Glenn Howard, Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Martin, and Kevin Koe Voted into THE DOMINION ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pinty's

- Fans cast more than half a million votes for the inaugural All-Star edition of TSN's annual curling skins event -
- Olympic gold medallist John Morris is the #1 vote getter with 29,677 votes followed by fellow Team Martin teammates Marc Kennedy (#2) and Ben Hebert (#3) -
- Random draw of All-Star curlers airs live on Thursday, Jan. 17 on TSN -

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TORONTO, Dec. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - The polls have now closed and more than 550,000 votes have been counted, with Glenn Howard, Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Martin, and Kevin Koe all voted into THE DOMINION ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pinty's. The world-class skips will compete in TSN's annual curling skins event playing for $100,000 in prize money during THE DOMINION ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pinty's on January 19-20, 2013 live on TSN from Casino Rama in Rama, ON.

<< MEDIA NOTE: for accreditation to THE DOMINION ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pinty's please email [email protected] >>

Howard, Stoughton, Martin, and Koe will all be playing with new teams as they draw players from a group of 12 curlers also voted into the skins game.  The thirds, seconds, and leads voted into the game include Olympic gold medallists John Morris (third), Marc Kennedy second, and Ben Hebert (lead). Morris amassed a whopping 29,677 votes to become the #1 vote getter, while Kennedy garnered 29,482 votes and Hebert earned 28,751 votes to rank #2 and #3 respectively.

The top four curlers at each position - skip, third, second, and lead - who qualified for THE DOMINION ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pinty's are as follows (click here for a PDF):

Position	Name	Number of  Votes Earned
SKIP	Glenn Howard	24,284
	Jeff Stoughton	23,684
	Kevin Martin	22,596
	Kevin Koe	19,181
THIRD	John Morris	29,677
	Jon Mead	28,436
	Pat Simmons	18,010
	B.J. Neufeld	13,993
SECOND	Marc Kennedy	29,482
	Carter Rycroft	21,672
	Brent Laing	21,032
	Reid Carruthers	19,665
LEAD	Ben Hebert	28,751
	Craig Savill	23,815
	Steve Gould	20,005
	Nolan Thiessen	18,555

All-Star Draw
As part of this year's new All-Star qualifying format, the teams will be determined by random draw during a live broadcast on Thursday, Jan. 17 on TSN. The 30-minute TSN original production will feature Glenn Howard, Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Martin, and Kevin Koe drawing the names of the third, second, and lead that they will compete with during the two-day skins game.

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Glenn Howard (Ontario) - Reigning World Champion Glenn Howard is coming off a banner season after being crowned Brier Champion and earning his fourth World title (1987, 1993, 2007, 2012).  The Midland, ON native is no stranger to the TSN skins game, having won the event in 2001. Howard's career TSN skins earnings total $169,900.

Jeff Stoughton (Manitoba) - 2012 Canada Cup winner Jeff Stoughton is making his fourth TSN skins game appearance. The three-time Brier Champion and two-time World Champion's resume also includes victories at the 2003 Players' Championships, 2004 World Cup of Curling and the 2006 Canadian Open of Curling.  Stoughton has won a total of $34,500 in TSN skins game prize money.

Kevin Martin (Alberta) - Kevin Martin won gold at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, adding this elusive title to his already impressive resume that includes World Champion (2008), four Brier championships (1991, 1997, 2008, 2009) and a silver medal at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Throughout his career Martin has won five TSN skins titles (1997, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2011), making him the leading money earner in TSN skins history with $418,850 in winnings.

Kevin Koe (Alberta) - Defending champion Kevin Koe returns for his third year after winning his first TSN skins title and $43,900 in prize money in January 2012. The Calgary resident is the 2010 Brier and World Champion making him the youngest skip to win the Brier since 1992. Koe has pocketed a total of $51,900 in TSN skins game prize money over the past two years.

Sponsors for this year's event include The Dominion, Pinty's, Casino Rama, Chartered Accountants, ASPIRIN, The Source, and Carlton Cards.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Twitter
Team Glenn Howard: @howardfour, www.Twitter.com/howardfour
Team Jeff Stoughton: @teamjstoughton, www.Twitter.com/teamjstoughton
Team Kevin Martin: @Kmartcurl, www.Twitter.com/Kmartcurl
Team Kevin Koe: @teamkevinkoe, www.Twitter.com/teamkevinkoe
TSN Curling: @TSNCurling, www.Twitter.com/TSNCurling
Hashtags: #TSN #TheDominionSkins

Facebook
TSN Curling: www.Facebook.com/TSNCurling

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SOURCE: TSN

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