A few days before the tournament started, six-time Scotties champion and 2014 Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones announced that this would be her final Hearts. The 2024 Hearts marks her 18th appearance at the national championship, and her six wins is tied for the most with Colleen Jones.[4]
Curling Canada announced prior to the first draw of competition that Team Canada lead Briane Harris was deemed "ineligible" to play in the tournament without going into any more detail. She was replaced by alternate Krysten Karwacki.[5] Following the event, in March, it was revealed that Harris had been provisionally suspended for up to four years for testing positive for Ligandrol, a banned substance. Harris will be appealing the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[6]
Following five hog-line violations in Draw 2, Curling Canada chief icemaker, Greg Ewasko decided to disable the rock handle sensors, which were used to determine if a curler had released their stone before the near hogline. It has been theorized that the technology may have been interfered with due to ferrous metals beneath the ice surface.[7]
In Draw 8, Team Ontario–Homan broke a single-game Scotties record for highest team percentage as they curled 97% in their 11–2 victory over Yukon. The previous record was 96% set by Team Canada's Colleen Jones in 2004.[8]
Team Ontario–Homan second Emma Miskew recorded her one hundredth win at the Scotties following the team's 7–5 victory over Manitoba's Jennifer Jones in Draw 12.[10]
At the conclusion of Draw 17, five teams in Pool A were tied for the third championship round spot with 4–4 records: British Columbia (Corryn Brown), Manitoba (Kaitlyn Lawes), Northern Ontario (Krista McCarville), Quebec (Laurie St-Georges) and Saskatchewan (Skylar Ackerman). As all the teams were 2–2 against each other head-to-head, and with tiebreakers being eliminated this year, draw to the button totals was used to determine the final ranking. Manitoba (Lawes) earned the final spot with Northern Ontario finishing fourth, British Columbia (Brown) fifth, Saskatchewan sixth and Quebec seventh.[12]
In Draw 18, Manitoba's Kate Cameron rink clinched the final championship round spot in Pool B by defeating British Columbia's Clancy Grandy 7–4. Both teams finished the round robin with 5–3 records, however, their final head-to-head win allowed Cameron to advance.[13]
In the Page 1/2 qualifiers, Ontario's Rachel Homan and Manitoba's Jennifer Jones both secured their spots in the final four playoff round. Homan's rink fended off Canada's Kerri Einarson 8–4 while Jones downed Alberta's Selena Sturmay by the same score. The win was also Rachel Homan's one hundredth career win at the Scotties.[14] Kerri Einarson's run of four straight Scotties championships came to an end when she lost her next playoff game to Kate Cameron, 9–4.[15] Einarson missed a thin double attempt on her last shot, losing the game.[16] Meanwhile, Alberta's Sturmay downed Kaitlyn Lawes 8–5 in the other qualification game, eliminating her from playoff contention.[17]
In the page playoffs, Rachel Homan played Jennifer Jones in the 1 vs. 2 game, while Selena Sturmay took on Kate Cameron in the 3 vs. 4 game. The Homan–Jones match was won by Homan in an extra end. Homan forced the extra with a draw to the button in the 10th. In the extra end, Jones missed an angle raise to score, giving the win to Homan. The game saw Homan give up steals for the first time in the tournament, when she gave up points with the hammer in the sixth and eighth. The game was described as 'intense', with Homan lead Sarah Wilkes calling it "thrilling",[18] and Homan saying the game was "unbelievable".[19] In the 3 vs 4 game, Team Cameron prevailed over Sturmay, 6–4. Sturmay blamed her poor shot making for the loss.[18]
Jones' loss to Homan in the 1 vs. 2 game put her in the semifinal against Cameron, who had come from winning her 3 vs. 4 game. In the semifinal, Jones got off to a great start by scoring a five-ender in the first end after she made a double takeout. This would prove to be the knockout blow, as Jones would go on to win the game 12–7, sending her to the final in a re-match against Homan.[20]
