Everything you need to know about the 2025 Scotties: Lineups, curlers and the skinny for each rink

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Are you ready to rock ’n’ roll, Canada? The parade of national team curling final are on the horizon.

And it begins Friday with the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Here’s the lineup, the stars and the skinny on all the rinks in shining pursuit of the Canadian women’s curling championship.

• Alberta (Garrison Curling Club, Calgary) — Kayla Skrlik (skip), Margot Flemming (third), Ashton Skrlik (second), Geri-Lynn Ramsay (lead), Crystal Rumberg (alternate), Shannon Kleibrink (coach)

The skinny: Team Skrlik, the Alberta champ, is primed to prove its maiden voyage at the Scotties two years back was no fluke. The 2023 Alberta queens finished with a solid 4-4 record in the robin robin, but fell shy of earning a playoff spot. The idea Skrlik & Co. can be better in 2025 is backed by a tremendous season, highlighted by a third-place finish in the CTRS. Only super teams Rachel Homan and Kerri Einarson secured more points.

• Alberta (Saville Curling Centre, Edmonton) — Selena Sturmay (skip), Danielle Schmiemann (third), Dezaray Hawes (second), Paige Papley (lead) and Ted Appelman (coach)

The skinny: See above but with even more to prove than their Alberta counterparts after finishing with a spectacular 7-1 round-robin record for first place ahead of Einarson in Pool A of last year’s Scotties. Team Sturmay, the 2024 Alberta champ and darlings of the 2024 Calgary-hosted Scotties, won this year’s spot through CTRS merit after Karlee Burgess’ early January departure from Team Carey disqualified it from accepting a pre-qualifier berth.

• B.C. (Kamloops CC) — Corryn Brown (skip), Erin Pincott (third), Sarah Koltun (second), Samantha Fisher (lead), Kristen Ryan (alternate), Jim Cotter (coach)

The skinny: Brown enters her fourth Scotties in the past six years, making her a usual suspect in the chase for the national championship. Last winter, Team Brown was in the mix for a playoff spot after a strong round robin, but the five-team tiebreaker of 4-4 teams for the final playoff spot in Pool A went to Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes. To help boost her chances this year, Brown brought in nine-time Yukon/Northwest Territories Scotties veteran Sarah Koltun at second.

• Canada (Ottawa CC) — Rachel Homan (skip), Tracy Fleury (third), Emma Miskew (second), Sarah Wilkes (lead), Rachelle Brown (alternate), Jennifer Jones (coach)

The skinny: What more is needed to be said about Team Homan, the defending national champion, reigning world champ and juggernaut of the past two curling seasons? After last year’s 67-7 performance, Homan and her decorated crew have amassed a stunning 45-4 record, which included a 26-game winning streak stopped in the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters. They also lost that GSOC final, which might well motivate the favourite Homan even more to win a fifth Scotties. It doesn’t hurt that she added legend Jennifer Jones — the woman she defeated in last year’s final — as coach earlier this week.

• Manitoba (Heather CC, Winnipeg) — Kate Cameron (skip), Taylor McDonald (third), Brianna Cullen (second), Mackenzie Elias (lead), TBD (alternate), Glenn Howard (coach)

The skinny: It’s a different lineup than what Cameron earned eyebrow-raising bronze medals with at last year’s Scotties. McDonald, who was on maternity leave for the 2024 finale, bumped up to third with Meghan Walter taking a break to focus on her studies, and Cullen slotted in at second. Cameron’s third-place showing a year ago proved she can skip at the elite level and that success has carried over in 2024-25 making the two-time reigning Manitoba queen a contender again.

• Manitoba (Gimli CC) — Kerri Einarson (skip), Val Sweeting (third), Karlee Burgess (second), Krysten Karwacki (lead), Lauren Lenentine (alternate), Reid Carruthers (coach)

The skinny: It has been a tumultuous year off the ice for Einarson & Co. The four-time Scotties champs lost lead Briane Harris to a controversial drug suspension that was just resolved and second Shannon Birchard to an undiagnosed knee injury, forcing them to make difficult decisions and altering a front end that has been among the world’s best. But with a focus now solely on the Scotties, they are right there among faves and just two years removed from winning four straight crowns.

