Moose Jaw’s Skylar Ackerman now knows who she’ll be up against at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary in a little over two weeks.
Ackerman and her Saskatoon Nutana foursome of third Ashley Thevenot, second Taylor Stremick and lead Kaylin Skinner will make their Scotties debut against Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo during the 7 p.m. draw on Friday, Feb. 16 at the WinSport Arena.
That contest will kick off an eight-game round robin running through Wednesday, Feb. 21, and as one might expect, Ackerman will be taking on a few Canadian curling luminaries in her quest for a playoff spot.
One of the first big names will be Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes, who qualified outright after winning the Manitoba provincial title. Ackerman will take on the multiple-time Olympic gold medalist during the 7 p.m. draw on Saturday, Feb. 17.
Next up will be Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville, who reached the semifinal at the 2023 Scotties and is one of six skips in 2024 who led rinks at the 2020 Scotties in Moose Jaw. They face Ackerman at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18.
Monday, Feb, 18 will mark Ackerman’s first two-game day, as she faces multiple-time Quebec champion and Scotties rep Laurie St. Georges at 9:30 a.m. before taking on Alberta champion Selena Sturmay at 7:30 p.m. Sturmay is also making her Scotties debut.
Ackerman’s plans to “not pay attention to the name on the jacket” will come in very handy in her lone came on Tuesday, Feb. 20 when she faces four-time defending Scotties champion Kerri Einarson. Einarson first won the championship in Moose Jaw in 2020 and has wore the red jacket ever since, with the two rinks facing off at 2:30 p.m.
Team Saskatchewan will have two games on Wednesday, Feb. 21, taking on Newfoundland and Labrador champion Stacie Curtis at 9:30 a.m. and B.C.’s Corryn Brown at 7:30 p.m. Brown -- who also represented B.C. at the 2020 tournament in Moose Jaw -- is one of four teams who qualified through the Curling Team Ranking System, making the upcoming Scotties one of the strongest fields in tournament history.
Ackerman will then have Thursday, Feb. 22 off as the remainder of the field wraps up their round robin.
Pool B will feature Ontario’s Rachel Homan (CTRS), Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones (CTRS), Ontario champion Danielle Inglis, Manitoba’s Kate Cameron (CTRS), B.C. champion Clancy Grandy, Northwest Territories champion Kerry Galusha, Nova Scotia champion Heather Smith, New Brunswick champion Melissa Adams and Yukon Territories champion Bayly Scoffin.
The top three teams from each pool will advance to the Page Playoff qualifiers on Friday, Feb. 23, followed by the Page Playoff 3-4 game at 1 p.m. and Page Playoff 1-2 game at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb, 24.
Sunday, Feb. 25 will see the final at 1 p.m. and championship game at 7 p.m.
Draws will be broadcast throughout the tournament TSN and you can follow along with all the scores and updates on www.curling.ca.
