Let the buffalo hunt begin.
The most anticipated provincial curling championship is set to start Tuesday night in Gimli at the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
We’ve waited somewhat patiently for almost a year when the end of the previous Olympic cycle brought on a flurry (Fleury?) of team changes and exciting new lineups with Manitoba being the epicentre of all the action. Now we’ll finally see who will emerge as the Manitoba women’s champion and wear the coveted buffalo patch at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Also, Jennifer Jones will not defend the Manitoba crown as her team holds the Team Canada auto-berth spot as the reigning national champions, making provincials a bit more open without an incumbent in the field.
Here are teams to keep an eye on not only in Manitoba but also over in Alberta where another hotly contested provincial championship gets underway.
1st End: Team Einarson
Kerri Einarson emerged as the No. 1 seed for the Manitoba provincial championship and for good reason having won four World Curling Tour titles during a scorching five-week span shortly after the start of the season. Some may have had doubts the “all skip squad” could make it work, however, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Meilleur have all bought into their new roles and put their faith in Einarson as the leader.
They’re also ranked No. 2 on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) standings, so even if they don’t get out of Manitoba they’ll still have another shot to make it into nationals through the wildcard game, which is how Einarson earned her spot last season with her old squad. Given that provincials take place in Einarson’s hometown of Gimli, you can bet they prefer to win on home ice to guarantee their spot.
2nd End: Team Fleury
Fleury traded in her moose call for a buffalo one as the Sudbury, Ont., skip joined Einarson’s former teammates in East St. Paul, Man. As mentioned in the previous end, the ex-Einarson squad was the wildcard team at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts a year ago. They took home the silver medal while Fleury finished fourth with her Northern Ontario crew.
They’ve had an up and down season without any title wins, however, when they’re riding high they’re super solid as evident with their runner-up finish at the Tour Challenge. Fleury’s touch game is among the best in the business and provides the perfect contrast to Einarson’s hard-hitting style. The teams have faced off three times this season, all in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, with Fleury holding a 2-1 advantage.
3rd End: Team Robertson
You can never count out Winnipeg’s Darcy Robertson, who has had a career resurgence in recent years. Robertson has finished runner-up at the past two Manitoba provincial championships including a shocking 8-6 win over Jones in the 2017 semifinal.
Team Robertson has won two tour titles this season kicking off the campaign capturing the Goldline Icebreaker at the Granite in Winnipeg and the Colonial Square Ladies Classic in Saskatoon.
4th End: Team Flaxey
Skip Alli Flaxey returned to play in her home province this season although she’s still the import on the roster living in Caledon East, Ont. Third Kate Cameron and Lead Raunora Westcott were part of Michelle Englot’s Winnipeg-based team that won provincial playdowns in 2017 and finished runner-up at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts to Rachel Homan’s Ontario team. With Homan away at the Olympics last year, that allowed Team Englot to return in the Team Canada spot.
Team Flaxey won the DEKALB Superspiel and came in second at the Mother Club Fall Classic earlier this season with both events featuring a handful of teams they’ll run into again here at provincials and could give them an advantage.
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5th End: Team Scheidegger
Now shifting over to Alberta with their provincial women’s curling championship starting Wednesday in Stettler.
We’ll begin with defending champions Team Casey Scheidegger from Lethbridge. Team Scheidegger had the benefit this season of picking up where they left off without any lineup changes and came out of the gate strong winning the HDF Insurance Shoot-Out event in September.
Scheidegger looked to the Meridian Canadian Open earlier this month as a tune-up given that both that event and provincial playdowns feature triple knockout preliminary rounds. Team Scheidegger snuck into the Meridian Canadian Open playoffs by qualifying through the last-chance C Event before losing to eventual champ Homan in the quarterfinals.
6th End: Team Carey
Chelsea Carey’s Calgary club enters as the top-ranked Alberta team on the CTRS thanks to a title victory at the Canad Inns Women’s Classic plus a semifinal finish at the Canadian Beef Masters. Both those events occurred with substitutes at lead as Rachel Brown missed the first few months after having a baby.
Brown appears to be all caught up to speed now though as Team Carey was also a quarterfinalist at the Meridian Canadian Open qualify through the C Event. Carey started with a 0-2 record and showed resiliency grinding out three must-win victories in one day with their backs against the walls to advance to the playoffs.
7th End: Team Walker
Laura Walker’s team has improved from our mid-season evaluation rising above .500 with a 29-26 overall record. Like Team Scheidegger and Team Carey, Team Walker was also a quarterfinalist at the Meridian Canadian Open although without sounding like a broken record, Walker at least qualified one game earlier than the other two through the B Event.
The veteran experience on Team Walker will give them an edge here, especially third Cathy Overton-Clapham, who is a winner of five national championships and a world title.
8th End: Scotties Tournament of Hearts picture taking shape
The 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts runs Feb. 16-24 in Sydney, N.S., and the field is shaping up with some provincial playdowns already complete. Here are the winners so far plus dates for the rest.
Canada: Jennifer Jones
Alberta: Jan. 23-27
B.C.: Jan. 29 – Feb. 3
Manitoba: Jan. 22-27
New Brunswick: Jan. 22-27
Newfoundland & Labrador: Kelli Sharpe
Northern Ontario: Jan. 30 – Feb. 3
Nova Scotia: Jan. 21-27
Ontario: Jan. 27 – Feb. 3
P.E.I.: Suzanne Birt
Quebec: Gabrielle Lavoie
Saskatchewan: Jan. 22-27
Northwest Territories: Kerry Galusha
Nunavut: Jenine Bodner
Yukon: Nicole Baldwin
Wildcard: Feb. 15
Extra End: Watch on Sportsnet
Sportsnet will have 12 consecutive hours of live coverage featuring playoff action of the Manitoba and Alberta provincial women’s curling championships beginning Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.
Online streaming is also available at Sportsnet NOW.