The 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts kicks off tonight, and it’s set to be one for the ages.
The action officially gets underway Friday night at Calgary’s Winsport Event Centre at Canada Olympic Park, as the country’s top women’s curling teams go toe-to-toe for the national championship.
The storylines were compelling as soon as the 18-team field was officially determined, and then the legendary Jennifer Jones made the bombshell announcement earlier this week that this would be her last Scotties ever, making the event an absolute must-see.
Here are five storylines to look out for as the action gets underway tonight.
Jones throws her last Scotties stones
It’s hard to believe that this will be it for Jennifer Jones. The six-time Scotties champion, two-time world champion and 2014 Olympic gold medallist announced on Tuesday that she’ll be retiring from women’s curling at the end of this season, that this Scotties will be her last.
What a presence she’s been here.
Nobody has more career wins at the Scotties than Jones’ 169. She’ll be appearing in her 18th Scotties, a mark bettered only by Colleen Jones, who competed in 21. The Joneses are also tied for the most career Scotties wins, with six.
Team Jones opens play here on Saturday, Feb. 17 against Team Nova Scotia, which is coached by … none other than Collen Jones.
The obvious question is: Can Jones win a record seventh Scotties, to put her alone in the most-ever Scotties titles category? She shares that record with Colleen Jones and with her former long-time second, Jill Officer.
Jones certainly has a solid shot. She and her Winnipeg rink of Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine are the second-highest-ranked team in Canada, and they won the first Grand Slam of the season. They also finished second at the Scotties last year.
Nobody has been in more Scotties finals than Jones’ 10.
If the 49-year-old can win a seventh Scotties in her final appearance, it would be absolute poetry.
Team Einarson eyeing a record five
Another record-setting finish is also possible here, with defending champions Team Einarson attempting to win a fifth straight Scotties.
That’s absolutely bananas given the depth of field.
Skip Kerri Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Brianne Harris won the Scotties in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Only Colleen Jones and her team from Nova Scotia have won as many national titles in a row.
A fifth would be a record for Team Einarson, who’ll be Team Canada at the event since they’re defending champions. On the Grand Slam circuit, the Winnipeg-based team lost in a final and made two other semifinals this season.
Despite the lack of wins of late, it’s hard to bet against this squad, given their incredible roll here. They open Friday against Team Quebec, skipped by Laurie St-Georges.
Team Einarson is fuelled in part by the chance to make it five straight, and also by the goal of bettering their result at the world championship. They’ve won back-to-back bronze medals there.
The winner of the Scotties competes as Team Canada at the world championships in Sydney, NS, beginning March 16.
Editors Note (Feb. 16, 4:50 p.m. ET): Curling Canada has announced Team Einarson lead Briane Harris is ineligible to compete in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Read more.
Red hot Team Homan
No team in this field is having the success this season that Team Homan has enjoyed.
Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes won their 14th Grand Slam of Curling title in December, and their 15th last month, for back-to-back wins on the circuit.
Of the seven events they’ve played this season, Team Homan has reached six finals and won five titles. That’s incredible consistency, and up against the best in the world.
It’s the second season with the addition of Fleury, the former skip, at third, and there’s no question this team has found its rhythm.
Homan last won the Scotties in 2017, and lost in three straight finals from 2019-21.
Team Homan is ranked No. 1 in Canada, they’re due for a win here, and though this field is stacked with contenders, they’ve established that they’re the favourites.
Thunder Bay’s perennial contenders
Among those contenders is Team McCarville, though this Thunder Bay-based crew doesn’t present as a threat if you look at seeding and ranking. They’re No. 12 in this field and ranked 23rd in Canada.
And yet, Team McCarville has been on the podium at the last two Scotties, finishing third in 2023 and second in 2022.
After the disappointing bronze medal here last year, skip Krista McCarville and her long-time teammates Ashley Sippala, Sarah Potts and Kendra Lilly made a personnel change. They added veteran New Brunswick skip Andrea Kelly at third, and became a five-woman squad.
Kelly brings valuable experience with her, having skipped her team to a bronze medal finish here, and led NB to 10 Scotties in all.
Team McCarville won their opening event together to kick off this season, and then sealed their berth here with a win at a tough Northern Ontario provincial final.
All five women have full-time jobs, and they don’t tour with the other best teams in the world to boost their world ranking. Their focus is on this bonspiel.
“The grand total for this team, the goal, everything — we want to win the Scotties,” McCarville says. “That’s my hugest dream ever. It’s why we curl.”
Galusha’s Goodbye
This will be the last Scotties for Northwest Territories skip Kerry Galusha, who has played in this national final more than everyone aside from the Joneses.
Galusha will be making her 17th appearance here. The 46-year-old first appeared at the Scotties in 1998 as an alternate, back when NWT and the Yukon got one entry between the two territories. She debuted as a player in 2001, and this will be Galusha’s eighth straight appearance.
Galusha is her team’s skip, and throws lead stones, while Sarah Koltun throws second, Margot Flemming throws third, and Jo-Ann Rizzo throws fourth. Galusha’s brother Kevin Koe is the team’s coach.
Team NWT is ranked 19th in Canada and seeded 11th here, but shouldn’t be underestimated. Back in 2022, Galusha’s team went 5-3 in the round robin, then won a tiebreaker to become the first team solely representing NWT to qualify for the Scotties playoffs. They lost in their first game there, but Galusha was named a second-team all-star.
Last year, they went 4-4, good for fourth in Pool B and just shy of the playoffs.
They’re capable of making a run, and it would be pretty sweet if Galusha could go for one more in her finale.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.