Plenty of curling talent on men's side

Mike McEwen and his rink from Winnipeg had one heck of a year on the World Curling Tour last season. The foursome won eight events (73-11 total record) including the Canada Cup, The National and Elite 10 to claim first place on the money list by a wide margin, with $172, 500. Despite all of the Tour success, they still failed at their ultimate goal - qualification for their first Brier. The 35-year-old skip lost his fifth Manitoba final in six years in 2015, this time falling to Reid Carruthers. Three-time Brier champ Jeff Stoughton was responsible for three of McEwen's other provincial final losses.

With Stoughton retiring this season, McEwen should be the favourite to come out of Manitoba and compete in the Brier in Ottawa. The team picked up renowned Manitoba curler Jon Mead over the summer to help as a mentor/manager/fifth man. This will be the ninth consecutive season this group has been together and should be one of the top rinks to watch out for in 2015-16.

Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs won Canada gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and hardly missed a beat last season. Jacobs won the season-ending Grand Slam, the Players' Championship, at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, formerly Maple Leafs Gardens, in Toronto and almost claimed his second career national championship in Calgary after a strong 10-1 showing in the round robin before falling to Pat Simmons in the final. The 30 year old from Sault Ste. Marie should be a lock to qualify for his eighth Brier this year.

Calgary's Kevin Koe is looking to bounce back after an up-and-down season in 2014-15. Koe left his Brier-winning group to skip a new rink made up of curlers from Kevin Martin's and Glenn Howard's former teams. The 40 year old, originally from Yellowknife, won two events on the WCT: the Direct Horizontal Drilling Fall Classic and the Karuizawa International in Japan. Koe failed to make a final in any of the Grand Slam events and didn't qualify for the playoffs at the Brier. Koe's fifth appearance at the national championship won't be easy as he'll likely have to go through former Canadian and world junior champions in Brendan Bottcher and Brock Virtue at provincials. Koe is off on the right foot in 2015 as his foursome won the inaugural Tour Challenge in Paradise, NL in mid-September.

St. John's Brad Gushue had the best season of his career in 2014-15, winning two Grand Slams at the Canadian Open and Masters of Curling. He also took home over $100, 000 in winnings and had a very solid showing at the Brier going 9-2 in the round robin. The former Olympic gold medalist went on to lose both the 1 vs 2 game and the semifinal against Brad Jacobs and Pat Simmons respectively in two contests that could have gone either way. Gushue's amazing double-raise, double-takeout winner during a round robin game was the shot of the season and was one of the best plays in TSN's 1v1 history. 

Team Gushue has gotten off to a hot start this season, winning the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and making the final of the Grand Slam Tour Challenge in Paradise, NL in front of endearing hometown crowd. The 35-year-old has never won a national championship, but with his Olympic buddy Mark Nichols back for a second straight season, and a young, strong front end duo having another year of seasoning under their belts, 2015-16 could finally be his year.

Pat Simmons and his foursome from Calgary had one of the oddest seasons in recent curling memory last season. Actually, you almost have to call it John Morris' rink because he was the skipper for most of it. After Kevin Koe left following the team's Brier win in 2014, Morris was selected to fill the void. Due to work and living issues, the team was only able to play in four events before the Brier, and struggled mightily, with their best finish coming at The National (seventh place). With 2015 being the first year a Team Canada would be represented at the Brier, Morris and his crew got an automatic invite to the national championship without having to play provincials. With Morris struggling with skip stones, the team moved Simmons up after a slow 2-3 start.  They surged to an 8-1 record the rest of the way. Simmons capped it off with a draw to the button in the extra end of the final against Northern Ontario to repeat as Brier champions. They would go on to win the bronze medal at the world championships in Halifax.

Simmons' squad will represent Canada at the 2016 Brier in the nation's capital, but how many events will they play in prior? The team hasn't come out and said they are committed to a full schedule, so a few Grand Slams and the Brier might be the only times we get to see this interesting bunch of rock-throwers. One thing is certain though, Simmons will be the man calling the shots in 2015-16.  

Yorkton, Saskatchewan's Steve Laycock had his best year on the WCT in 2014-15, finishing second at the Canadian Open in his hometown and grabbing bronze at the Brier in Calgary. He also finished in the top 10 of the WCT Money List and top five of the CTRS ranking, putting him in early contention to play in the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in 2017.

