MISSISSAUGA — A large banner by the Paramount Fine Foods Centre entrance includes action shots of the headliners you’d expect at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Four-time national women’s champion Kerri Einarson is featured prominently. Beside her is two-time Olympic champion Kaitlyn Lawes.
Joining them is a skip – Christina Black of Halifax – who has emerged as a contender in a wide-open field that doesn’t include five-time champion Rachel Homan.
Riding high after a semifinal appearance last year and fresh off a run to the final of the recent Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, Black’s five-player side is a team to watch at the Jan. 23-Feb. 1 competition.
“That was an amazing, incredible experience at the Trials and (now we’re) just turning the focus to this,” Black said Friday afternoon after a team practice. “So it feels like we’re just rolling along from that moment and (now we’re) here.”
Boosted by a partisan crowd, Black upset Einarson in the semifinal last November in her hometown before falling to the top-ranked Homan in a best-of-three final.
In the opener, Black had a chance to score three for the win with her final shot but settled for a single. Homan, who won the Scotties the last two years, also took Game 2 and is now preparing for the upcoming Milan Cortina Olympics.
That means a new champion will emerge from an 18-team field that has plenty of new faces, some veteran squads and no clearcut favourite.
British Columbia’s Taylor Reese-Hansen, Manitoba’s Beth Peterson, Alberta’s Selena Sturmay and Northern Ontario’s Krista Scharf are also good bets to make it to the playoffs next weekend. Round-robin play began Friday night.
“We know we have a realistic shot at winning this, so that’s our plan,” Black said. “We want to find our way back into a (major) final and then turn these gold jerseys into red ones.”
Many top rinks are built with the quadrennial and Olympic qualification in mind. For others, the national championships are their North Star.
Black’s team of vice Jill Brothers and three-player front end of Karlee Everist, Jennifer Baxter and Marlee Powers would have loved to represent Canada at the Winter Games. But the Scotties is the event that’s circled in marker on their calendar.
“It’s what we grew up all wanting to play in, the Olympics wasn’t really a goal,” Black said. “Back when we were kids, it was about getting to a Scotties. So it’s always kind of been the big dream for all of us.”
With Homan out, Einarson is wearing Canada colours. Black, who will open against Nunavut on Saturday afternoon, picked up one of three pre-qualification spots along with Lawes (Manitoba) and Kayla Skrlik (Alberta).
Black didn’t have to compete in provincial playdowns this season, allowing a second Nova Scotia team – skipped by Taylour Stevens – to enter the field.
Other entries include Saskatchewan’s Jolene Campbell, Yukon’s Bayly Scoffin, Quebec’s Jolianne Fortin, P.E.I.’s Amanda Power, Ontario’s Hailey Armstrong, Nunavut’s Julia Weagle, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mackenzie Mitchell, New Brunswick’s Melodie Forsythe and Nicky Kaufman of the Northwest Territories.
“We’re not going to know what to expect from some of these teams,” Brothers said. “So it keeps it very exciting. And I’m always really glad to see when people get their first experience.”
The winning team will represent Canada at the March 14-22 world women’s curling championship in Calgary.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2026.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
