Team Jacobs Repeats as PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Men’s Champion

BANFF, ALTA. – In a battle of the Brads, it was Sochi 2014 gold medallist Brad Jacobs who edged out Brad Gushue in tonight’s PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Men’s Final, making Jacobs the back-to-back TSN skins game champion.   With $54,000 won in tonight’s game plus $17,000 in yesterday’s semifinal, Jacobs and his Northern Ontario team – which features Ryan Fry, E.J. Harnden, and Ryan Harnden – will go home with a total of $71,000 after this weekend’s PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME. Overall, Jacobs’ TSN skins game career earnings now total $146,000.  

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS FROM TEAM JACOBS VS. TEAM GUSHUE HERE: http://bit.ly/1VXToOp

  Olympic gold medallist Gushue and his Newfoundland and Labrador team of Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, and Geoff Walker, did not go home empty handed, walking away with a total of $22,000 in prize money from this weekend (see below for a breakdown of men’s results from this weekend). The Men’s Final took place earlier tonight in front of a sold-out crowd at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in Banff, Alta. Earlier today, Team Jones defeated Team Sweeting in the Women’s Final, taking home $54,000 in prize money. Draw Summary In the opening end, Gushue attempted a thin double but could not hang on for two, resulting in a carry-over. With $4,000 at stake in the second, Jacobs made a quiet tap-back to pick up the first skin of the game. Gushue got on the board in the third with a $3,000 skin. Jacobs answered back in the fourth end, taking the $3,000 skin to boost his lead. After a carry-over in the fifth end, Jacobs was unsuccessful at his runback take-out attempt, resulting in a single and another carry-over. An intense seventh end, which resulted in a carry-over, put a whopping $47,000 on the line in the eighth end – and it was Jacobs who secured the skin and back-to-back championships.   Overall Men’s Results

• Team Jacobs: $17,000 (Semifinal) + $54,000 (Final including $15,000 Winner’s Bonus) = $71,000
• Team Gushue: $19,000 (Semifinal) + $3,000 (Final) = $22,000
• Team McEwen: $4,000 (Semifinal) + $1,000 (Draw to the Button Bonus) = $5,000
• Team Simmons: $2,000 (Semifinal)

TOTAL: $100,000   Record Ratings Last year TSN introduced an expanded curling skins game format that generated record ratings:

• TSN’s annual curling skins game earned an average audience of 461,000 – the highest ever for the event
• Audiences were up 40% compared to the previous year
• The Team Jones vs. Team Carey semifinal and the women’s and men’s finals became the only TSN skins game telecasts to ever achieve average audiences of more than 500,000 viewers

  Curling on TSN As the official broadcaster of Curling Canada, TSN broadcasts close to 300 hours of live Season of Champions curling each year, including the TIM HORTONS BRIER and SCOTTIES TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS, along with the WORLD MEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP, FORD WORLD WOMEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP, HOME HARDWARE CANADA CUP, WFG CONTINENTAL CUP, and CANADIAN JUNIORS.