Before we dig a little more into the announced teams, perhaps the most notable element of the announcement is the not the teams that were listed, but rather a team that was absent. The United States Olympic representatives, Team Peterson, are stepping away from women’s curling as a team for this season.

To lose not one or two, but all four, curlers of this caliber is a huge loss for the women’s program for the year. Cory Thiesse is sticking around the game, focusing on mixed doubles with Korey Dropkin as well as Rock League. Meanwhile, I expect Tab and Tara Peterson are looking forward to enjoying quality time spent with their toddlers, coming off of their first Olympics as mothers.

Taylor Anderson-Heide, on the heels of a breakout season where she ascended to one of the best leads in the world, will also be taking time away as she recovers from shoulder surgery. She’s aiming ready by Rock League in December. “Focusing on healing and getting stronger,” she shared via text.

Anderson-Heide played the entire 2025-2026 season through injuries to her labrum, rotator cuff, and bicep tendon but didn’t want to do surgery ahead of the final year of the Olympic quadrennial. Instead, she managed the pain, and her sweeping prowess was vital to the team’s performance at the Olympic Qualifying Event as well as at the Winter Olympics in Cortina.

When Brad Gushue was announced as the new High Performance Program Director, I alluded to upcoming changes and the challenge that Gushue faces with a women’s program in a completely different scenario than the men. I’ll have more soon about his fingerprints on the US program, but there’s no denying he had a lot to navigate this year. He’s already faced lower-than-expected funding from the US Olympic Committee while also factoring in which curlers would be a part of the program, with the news from Team Peterson, Delaney Strouse stepping away, and retirements from Tom Howell, Chris Plys, and Colin Hufman.

Let’s take a closer look at the 13 teams named in Wednesday’s press release, and my quick reaction to each roster.

Women’s Teams

Team Cousins

Roster: Elizabeth Cousins, Annmarie Dubberstein, Allison Howell, Liz Janiak

While many of the women’s rosters faced some type of shakeup, that was not so for Elizabeth Cousins’s squad. They’re coming off silver medal finishes at the last two USA National Championships as well as November’s Olympic Trials. They should be considered the pre-season top team in the country, but “best on paper” proves nothing. Cousins showed promising results on tour last season, and they’ll need to build on that in 2026-2027 to lead the way as the most senior of the women’s national teams.

Team Hagenbuch

Roster: Bella Hagenbuch, Addison Neill, Megan Stopera, Morgan Zacher

Team Hagenbuch, along with McMakin and O’Hara, make up what I’ll call the “Let Brad Cook” rosters, and this one in particular filled with curlers who have been regulars on the junior circuit. In addition to skipping at the junior level, Bella Hagenbuch also competed at the 2023 World Mixed Championships as a vice-skip while she was still eligible for U18s. She’s joined by teammates Megan Stopera and Addison Neill coming off a third-place finish at junior nationals and narrowly missing the playoffs at women’s nationals. Morgan Zacher rounds out the roster, coming over from Allory Johnson’s rink now that Zacher has aged out while Team Johnson is still eligible for the U21 event.

Team Johnson

Roster: Allory Johnson, Gianna Johnson, Ella Wendling, Bailey Vaydich

Filling Zacher’s vacancy on the 4th place finishers from this year’s World Women’s Junior Championships is Ella Wendling, who had traveled with the Team Johnson to be their fifth at world juniors and the US Olympic Team Trials. While the team seemed to run out of steam attempting to defend their national junior title, they were coming off of a marathon season. They’re still incredibly young (they won the 2026 U18 National Championship), and I view them as the team with the highest long-term ceiling of the group.

Team McMakin

Roster: Christine McMakin, Sara Olson, Tessa Thurlow, Abby Lin

With the sport growing around the country, we’re starting to see more young curlers come from emerging curling clubs, which makes the addition of Abby Lin to the national program a pleasant surprise. A member of the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club, Lin has progressed through the ranks to play at various national events, including the US Women’s National Championship in Charlotte as well as the Club National Championship in Chaska, where she earned a silver medal. She’ll be joined by Sara Olson, who I was pleased to see back on a team for the upcoming season after competing with Courtney Benson in 2025, along with North Dakota’s Christine McMakin and Tessa Thurlow.

Team O’Hara

Roster: Anne O’Hara, Anya Normandeau, Sydney Mullaney, Ella Fleming

I expect Team O’Hara to be the most intriguing team of the bunch, coming off O’Hara and Mullaney’s first women’s national titles in 2026. Anya Normandeau joins the team from the always underrated (and national bronze medalist) Team Rhyme, while Ella Fleming played last season with Megan Stopera’s rink. Fleming is coming off a silver medal finish at mixed doubles nationals and has potential to be an impact player, but this team’s potential is their biggest unknown. How high of a ceiling do they have, and what will it take for them to get there?