The 32-year-old should be the man to beat again in Saskatchewan, and will likely represent the Prairie province for a third straight season.

Alberta's Brendan Bottcher leads one of curling's most talented and young rinks that could turn heads even more this year after a strong outing in 2014-15. The 23 year old finished fifth on the WCT Money List and made it to three Grand Slam semi-finals. Bottcher, a Canadian and world junior champion in 2012, made it to the finals of the Alberta provincials last year where he lost to Kevin Koe. This rink was one of the busiest on Tour last season, and could be primed for a big year in 2015-16 if their play continues to improve. Team Bottcher should be a team to keep an eye on for years to come.

Toronto's John Epping was oh-so close at qualifying for his first Brier last year, but fell to Mark Kean in a close 7-6 affair in the final of the Ontario Tankard. The 32 year old is back this time with a new vice Matthew Camm, who actually played third for Kean's Brier squad in 2014-15. Camm played the season-ending Players' Championship with Epping last year and the rink had a good showing, losing to Mike McEwen in the semi-final. With Kean dealing with a new team this year and Glenn Howard slowly falling out the spotlight, Epping could be the favourite to represent Ontario at the 2016 Brier.

Niklas Edin of Sweden won his second world championship in three years in 2015, beating Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in the final in Halifax. The 30-year-old Olympic bronze medalist will have his entire rink back and will likely be the most prolific team outside of Canada once again. 

For a second consecutive winter, Glenn Howard will have a noticeably different rink. Second Jon Mead and long-time lead (11 years in fact) Craig Savill have been replaced by vice Wayne Middaugh and Glenn’s son Scott Howard, who will play lead. Richard Hart will be bumped down to second. Middaugh took a season off in 2014-15 after playing three seasons with Howard while Scott joins his father after playing in the Brier with Mark Kean. Papa Howard had a season to forget last year as he failed to qualify for the Ontario Tankard for the first time since 2003. Howard's last appearance at the national championship was in 2013. Here's a classic shot by Howard from the 2009 Brier in Calgary: 

It seems the four-time Brier and world champion still wants to accomplish his last curling goal: gold at the Olympic Games in 2018. Middaugh and Hart give his rink a lot of experience, and the opportunity to play with his son is something few athletes are lucky enough to experience. It's no doubt Penetanguishene's Team Howard is one of the oldest rinks on Tour in a game that's getting younger every year, but their skip also has the most hardware in the sport. Howard might have what he needs to make it back to the Brier and compete with the best in the game.

Winnipeg's Reid Carruthers competed in his first Brier as a skip last season after defeating Mike McEwen in the provincial final. The rink finished with a 4-7 record for 10th place in the standings. The 30 year old, who won a national and world championship back in 2011 as Jeff Stoughton's second, is bringing back his entire rink for a second straight season and should place in the Top 10 on the WCT Money List. Another appearance at the Brier isn't out of the question either, but he'll likely have to get past McEwen once again.

For a second consecutive season, Ontario curling champ Mark Kean will play with a completely new squad. After winning the Ontario Tankard and managing a solid 5-6 performance at the Brier in Calgary, the Kean rink looked like they would be together for the long run. But vice Mathew Camm went to play with John Epping, second David Mathers joined forces with PEI's Adam Casey and Scott Howard chose to play with his dad, Glenn.

The 27-year-old native of Innerkip, Ont., welcomes third Bowie Abbis-Mills, former second of Joe Frans' rink, second Spencer Nuttall and lead Fraser Reid. It might take some time for this group to mesh, but Kean was able to find quick success with a new team last year. Team Kean should be one of the top rinks from Ontario again in 2015-16.  

Prince Edward Island's Adam Casey had a decent time on Tour last year as a skip for the first time in his professional career. The 25-year-old had been a part of Brad Gushue's Newfoundland and Labrador rink since 2011, but decided to move home to helm his own squad in 2014. The foursome failed to win on Tour, but qualified for the Brier where they went 5-6. Casey will have David Mathers, former second to Mark Kean, throwing third stones for him this season instead of Josh Barry. Casey's team is one of the youngest on the WCT and should be the favourites to represent PEI at the Brier once again.