| Stu Sells Toronto Tankard | |
|---|---|
| Established | 2010 |
| Host city | Toronto, Ontario |
| Arena | High Park Club |
| Men's purse | $42,000 |
| Women's purse | $40,000 |
| Current champions (2024) | |
| Men |  John Epping |
| Women |  Kim Eun-jung |
| Current edition | |
The Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, also known as the Stu Sells Tankard, is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, that takes place at the High Park Club in Toronto, Ontario. 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. [1] The men's event became a World Curling Tour 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.
Contents
The event is held at the High Park Club in Toronto, excluding 2023 when it was moved to Barrie under the name Stu Sells Tankard. [2]
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 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. [3]
The 2020 event was held at the KW Granite Club in Waterloo, Ontario, [4] as the High Park Club had yet to open for the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto.
