Jones, Homan skips to beat, but beware Carey, Sweeting, Englot
TEAM JONES
Club: St. Vital Curling Club, Winnipeg
Team: Skip Jennifer Jones, 43, third Kaitlyn Lawes, 28, second Jill Officer, 42, lead Dawn McEwen, 37, alternate Jennifer Clarke-Rouire, coach Wendy Morgan
The skinny: The defending Olympic gold medallists are back for another run and are looking strong with two Grand Slam titles already in 2017. Though they failed to qualify for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2017, the Jones team is a fixture at the national women’s championship — Jones has 12 appearances and has won the Canadian title five times.
TEAM HOMAN
Club: Ottawa Curling Club Team: Skip Rachel Homan, 28, third Emma Miskew, 28, second Joanne Courtney, 28, lead Lisa Weagle, 32, alternate Cheryl Kreviazuk, coach Adam Kingsbury The skinny: They are coming off Canadian and world championships this year and are playing at home, which at least makes them co-favourites with Team Jones. At age 28, Homan has already won three Canadian women’s titles and three world championship medals. They’ve won twice already this fall on the cash tour as well. They’ll have the Ottawa crowd behind them and have all the shots to be Olympians.
TEAM CAREY
Club: The Glencoe Club, Calgary Team: Skip Chelsea Carey, 33, third Cathy Overton-Clapham, 48, second Jocelyn Peterman, 24, lead Laine Peters 47, coach Helen Radford
The skinny: This is an intriguing team with a mixture of youth and experience. Carey competed in the 2013 trials and has since skipped in three Scotties Tournaments of Hearts, wearing three different jackets — Manitoba, Alberta and Canada. She won the national women’s championship in 2016. She added Overton-Clapham, a hall of famer with a tremendous resume, to play third this year, which makes this squad capable of beating any team. Overton-Clapham has five national women’s titles and a world championship to her name.
TEAM SWEETING
Club: Saville Community Sports Centre, Edmonton
Team: Skip Val Sweeting, 30, third Lori Olson-Johns, 41, second Dana Ferguson, 30, lead Rachel Brown, 31, alternate Sarah Wilkes, coach Jeff Hoffart
The skinny: Three-quarters of the team that went 3-4 at the 2013 trials is back and they’ve added Olson-Johns, who competed in the 2009 trials with Crystal Webster. Sweeting has been knocking on the door for a while and has two silver medals from the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (2014 and 2015).
TEAM ENGLOT
Club: Granite Curling Club, Winnipeg
Team: Skip Michelle Englot, 53, third Kate Cameron, 26, second Leslie Wilson-Westcott, 38, lead Raunora Westcott, 41, alternate Jolene Campbell, coach Ron Westcott
The skinny: Englot is the oldest competitor in the Olympic trials this year and she’s coming off an excellent season in which her team won the Manitoba championship and made it to the final of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts before losing to Homan. Englot has competed in the Scotties nine times, eight times representing Saskatchewan and once representing Manitoba. She also skipped a team at the 2001 Olympic trials in Regina. Her experience and a strong team behind her should make them playoff contenders.
TEAM MCCARVILLE
Club: Fort William Curling Club, Thunder Bay, Ont.
Team: Skip Krista McCarville, 35, third Kendra Lilly, 26, second Ashley Sippala, 30, lead Sarah Potts, 28, coach Lorraine Lang.
The skinny: McCarville has skipped in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts six times and made it to the semifinal of the Olympic trials in 2009. That experience alone could make her a playoff contender in Ottawa. Everyone on the team has played in multiple national championships and have a good feel for playing in high-pressure situations. They’re on a roll, too, after qualifying through the recent pre-trials event in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
TEAM SCHEIDEGGER
Club: Lethbridge Curling Club, Lethbridge, Alta.
Team: Skip Casey Scheidegger, 29, third Cary-Anne McTaggart, 31, second Jessie Scheidegger, 27, lead Kristie Moore, 38, alternate Susan O’Connor, coach Carolyn McRorie. The skinny: Scheidegger is one of the least experienced skips in the field, having never played in any major Canadian championships other than the 2009 Canadian juniors. However, her team has shown well on the world tour in recent years and has some experience in McTaggart and Moore.
TEAM TIPPIN
Club: Woodstock Curling Centre, Woodstock, Ont.
Team: Skip Julie Tippin, 34, third Chantal Duhaime, 27, second Rachelle Vink, 26, lead Tess Bobbie, 26, alternate Sherry Middaugh, coach Barry Westman The skinny: Another team that has not played in any major Canadian championships before, though Tippin was a three-time Ontario junior champion. However, they’ve been on the rise the last couple of years and had a great showing at the pre-trials tournament to book a spot in the main event in Ottawa. Considering the big names in the field, Team Tippin seems like a long shot, but strange things happen sometimes at the Olympic trials.
TEAM FLAXEY
Club: Granite Club, Toronto Team: Skip Allison Flaxey, 32, third Clancy Grandy, 26, second Lynn Kreviazuk, 26, lead Morgan Court, 32, alternate Alison Kreviazuk, coach Caleb Flaxey.
The skinny: They don’t have a ton of big-game experience — Flaxey, Kreviazuk and Court represented Ontario at the 2014 Scotties and went 3-8 — and they haven’t done much on the cash tour this year. Still, they’ve won enough games over the last few years to make it into the trials and that gives them a fighting chance.