TEAM LAWES WINS MANITOBA SCOTTIES

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Resby Coutts

Kaitlyn Lawes and her Fort Rouge team (Selena Njegovan, Jocelyn Peterman, Kristin McCuish, Coach Connor Njegovan) have won the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME.

Team Lawes jumped out to a 4-1 lead after three ends but Beth Peterson and her Assiniboine Memorial team fought back to tie 7-7 after eight. A Lawes deuce in the ninth end set the stage for a dramatic tenth when Peterson had a chance to draw through a narrow port to the four foot circle for a pair and a tie. She navigated the port but slid a few inches too deep and scored just a single and final 9-8 score in the Lawes victory.

The Lawes deuce on the ninth came on one of the finest shots of the event when Kaitlyn Lawes faced two and played a re-direct hit, just rubbing off a Peterson stone in the front of the eight foot circle and doubling out the second stone on the centre line in the back of the eight foot circle.

The Peterson team matched shots throughout the game with the #1 seed and CTRS #4 ranked Lawes team.

It continued a run which began when they qualified for the championship round with a 3W-2L round-robin record. They were the only team to win all three championship round games and then played a precision control game to win the semi-final over #2 seed Kate Cameron (Granite).

Team Lawes will represent Manitoba as Team Manitoba at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in February, joining Team Canada Kerri Einarson and CTRS #2 ranked Jennifer Jones as teams for Manitoba curling fans to cheer for.

LAWES, CAMERON LEAD SCOTTIES TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS WITH 6W-0L RECORD

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Resby Coutts

Six teams have advanced to the Championship Round of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME in Morden.

Kaitlyn Lawes (Fort Rouge) and Kate Cameron (Granite) solidified a hold on a Sunday playoff position by improving their perfect records to 6W-0L to lead the way.

Trailing by three after giving up a four-ender to Kate Cameron, Kristy Watling fought back to tie with a steal of two on the eight end. Watling made two great draws (red) behind a Cameron stone biting the front four foot circle and Cameron (yellow) slid by to give up the steal. It was not enough as Cameron took two back on the ninth end enroute to victory

Lawes defeated Zoey Terrick’s Heather team while Cameron was a winner over Kristy Watling, scoring a four on the sixth end for a three point lead and then scoring two on the ninth after Watling had tied the score. Terrick and Watling have 3W-3L records.

Beth Peterson (AMCC) pulled even with Jolene Campbell (AMCC) and both are in the playoff chase after Peterson’s evening win over her clubmate gave both a 4W-2L record.

The top three teams in each pool advanced from the preliminary round-robin to play each of the teams from the other pool. They carry their records forward and after the three game round, the top three will advance to a playoff round with the top team earning a bye to the Sunday afternoon final.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND STANDINGS: AFTER 1 GAME
6-0 Kaitlyn Lawes (Fort Rouge)
6-0 Kate Cameron (Granite)
4-2 Beth Peterson (AMCC)
4-2 Jolene Campbell (AMCC)
3-3 Kristy Watling (East St.Paul)
3-3 Zoey Terrick (Heather)

Earlier Friday to wrap up the round-robin, Kaitlyn Lawes (Fort Rouge), with a last round win over Beth Peterson (AMCC), and Kate Cameron (Granite), with a last rock draw to win 6-5 over Jolene Campbell (AMCC), topped their pools respectively. Zoey Terrick’s young Heather team had a last round win over Lisa McLeod to earn the third championship round spot behind Cameron and Campbell.

Behind Lawes in her pool, three teams were tied for second place with 3W-2L records. Beth Peterson (AMCC) and Kristy Watling (East St. Paul) advanced while Shaela Hayward’s U-18 Champions from Carman were outside looking in after the tiebreaker last stone draws tally was implemented.

