Comeback kids!

Team Alberta-Skrlik rallies to remain unbeaten at 2025 Scotties

Back at full strength Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens, Alberta’s Team Kayla Skrlik needed a little time to adjust to four-player curling at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Skrlik’s Calgary team had just three players on the ice in Friday’s opening draw, as lead/vice-skip Geri-Lynn Ramsay was sidelined with stomach bug, but Skrlik, third Margot Flemming and second Ashton Skrlik (Kayla’s younger sister) weren’t slowed down in an 8-4 win over New Brunswick’s Team Melissa Adams.

Saturday night, Ramsay was back on the ice, but the Albertans got off to a rocky start against B.C.’s Team Corryn Brown (Kamloops), giving up a steal of three in the fourth end that propelled B.C. to a 7-3 lead through six ends.

But that four-point deficit was quickly erased. Team Alberta-Skrlik scored a pair in the seventh and got a steal of three of its own in the eighth en route to a 9-8 win.

“I think I nicknamed our team the comeback kids way back in the skips interview (with TSN on Thursday),” said a smiling Kayla Skrlik, who made a perfect draw to bite the button for the win in the 10th end. “So I think we proved that today, which is good.”

Having Ramsay back in the lineup didn’t exactly produce the smooth start that Team Skrlik was hoping for.

“We sort of started this game off as like our first game in the Scotties; Geri-Lynn’s back, we have our original lineup back, but we had to settle into things a little bit more,” said Skrlik. “And then we finally got our mojo in the back half. Margot and Ashton don’t, but I love a 10-end game. It gives us more opportunity to come back in situations like that. So, we needed all 10 today, and it was good.”

It’s certainly a different Skrlik team than the one that made its Scotties debut two years ago in Kamloops, where it posted a 4-4 record. A solid 2024-25 season that included a runner-up finish to Team Rachel Homan at the 2024 PointsBet Invitational in Calgary certainly boosted the confidence coming into Thunder Bay.

“We’re quite comfortable out here, as opposed to my first Scotties, where I went in in front of all my favourite curlers in the world to play,” said Skrlik. “Making the PointsBet final was a really big boost, and got us playing a little bit more (in big events).”

The loss dropped British Columbia’s record to 1-1.

In other games Saturday night, the home team from Thunder Bay, Northern Ontario’s Team Krista McCarville,  suffered a second consecutive loss to open the 2025 Scotties, bowing 10-7 to defending Scotties and World champions Team Homan (2-0; Ottawa. Team Homan scored four in the second and three more in the fourth and sailed to the win.

Also on Saturday, Team Alberta-Sturmay (skipped by Selena Sturmay; 2-0; Edmonton) was an 11-4 winner over Nunavut’s Team Julia Weagle (0-1; Iqaluit); and Saskatchewan’s Team Nancy Martin (2-0; Saskatoon) remained unbeaten with an 8-6 win over Prince Edward Island’s Team Jane DiCarlo (0-2; Crapaud).

The 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues Sunday with draws at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (all times Eastern).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, go to www.curling.ca/2025scotties/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025scotties/nouvelles/?lang=fr