A capsule look at the 2023 Canadian women’s curling championship field

By Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press on February 16, 2023.

A capsule look at the 18 teams competing in the 2023 Canadian women’s curling championship Feb. 17-26 in Kamloops, B.C.

Teams listed by seeding in their pools, athletes from skip to lead

POOL A

Canada

Kerri Einarson, Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard, Briane Harris (Gimli Curling Club).

Einarson’s Manitoban team can become the first since Colleen Jones (2001-2004) and only the second in history to win four consecutive national women’s curling championships. Unlike Jennifer Jones and Rachel Homan in the Big Three of Canadian women’s curling, Einarson’s lineup is unchanged this year.

Wild Card 1

Kaitlyn Lawes, Laura Walker, Jocelyn Peterman, Kristin MacCuish (Fort Rouge Curling Club, Winnipeg).

Jennifer Jones’ longtime vice Lawes, an Olympic gold medallist in both women’s team and mixed doubles, makes her Scotties Tournament of Hearts debut as a skip. Regular third Selena Njegovan is expecting a baby in March, so experienced skip Walker draws in at third.

B.C.

Clancy Grandy, Kayla MacMillan, Lindsay Dubue, Sarah Loken (Vancouver Curling Club).

Grandy’s team was new this season after the skip’s move from Ontario to B.C. Grandy’s previous Hearts experience is limited to one end as an alternate in Calgary’s bubble in 2021, although she’s played mixed doubles at the national level. Her teammates are Hearts rookies.

Nova Scotia

Christina Black, Jenn Baxter, Karlee Everist, Shelley Barker (Dartmouth Curling Club).

Black reached the playoffs and lost in the championship round semifinals in her skipping debut last year in Thunder Bay, Ont. She brings the same team to Kamloops.

Alberta

Kayla Skrlik, Brittany Tran, Geri-Lynn Ramsay, Ashton Skrlik (Garrison Curling Club, Calgary).

The Skrlik sisters make their Hearts debuts. Ramsay played for P.E.I. in 2010 and Tran for both Northwest Territories (2019) and for a wild-card team (2021). Kayla Skrlik’s tricky double takeout for the win over Casey Scheidegger in Alberta’s final is an indicator she can handle pressure shots.

Prince Edward Island

Suzanne Birt, Marie Christianson, Michelle Shea, Meaghan Hughes (Cornwall Curling Club).

Birt returns for a 14th Hearts with a tweak in the lineup. She throws fourth stones, but Christianson calls the shots at vice. Birt reached the championship round in 2019.

Saskatchewan

Robyn Silvernagle, Kelly Schafer, Sherry Just, Kara Thevenot (Twin Rivers Curling Club, North Battleford).

Silvernagle cobbled a team together just before playdowns and reached the provincial championship via a last-chance qualifier. She skipped Saskatchewan to third in 2019 and reached the championship pool in 2020.

Quebec

Laurie St-Georges, Alanna Routledge, Emily Riley, Kelly Middaugh (Laval-Sur-Le-Lac and Glenmore curling clubs, Montreal).

St-Georges returns to a third straight Hearts a provincial champion for the first time. Her teams were hand-picked for the last two because of COVID-19 restrictions in Quebec. St-George and Riley won the Canadian mixed championship with skip Félix Asselin in November. Middaugh is the daughter of decorated Ontario curlers Wayne and Sherry Middaugh.

Nunavut

Brigitte MacPhail, Sadie Pinksen, Kaitlin MacDonald, Alison Taylor (Iqaluit Curling Club).

MacPhail went 0-8 in Thunder Bay last year. Pinksen is the most experienced in national women’s championships competing in her fifth in Kamloops.

POOL B

Ontario

Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew, Sarah Wilkes (Ottawa Curling Club).

Three-time national champion Homan returns with a revamped lineup. Longtime vice Miskew shifted to second to add Fleury throwing third stones and calling shots, and Homan throwing fourth stones. Homan’s lineup may be altered, but packs a lot of big-game experience. They’re coached by decorated veteran curler Glenn Howard.

Manitoba

Jennifer Jones, Karlee Burgess, Mackenzie Zacharias, Lauren Lenentine, Emily Zacharias (St. Vital, Winnipeg, and Altona curling clubs).

Six-time champion Jones employs a five-curler rotation with teammates all under the age of 25. Emily Zacharias and Lenentine swap in and out at lead. Vice Mackenzie Zacharias skips when Jones takes a breather, but otherwise throws second stones. No woman has won seven national women’s championships. Jones could be the first.

Wild Card 2

Casey Scheidegger, Kate Cameron, Jessie Haughian, Taylor McDonald (Lethbridge Curling Club).

Scheidegger’s teams made the playoffs in 2019 to finish fifth and were just outside the playoffs in 2018. She also brings the experience of skipping in two Olympic trials. Both Scheidegger and her sister Jessie will curl pregnant with June due dates.

Wild Card 3

Meghan Walter, Abby Ackland, Sara Oliver, Mackenzie Elias (East St. Paul Curling Club).

Ackland handed the skipping and fourth-stone reins to 20-year-old Walter midway through the season. They upset Lawes in Manitoba’s semifinal before falling 10-5 to Jones. The four women will make their Hearts debuts.

New Brunswick

Andrea Kelly, Sylvie Quillian, Jill Brothers, Katie Forward (Capital Winter Club, Fredericton).

Kelly was Andrea Crawford last year when she skipped New Brunswick to the playoffs and a bronze medal in Thunder Bay. She returns with the same foursome and brings the experience of throwing fourth stones for her province in 10 previous Hearts.

Northwest Territories

Kerry Galusha, Jo-Ann Rizzo, Sarah Koltun, Margot Flemming (Yellowknife Curling Club).

Galusha skipped the first all-N. W. T. team to make the playoffs last year in Thunder Bay. The skip is back for her 16th Hearts. Her team’s performance may factor into whether Galusha, who throws lead stones, retires or not after this season.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Stacie Curtis, Erica Curtis, Julie Hynes, Camille Burt (St. John’s Curling Club).

Curtis returns after skipping her province at the Hearts three straight years from 2016 to 2018 and five times overall (2011, 2013). Her best record was 5-6 in 2017.

Northern Ontario

Krista McCarville, Kendra Lilly, Ashley Sippala, Sarah Potts (Fort William Curling Club, Thunder Bay).

A perennial playoff team, few lineups have stayed together as long as McCarville’s. Her team reached last year’s final in her hometown, but lost 9-6 to Einarson. McCarville was also a finalist in 2016.

Yukon

Hailey Birnie, Chelsea Jarvis, Kerry Campbell, Kimberly Tuor (Whitehorse Curling Club).

Unlike her male counterparts, Birnie was uncontested for Yukon’s territorial championship. She’s still looking for her first victory as skip after winless Hearts in 2020 and 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2023.

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