FINAL ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS: ASHAM BLACK POOL
5-0 Kaitlyn Lawes (Fort Rouge)
3-2 Beth Peterson (AMCC)
3-2 Kristy Watling (East St.Paul)
3-2 Shaela Hayward (Carman) …. finish fourth in the pool on draw-to-button ranking
1-4 Emma Jensen (Heather)
0-5 Emily Cherwinski (AMCC)

FINAL ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS: ASHAM EXPRESS RED POOL
5-0 Kate Cameron (Granite)
4-1 Jolene Campbell (AMCC)
3-2 Zoey Terrick (Heather)
2-3 Lisa McLeod (Portage)
1-4 Tiffany Armstrong (Dauphin)
0-5 Rachel Kaatz (AMCC)

THREE STILL UNDEFEATED AT MANITOBA SCOTTIES TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Resby Coutts

Three teams remain undefeated after two days of play at the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME in Morden.

Shaela Hayward’s U-18 Manitoba champions have gained great experience this week at the Scotties. At the same time, the young team is within a win of advancing tot he next round of play at the Scotties – an impressive first appearance at this level.

The top three seeds, Kaitlyn Lawes (Fort Rouge), Kate Cameron (Granite), and Jolene Campbell (Assiniboine Memorial) all won their two games on Thursday to improve their records to 4W-0L. The three are assured of being among the six teams who will advance beyond the preliminary round-robin.

Behind Lawes in the Asham Black pool are Beth Peterson (AMCC) with a 3W-1L record and Kristy Watling (East St. Paul) and Shaela Hayward (Carman), both with 2W-2L records.

Behind Cameron and Campbell in the Asham Express Red pool are Zoey Terrick (Heather) and Lisa McLeod (Portage), also both with 2W-2L records.

Based on the results in the final round of play Friday morning, two of Peterson, Watling and Hayward will advance to the next round and either Terrick or McLeod will advance.

The top three teams from each pool carry their round-robin records forward and play three more games, against the three teams from the other pool. If needed, a single tiebreaker game will be played Saturday evening. The Sunday playoff round will feature the second and third place teams facing off with the winner advancing to play the first place team.

ASHAM BLACK POOL STANDINGS:
4-0 Kaitlyn Lawes (Fort Rouge)

3-1 Beth Peterson (AMCC)

2-2 Shaela Hayward (Carman)

2-2 Kristy Watling (East St.Paul)

1-3 Emma Jensen (Heather)

0-4 Emily Cherwinski (AMCC)

ASHAM EXPRESS RED POOL STANDINGS:

4-0 Kate Cameron (Granite)

4-0 Jolene Campbell (AMCC)

2-2 Lisa McLeod (Portage)

2-2 Zoey Terrick (Heather)

0-4 Rachel Kaatz (AMCC)

0-4 Tiffany Armstrong (Dauphin)

TOP THREE SEEDS WIN TWO TO LEAD SCOTTIES AFTER DAY ONE

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Resby Coutts

Only three teams survived the opening day with two wins at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME in Morden’s Access Event Centre.

First seed Kaitlyn Lawes and her Fort Rouge team is the only unbeaten team in the six-team Asham Black Group. In the Asham Express Red Group, #2 seed Kate Cameron (Granite) and #3 Jolene Campbell (Assiniboine Memorial) both won their opening day pair of games.

It was a bold first end attempt by Kate Cameron – playing an outside-in attempt to bump her own rock and roll on for a pair. The shot over-curled and stopped in the rings for a single point but it set the tone. A deuce on the 3rd end and two more on the 7th gave the Cameron foursome a 7-4 win and their second win of the day.

Fourth seeded Beth Peterson (Assiniboine Memorial) and fifth seeded Kristy Watling (East St. Paul opened with wins but lost their second games of the day. Watling lost to Lawes while Peterson lost to Manitoba’s U-18 champions, the Shaela Hayward team from Carman.

With Lawes in the Black pool are four teams with a win and a loss and one team with a pair of opening day losses.

