Representing Canada, Einarson looking to capture fifth career Scotties title in Mississauga

Kerri Einarson enters the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in a familiar position, but she took a different path to get there this season.

The four-time Scotties champion will skip Team Canada at the national championship for the fifth time in her career as her rink from Gimli, Man., will be the team to beat at Mississauga Ont.’s Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

You can watch every draw throughout the week on TSN, TSN.ca and TSN App, starting with Draw 1 on Friday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Team Einarson, also including third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, lead Karlee Burgess, alternate Krysten Karwacki and coach Reid Carruthers, dropped a 6-1 decision to Team Rachel Homan in last year’s Scotties final from Thunder Bay, Ont.

After winning the Canadian Curling Trials in November, Team Homan is preparing to compete at The Winter Olympics in Italy and won’t be in Mississauga to attempt the three-peat.

As a runner-up last year, Team Einarson has the honour to wear the Maple Leaf at this year’s Scotties.

“Maybe it feels a little bit different because it is in a different way and we’re not defending champs, but we’re also very excited for it too,” Einarson told TSN’s Bob Weeks in the latest episode of Rock Talk. “Definitely not our first time and it will be a little bit different, but just as exciting.”

This won’t be the first time Canada has been represented by the runner-up from the previous year’s Tournament of Hearts.

Team Homan won the 2017 Scotties in St. Catharines, Ont., before winning the Olympic Trials the following season. Team Michelle Englot, who lost 8-6 to Team Homan in an epic extra-end Scotties final, represented Canada at the 2018 Tournament of Hearts in Penticton. They missed the playoffs with a 6-5 record.

Regardless of Team Einarson’s path to this year’s Scotties, the 38-year-old skip says wearing the Maple Leaf at the Canadian women’s curling championship never gets old

“Every time always give you goosebumps and especially when you get those jerseys for the first time, stepping onto the ice and it always gives me more drive to get back to the world stage as well,” she said.

Einarson, Sweeting, Birchard and former lead Brianne Harris were the best team in Canadian women’s curling from 2020 to 2023, winning the Scotties title each year over that stretch, beating Team Homan in the final on two occasions.

Curling legend Colleen Jones and her historic Halifax rink is the only other team to win four straight Canadian women’s curling championships.

Einarson’s reign ended at the 2024 Scotties in Calgary after Harris was suspended on the first day of the tournament for testing positive for a banned substance. They would go on to lose the 3 vs. 4-game to Team Kate Cameron.

Harris’ was suspended and unable to play with Team Einarson for nearly a calendar year before finally clearing her name from any wrongdoing a few weeks ahead of the 2025 Scotties.

Team Einarson, who were also without Birchard last season due to a knee injury, had already added Burgess to their squad for the Thunder Bay Scotties and didn’t have a spot for Harris to rejoin the squad.

Harris and Team Einarson officially parted ways in the off-season.

With Birchard now healthy and the awkward breakup with Harris in the rear-view mirror, 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.

Team Einarson is ranked second in Canada and will be the top seed at the Mississauga Scotties.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time. We had a really great event in Steinbach (Players’ Championship) and so that was awesome leading into the Scotties,” Einarson explained. “You want to perform leading into that and I think we’re at that point right now. We’re just loving the game.”

This will be Einarson’s ninth career appearance at the Tournament of Hearts, including her seventh consecutive.

With a victory, Einarson would tie Homan with five Scotties titles, one behind Jennifer Jones and Colleen Jones for most all-time by a skip.

Birchard, who also won the Tournament of Hearts with Jennifer Jones in 2018, is looking for a sixth career Scotties title.

“We’ve got a lot of experience being in those big games and big moments. We know what to expect. But it is also super nerve-wracking too,” Einarson said. “We’ll definitely have a target on our backs and we’ll have to play very well.”

Team Einarson will play out of Pool A and will take on the likes of Manitoba’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes, British Columbia’s Team Reese-Hansen and Saskatchewan’s Team Jolene Campbell.

They’ll be near locks to finish in the top three and advance to the Scotties playoffs.

TSN Curling’s Russ Howard thinks Einarson’s rink is trending in the right direction and will be the favourites in Mississauga.

“They’re the best team,” said Howard. “Who’s got more experience than Kerri Einarson? They’ve won this thing four times. It’s a slightly different iteration, this team. I think part of the reason they’re doing so well is that the team is healthy again.”

This year’s event also marks the first time the Scotties Tournament of Hearts will be held in the Greater Toronto Area.

“I hope the attendance is really good, but from what I hear it is [good]. Some of my family is coming and at least it’s kind of easy to get to,” Einarson said.

Team Einarson begin their Scotties on Friday night against Yukon’s Bayly Scoffin.