this damage that ended up ruining one of the Howard team's shots, resulting in the team losing the game. The 2020 event was held at the KW Granite Club in

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto, but it is n ...

, as the High Park Club had yet to open for the season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto The COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto is a viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), localized in Toronto. Toronto is the most populous ...

Past champions

Men

Women

References

{{Reflist

External links

Event Site
Ontario Curling Tour events Curling in Toronto Former World Curling Tour events