Six teams — three women’s, three men’s — that will be granted entry into the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier, presented by AGI, have confirmed their participation in the events, it was announced today by Curling Canada.
The Wild Card teams were determined based on their standing on the 2019-20 Canadian Team Ranking System, and were officially decided on the weekend when Suzanne Birt captured her 12th Prince Edward Island women’s championship.
To claim a Wild Card berth, three of the four players who compiled the points during the 2019-20 season must still be with the team.
On the women’s side, the Wild Card teams will be Team Tracy Fleury (East St. Paul, Man.), reigning Canadian and world junior women’s champion Team Mackenzie Zacharias (Altona, Man.) and Team Beth Peterson (Winnipeg).
On the men’s side, the Wild Card teams will be Team Mike McEwen (Winnipeg), Team Kevin Koe (Calgary) and Team Glenn Howard (Toronto).
Koe will be attempting to make history in Calgary has the first skip to win five Tim Hortons Brier titles; he’s currently tied with Kevin Martin, Ernie Richardson and Randy Ferbey with four apiece.
Both Canadian championship events will be played behind closed doors with no fans in attendance at the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.
All 18 teams that will compete in the Scotties — scheduled for Feb. 19-28 — are now known:
- Team Canada — Team Kerri Einarson (Gimli, Man.)
- British Columbia — Team Corryn Brown (Kamloops)
- Alberta — Team Laura Walker (Edmonton)
- Saskatchewan — Team Sherri Anderson (Saskatoon)
- Manitoba — Team Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg)
- Ontario — Team Rachel Homan (Ottawa)
- Northern Ontario — Team Krysta Burns (Sudbury)
- Quebec — Team Laurie St-Georges (Laval-sur-le-Lac/Glenmore/
Laval)) - Nova Scotia — Team Jill Brothers (Halifax)
- New Brunswick — Team Melissa Adams (Fredericton)
- Prince Edward Island — Team Suzanne Birt (Montague)
- Newfoundland/Labrador — Team Sarah Hill (St. John’s)
- Northwest Territories — Team Kerry Galusha (Yellowknife)
- Yukon — Team Laura Eby (Whitehorse)
- Nunavut — Team Lori Eddy (Iqaluit)
- Wild Card 1 — Team Tracy Fleury (East St. Paul, Man.)
- Wild Card 2 — Team Mackenzie Zacharias (Altona, Man.)
- Wild Card 3 — Team Beth Peterson (Winnipeg)
The field for the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier is expected to be announced later this week once all teams have been confirmed.
The 18 teams will be split into two nine-team pools (seedings based on their standing in the 2019-20 Canadian Team Ranking System) for both championships. The final formats and draw schedules will be announced later this month.
TSN/RDS, the official broadcaster of Curling Canada’s Season of Champions, will once again have comprehensive coverage of both the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the Tim Hortons Brier.