2-0 Kaitlyn Lawes (Fort Rouge)
1-1 Shaela Hayward (Carman)
1-1 Beth Peterson (AMCC)
1-1 Kristy Watling (East St.Paul)
1-1 Emma Jensen (Heather)
0-2 Emily Cherwinski (AMCC)

The Red pool split equally on the first day of play with two teams each at 2W-0L, 1W-1L, and 0W-2L.

2-0 Kate Cameron (Granite)
2-0 Jolene Campbell (AMCC)
1-1 Lisa McLeod (Portage)
1-1 Zoey Terrick (Heather)
0-2 Rachel Kaatz (AMCC)
0-2 Tiffany Armstrong (Dauphin)

TEAM LAWES NAMED TOP SEED FOR 2024 MANITOBA SCOTTIES IN MORDEN

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Resby Coutts

(CurlManitoba Release) Five of the top twenty teams on the Women’s Canadian Team Rankings (CTRS) will compete in the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME in Morden in late January. The five have been named the top five seeds in the championship.

The top seed status has been assigned, by the other competitors in the event, to Kaitlyn Lawes (Selena Njegovan, Jocelyn Peterman, Kristin MacCuish). Currently ranked CTRS #4, Lawes and her Fort Rouge team finished second in the preliminary rounds a year ago with a 7W-1L record but lost the semi-final to Abby Ackland. Team Lawes has a finalist finish and four semi-final appearances in eight events this season.

The second seed is CTRS #8, Kate Cameron (Meghan Walter, Taylor McDonald, Mackenzie Elias). Walter and Elias were half of the Ackland Scotties playoff team a year ago. The new team has played 11 events this season with two semi-finalist and a finalist finish along with qualifying once and losing a pair of qualifying games. The East St. Paul team also won the season-opening icebreaker event in Morris.

The third seed is CTRS #9 Jolene Campbell who returns to the Manitoba Scotties after a disappointing first appearance a year ago with Chelsea Carey. She and teammate Rachel Erickson have joined forces with Abby Ackland and Sara Oliver, the other half of last year’s finalist team. The Assiniboine Memorial team won the early season MCT Shootout in Selkirk and lost two finals, a semi-final, and two quarterfinals in seven total events.

The #4 & #5 seed positions go respectively to CTRS #14 Beth Peterson (Jenna Loder, Katherine Doerksen, Melissa Kurz, Kelsey Rocque) and CTRS #20 Kristy Watling (Laura Burtnyk, Emily Deschenes, Sarah Pyke). Peterson’s Assiniboine Memorial team had a 5W-3L record a year ago. Results in seven events this season include victory in the September MCT Challenge at St. Vital. Watling and her East St. Paul team won the Scotties berth bonspiel and a strong local bonspiel showing placed them at the top of the MCT rankings.

Two other Manitoba teams, also ranked in the top three of the Canadian Team Rankings, have already qualified for the national Scotties in Calgary in February. Kerri Einarson’s defending champions currently occupy the CTRS #3 spot while wild-card entry Jennifer Jones is currently CTRS #2.

Note that the CTRS rankings detailed above are current as of January 1, 2024 and are subject to change.

Depending upon results across the country, Manitoba could also be in line to pick up an additional wild-card entry at the national Scotties. The Nunavut berth was recently declared vacant and as a result one more team will be declared from the CTRS rankings, with provincial results taken into the calculation.

A complete team list for the 12-team championship, and the preliminary round draw, are attached.

NUNAVUT WITHDRAWAL CREATES SCOTTIES BERTH OPPORTUNITY

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Resby Coutts

(Curling Canada Release) The Nunavut Curling Association has informed Curling Canada that it will not be sending a team to Calgary for the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

The 18-team event, set for Feb. 16-25 at the WinSport Event Centre in Calgary, will be filled out instead by a fourth Canadian Team Ranking System-qualified team.

Two teams — skipped by Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg) and Rachel Homan (Ottawa) — have already been declared based on CTRS standings, alongside defending champions Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man.

