A capsule look at teams entered in the Canadian women’s curling championship

A team-by-team look at the field for the 2020 Canadian women’s curling championship including skip, teammates, home club, background information and ranking:

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Team Canada

Skip: Chelsea Carey

Teammates: Sarah Wilkes (third), Dana Ferguson (second), Rachel Brown (lead)

Home Club: The Glencoe Club (Calgary)

Background: Carey is looking for her third national title as skip and second straight with her current team.

CTRS Ranking: No. 5

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Team Alberta

Skip: Laura Walker

Teammates: Kate Cameron (third), Taylor McDonald (second), Nadine Scotland (lead)

Home Club: Saville Community Sports Centre (Edmonton)

Background: A former Carey teammate, Walker makes her Scotties Tournament of Hearts debut in Moose Jaw.

CTRS Ranking: No. 7

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Team British Columbia

Skip: Corryn Brown

Teammates: Erin Pincott (third), Dezaray Hawes (second), Ashley Klymchuk (lead)

Home Club: Kamloops Curling Club

Background: Brown skipped B.C. to a Canadian junior women’s title in 2013 and also makes her Hearts debut in Moose Jaw.

CTRS Ranking: No. 8

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Team Manitoba

Skip: Kerri Einarson

Teammates: Val Sweeting (third), Shannon Birchard (second), Briane Meilleur (lead)

Home Club: Gimli Curling Club

Background: Einarson’s team of former skips upended six-time Canadian champion Jennifer Jones to take Manitoba.

CTRS Ranking: No. 2

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Team New Brunswick

Skip: Andrea Crawford

Teammates: Jennifer Armstrong (third), Jillian Babin (second), Katie Forward (lead).

Home Club: Gage Golf and Curling Club (Oromocto)

Background: Crawford and company finished outside the championship pool at 3-4 last year in Sydney, N.S.

CTRS Ranking: No. 46

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Team Newfoundland and Labrador

Skip: Erica Curtis

Teammates: Erin Porter (third), Julie Devereaux (second), Beth Hamilton (lead)

Home Club: Re/Max Centre and St. John’s Curling Club

Background: Curtis, Porter, Devereaux and Hamilton have previous Hearts experience playing with Stacie Curtis in 2017 and 2018. Hamilton was Kelli Sharpe’s lead last year in Sydney.

CTRS Ranking: Unranked

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Team Northern Ontario

Skip: Krista McCarville

Teammates: Kendra Lilly (third), Ashley Sippala (second), Jen Gates (lead)

Home Club: Fort William Curling Club (Thunder Bay)

Background: McCarville won silver at the 2016 Hearts. They’re coached by two-time world champion and Canadian Curling Hall of Famer Rick Lang.

CTRS Ranking: No. 28

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Team Northwest Territories

Skip: Kerry Galusha (throws second stones)

Teammates: Sarah Koltun (third), Jo-Ann Rizzo (throws fourth stones), Shona Barbour (lead)

Home Club: Yellowknife Curling Centre

Background: Galusha is making her sixth straight Hearts appearance and 17th overall.

CTRS Ranking: No. 31.

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Team Nova Scotia

Skip: Mary-Anne Arsenault

Teammates: Christina Black (third), Jennifer Baxter (second), Emma Logan (lead)

Home Club: Mayflower Curling Club (Halifax)

Background: A five-time Canadian and two-time world champion playing second for Colleen Jones between 1999 and 2006, Arsenault will skip Nova Scotia a fifth time.

CTRS Ranking: No. 32

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Team Nunavut

Skip: Lori Eddy

Teammates: Sadie Pinksen (third), Alison Griffin (second), Kaitlin MacDonald (lead)

Home Club: Iqaluit Curling Club

Background: Eddy returns to the Hearts for the first time since 1997, when she reached the final playing third for Ontario’s Alison Gording and lost to Sandra Schmirler in Vancouver.

CTRS Ranking: No. 134

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Team Ontario

Skip: Rachel Homan

Teammates: Emma Miskew (third), Joanne Courtney (second), Lisa Weagle (lead)

Home Club: Ottawa Curling Club

Background: Homan is a three-time champion. The foursome lost last year’s final to Carey giving up steals in the 10th and extra ends.

CTRS Ranking: No. 4

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Team Prince Edward Island

Skip: Suzanne Birt

Teammates: Marie Christianson (third), Meaghan Hughes (second), Michelle McQuaid (lead)

Home Club: Charlottetown Curling Club

Background: An 11-time provincial champion, Birt won a world junior title in 2001.

CTRS Ranking: No. 9

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Team Quebec

Skip: Noemie Verreault

Teammates: Alanna Routledge (third), Marie-Pier Coté (second), Jill Routledge (lead)

Home Club: Chicoutimi/Glenmore/Trois-Rivieres Curling Clubs.

Background: All four women will play in a Hearts for the first time.

CTRS Ranking: Unranked

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Team Saskatchewan

Skip: Robyn Silvernagle

Teammates: Stefanie Lawton (third), Jessie Hunkin (second), Kara Thevenot (lead).

Home Club: Twin Rivers Curling Club (North Battleford)

Background: Silvernagle skipped Saskatchewan to bronze last year. She has had experienced vice in Lawton who skipped the province to winning records in four previous nationals.

CTRS Ranking: No. 13

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Team Yukon

Skip: Nicole Baldwin

Teammates: Hailey Birnie (third), Ladene Shaw (second), Helen Strong (lead)

Home Club: Whitehorse Curling Club

Background: Baldwin’s foursome fell outside the championship round with a 1-6 record in 2019.

CTRS Ranking: Unranked

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Team Wild Card # 1

Skip: Tracy Fleury

Teammates: Selena Njegovan (third), Liz Fyfe (second), Kristin MacCuish (lead).

Home Club: East St. Paul Curling Club (Winnipeg)

Background: Canada Cup runner-up fell to Jennifer Jones in an extra end in this year’s Manitoba semifinal. Fleury lost a tiebreaker to get into the championship pool in Sydney last year.

CTRS Ranking: No. 1

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Team Wild Card # 2

Skip: Jennifer Jones

Teammates: Kaitlyn Lawes (third), Jocelyn Peterman (second), Dawn McEwen (lead)

Home Club: East St. Paul Curling Club (Winnipeg).

Background: Wild cards were introduced to the national championship format in 2018. It’s a rare Hearts that doesn’t have six-time Canadian and 2014 Olympic champion Jones in it.

CTRS Ranking: No. 3

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2020.

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Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press