Men’s Teams

Team Casper

Roster: Danny Casper, Luc Violette, Ben Richardson, Aidan Oldenburg

Team Casper came into their own in this quadrennial and catapulted themselves to not just an Olympic Trials victory but went through the Olympic Qualifiers and proceeded to nearly make the playoffs in Milano Cortina. To the surprise of no one, the team remains the same headed into the next quad, poised to continue improving. They’ve gotten to the top, but the hard part is staying there.

On an unrelated note, Danny Casper was the commencement speaker for his high school alma mater. His story is one that many curlers know by this point but hearing it in his words as he shares his advice and experiences with the Class of 2026 is well worth your time.

2026 Commencement Speaker Danny Casper

Team Shuster

Roster: John Shuster, Andrew Stopera, Mark Fenner, Lance Wheeler

I’ll have a little more on this team in the coming days, but I can’t say I’m not intrigued. Shuster is coming off one of his best seasons over his storied career, which included an extra end victory over Stopera, Fenner, and Wheeler at the USA National Championships. New teams can tend to have a warmup period in their first season, but there is every reason to believe this team could continue to be a regular in the top 10 in the world and challenge Casper for the best team in the country.

In my opinion, the team formerly known as the Young Bucks didn’t have a strong identity in their playstyle, which seemed to put them on the short side of results against the world’s best teams. With Shuster stepping in to skip, I could see the new squad excelling with Shuster’s propensity to keep more rocks in play and play more aggressive, downweight shots.

Watch for more from me on this squad in the coming days for thegrandslamofcurling.com.

Team Tuma

Roster: Kevin Tuma, Sam Strouse, Coleman Thurston, Connor Kauffman

When so much of the season focused on Shuster, Casper, and Dropkin on the men’s side with the rise of Caden Hebert coming up through the junior ranks, it may have been easy to overlook Team Tuma. After skip Chase Sinnett stepped away from the team in January, Tuma took over skipping duties in January with Sam Strouse continuing to throw last rocks.

The team has room to grow, but this is the perfect time for them to come into their own, with a younger average age than that of Team Casper. They showed promise at nationals, dropping just three games over the week (two to Shuster, one to Stopera) and earning a bronze medal.

This is purely speculative on my part, but if the US isn’t sure if how many men’s teams they’ll fund next year, I wouldn’t be shocked if this is a one-year “prove it” season for Tuma. Caden Hebert ages out of juniors after this season which could crowd out Tuma if they don’t take additional steps forward.

Mixed Doubles Teams

Bear/Oldenburg

Roster: Madison Bear, Aidan Oldenburg

After a third-place finish at the US Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials last year, Maddie Bear and Aidan Oldenburg getting named to the national team for mixed doubles is well earned. While Maddie was not named to any women’s teams, her strategic skillset along with drawing ability make her an excellent fit for mixed doubles, particularly when a sweeper as adept as Oldenburg is on the broom. They’ve not played more than four events in either of the two seasons they’ve played together, so hopefully this means they’re able to play a little more on the mixed doubles tour to see what they can accomplish together.

Hamilton/Hamilton

Roster: Becca Hamilton, Matt Hamilton

Before Matt Hamilton was an Olympic gold medalist, he made his Olympic debut with his sister Becca in Pyeongchang in the first ever Olympic mixed doubles event. The sibling duo has routinely been in the top three nationally in the discipline, winning three national titles. While Becca hasn’t played on the women’s circuit in a couple years, this will be the first time Matt has been off the men’s tour, potentially allowing the Madison, Wisconsin natives to focus more on mixed doubles. (And, this also allows Matt to spend more time with his newborn, congrats Matt and Jen!)

Thiesse/Dropkin

Roster: Cory Thiesse, Korey Dropkin

Fresh off their Olympic silver medal, Cory and Korey are now mixed doubles specialists. After a dream-like run to the podium in Cortina, one of the best mixed doubles teams in the world are focused solely on the two-person discipline. While so much focus gets put on the four-person game, Cory and Korey amassed a 120-19 record over their first four seasons together. With the two focusing on mixed doubles, the question now becomes: how much better can they get in such a volatile discpline?

Junior Teams

Team Pekowitz

Roster: Julia Pekowitz, Kalina Petrova, Lila Farwell, Alexa Pekowitz, Addison Neill

Julia Pekowitz was the final team into the US women’s national championship last year when additional spots opened up thanks to Tab Peterson qualifying for the Olympics and Allory Johnosn qualifying for the World Junior Championships. They made the most of the opportunity, going 3-4 in Charlotte, and then went on to win their first junior nationals in a crowded field in Bismarck. They’re an intriguing team of players from across the country, and I look forward to seeing how they fare at World Juniors this season.

Team Hebert

Roster: Caden Hebert, Jackson Bestland, Benji Paral, Jack Wendtland, Daniel Laufer

Team Hebert laid claim to their spot as the USA Junior Men’s National Team following their second straight victory at junior nationals. Because they defended their national title, they are now looking to defend their last season’s victory at the World Junior Curling Championships, the first time the United States has won a world junior title since 2008. The next two years will be fun to watch for this squad, but I’m most interested to see where they Eau Claire, Wisconsin boys will be going into the 2029-2030 season.

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The hire will no doubt reverberate through the curling world, especially across Canada, as Gushue will lead the United States’ High Performance program aiming to capitalize on a successful international campaign that saw Cory Thiesse become the first woman to win an Olympic curling medal, a young men’s team make their Olympics debut, and another men’s team win a world junior championship for the first time since 2008.

While I had heard a few different names of possible candidates and applicants for the position, Gushue’s name was one that never remotely entered my thought process. Gushue has a long list of accolades:

• won gold at the winter Olympics in 2006, then defeated the United States in the 2022 Olympics bronze medal game

• won a world championship in 2017 and four silvers between 2018 and 2024

• is the winningest curler in Brier history

• has a following of a fan club of women in pink shirts

Why would anyone think to consider him as someone interested in taking over the United States Curling program?

It’s almost like if Derek Jeter was hired to be the General Manager of the Minnesota Twins. A man that had one of the most illustrious careers of all time, frustrating fans of opposing teams with his success. Now, he’s crossing the border to lead a program he has often beaten.

One Program, Two Different Situations

Gushue will have his work cut out for him as he assumes leadership over a USA High Performance program with two wildly different situations. While there are still questions at play regarding the futures of established veterans John Shuster, Matt Hamilton, and Korey Dropkin, Gushue inherits a men’s program with a strong pipeline of young talent.

Danny Casper is coming off his team’s ascent to the top of the US Olympic Team Trials and eventual qualification for the Olympics, finishing one game shy of the playoffs. Caden Hebert’s rink became the first US team to win a World Junior Curling Championship in nearly two decades. Add in Kevin Tuma’s team and whoever from Andrew Stopera’s squad decides to return next year along with a number of other young curlers, and you’ve got a long list of options with which Gushue can tinker.

Gushue, whose run to his Olympic gold at the age of 25, has the potential to be just the right thing at just the right time for skips coming into their own.

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, he will be needing to make sense of a women’s program riddled with more questions than answers. I expect Gushue will have to navigate a program with turnover at key positions and will need to work with coaches to bolster development of young talent who are still likely a couple years away from taking the next big step.

While there are some strong individual curlers, and some teams who have some promise, it’s likely a longer, windier path to success for the women’s teams. Not only will Gushue have to create a pathway for more consistent development of a pipeline of women to the top of the sport in the long term, but he may also need to weigh in on team construction of a women’s team in the short term.

“I’m excited to work alongside athletes and coaches to help them reach their full potential,” said Gushue in USA Curling’s press release.

A Unique Pedigree

There is no questioning the success that Brad Gushue has had on some of the biggest stages in the world. He was known for running his teams in a very specific way, and in a sport with so much turnover, roster changes were few and far between over the years.

But Gushue is an unknown when it comes to leading national programs and creating development pathways. The United States and Canada have very different levels of resources available to them, and while the 2006 Olympic gold medalist had to navigate his own challenges coming from Newfoundland and Labrador, he takes on a US program that was on the edge of disaster just 6 months ago before Peterson and Casper qualified the United States’ four-person teams for the Olympics.

Candidates were interviewed not just by USA Curling CEO Dean Gemmell, but also by members of the Athlete Commission, the USOPC, and members of USA Curling’s Board of Directors. Clearly, Gushue was able to successfully communicate a plan to the interviewers, and it stands to reason his recently acquired MBA will no doubt help with other management and leadership elements of the role.

But where Gushue stands in accomplishments and name recognition, he is something of a question mark when it comes to development and leadership of a national organization until he can prove it otherwise.

One thing’s for sure: it’s a big swing for USA Curling, and it’s one that could very well make a massive impact on the organization.

For better or worse.

Tour Talk is the segment of the Stones & Stripes newsletter focused primarily on United States’ curling athletes who are curling on the world tour.

My feature recapping the 2026 World Men’s Curling Championship in Ogden, Utah, written for Rock Channel. Read this article on the Grand Slam of Curling website:

https://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/news/edin-wins-unprecedented-eighth-world-championship

Feature article about Team Casper and overcoming hurdles on their way to their Olympics debut.

Read this article on the Grand Slam of Curling Website: https://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/news/team-casper-facing-challenges-head-on

My feature article written for Rock Channel about Taylor Anderson-Heide’s path to one of the top lead curlers in the world.

Read this article on the Grand Slam of Curling Website: https://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/news/taylor-anderson-heide-carving-her-own-path

Feature article written for Rock Channel about Team Hebert after they won the World B Junior Championships and published before they went on to win the World Junior Curling Championship.

Read this article on the Grand Slam of Curling Website: https://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/news/how-team-heberts-bright-future-began-with-one-coachs-vision

Three men’s and three women’s teams have been named to November’s Olympic Trials in Sioux Falls …

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