North Bay crowds energize Grand Slam of Curling

Another major curling event is taking place in North Bay this week.

The Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling is on until Sunday, featuring some of Canada's best curlers competing and staying in North Bay.

One of those players is Jennifer Jones, the Canadian skip who won gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and many other titles during her career.

She told CTV News playing in North Bay is a unique experience

"One of my favourite places in the world is North Bay," said Jones.

"The hospitality, the food, the arena … Amazing memories and really, honestly one of the best curling communities I've experienced. So super happy to be back."

It's the second time in recent years a large curling event has taken place in North Bay. In 2019, the city hosted the World Championships.

After more than two years of limited tournaments -- with very few or no fans -- the crowd is benefiting the curlers.

"It's fun playing out in front of the fans," said Brad Gushue.

"It's great being back here in North Bay. You guys support curling events up here, so we're happy to be back."

Fellow Canadian curler Kevin Koe agreed, adding that he's looking forward to seeing the crowd for the weekend matchups.

"It's a great setup here, obviously last time it was here they put on a great job so it's good to be back," Koe said.

"There's been really good crowds, especially for some of these draws that are early in the morning. So, I'm sure they're only going to get bigger by the weekend and when the playoffs come. So it's been impressive."