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The top Canadian women’s curling teams collide at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, beginning Friday in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Here’s what you need to know for the event and which teams to watch in Eight Ends.

FIRST END: The 18-team field is split into two pools for round-robin play. The top three teams from each pool advance to the championship round that’s then whittled down to the final four teams for the page playoffs. The winner of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts will represent Canada at the world women’s curling championship, March 15-23, in Uijeongbu, South Korea.

Of the 18 teams, 14 were decided or selected during provincial and territorial playdowns. Team Rachel Homan returns as the defending champion while Manitoba’s Team Kerri Einarson and Team Kaitlyn Lawes plus Alberta’s Team Selena Sturmay pre-qualified based on last season’s Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points.

Team Chelsea Carey originally held the third pre-qualifier spot, however, the Manitoba club needed to retain three of the four players from the previous year. Carey took the reins after Jennifer Jones retired from women’s curling at the end of last season and lost the pre-qualifier spot after Karlee Burgess left the team in January.

SECOND END: In case you’ve been living under a curling rock, the defending champion and No. 1-ranked Homan is far and away the heavy favourite. Homan, who is also the reigning world champion, is having another incredible season, with five title wins and two runner-up results through seven events and sporting a 45-4 record. That includes a 17-1 mark against Canadian competition.

The Ottawa-based club swept back-to-back Grand Slam of Curling championships in the fall, capturing the Co-op Canadian Open and KIOTI National.

Homan will also have one of the greatest curlers of all time on the bench as Jones was named earlier this week as the team’s coach for the tournament. Jones, who won the Scotties a record-tying six times, brings an immeasurable wealth of knowledge that even Homan, a four-time champ herself, will benefit from.

THIRD END: Considering Homan ran the table through the Scotties Tournament of Hearts last year and has maintained the pace this season, we could be looking at another undefeated run. Nothing is guaranteed in sports, though, and Homan is human after all.

Team Einarson is the lone Canadian club to score a win over Team Homan this season with a 5-4 victory during the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 1 women’s final in October.

After winning four straight Scotties titles, Einarson’s bid for a five-peat hit a snag last year after lead Briane Harris was deemed ineligible to play on the eve of the tournament. Harris was later provisionally suspended for testing positive for a banned substance.

Team Einarson has also been without second Shannon Birchard for most of this season due to a knee injury. Birchard made her season debut at a tour stop in December; however, she didn’t finish the event and will miss the remainder of the year. Despite relying on spares, Einarson not only won the aforementioned Grand Slam event but also picked up a tour title a few weeks later at the Saville Grand Prix.

Alternate Krysten Karwacki has jumped in at lead while Burgess has joined as an injury replacement for Birchard. Lauren Lenentine, also formerly of Team Carey, has come on board for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts as an alternate — a decision the team made before Harris’s provisional suspension was lifted and she was cleared of any wrongdoing last month.

Einarson, who is No. 2 on the CTRS and No. 6 in the world, reached the quarterfinals of last month’s WFG Masters with Burgess in the lineup.

FOURTH END: The Scotties will be extra special for Thunder Bay’s own Team Krista McCarville. Although Thunder Bay hosted the tournament in 2022, it was held behind closed doors because of COVID-19 restrictions, with only a small number of volunteers and local junior curlers on hand during the playoffs. McCarville went all the way to the final, losing 9-6 to Einarson. Expect a crowded house this time and the sound of Northern Ontario moose calls to echo through Fort William Gardens.

McCarville, who finished runner-up in 2016 and earned bronze in 2023, is No. 17 on the CTRS but the low ranking is simply because her team isn’t as active as others, with just four events under its belt this season. Her team finished in a five-way tie for third place in its pool during last year’s Scotties and lucked out on a spot in the championship round based on draw-to-the-button shootout totals.

FIFTH END: Nova Scotia’s Team Christina Black should be considered a playoff contender and not a lucky underdog. The team is No. 4 on the CTRS with five title wins this season, including the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 2. That earned Black an invitation to the KIOTI National, where, after a 0-2 start, her team won three straight games to qualify for the quarterfinals. They can hang with the world’s best.

SIXTH END: Manitoba’s Team Kate Cameron will look to make a return trip to the podium. Cameron, who is No. 6 in Canada, earned bronze last year after losing 12-7 to Jones in the semifinal. The lineup is different this year as Taylor McDonald has returned from maternity leave and moved up to third after Meghan Walter stepped back from the sport. Brianna Cullen joined at second. Four-time Brier and world champion Glenn Howard, who previously coached Team Jones and Team Carey, will also be on the bench with Team Cameron this time.

SEVENTH END: Sturmay and fellow Alberta club Team Kayla Skrlik should be in the mix as well. Skrlik, who was victorious in provincial playdowns, has reached six finals this season, including a runner-up result at the PointsBet Invitational. Her team is ranked No. 3 on the CTRS and 12th in the world. Thanks to a strong season, Skrlik made her top-tier Grand Slam of Curling series debut last month at the WFG Masters.

Sturmay skipped (literally, not figuratively) provincial playdowns thanks to pre-qualifying. Her Edmonton team defeated Skrlik’s Calgary club in last year’s provincial final — a true Battle of Alberta — and finished fourth at the Scotties after a hot start with a 7-1 record in pool play. Although Sturmay is No. 12 on the CTRS, her team is coming off a championship win at the Crestwood Platinum Anniversary Showdown last month.

EIGHTH END: It’s the last hurrah for Northwest Territories skip Kerry Galusha, who announced she will retire from competitive curling after the event. Galusha can surprise, and made it to the championship round when the Scotties was held in Thunder Bay three years ago. The torch will be passed too: Her 15-year-old daughter, Sydney Galusha, will make her Scotties debut throwing second.