Kayla Skrlik's highly ranked Calgary crew earns early invite to 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The Garrison Curling Club crew is among three squads that have been added to each of the 2026 Canadian men's and women's curling championships, Curling Canada announced Friday.
Four-time champion Kerri Einarson and her team from Gimli, Man., have been added to the field of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, set for Jan. 23-Feb. 1 at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ont. She will be joined by Skrlik and Christina Black of Halifax.
The Skrlik rink, which includes third Margot Flemming, second Ashton Skrlik (Kayla's sister) and lead Geri-Lynn Ramsay, is set to make its third Scotties appearance after competing in the 2023 and '25 championships.
Hometown favourite and six-time champion Brad Gushue was added to the Montana's Brier, set for Feb. 27-March 8 at the Mary Brown's Centre in St. John's, N.L., along with Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone and Saskatoon's Mike McEwen.
The teams were awarded spots based on their 2024-25 Canadian Team Ranking System results.
Two-time defending Scotties champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa and defending Brier champion Brad Jacobs of The Glencoe Club in Calgary had already qualified for their respective tournaments.
The remaining 14 teams in each tournament will be determined during the coming season.
Homan topped the women's 2024-25 rankings, followed by Einarson, Skrlik and Black. Jacobs led the men's rankings, followed by Dunstone, McEwen and Gushue.
— With files from Postmedia Sports
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