The final between Homan and Jones was a close affair. Team Homan started the game with hammer, and blanked the first end after Jones removed two Ontario stones as well as her own on her last shot. Homan got on the board first in the second end after Homan missed both her attempts at doubles, but stuck her last rock for one, taking a 1–0 lead. In the third end, Jones tied the game, but hogged her last shot, which would have been a draw for two. In the fourth end, Homan made a hit and stick for a single, which was confirmed after losing a measurement for two, taking a 2–1 lead. Homan got the firs real advantage advantage of the game, getting a steal in the fifth end to take a 3–1 lead into the break. On her last, Homan made a perfect run back on a Jones rock on the button to sit perfectly buried in the four-foot. Jones was heavy on her draw, giving up the point to Homan. Going into the sixth end, Homan was out-curling Jones 98 to 68 per cent. The sixth was blanked, which was followed by Jones scoring a single in seventh after making a tricky tap of a Homan rock for one. Homan replied in the eighth with a soft hit and roll to the button to take a 4–2 lead. Jones was able to tie the game at four in the ninth end after Homan stuffed a double takeout attempt perfectly between two frozen Jones rocks in the eight-foot, having the stuffed Jone rock roll up into the four-foot to sit shot. Jones replied with a draw for her second point. In the final end, Jones had to draw to the button on her last shot against a Homan counter, but wrecked on a Homan rock in the eight-foot. With Homan counting already, she did not have to throw her last rock, and won the game 5–4.[21] The win gave Homan and second Emma Miskew their fourth career Scotties titles. The event was the first Scotties title for Homan's third, Tracy Fleury and the second for lead Sarah Wilkes who won in 2019 with Chelsea Carey. It was the second straight silver medal for Jones and her team of Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine who lost in 2023 to Kerri Einarson.[22]
A total of eighteen teams qualified for the 2024 Scotties. The fourteen Canadian curling member associations held playdowns to determine who would represent their province or territory. Team Canada is represented by Team Kerri Einarson, who won their fourth straight Scotties championship at the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
In a change in the qualification format, the Rachel Homan and Jennifer Jones rinks automatically pre-qualified for the 2024 Scotties field based on their 2022–23Canadian Team Ranking Standings, which meant they bypassed the provincial qualifiers.[23] The top two non-qualified teams on the 2023–24 CTRS standings following provincial and territorial playdowns also qualified after it was announced that Nunavut would be withdrawing from the tournament, and replaced by a second Wild Card team.[24]
Previously, three wild card berths were allocated to the top teams in the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) standings who did not win their provincial/territorial championship. Beginning with this year's Scotties, Curling Canada changed the qualification format where the top two teams from the previous year's CTRS would receive an automatic pre-qualification berth without having to qualify. The final berth will be given to the team with the highest CTRS ranking on January 29, 2024, who did not win their provincial/territorial championship.
On January 8, Curling Canada announced that Nunavut withdrew their entry from this year's tournament. Curling Canada subsequently added a second wild card berth for this year's tournament to replace the Nunavut entry.
The Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship Award was presented to the player chosen by their fellow peers as the curler that most exemplified sportsmanship and dedication to curling during the annual Scotties Tournament of Hearts.[49]
The Paul McLean Award is presented by TSN to a person behind the scenes who has made a significant contribution to the sport of curling.
Donna Spencer – Journalist for The Canadian Press who has covered curling since 1999 – totaling 16 Scotties, 13 world championships, 9 Briers and 3 Winter Olympics.[50]
^ abFor their final three draws, Team Yukon's second Raelyn Helston threw third stones while third Kerry Foster threw second stones.
^ abFor Draws 6, 12 and 18, Team Yukon's alternate Helen Strong threw lead stones while lead Kimberly Tuor sat out.
^ abTeam Ontario (Homan)'s alternate Rachelle Brown threw lead stones for the last two ends of Draw 8 and the last end of Draw 18.
^ abPrior to Draw 16, Team Manitoba (Cameron)'s third Meghan Walter fell ill and did not play. With alternate Taylor McDonald expecting a child, the team opted to use three players. Walter returned as third for Draw 18.
From Wikipedia - Reading time: 20 min
Ontario (Homan)
Manitoba (Jennifer Jones)
Canada (Einarson)
Alberta (Sturmay)
British Columbia (Brown)
Saskatchewan (Ackerman)
Northwest Territories (Galusha)
Northern Ontario (McCarville)
Quebec (St-Georges)
Nova Scotia (Smith)
New Brunswick (Adams)
Prince Edward Island (DiCarlo)
Newfoundland and Labrador (Curtis)
Yukon (Scoffin)
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