The Standard (St. Catharines)

Ranking system will determine Scotties and Brier final wild-card spots

- GREGORY STRONG

Curling Canada has decided to use the national ranking system as its selection criteria for the final wild-card berths at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Tim Hortons Brier.

The announceme­nt clears a path to the Calgary bubble for Manitoba’s Mackenzie Zacharias and Ontario’s Glenn Howard.

Beth Peterson, also from Manitoba, saw her chances greatly improve but the decision closed the door on Alberta’s Kelsey Rocque and Saskatchew­an’s Robyn Silvernagl­e.

“We needed to take our time and do our due diligence on this selection process,” Curling Canada chief executive Katherine Henderson said Friday in a release.

“In the end, it was decided that we created the Canadian Team Ranking System for exactly these purposes.”

The Scotties is set for Feb. 1928 at the Markin Macphail Centre and the Brier will run March 5-14.

The Canada Olympic Park venue will hold six events in all in a spectator-free setting due to the pandemic.

Curling Canada scrapped its usual play-in game for both national team championsh­ips. Instead, three wild-card entries were added to each field, creating 18-team draws.

The federation previously announced the final 2019-20 Canadian rankings would be used for the first two wild-card spots. Criteria for the third wild-card spot was listed as “to be determined,” giving some hope to slightly lower-ranked teams or rinks that made off-season roster adjustment­s.

Formal wild-card team entry announceme­nts are expected next month once all provincial and territoria­l playdowns are complete.

Howard, a four-time Brier champion, gets the third wildcard spot thanks to his No. 9 ranking.

The first two wild-card spots were already clear with Mike Mcewen of Manitoba at No. 5 and Kevin Koe of Alberta at No. 6.

The complete women’s wildcard picture won’t be determined until the end of the month. Second-ranked Tracy Fleury of Manitoba is a lock for the first spot.

Prince Edward Island’s Suzanne Birt is next at No. 9, but she’s a heavy favourite to represent her province again. Birt is one of two entries in the Jan. 29-31 P.E.I. championsh­ip.

Either way, Zacharias — who won a world junior title last year — will get the second or third wild-card spot based on her No. 11 ranking.

 ??  ?? Glenn Howard
Glenn Howard

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