Increased curling fields not without controversy

Brier, Scotties to be played in Calgary bubble

With most provinces cancelling playdowns and naming representatives, the 18-team fields for the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier and Scotties Tournament of Hearts are starting to take shape, but the final lists won't be released without some controversy.

Curling Canada has announced it's working on putting together 18-team fields for the men's and women's Canadian championships, which will be played in a bubble environment at Calgary's Canada Olympic Park starting next month.

Those fields will include representatives from the 14 provinces and territories, Team Canada (defending champions) and three “wild card” teams.

Based on the 2019-20 Canadian Team Ranking System standings, it's presumed that Winnipeg's Mike McEwen (fifth in CTRS) and Calgary's Kevin Koe (sixth in CTRS) will be named as two of the three men's wild card teams.

Manitoba's Tracy Fleury (second in CTRS) appears to be a lock on the women's side. After that, it's a little more muddled.

“It's trying times and for Curling Canada to open up the fields for the Scotties and Brier is awesome, just the fact that they're making every effort to get in as many teams as possible to make the fields as strong as possible,” said Ontario's Glenn Howard, a 58-year-old fourtime world champion.

“But I don't envy the decision makers in this situation. Unfortunately, they solved the problem by adding more teams but this also made it more convoluted and controversial.”

Howard should be next on the men's list — his team was ninth in the CTRS last season — but Curling Canada has not finalized the criteria for qualifying the third wild-card team — it may not be strictly based on the same criteria used to pick the first two wild card teams.

There could be teams like Manitoba's Tanner Horgan (10th), Alberta's Jeremy Harty (15th) and B.C.'s Tyler Tardi (14th) in the mix.

“The only one they're missing is Team 18 and I'd like to think we're the front-runner for that,” Howard said. “I think Team Howard has a really good chance of getting that spot and we're absolutely ready to go into the bubble.”

On the women's side, things are even more complicated. After Fleury, the next three teams on the CTRS list from 2019-20 (that have not already qualified) are no longer eligible because they didn't stay together.

Calgary's Chelsea Carey (fifth) split with her team after playing as Team Canada at the Scotties in 2020. Edmonton's Kelsey Rocque (sixth) has two new team members (you must have three of four to be eligible) and Saskatchewan's Robyn Silvernagle (10th) is in the same boat.

That means you might have to go down the CTRS list to Nos. 11 and 12 from last season and those would be 2020 world junior champion Mckenzie Zacharias and Beth Peterson, both of Manitoba.

Zacharias is looking like a good bet to get the second wild card spot based on eligibility and CTRS points, but it remains possible that Curling Canada could choose any team for the third wild card spot, meaning the likes of Rocque and Silvernagle are still in the mix.

One way or another, some teams are going to get left out of the only curling going on in Canada this winter and they are not going to be happy.

Major curling powers Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario all cancelled their provincial playdowns, as did several other member associations, and appointed teams instead.

Alberta was the latest to do so, on Monday, naming 2020 champions Brendan Bottcher and Laura Walker as representatives.

That meant Koe, who wore Team Canada colours last year after winning the Brier in 2019, would have to get in as a wild card team. That's just fine with Koe's foursome.

Most member associations picked last year's champions, although Saskatchewan passed over Silvernagle because of her new team configuration and awarded the women's spot to Sherry Anderson, who had more provincial points over a two-year span.

Some women's skips have refused the appointment, including Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville, an eighttime territorial champion, and New Brunswick's Andrea Crawford, a nine-time provincial rep.

It's a big commitment to play in the bubble, with quarantines required on both ends, and it's just not possible for some teams.

Others want to be a part of an historic series of events.

JULIA MCKAY / POSTMEDIA NEWS FILES Glenn Howard is hoping his team is picked as the final entry into this year's Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary.