Northern Icon!

Team Northwest Territories skip Kerry Galusha celebrates iconic career with win at 2025 Scotties

Simply put, Kerry Galusha is one of Canadian curling’s most beloved athletes.

Never mind her lauded curling career spanning 35 years, featuring 20 Scotties Tournament of Hearts appearances; her on-ice legacy was firmly cemented long ago and, frankly, that’s only the half of it.

What makes Galusha one of the greats is her infectious personality, her zeal for the sport of curling, her community contributions, and the reflection of her character through the eyes of her fellow athletes.

She’s become a figurehead for curling in Canada’s north, whose continuity and immortality in curling can never be disputed; a true Northwest Territories legend.

Add it all up, and it makes Galusha’s retirement announcement before the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, hosted at the Fort William Gardens at Thunder Bay, Ont., a bittersweet affair.

So, while Galusha – alongside her Yellowknife squadron of third Megan Koehler, second/vice-skip Sydney Galusha, lead Shona Barbour, alternate Ella Skauge and coach Amber Holland – took care of business Monday afternoon defeating the Yukon’s Team Bayly Scoffin (1-3; Whitehorse) 14-8 on Monday afternoon, the game itself felt less important than the celebration of Galusha’s career.

Galusha was flanked by family and supporters after the win, adorned in hugs, well wishes and raucous applause from Thunder Bay curling fans.

But still, a win is a win and, being a consummate competitor, Galusha loves to win. The defeat of the Yukon gave Team Northwest Territories its first win of this 2025 Scotties campaign and improves the Yellowknife team to 1-2.

“It’s always a rivalry against the Yukon,” said Galusha. “I love those girls; they’re great. I’ve curled against Kerry Foster a long time, since we were juniors. It’s not fun to beat them, but it’s nice to get our first win, especially for Sydney and Ella.”

And while it was a bit of a rocky game for Galusha herself, her team came through with superb shot-making.

“I didn’t play well so I’m really proud of my team,” said Galusha. “I felt like I curled well our first two games and made a lot of bail-out shots while my team was struggling a bit and, today, it kind of switched.  My team kind of pulled up their socks, so it was really nice.

Galusha pulled no punches about the difficult decision to retire from competitive women’s play but maintains that she’ll continue the sport in other facets.

“It’s hard,” said Galusha. “I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss the people the most. It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to be around and coaching in the future, I think. You might see me at a mixed still, or maybe mixed doubles. I haven’t tried that one yet.”

What makes stepping back from the game so much more difficult for Galusha is how woven the sport is into her character.

“This is part of my life, coming here, working hard and going to the rink every day,” said Galusha. “Now I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s going to be tough.”

Ironically, one of Galusha’s favourite Scotties memories is from 2022, when Thunder Bay and the Fort William Gardens first hosted the women’s national curling championship. Team Northwest Territories posted a 6-4 pool play record before bowing out in the playoffs.

“Three years ago, being here, and making playoffs and making all-star lead,” said Galusha, who threw lead rocks while calling the shots as skip. “I was over the moon. It was so fun. I’ll never forget that.”

It’s not enough to simply just say goodbye to a curler like Galusha. It brings pause to a community and allows us to reflect upon how one individual can have a profound impact on a sport, all while contemplating a future where said icon will no longer be present; a future where her former impact will immediately be noticed and, more importantly, missed.

“It’s kind of crazy,” said Galusha. “I didn’t how much of an impact I’ve made. Living in the north, like, I don’t come here and I don’t make playoffs every year and I don’t come win it like Rachel Homan or Jennifer Jones. I guess I have a very different legacy of being the underdog and working hard and trying to make your dreams come true.”

“If you work hard, you can make it from the north, I guess is more my legacy,” said Galusha. “And being Indigenous and working with Indigenous youth. It’s much larger than I ever would have thought. Hopefully, I’ll continue making a difference even if I’m not on the ice at the Scotties.”

In other Monday afternoon action, Ontario’s Team Danielle Inglis (3-1; Ottawa) took home an 8-6 win over Manitoba’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes (1-3; Winnipeg). Québec’s Team Laurie St-Georges (3-1; Laval-sur-le-Lac) stayed hot with a 9-6 win over Manitoba’s Team Kerri Einarson (2-1; Winnipeg) while Nova Scotia’s Team Christina Black (3-1; Halifax) made short work of Newfoundland/Labrador’s Team Brooke Godsland (0-4; St. John’s) with an 11-4 win.

In Monday morning action, Northern Ontario’s Team Krista McCarville’s (0-4; Thunder Bay) couldn’t leverage home-ice advantage falling 9-3 to British Columbia’s Team Corryn Brown (3-1; Kamloops). Saskatchewan’s Team Nancy Martin (3-1; Saskatoon) secured a 7-5 win over New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams (1-2; Fredericton) while Prince Edward Island’s Team Jane DiCarlo (1-2; Crapaud) delivered an 8-7 edging to Nunavut’s Team Julia Weagle (0-3; Iqaluit) and Alberta’s Team Kayla Skrlik (3-1; Calgary) collected a 6-5 win over provincial rivals Team Selena Sturmay (2-2; Edmonton).

The 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues Monday at 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