• Manitoba (Fort Rouge CC, Winnipeg) — Kaitlyn Lawes (skip), Selena Njegovan (third), Jocelyn Peterman (second), Kristin Gordon (lead), Becca Hebert (alternate), Connor Njegovan (coach)

The skinny: Lawes returns a decorated lineup that is considered by many to be on the cusp of earning national glory. But the Winnipeg rink, in its third Scotties together, has to improve on back-to-back appearances that saw them finish 5-3 with a tiebreaker exit two years ago and 4-4 with a first playoff-game loss last winter. Rising up from the mushy middle of the round robin would be the key step for Team Lawes in taking its game to the championship level.

• New Brunswick (Capital Winter Club, Fredericton) — Melissa Adams (skip), Jaclyn Crandall (third), Kayla Russell (second), Kendra Lister (lead), Molli Ward (alternate) and Alex Robichaud (coach)

The skinny: With Andrea Kelly now playing third for Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville, New Brunswick undoubtedly is Adams’ territory. So the 47-year-skip and now six-time Scotties combatant is back with the same lineup as last year when she repped the province. The hope is Team Adams learned enough from last winter’s 2-6 performance in Calgary to stage a push forward and become a surprise story — like Kelly did in 2022 for New Brunswick — at the Scotties.

• Newfoundland and Labrador (RE/MAX Centre/St. John’s CC) — Brooke Godsland (skip), Erin Porter (third), Sarah McNeil Lamswood (second), Camille Burt (lead), Kate Paterson (alternate), Cory Schuh (coach)

The skinny: Team Godsland is the surprise among provincial winners, earning Newfoundland and Labrador honours over championship veterans Stacie Curtis and Sarah Boland (Hill). That said, little-known Godsland sports third Porter — making her sixth Scotties appearance — and lead Camille Burt — making her third Scotties visit after curling with Curtis the past two years at the national final. So Godsland has experienced help to lean on as one of two first-time skips in the field.

• Northern Ontario (Fort William CC, Thunder Bay) — Krista McCarville (skip), Andrea Kelly (third), Ashley Sippala (second), Kendra Lilly (lead), Sarah Potts (alternate), Rick Lang (coach)

The skinny: Uh-oh! With the Scotties in Thunder Bay just as they were in 2022, McCarville is a serious contender — just as they were in 2022. Home cooking during the pandemic gave Team McCarville a boost in making the final, in which it lost to Einarson. But even without T-Bay-area support, McCarville is always an under-the-radar threat, as a 12-time Scotties contestant and three-time medallist, with a rink — Sippala, Lilly and Potts have been with her for five years — that is as cohesive as any.

• Northwest Territories (Yellowknife CC) — Kerry Galusha (skip), Megan Koehler (third), Sydney Galusha (second), Shona Barbour (lead), Ella Skauge (alternate), Amber Holland (coach)

The skinny: The curler most likely to return year after year to the Scotties is Galusha, one seasoned skip. The 47-year-old has 22 visits in her pocket, including now earning her way 19 of the past 21 winters. And it’s fun when Galusha makes a run at the Scotties — like she did last time in T-Bay, with a 5-3 record and a tiebreaker win — to give curling a lift back home. This year, she’s working with an entirely new crew from the past five years in pursuit of at least another playoff appearance.

• Nova Scotia (Halifax CC) — Christina Black (skip), Jillian Brothers (third), Jennifer Baxter (second), Karlee Everist (lead), Marlee Powers (alternate), Stuart MacLean (coach)

The skinny — If you can’t beat ’em, ask ’em to join? Is that the case with Black bringing aboard Brothers to successfully return to the Scotties after losing to Brothers the year before in the provincial finale? Whatever the case, it has worked to give Black a sixth Scotties shot — including her fifth in eight winters — and Brothers her eighth trip to the national final, including her fifth in seven years. Together, a repeat of Black’s 5-3 playoff-worthy marks in both 2022 and ’23 seem probable.

