On the Burning Questions for 2024-25: Women

Oh we back....

We’re back, baby! It’s a perfect time to get back into the swing of things, curling-wise, and with my second-annual look at the biggest questions I have going into this season.

But first! A quick update: I have paused all the paid subscriptions to this newsletter. I won’t be able to write here as much as in past seasons, and I didn’t want to feel like I was letting anyone down who paid me their hard-earned cash. I wish I could share the specific reasons for that right now, but rest assured, you’ll hear some news from me shortly and it’s all very exciting. You can still absolutely subscribe to this newsletter for free and get every edition delivered straight to your inbox so you never miss a word! You can do that by clicking this button right here:

Alright, let’s get on with it. I think the women’s side of the game is a little more intriguing, so I’m gonna start there this time around. The men’s burning questions will land in your inbox in the next day or two.

• Can Team Homan continue their dominance?

What a difference a year makes. Last year, one of the burning questions was whether or not Team Homan was in it for the long haul. Rachel and Tracy had swapped the role of calling the game, they were fresh off of crashing out of the Scotties playoffs early, and while I never thought their first season was all that poor despite some naysaying, no one could have predicted last season.

It’s almost certainly the best tour season of all-time in any discipline, capped off with an undefeated Scotties run and a World title. We’ve now found out that they’ve signed a 5-year deal with AMJ Campbell in what they’re reporting to be the largest ever in women’s curling, and their lineup is almost certainly now locked for this quad and perhaps beyond. Can they be that good again?

Statistically speaking, that’ll be almost impossible. Runs like that are pretty much never duplicated. But if they can even come close to sniffing that sort of success again, it’ll still be one of the best seasons ever. One thing working in their favour, at least Canada-side, is that essentially every top Canadian women’s team has undergone a lineup change. Krysten Karwacki in for Briane Harris on Team Einarson. Chelsea Carey in for the retiring Jennifer Jones. Kaitlyn Lawes bringing in Becca Hebert as she expects her second child. Meghan Walter out on Team Cameron. Skylar Ackerman gone. Margot Flemming in for Team Skrlik. Clancy Grandy, Jenn Armstrong, Jill Brothers, LISA WEAGLE!!! It’s madness. As we’ve seen, teams can take a little while to jell and Rachel Homan will have no problem burying them under the ice until they figure it out.

• How does Chelsea Carey fit on her new squad?

It felt like we had to wait a long time to discover who Jennifer Jones’ replacement was going to be with the young triumvirate of Burgess, Zacharias, and Lenentine, and while it always felt like Chelsea Carey had at least one hand firmly grasped on the job, the 10 days after the last Grand Slam (and over two months after Jennifer’s announcement) felt interminable.

I predicted it at the time and it always made the most sense to me. Chelsea has flown under the radar as one of this generation’s most consistent players, winning two Scotties titles with two different lineups, losing an Olympic Trials final and consistently ranked near the top end of the sport, she was the most sensible option.

That said, stepping into Jennifer Jones’ shoes is never going to be the easiest job, and especially not after Jennifer both looked so good last year winning the PointsBet and a Slam, but also nearly grabbing the Cinderella capper to her career, losing the Scotties final to Homan. The girls also had viable options, as Laura Walker was definitely in the mix for the job and I believe Clancy Grandy was too, before she departed her team to take a job coaching with British Curling. I’m sure there were others who also inquired. It was one of the best jobs in curling, and it was openly available. The bottom line is that they had options with upside and so the pressure will be on Chelsea to make it work. I tend to have faith that it will, given the three youngsters are used to the “elder statesperson” role played by Jennifer the last two seasons, and also because Chelsea is a great last rock thrower. But a Scotties berth and a top-5 ranking aren’t easy to come by and it’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain or exceed their performance from last year.

• Who is the next young international team to step into the Top 10?

It’s been a wild last few seasons for teams moving themselves way up the rankings. Isabella Wranå was on her way before last season, but fully cemented herself in the upper echelon of the sport with a solid 23-24 season. Eun ji Gim was always good, but adding the youngster Min Ji Kim unlocked a whole new level for that squad, and now they’re third in the world. Stefania Constantini also made the leap last year, starting out in the 20s and steadily improving as the year went on.

So who is it going to be this year? It could be another Korean team on the rise, as 24 year-old Seungyoun Ha defeated Eunjung Kim in the semifinals to make the Korean National Championship and currently sits at 17. Xenia Schwaller has already started her year with a second-place finish in Oslo and a win at the StuSells in Oakville, inching her way into 9th place for the time being. And don’t look now, but Japan has a whopping FIVE rinks in the top 30, with Satsuki Fujisawa barely hanging on as the nation’s top team, and Kitazawa, Yoshimura, Tabata, and Ueno not far behind. And how about Marianne Roervik or Delaney Strouse? There’s a dominant top 3 in Homan, Tirinzoni, and Gim, but the rest of the top 10 could look very different by year’s end and it could be a lot of new blood making up the upper echelon of the game.

Tap-Backs: When will Briane Harris return? Will she return at all? It probably qualifies as a fully burning question, but enough ink has spilled on it already that I didn’t give it a full section. Certainly seems like Team Einarson hasn’t been exactly the same since, though I think Krysten Karwacki is as natural of a fit as there is…is this the year Isabella Wranå becomes Sweden’s top team? It was a burning question last year but a very strong second half from Anna Hasselborg fended them off. It won’t be easy again this season…who is Canada’s fifth-best team? It’s a clear top three of Homan/Carey/Einarson and Lawes is firmly in 4th, but you’ve got only about 50 points separating Sturmay, Cameron, Thevenot, Gray-Withers, Inglis, Skrlik, Brown, MacMillan, and Campbell. It’s likely we see 1 or 2 teams emerge from that group, and as I said above, almost every one of those teams has undergone a change. Who grabs it?…we’ve talked about the emerging Wranå/Hasselborg rivalry, but is there a similar one about to happen in Switzerland? Xenia Schwaller is in the top 10 and while Silvana Tirinzoni is one hell of an incumbent, all it takes is a hot week…who wins Manitoba? With all of the CTRS Wild Cards going to Manitoba teams, it’s as wide-open as the field has been in a long time. Kate Cameron, Beth Peterson, and Kristy Watling will open as favourites but Manitoba always has squads that can surprise…down South, is it Delaney Strouse’s turn? We’re only a few weeks into the season but she’s passed Tab Peterson in the world rankings for the first time. In fairness, she’s only ahead of Tab by a single spot but the addition of Sarah Anderson is paying early dividends…and finally, I’m always paying attention to British Columbia and this newsletter has sung the praises of Taylor Reese-Hansen’s ability for a while. She picked up Julianna Mackenzie and Kim Bonneau, giving her the strongest team she’s ever had, and they snagged some Curling Canada funding and a PointsBet berth by winning the NextGen Classic. With Clancy Grandy out of the province, it’s now a pretty even three-horse race for that BC Scotties spot between TRH, Corryn Brown, and the new-look Kayla MacMillan team. It’s going to be fun to watch.

There you have it. Lots to ponder ahead of this season, and not just on the women’s (or men’s) side specifically, but it’ll also be interesting to see where things head with the Slams’ new ownership group. I think big changes are on the way and lots of news about that should be coming soon. As I said above, I’ll be back with the men’s burning questions soon. In the meantime, subscribe (for free!), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram (I’m new there but doing some fun stuff!) at @cullenoncurling. See you soon, and get ready for another year!