MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Beth Peterson’s Team Manitoba has clinched a berth in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoffs after going undefeated through their first six round-robin games.
Skipper Kelsey Calvert, Peterson and their front end of Katherine Remillard and Melissa Gordon-Kurz earned an 8-4 win over Team Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik on Wednesday afternoon at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre to punch their playoff ticket.
“We thought after this win we would be in a good spot, so I mean, it’s lovely to hear,” a smiling Peterson said, once her team’s playoff berth was confirmed. “We had our eyes on the playoffs, definitely, coming into this week, and we’re just really proud of the performance we’ve put forward so far.”
That sixth straight win by the Manitoba provincial champions also set off a crescendo effect on Wednesday that saw all playoff spots in Pool B determined. Canada’s Olympic Trials finalists, Team Black of Nova Scotia (6-1), and Team Alberta’s Selena Sturmay (5-1), clinched the last two berths with wins in the Wednesday afternoon draw.
"I can't wait," Nova Scotia skipper Christina Black said of playoffs, shortly after a 6-3 win over Team PEI. "The crowd today was really good, and I just imagine the final weekend, it's gonna be even better."
The top three teams from each pool advance to the playoffs, and with Team Lawes from Manitoba and Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson through from Pool A, just one playoff spot is still up for grabs, with round-robin play wrapping up on Thursday.
Team Ontario’s Hailey Armstrong and Team Nova Scotia’s Taylour Stevens are tied for third at 4-2, both play Wednesday evening, and they’re scheduled to go head-to-head on Thursday afternoon.
Keep up with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts runs from Jan. 23-Feb. 1 in Mississauga, Ont. Keep up with the scores and standings on Sportsnet.ca.
Scores and standings
The seventh-seeded team here, Calvert and co., are now on a 10-game winning streak dating back to winning Manitoba provincials earlier this month, a first for the team, which earned them a berth here.
In their latest win, Calvert broke through in the sixth end to score three — she had a chance for four, but rubbed a guard on her way in — and take a 4-2 lead over Skrlik. Team Peterson carried that two-point lead into ten and held on.
That eliminates the second-seeded Skrlik, Margot Flemming, Ashton Skrlik and Geri-Lynn Ramsay, who enter the final day of pool play with a 3-3 record.
For Team Peterson, it’ll be a Scotties playoffs debut. But first they’re hoping to earn a pair of wins in their round-robin finales to secure that top spot in the pool. The No. 1 team in each pool plays the No. 2 in the other pool, and a win there sends them straight to the page 1-2 playoffs, while they’d stay alive with a loss and face the third-place team.
Team Peterson and Team Sturmay are set to meet Thursday night, and the outcome there will help determine playoff seeding. “It’s gonna be a really big game,” Peterson said.
With Peterson’s team through to the playoffs, that means all three teams at this national championship representing Manitoba — Lawes’ rink, which is also undefeated, and Einarson, the four-time Scotties champion — have locked up playoff spots.
Playoffs open Friday, the final is Sunday, and the winner earns the chance to represent Canada at the world championships in March, in Calgary.
