
Public entrance to the Sandman Center in downtown Kamloops, which has previously been used as a cooling center during heat protocols/via Victor Kaisar
The schedule for the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops is now official.
Team Kerri Einarson will begin its quest for a record-tying fourth consecutive title against Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges at 6 p.m. on Feb. 17 to open the tournament at the Sandman Centre. A win in Kamloops would see her Gimli, Manitoba rink match the record currently held by Team Colleen Jones, who won four straight from 2001 to 2004.
At the same time, B.C.’s Clancy Grandy rink will begin their tournament against PEI’s Marie Christianson.
In all, there will be 18 teams vying to be crowned Scotties champion – Team Canada, 14 provincial and territorial champions, and three Wild Card teams split into two pools of nine, seeded based on their final standing on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) as of Jan. 30, 2023.
Teams will play eight round robin games with the top three in each pool moving onto the championship round.
The second- and third-ranked teams in each pool cross over to play in Page playoff qualifier games at 1p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24. The winners advance to play the winners of Pool A and Pool B at 6 p.m. that evening. The winners of those games go to the Page 1v2 game, while the losers will compete in the Page 3v4 game.
The standard Page playoffs commence with the winner of the Page 1v2 game (scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25), advancing directly to the final, while the loser will play the winner of the Page 3v4 game (scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday) in the semifinal.
The Scotties final goes at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, with the winner moving on to represent Canada at the 2023 World Women’s Curling Championship in Sweden.
For the entire 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts schedule, click here.
For more on the entertainment being planned, go here.
Here’s a look at how the two pools are set up:
(Teams listed according to overall seeding, and listed in order of skip, vice-skip, second, lead, alternate, coach/High Performance Consultant)
Pool A
- 1. Team Canada, Kerri Einarson (Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard, Briane Harris, Reid Carruthers; Gimli, Man.)
- 4. Wild Card 1, Kaitlyn Lawes (Laura Walker, Jocelyn Peterman, Kristin MacCuish, Lisa Weagle; Winnipeg)
- 5. British Columbia, Clancy Grandy (Kayla MacMillan, Lindsay Dubue, Sarah Loken, Katie Witt; Vancouver)
- 8. Nova Scotia, Christina Black (Karlee Everist [throws second stones], Jenn Baxter [throws third stones], Shelley Barker, Carole MacLean, Stuart MacLean; Halifax)
- 9. Alberta, Kayla Skrlik (Geri-Lynn Ramsay [throws second stones], Brittany Tran [throws third stones], Ashton Skrlik, Crystal Webster, Shannon Kleibrink; Calgary)
- 12. Prince Edward Island, Marie Christianson [throws third stones] (Suzanne Birt [throws fourth stones], Michelle Shea, Meaghan Hughes, Sinead Dolan, Danny Christianson; Cornwall)
- 13. Saskatchewan, Robyn Silvernagle (Kelly Schafer, Sherry Just, Kara Thevenot; North Battleford)
- 16. Quebec, Laurie St-Georges (Alanna Routledge [throws second stones], Emily Riley [throws third stones], Kelly Middaugh, Émilie Desjardins, Michel St-Georges; Glenmore & Laval-sur-le-Lac, Que.)
- 17. Nunavut, Brigitte MacPhail (Sadie Pinksen, Kaitlin MacDonald, Alison Taylor, Donalda Mattie; Iqaluit)
Pool B
- 2. Ontario, Tracy Fleury [throws third stones] (Rachel Homan [throws fourth stones], Emma Miskew, Sarah Wilkes, Kira Brunton, Ryan Fry; Ottawa)
- 3. Manitoba, Jennifer Jones (Mackenzie Zacharias [throws second stones], Karlee Burgess [throws third stones], Lauren Lenentine, Emily Zacharias, Glenn Howard, Winnipeg/Altona)
- 6. Wild Card 2, Casey Scheidegger (Kate Cameron, Jessie Haughian, Taylor McDonald, Joan McCusker; Lethbridge, Alta.)
- 7. Wild Card 3, Meghan Walter (Abby Ackland, Sara Oliver, Mackenzie Elias, Howard Restall; East St. Paul, Man.)
- 10. New Brunswick, Andrea Kelly (Sylvie Quillian, Jillian Brothers, Katie Forward, Daryell Nowlan; Fredericton)
- 11. Northwest Territories, Kerry Galusha [throws lead stones] (Jo-Ann Rizzo [throws fourth stones], Sarah Koltun, Margot Flemming, Megan Koehler, Shona Barbour; Yellowknife)
- 14. Northern Ontario, Krista McCarville (Sarah Potts [throws lead stones], Kendra Lilly [throws third stones], Ashley Sippala [throws second stones], Rick Lang; Thunder Bay, Ont.)
- 15. Newfoundland & Labrador, Stacie Curtis (Erica Curtis, Julie Hynes, Camille Burt, Eugene Trickett; St. John’s)
- 18. Yukon, Hailey Birnie (Chelsea Jarvis, Kerry Campbell, Kim Tuor, Jenna Duncan; Whitehorse)