Teams named for Scotties ... Alberta's Kayla Skrlik among them after provincial redemption

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The celebration for Kayla Skrlik and her freshly crowned Alberta curling queens proved to be a little on the quiet side Sunday night.

A nice gathering with friends and family at her place in Calgary …

Perhaps fitting given all the noise that’s been out there around their bid to return to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

“Yeah … it didn’t get that crazy,” said Skrlik, of the hours following their 6-5 down-to-the-final-stone win over Edmonton’s Nicky Kaufman to capture the provincial title at the Rimbey Curling Club.

“We had some celebration,” continued the 27-year-old skip. “I hosted the team and some parents and roommates at my house after for a little bit, just to hang out and enjoy some of our provincial highlights together, which was good.”

Great, really, considering the bumpy road to reach that celebration.

They battled themselves — Skrlik especially — after losing out last year’s Alberta championship on a last-rock draw.

They worked through a massive lineup shuffle — with Brittany Tran moving out, decorated Northwest Territories third Margot Flemming moving in and Ashton Skrlik and Geri-Lynn Ramsay moving around.

And they hammered out the best way to approach Broomgate 2.0 — by coming to a pre-provincials consensus with the Alberta field that the controversial foam released by BalancePlus and Goldline would not be used to decide a champion.

While Skrlik’s challenges were much like many of the teams nationwide having qualified for the Scotties, the Calgary crew also fought through an ill-timed run of a bug that bit the team ahead of their trip to Rimbey.

“Our whole team’s been quite sick,” said skip Skrlik. “I think we picked up something at the Grand Slam (Masters in Guelph) on the last couple of days or maybe in the airport coming home. Ashton was super, super sick. She didn’t go to our pre-event practice in Rimbey. She didn’t come to our media day or come to the opening ceremonies. She just showed up for the first time seeing the arena on at our first game.

“And this is actually the best I’ve sounded in a week or so,” continued Skrlik. “Yeah … Ashton and I were chugging Buckley’s on the backboards for most of the provincials.”

But fight through it, they did to join the now-complete roster of teams vying for the Scotties title, Feb. 14-23 in Thunder Bay, Ont.

WHO’S IN THE SCOTTIES?

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

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

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

• Canada (Ottawa Curling Club) — Rachel Homan (skip), Tracy Fleury (third), Emma Miskew (second), Sarah Wilkes (lead), Rachelle Brown (alternate), Brendan Bottcher (coach)

• Manitoba (Heather CC) — Kate Cameron (skip), Taylor McDonald (third), Allison Flaxey (second), Mackenzie Elias (lead), Brianna Cullen (alternate)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Prince Edward Island (Crapaud CC) — Jane Dicarlo (skip), Veronica Mayne (third), Sabrina Smith (second), Whitney Jenkins (lead), Kathy O’Rourke (coach)

• Saskatchewan (Nutana CC) — Nancy Martin (skip), Chaelynn Kitz (third), Kadriana Lott (second), Deanna Doig (lead)

• Yukon (Whitehorse CC) — Bayly Scoffin (skip), Raelyn Helston (third), Bailey Horvey (second) and Kimberly Tuor (lead) battled back for consecutive 9-3, 9-5 and 7-4 victories at the Whitehorse Curling Club

HOW SKRLIK GOT BACK TO THE SCOTTIES

Of the 18 rinks, Team Skrlik is one of just four which didn’t compete last year at the Calgary-hosted Scotties.

But like Saskatchewan’s Martin, the Garrison unit has been there before. That was in 2023, when they performed admirably — with a 4-4 near-miss-of-the-playoffs record — at the national championship in Kamloops, B.C.

“God, did we want to be back at the Scotties,” Skrlik said. “And now we’re super excited to compete there.”

It was Skrlik’s own hit-and-stick in this year’s final end that gets them there — redemption for her last-rock draw that was heavy a year earlier, allowing Sturmay to steal the game and the crown away from the Calgary crew.

A no-doubt 12-6 A-side semifinal loss to veteran Robyn Silvernagle and her Sexsmith rink could have knocked them off-stride for good.

But Skrlik & Co. fought back to win the B-event final with three in the 10th end for a 6-5 thrilling edge of Edmonton’s Gracelyn Richards for a playoff spot, before exacting vengeance on Silvernagle with an 8-5 win in the Page playoff 1-v-2 game.

And finally in the finale, they took the crown with hammer in Sunday’s nail-biter over Kaufman for the right to go to Scotties as the Alberta champs — for the second time in three years.

Success again, yes, but it didn’t come without its worries.

“There were nerves, for sure,” Skrlik said. “But Geri playing lead has been just the greatest of decisions — she’s such a pressure player — so knowing and trusting that she’s going to set up our ends has been amazing, honestly.

“And it’s great that we’ve now got Ashton and Margot in the second and third positions. They’re phenomenal. They’re great sweepers. They’re great hitters. Like, honestly, if Margot hadn’t mad that double peel in the last end, my shot to win would have been incredibly hard, and it was a nose hit to win, to go to the Scotties, which is all I could ask for.

“I think I put the broom in the wrong spot for three double-peels in that last end,” added Skrlik. “Then we finally got it in the right spot and Margot finally made the last one. She basically won the game for us with that double-peel in the last end.

“And then it was the same line on my hit-and-roll for my first shot (a few stones later). So it was good. At least we learned enough to execute the last couple of shots. That’s so important for us.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM