Kerry Galusha feels the joy, relief of joining Tournament of Hearts field

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. Kerry Galusha shed tears of happiness as she, and others not so fortunate, bid good riddance to the qualifier to keep playing in the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Galusha’s Northwest Territories rink downed New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams 5-3 in Saturday’s opening draw to secure the final berth in the 12-team field at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Adams, Yukon’s Sarah Koltun and Nunavut’s Geneva Chislett are going home early in the final year of the unloved play-in of the four lowest-seeded provinces and territories.

The three-year experiment with it is over with Curling Canada introducing 16-team formats to next year’s men’s and women’s national championships.

The 2018 Hearts and Tim Hortons Brier will each incorporate all provinces and territories, Team Canada, Northern Ontario, and a 16th team to be named later.

The qualifier wasn’t a hurdle Galusha had to clear when she skipped N.W.T. nine times at the Tournament of Hearts between 2001 and 2013.

After falling a win short of the main draw the last two years, Galusha was too relieved to be playing beyond Saturday to heavily bash the format making its exit.

“It’s been a cruel last couple years,” Galusha said. “This feels amazing to be on the other side of it.

“Losing the last two years, I was crying because we lost. This year I’m crying because we won.

“The territories have not been represented the last two years. It’s huge to have a territory in it this year, for sure.”

Her Yellowknife team then won their first game of the main draw, beating Prince Edward Island’s Robyn MacPhee 9-4 at night.

Ontario’s Rachel Homan opened with a 7-5 extra-end win over defending champion Chelsea Carey.

Homan controlled the game early stealing a point in the second end and scoring a deuce in the fourth. Ontario gave up a steal of two in the seventh and led 5-4 without the hammer heading into the 10th.

Carey was held to a single point to tie it. Homan, the crowd favourite in the Meridian Centre, hit to score two for the win with her last rock of the game.

Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink, Manitoba’s Michelle Englot, Nova Scotia’s Mary Mattatall and Stacie Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador also started out 1-0.

P.E.I’s MacPhee, Quebec’s Eve Belisle, B.C.’s Marla Mallett, Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville and Saskatchewan’s Penny Barker joined Carey at 0-1.

Kleibrink downed McCarville 11-6, Curtis beat Barker 7-4 and Mattatall edged Mallett 5-4. Englot scored two in the 10th to pull out a 7-6 win over Belisle.

The top four teams at the conclusion of the preliminary round Friday morning advance to the Page playoff. Ties for fourth are solved by tiebreaker games.