• Nunavut (Iqaluit CC) — Julia Weagle (skip), Sadie Pinksen (vice, third), Leigh Gustafson (second), Alison Taylor (lead), Colin Hodgson (coach)

The skinny — A year after the territory was without representation at the Scotties, a new face with a familiar name puts on Nunavut colours for the national championship. Weagle, 36, is the younger sister of decorated Quebec lead Lisa and opted to take up the challenge of skipping Nunavut’s ninth-ever provincial rep at the women’s nationals. It’s her first Scotties, but teammates Pinksen and Taylor were part of Brigitte MacPhail’s Nunavut squad for the 2023 and ’22 editions.

• Ontario (Ottawa Hunt Club) — Danielle Inglis (skip), Kira Brunton (vice-skip), Calissa Daly (second), Cassandra de Groot (lead), Kimberly Tuck (alternate), Steve Acorn (coach)

The skinny — Homan’s success as a pre-qualifier is Inglis’ opportunity in Ontario for a second straight Scotties. Before last year, the 36-year-old Inglis was a two-time alternate — including in 2021 for Homan — at the finale, but now she makes her second straight appearance at the nationals as a skip. In looking to improve on a 3-5 debut last winter, Inglis returns the same crew as in Calgary buoyed by another strong year in the CTRS standings. Will that translate into even half of Homan’s success for her home city and province?

• Prince Edward Island (Crapaud CC) — Jane DiCarlo (skip), Veronica Mayne (fourth), Sabrina Smith (second), Whitney Jenkins (lead), Jenny White (alternate), Kathy O’Rourke (coach)

The skinny — DiCarlo & Co. make up one of a half-dozen rinks earning their second-straight visit to the Scotties after their debut last year. The only winless team last winter in Calgary, it hopes to rise to the lofty heights achieved by fellow first-timers Sturmay and Cameron, who both were playoff teams a year ago. But that means a big turnaround for a crew amid outstanding opposition, so it’s important the PEI rep has maintained continuity with the same lineup for a second straight season.

• Quebec (Glenmore/Laval-sur-le-Lac/Laval CCs) — Laurie St-Georges (skip), Jamie Sinclair (third), Emily Riley (second), Lisa Weagle (lead), Francois Roberge (coach)

The skinny — St-Georges has carved out a curling empire for herself in Quebec, earning the honours to represent the province at the national finale from 2021 through this year — and counting. Twice — in ’21, with a 6-2 record, and in ’23, with a 5-3 mark — she has made the playoffs, giving the 2022 Canadian mixed champ legitimacy in a bid to become a first-time Scotties queen. Bringing in world and two-time Olympic lead Lisa Weagle — one of the best in the biz — should boost those hopes.

• Saskatchewan (Nutana CC, Saskatoon) — Nancy Martin (skip), Chaelynn Stewart (third), Kadriana Lott (second), Deanna Doig (lead), Colleen Ackerman (alternate), Sherry Anderson (coach)

The skinny — Martin is back at the Scotties, but this time as a first-time skip. Her only other visit — along with Stewart — was with Sherry Anderson in the 2021 Calgary curling bubble, when the Sask queens finished with a first-place 6-2 mark in the round robin before going winless in the championship pool. There’s experience on the Toon Town crew — which includes 2024 Canadian mixed champ Lott — but not a lot at the Scotties level, mostly because Martin is the fifth champ in five years to rep the province.

• Yukon (Whitehorse CC) — Bayly Scoffin (skip), Kerry Foster (skip-vice), Raelyn Helston (second), Bailey Horte (lead) and Kimberly Tuor (alternate), Kevin Patterson (coach)

The skinny — Team Scoffin, a student in Calgary, was a bit of darling last winter at the Scotties host venue following in the footsteps of previous three-time Yukon title-holder Hailey Birnie, who was also a third at in the 2019 nationals with Nicole Baldwin’s team. Too bad it didn’t turn into more success on the scoreboard. Despite the 1-7 ending a year ago, one thing on Team Scoffin’s side is youth. And the entire crew returns from last year, albeit with a bit of a shuffle — Horte joins as lead, and Tuor moves to the alternate spot.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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