One more was to be declared at the conclusion of provincial and territorial championships — the highest team in the standings that didn’t qualify through its provincial or territorial championship.

Now, the highest two teams in the standings that didn’t qualify will earn trips to Calgary for the Canadian women’s curling championship.

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(Editor note) If the decision was made based on standings as of January 8 – that extra spot would be awarded to Kaitlyn Lawes; who sits at CTRS #4 behind Rachel Homan (#1), Jennifer Jones (#2) and Kerri Einarson (#3) – all pre-qualified for the Scotties.

It is important to note, however, that results of the provincial/territorial championships will also be taken into account.

Objective #1 for Team Lawes must be, of course, to win the Manitoba entry and avoid the discussion. Objective #2 must be to finish well enough that teams immediately behind don’t overtake them. Those teams are Selena Sturmay-AB (#5), Corryn Brown-BC (#6), and Danielle Inglis-ON (#7).

Immediately behind are Manitoba teams skipped by Kate Cameron (#8) and Jolene Campbell (#9). Those two teams could win the Manitoba championship berth but they could also earn that newly-available wildcard entry if Lawes, Sturmay, Brown and Inglis all won their respective provincials.

PILOT MOUND TO HOST 2025 MANITOBA WOMEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Resby Coutts

(CurlManitoba Release) With qualifying for the 2024 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts completed earlier this month, CurlManitoba has announced plans to stage the 2025 championship in Pilot Mound’s Millennium Recreation Complex.

The Pilot Mound host committee, chaired by Jackie McCannell, will be particularly interested in the 2024 event as the champion will become the first team to qualify for what will be the first Manitoba curling championship ever staged in the south-central Manitoba community.

“The Manitoba championship’s new 12-team format has given us the opportunity to bring the event to new communities which have never hosted before. We are pleased to be adding Pilot Mound to the list of Manitoba towns hosting one of our arena championships for the first time,” says CurlManitoba Executive Director Craig Baker.

“It is special to give curling fans in this great curling community a chance to watch their favorite sport in an arena setting close to home.”

The Manitoba Women’s Championship presented by RME will take place in Pilot Mound, January 21-26, 2025.

Speaking on behalf of the host committee, Co-Chair Jackie McCannell says she is looking forward to the excitement the announcement is going to create in the Pilot Mound Curling Club and in the extended community.

“From experience attending other events and talking with organizers in other communities, we know that hosting the championships provides benefits beyond the curling club,” McCannell says.

‘We know there are many curling fans who are no longer active curlers, and many community supporters who may not even be curlers or curling fans. Working together to stage a successful event is important for community image and community pride. We are eager to get started on the preparations.”

Pilot Mound’s arena joins East St. Paul (2023), Carberry (2022), Rivers (2019), Eric Coy-Charleswood (2017), and Winkler (2015) arenas as first-time arena championship host venues in the past nine years. There was no championship due to Covid in 2021. The 2018 event was the second hosted by Gimli. Beausejour, which hosted in 2016, had previously hosted a provincial men’s championship in their arena.

The 2024 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME will take place January 23-28, 2024 in Morden.

REGIONAL SCOTTIES PLAYOFFS THIS WEEKEND

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Resby Coutts

Team Jones is pre-qualified for the national Scotties so will not be competing in the provincial Scotties in Morden

Six teams repping three Winnipeg clubs will compete in Winnipeg regional Scotties playoffs at Deer Lodge this weekend. They will be playing for one of four available entries into the provincial Scotties in Morden.

Elsewhere in the province 2 teams will be playing in Clearwater for a berth. Two more will play in Dauphin for the sixth available berth this weekend.

