Three wild cards in Canada鈥檚 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 curling championships apparently here to stay means keeping noses to grindstones to earn them.
Bumping up the number of wild-card berths from one to three was a COVID-19 adaptation in Calgary鈥檚 2021 curling bubble.
Brought back by popular demand in 2022 and 2023, wild cards are a Plan B ticket to both the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Tim Hortons Brier for teams that don鈥檛 win provincial or territorial championships.
Earning a wild card can be a wild ride.
Wild cards go to the top three teams in Curling Canada鈥檚 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) that don鈥檛 win their provincial or territorial championship.
So it鈥檚 a matter of entering enough events and winning enough points during the season, while hoping a team ranked higher wins its province or territory so a wild card lands on you.
When the dust settled, Kaitlyn Lawes at No. 4, Casey Scheidegger at No. 6 and Meghan Walter at No. 7 in the CTRS earned wild cards for this year鈥檚 Hearts in Kamloops.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here, so that鈥檚 all that matters,鈥� Walter said.
Defending champion Kerri Einarson topped Pool A at 3-0 ahead of British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Kaitlyn Lawes鈥� wild card 1 all 2-1 heading into Monday鈥檚 draws.
Northwest Territories, Ontario, Northern Ontario and Manitoba were bunched atop Pool B at 2-1.
When Walter faced Jennifer Jones in the Manitoba women鈥檚 final Jan. 29, Walter鈥檚 Hearts prospects also rested on Rachel Homan winning Ontario that same day.
When Walter lost the final to Jones, Walter鈥檚 supporters were still happy because of a Homan win that dealt the third and final wild card to Walter.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very odd thing,鈥� Walter said Sunday in Kamloops.
There is no rest for a team that intends to pursue a wild card as a backup plan for entry into the Hearts and Brier.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really lay off at all,鈥� Walter said. 鈥淣ext season, we鈥檝e talked about it, we鈥檙e playing the same amount of events, 14 or 13 we鈥檝e played.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not guaranteed to qualify (for playoffs) in every event and earn those big points.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to play in as many as possible and try to get to playoffs most of the time. Sometimes you fall short.鈥�
Scheidegger, who lost to Kayla Skrlik in Alberta鈥檚 final, chased points this season with third Kate Cameron in charge of math.
鈥淢ost of the teams that are in the top 10 probably have that person that鈥檚 calculating, and making sure that you are in a good situation for that,鈥� Scheidegger said.
鈥淲e attempted to play in 鈥榮piels that would give us the most kind of bang for our buck, so they would give us the most points.
鈥淲hen you do come from a province that has had several wild cards come out of it the past couple years, it鈥檚 good planning to have that in the back of your mind.鈥�
Three wild cards were a boon for Manitoba women this year.
Lawes and Walter took two for a total of four Hearts entries from that province, including Einarson and Jones.
鈥淚 do think everyone wants to win their provincials and everyone wants to wear their crest on their back, but knowing there are some provinces that have a lot of great teams, you do kind of have your eye on wanting to be at the top of the CTRS,鈥� Lawes said.
鈥淵ou might see teams chasing points. If you鈥檙e in the hunt and you鈥檙e around that top five in the CTRS, there鈥檚 a chance you might throw in an extra event in January.鈥�
Extra wild cards offer a young team like Walter鈥檚, who faces a gauntlet of Einarson, Jones, Lawes and Chelsea Carey in Manitoba, a chance to play in a Hearts early in their career.
鈥淚 definitely did not think I鈥檇 be playing in a Scotties at 20,鈥� said Walter, whose first win was an 8-6 decision over Northwest Territories on Sunday night.
Brendan Bottcher and Reid Carruthers lost the Alberta and Manitoba men鈥檚 finals respectively, but are the first and second wild cards in next month鈥檚 Brier in London, Ont.
Alberta鈥檚 Karsten Sturmay snared the third wild card by just five points over veteran John Epping of Ontario.
Homan edged Northern Ontario鈥檚 McCarville 7-5, Jones defeated Stacie Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador 7-4 and New Brunswick鈥檚 Andrea Kelly downed Yukon鈥檚 Hailey Birnie 14-3 in Sunday evening鈥檚 draw.
Kelly and Casey Scheidegger鈥檚 wild card 2 were both 1-1 ahead of Walter and Curtis 1-2 in Pool B.
Quebec鈥檚 Laurie St-Georges was 1-1 followed by Prince Edward Island鈥檚 Suzanne Birt and Saskatchewan鈥檚 Robyn Silvernagle at 1-2 in Pool A.
Alberta鈥檚 Kayla Skrlik, Nunavut鈥檚 Brigitte MacPhail and Yukon were 0-2.
The top three teams in each pool at the conclusion of the preliminary round Thursday advance to the championship round.
The four Page playoff teams emerge from that group.
The winner Feb. 26 represents Canada at the world championship March 18-16 in Sandviken, Sweden, and returns to next year鈥檚 Hearts in Calgary as the defending champion.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
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