Scotties playoffs set to get underway Friday on TSN
Published
After seven days and 18 draws of curling, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoffs have arrived in Thunder Bay.
The 18-team field has been whittled down to the top six before the ultimate Canadian champion is determined Sunday night inside Fort Williams Gardens.
Canada's Team Rachel Homan (8-0), Alberta's Team Kayla Skrlik (6-2) and British Columbia's Team Corryn Brown (6-2) advanced out of Pool A while Manitoba's Team Kerri Einarson (6-2), Nova Scotia's Team Christina Black (6-2) and Ontario's Team Danielle Inglis (6-2) finished in the top three in Pool B.
The two winners of Friday afternoon's games will advance to Saturday's 1 vs. 2 page playoff while the losers will get a second life and take on the third-place finishers in tonight's Page Playoff 3 vs. 4 qualifiers.
Let's take a closer look at the playoff matchups
Canada (Team Rachel Homan) vs. Nova Scotia (Team Christina Black)
Page Playoff 1 vs. 2 Qualifier
Rachel Homan
Rachel Homan and the defending Scotties champions bring their 8-0 record into the playoffs where they'll take on Nova Scotia's Team Christina Black, the No. 4 ranked team in Canada
After winning last year's Scotties in Calgary with an 11-0 record, Team Homan have now won 19 straight games at the Scotties.
Team Homan - also featuring third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes - have been the most dominant team in all of curling since the start of the 2023-24 season, owning a combined record of 121-11.
The Thunder Bay Scotties have been much of the same as Homan and Fleury each lead their positions in shooting percentage at 85 per cent and 88.2 per cent, respectively.
They added some more fire power on Thursday when six-time Scotties champion Jennifer Jones joined the squad for the remainder of the tournament as a coach.
Homan and company are the still the runaway favourites to defend their title, but should get a good match from the Bluenosers.
Black, alongside third Jill Brothers and front end players in Jennifer Baxter, Karlee Everist and Marlee Powers, entered the Scotties as a legit dark horse following a tremendous tour season, highlighted by five bonspiel wins and a No. 4 ranking in the country.
Despite some rough patches throughout the week, including an early round-robin upset to Yukon and blowing a large lead to Manitoba's Team Kerri Einarson, Team Black finished second in Pool B with a 6-2 record.
Black actually has some playoff success against Homan, eliminating the Ottawa skip in the first round of the 2023 Scotties playoffs with a 7-6 extra end victory.
The 1 vs. 2 qualifiers are massive as a victory gets you just one win away from the Scotties final while a loss means you have to be back on the ice later tonight in a elimination game, suddenly needing to win three games just to get to the final.
Manitoba (Team Kerri Einarson) vs. Alberta (Team Kayla Skrlik)
Page Playoff 1 vs. 2 Qualifier
Manitoba Kerri Einarson
The second 1 vs. 2 qualifier features four-time Canadian champion Kerri Einarson taking on Alberta champion Kayla Skrlik.
Playing with a makeshift lineup, including third Val Sweeting, second Karlee Burgess and lead Krysten Karwacki, Team Einarson has had an interesting week in Thunder Bay to say the least.
After losing two straight games to Quebec and Northwest Territories, Team Einarson were in danger of dropping to 2-3 on Tuesday as they found themselves trailing Manitoba's Team Kate Cameron, 7-2, at the fifth end break. The No. 2 ranked team in Canada stormed back with eight points in the second half for the 10-9 tournament saving win. A day later they outscored Nova Scotia 8-1 in the second half for another comeback victory.
Team Einarson have won four straight games entering the Scotties playoffs with plenty of momentum and confidence after a slow start to the week. They're also the only Canadian team to have beaten Team Homan this curling season.
On the other side of the sheet, will be Team Skrlik, the No. 3 team in Canada.
The rink from the Garrison Curling Club in Calgary have played 79 games this season - including 57 wins - which is the most in this year's Scotties field.
Skrlik, 27, has looked impressive at times in her second career Scotties, highlighted by the possible shot of the tournament against Saskatchewan.
However, Team Skrlik were hammered by Team Einarson, 10-1, in their only matchup of the season last month in Guelph and will be the underdogs in Friday's clash at the Scotties.
Page Playoff 3 vs. 4 Qualifiers
7pm ET/4pm PT on TSN1/3 and streaming on TSN.ca or the TSN App.
Danielle Inglis
Ontario's Team Danielle Inglis and British Columbia's Team Corryn Brown will play in tonight's Page Playoff 3 vs. 4 Qualifiers against the losers from the afternoon games.
Team Inglis posted a 6-2 record in the round robin and made the playoffs for the first time in just their second appearance at the Scotties.
Team Brown also went 6-2 in their fourth showing at the national championship, also making the playoffs for the first time. Brown made the championship pool in 2020.
We'll have to see if getting some extra time to rest throughout the day will prove to be advantageous in tonight's games.