The 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts is set to get underway Friday evening in Kamloops, B.C., with the winner representing Canada at next month's world championship.
Here's a look at some of the burning questions ahead of the event.
Could Einarson win a fourth consecutive Scotties title?
Kerri Einarson is aiming to become only the second skip to four-peat at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts after Colleen Jones completed the feat from 2001-04. The odds are certainly in Team Einarson's favour — listed at only +135 to win outright as of Thursday evening on Sports Interaction — and for good reason.
The Manitoba-based club is playing at an unprecedented level of consistency this season, reaching the final in all four Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling tournaments, including a title victory at the WFG Masters in December. Stretch that back to last season and the streak becomes an unreal six straight Grand Slam finals.
Their consistency will carry them into the playoffs but it'll be Einarson's ability to make clutch runbacks and double takeouts (or even runback doubles) that'll be key once it's down to single-elimination games.
Will Homan win her first Scotties since 2017?
Rachel Homan has kept pace with Einarson this season, and her Ontario team is just six points back in the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) standings for the top spot in the nation.
Homan defeated Einarson in December's Hearing Life Tour Challenge final, capturing a record-extending 12th Grand Slam women's title, before losing the rematch in the WFG Masters final.
The three-time Scotties champion Homan most recently won the event in 2017 in front of family, friends and fans in St. Catharines, Ont. Since then Homan has taken home silver three times (2019-21), although she's also missed the tournament twice while busy representing Canada at the Winter Olympics.
This big change this season was Tracy Fleury joining the club to throw third rocks and handle skip duties in the house. Considering they've made five finals through eight events this season, it's safe to say the new dynamic is working just fine.
What are the chances Jones wins a record seventh Scotties title?
Manitoba's Jennifer Jones is tied with Colleen Jones for most Scotties Tournament of Hearts wins as a skip at six.
Jennifer Jones, who skipped Canada's women's team at the Winter Olympics last year, joined forces with Mackenzie Zacharias' squad this season and found quick success capturing two titles on tour in September.
They also appear all tuned up entering the Scotties. Manitoba is quite possibly the hardest province to play out of but Team Jones went undefeated 9-0 through playdowns three weeks ago.
Is it possible for a Wild Card team to win?
No wild card team has won the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, yet. The key word there is yet.
Since the concept was introduced in 2018, only one wild card team has reached the final: Einarson in that inaugural year. Originally the top two teams that hadn't already qualified for the Scotties played off for one wild card spot, but since 2021 three teams have been added to the field instead, thus expanding the odds that we'll eventually see a wild card champion. Brad Gushue became the first to skip a wild card team on the men's side in last year's Tim Hortons Brier.
Of the three wild card teams — Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes, Alberta's Casey Scheidegger and Manitoba's Meghan Walter — Lawes has the best odds to win outright at +550. Lawes, who gave birth to daughter Myla in December, returned to action last month with Laura Walker now subbing at third for Selena Njegovan (maternity leave). Their experience and skill level should carry them far.
Team Walter may live up to the "wild card" billing as Scotties rookies with nothing to lose. Abby Ackland started the season as the skip with Walter at third until they made the switcheroo that has clicked. The team finished second to Jones in provincial playdowns after eliminating Lawes in the semifinal.
Who are the best underdogs and longshots?
Krista McCarville is an underdog in name only. Her Northern Ontario team doesn't play as often as others on tour, hence their No. 61 spot on the CTRS standings, but they were runners-up in the Scotties just last year in their hometown of Thunder Bay and were also finalists in 2016.
New Brunswick's Andrea Kelly took the bronze medal a year ago and will need to deliver another career-best performance in order to get out of Pool B as it looks like the tougher of the two groups on paper. Only three teams from each pool advance to the Championship Round and Kelly will be in tough against the likes of Homan, Jones, McCarville, Scheidegger and Walter.
Saskatchewan's Robyn Silvernagle is another to keep close tabs on. Silvernagle earned the bronze medal during her Scotties debut in 2019 and returns for a third appearance with a new team that was just assembled prior to playdowns.
How will the host team fair?
B.C. will be represented well by Clancy Grandy's team, who had a breakout season on tour winning the Hearing Life Tour Challenge Tier 2 title. Although this is Grandy's first trip to the Scotties as a skip, she served as the alternate for Wild Card One (Team Fleury) during the 2021 event in the Calgary bubble.
While Einarson and Lawes should be the locks out of Pool A, Grandy stands a good chance to be in the mix for that third and final spot to advance.
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