MISSISSAUGA, ONT. – Five-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion Shannon Birchard watched last year’s national championship on television.
Nursing a nagging knee injury that kept her out of the lineup for most of the 2024-25 campaign, Birchard watched as her Team Kerri Einarson teammates battled hard throughout the week in Thunder Bay, Ont., before ultimately dropping the final to defending champion Team Rachel Homan, 6-1.
“I was pretty at peace with the decision and really just embraced the support role that I took on,” Birchard told TSN.ca Friday at Mississauga, Ont.’s Paramount Fine Foods Centre.
“It was hard to watch from home. I wish I could have been there in person and been at least on the bench or in the stands. They did such a wonderful job and really put it all out there and really had to battle through some games. They played an awesome final. It just wasn’t their week at the end of it.”
Now healthy, the 31-year-old is returning to the Canadian women’s curling championship for the seventh time.
“The Scotties holds a pretty special place in my heart and all of our hearts,” explained Birchard. “Just the event and the prestige of it is. It’s not like any other, so it’s nice to be back and it’s fun to be out here on the ice.”
The recovery process to get back into playing shape was made more challenging as she was pregnant with her first child, daughter Leighton, who was born eight months ago.
“Those coinciding together made it extraordinarily challenging to get a diagnosis [on her knee] and then also train and recover the way that I would want to because your body’s changing as you grow larger and the baby gets bigger,” said Birchard.
Birchard got an MRI following the birth of her daughter over the summer that revealed she would need to get a scope to fix the problem in her sliding knee.
“I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience. My recovery was pretty much as they said it would be,” said the Winnipeg native. “In six weeks I was able to slide again. It takes a while to loosen things up, but at this point in the season, I mean, it feels really good.”
Despite making the Scotties final, last season was a bit chaotic for Team Einarson. Not only did they miss Birchard’s ability as one of the game’s best seconds but lead Brianne Harris was also absent after testing positive for a banned substance ahead of the 2024 Scotties in Calgary.
Their lineup seemed to change on weekly basis, with spares filling in throughout the season. Karlee Burgess left Chelsea Carey’s squad to play with Team Einarson at the Thunder Bay Scotties and she was officially added as the permanent lead over the off-season.
The rink from Gimli, Man., is filled out with long-time third Val Sweeting, alternate Krysten Karwacki and coach Reid Carruthers.
With Birchard now healthy and the awkward breakup with Harris, who eventually cleared her name of any wrongdoing, in the past, Team Einarson has gotten back on track in 2025-26.
They hold a 30-14 record this season, highlighted by a win at the Saville Shootout in September, a semifinal appearance at the Canadian Curling Trials in November (lost to Christina Black) and making the final of the Players’ Championship Grand Salm earlier this month, dropping a close 6-5 decision to world No. 2 Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland in the final.
They eliminated Team Homan in the semifinal of the event with a 7-6 extra-end victory.
“It’s definitely been way easier and a lot less chaotic,” said Einarson. “Last year, having to deal with so many changes, and it was nice to just have a steady lineup for the whole entire season. And Karlee fitting in pretty easily to the team. She’s pretty bubbly and outgoing.”
Birchard, who had Harris as a sweeping partner for their four Scotties titles from 2020 to 2023, said she had to learn to play with Burgess and her teammates again after missing so much time last season.
“It’s been pretty seamless. I think Karlee is awesome. She’s been super helpful for me coming back. Some of the things that they implemented last season I had to learn, in terms of processes for communication and sweeping,” said Birchard “I’ve really enjoyed having her as a partner to sweep with, and she’s so easygoing and full of energy. She really keeps it positive out there and keeps you focused on what the goal is at hand.”
Einarson is thrilled to have her takeout specialist back in the lineup as well.
“Definitely her big-weight ability, her sweeping ability and just being an overall great teammate and I definitely missed that last season,” said Einarson.
No Homan Empire this year
After winning the past two national titles in dominating fashion, Team Homan won’t be in Mississauga this week to attempt the three-peat at the first-ever Greater Toronto Area Scotties.
The Ottawa foursome won November’s Canadian Curling Trials, sweeping Halifax’s Team Chrisina Black in the final, meaning they’re headed to Italy next week for Milano Cortina 2026.
Team Homan have been nearly unstoppable since the start of the 2023-24 season, especially against Canada teams. They’ve gone a perfect 22-0 at the Scotties the past two seasons and had a 32-game winning streak against Canadian teams snapped at the Trials.
With Homan absent, Team Einarson, ranked second in Canada and sixth in the world, instantly becomes the team to beat.
Despite the possible clearer path to a fifth Scotties title for Team Einarson, Birchard knows their competition will be gunning for the team with the Maple Leaf on their back.
“I think she’s [Homan] been our toughest rival over the last couple of seasons. And so, yeah, her not being here definitely changes the aspect, but we have to come out and play strong against all these teams,” said Birchard. “We know that they have circled their game against us, and they’re going to come out playing their best, and so we can’t take a backseat or take a load off at any point this week. We just have to put the pedal to the medal, and hopefully we’re playing next weekend and put ourselves in that final.”
This year’s field is as open as its been in a while, with numerous skips making their Scotties debuts.
“Everyone’s tough. Yeah, I know Homan’s not here, but we’re still going to have to play well to win this,” said Einarson. “So we’re not going to take anyone lightly, and we never ever do, because on any given day, anyone could beat someone. So we just got to focus on what we can do and what we can control, and yeah, just come out and play our game.”
Team Einarson joined Colleen Jones and her legendary Halifax rink as the only teams to win four straight Tournament of Hearts from 2020-2023. Despite the success domestically, Einarson and company haven’t found the same results at the World Women’s Curling Championship, owning two bronze medals over three appearances.
Birchard, who also won the Tournament of Hearts with Jennifer Jones in 2018, said the motivation to finish the job on the world stage is a motivating factor for Team Einarson.
“We have the experience of winning it [the Scotties]. And so we just have to remember that, take that into this week, and hopefully we are able to finish it off,” Birchard said.
The championship game takes place Sunday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT with the winning rink earning the right to represent Canada at the World Women’s Curling Championship in Calgary on March 14-22.