As in the men’s championship, the provincial champions berth in Morden was vacated when the Jennifer Jones team was named as a pre-qualified team in the national Scotties. Entries into the Morden event have already been awarded to:
** Kristy Watling (Berth Spiel)
** Kaitlyn Lawes (CTRS)
** Beth Peterson (CTRS)
** Kate Cameron (CTRS)
** Jolene Campbell (MCT)
** Lisa McLeod (MCT)

JONES & HOMAN JOIN EINARSON WITH 2024 NATIONAL SCOTTIES ENTRIES

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Resby Coutts

A change for Curling Canada Scotties qualifying is good for the teams and for the national events/Curling Canada being able to promote name teams almost a year in advance. Not so good for provincial championship events, specifically the 2024 Scotties in Morden. They lost Team Einarson as an attraction when the Gimli four repeated as national champion. Now they have lost Team Jones (confirmed today, see below) and the local attraction of her young teammates who represented Altona for many years. It was proposed nearly a decade ago and has been inevitable for a few years – that the CTRS teams should be removed from the pool before provincial play. The argument then was that they were an important attraction to fans in the provincial event. The argument now may be that with Einarson and Jones teams both absent, there may in fact be more teams interested in playing at the provincial level.

(Curling Canada Release) Three of the 18 teams that will play at the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts next February in Calgary have been confirmed.

Four-time defending champions Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., clinched the first berth into the 2024 Scotties, set for Feb. 16-25 at the WinSport Event Centre in Calgary, by capturing the 2023 Scotties title earlier this year in Kamloops, B.C. Today, Curling Canada confirmed that Team Rachel Homan of Ottawa and Team Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg will be part of the 2024 Scotties field as pre-qualified teams based on their 2022-23 Canadian Team Ranking System performance.

It will be the first time three teams have pre-qualified for the Scotties this far in advance of the event. The changes to the qualifying for the Scotties and Brier, as well as the Canadian Curling Trials, were announced in April.

Team Homan — the team is rounded out by vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes — finished second in the CTRS this past season thanks to a pair of victories on the Pinty’s Grand Slam circuit — the Hearing Life Tour Challenge in Grande Prairie, Alta., and the Kioti Tractor Champions Cup in Regina — and posted a 50-17 record overall.

Team Jones — with third Karlee Burgess and front-enders Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine — was third in the CTRS standings. Team Jones, representing Manitoba, captured the silver medal at the 2023 Scotties and also won the inaugural PointsBet Invitational last September in Fredericton, N.B. Team Jones finished the 2022-23 season with a 68-35 record.

There will be a fourth pre-qualified team for the 2024 Scotties in Calgary as the top non-qualified team on the 2023-24 CTRS standings at the conclusion of the provincial and territorial playdowns will earn a trip to Calgary.

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TICKETS & INFORMATION:

Tickets are available online through Ticketmaster at curling.ca/tickets. All ticket inquiries should be sent to scottiestickets@curling.ca or by phone at 587-885-0953.

EINARSON’S TEAM CANADA WINS ALL-MANITOBA SCOTTIES FINAL

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Resby Coutts

TEAM CANADA -Kerri Einarson, Val Sweeting, Shannon Bichard, Brianne Harris, Krysten Karwacki, Coach Reid Carruthers defeated Jennifer Jones’ Team Manitoba in the 2023 Scotties final. It was a remarkable fourth win in a row for the Einarson foursome.

(Friday, February 17) FOUR TEAMS MANITOBA IN NATIONAL SCOTTIES Good luck to all four of the Manitoba teams playing this week in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Play began Friday evening with Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada winning 11-8 over Quebec and Kaitlyn Lawes’ Wild Card team coming from behind to beat Alberta 8-5. Lawes plays Nova Scotia and Einarson takes on British Columbia on the last draw Saturday.

Jennifer Jones’ Team Manitoba plays Northern Ontario and Meghan Walter’s Wild Card Manitoba team plays the the Alberta Wild Cards (Casey Scheidegger) on the afternoon draw.

The first Manitoba meeting is between Jones & Walter on the Sunday morning draw. Einarson and Lawes face off on Sunday afternoon.