The Tournament of Hearts kicks off curling's busy season
Einarson goes for 4th consecutive Canadian women's title
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When the Scotties Tournament of Hearts opens on Friday night, it will begin the hectic stretch of curling events we're accustomed to seeing this time of year. Here's a roadmap of what's coming up:
Tournament of Hearts (Feb. 17-26 in Kamloops, B.C.): Kerri Einarson is going for her fourth consecutive Canadian women's championship, which would tie her with Colleen Jones (2001-04) for the longest streak ever. The Team Canada skip's main challenger is Ontario's Rachel Homan, who's trying for her fourth title and first in six years. The sentimental favourite is Manitoba's Jennifer Jones, who's chasing a record seventh title in her 17th appearance. The 48-year-old has played in more Scotties than any skip except Colleen Jones, with whom she's tied for the titles record.
The Brier (March 3-12 in London, Ont.): History could also be made at the Canadian men's championship, where defending champ Brad Gushue and Alberta's Kevin Koe will both be going for a record fifth title after Gushue defeated Koe in the final last year. Koe beat Brendan Bottcher in the final of their provincial qualifier, but Bottcher still got into the Brier as a wild card. The 2021 champ and three-time runner-up remains a top contender.
Women's world championship (March 18-26 in Sweden): Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni is shooting for her fourth consecutive world title. Canada has won just two of the last 13 women's worlds, and none since Homan and Jennifer Jones captured back-to-back titles in 2017 and '18. Einarson took bronze last year.
Canadian mixed doubles championship (March 21-26 in Sudbury, Ont.): Once dismissed as a quirky sideshow, mixed doubles gained considerable credibility when it joined the Olympic program in 2018. The last time the Canadian championship was held, in 2021, Gushue and Einarson joined forces to win it while Bottcher and Jennifer Jones were among the other luminaries in the field.
Men's world championship (April 1-9 in Ottawa): Just like in the women's worlds, a non-Canadian has a stranglehold on this event. Sweden's Nik Edin has won four men's world championships in a row and an all-time-record six since 2013. He beat Gushue in the final last year to avenge his defeat to the Canadian in the 2017 gold-medal game. Edin's dominance of the men's worlds is just one signal of Canada's waning superiority in the sport. Though Canada's depth remains unmatched, it hasn't won a world or Olympic curling title in five years.
Mixed doubles world championship (April 22-29 in South Korea): Surprising fact: Canada has never won a mixed doubles world title. In fact, a Canadian duo has reached the gold-medal game just twice in the 14 times the tournament has been held. Now that mixed doubles is an Olympic sport, Canada is taking it more seriously. So perhaps the winner of the national championship in March will snap the world-title drought.
Grand Slam of Curling final two events (April 11-16 in Toronto, May 2-7 in Regina): Next up in the six-event series for top teams from around the world is the Players' Championship, where the winners of the Pinty's Cup will be decided based on the season-long standings. Edin and Gushue are currently the top two in the men's rankings, while Einarson has a sizable lead over Homan in the women's. After the Players' comes the season-ending Champions Cup, reserved for the winners of 12 key events on both the men's and women's side over the last two seasons.
Read a preview of the Tournament of Hearts here. Watch a new episode of That Curling Show tonight at 7 p.m. ET on the CBC Sports YouTube channel and the CBC Olympics Twitter and Facebook feeds. Hosts Devin Heroux and Colleen Jones will be previewing the Scotties with guests Kerri Einarson and Jennifer Jones and more.
