News Players' Championship

Ottawa’s Rachel Homan has 100,000 reasons to want to win the Players’ Championship.

Homan has a shot at a $100,000 bonus after capturing the Masters title in November and can earn the six-figure extra prize if her team goes 2-for-2 this season by claiming the Players’ Championship in Summerside, P.E.I.

It’s not going to be easy, however, with 11 other top teams in the world gunning for the title. Homan, who also won the Masters last season, fell short of completing the sweep a year ago falling to Jennifer Jones in the Players’ quarterfinals.

All three medal-winning teams from Sochi will be competing in the women’s division and the end-of-season tournament closes a four-year Olympic cycle that could see several teams shake up their rosters for the fall as they begin the road to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.

We covered the men’s division on Monday, now here’s a look at the 12 teams competing for the women’s title at the Players’ Championship.

Team Hastings

Lineup: Julie Hastings (skip), Cheryl McPherson (third), Stacey Smith (second), Katrina Collins (lead) | Hometown: Thornhill, Ont. | Order of Merit rank: 39th 

Hastings made her Grand Slam debut at the Players’ Championship in 2010. The team has won two bonspiels this season: the KW Fall Classic in September and the Mount Lawn Gord Carroll Classic in November. 

Team Homan

Lineup: Rachel Homan (skip), Emma Miskew (third), Alison Kreviazuk (second), Lisa Weagle (lead) | Hometown: Ottawa | Order of Merit rank: 2nd

The Masters champions have a chance to take the $100,000 bonus should they sweep the two Grand Slam of Curling events this season and capture the Players’ Championship. This will also be the final tournament for their current lineup as Kreviazuk is moving to Sweden in the summer. Homan successfully defended her Scotties Tournament of Hearts title in February and earned silver at the women’s world curling championship in March.

Team Jaeggi

Lineup: Michele Jaeggi (skip), Emilie Mattille (third), Stéphanie Jaeggi (second), Carine Mattille (lead) | Hometown: Bern, Switzerland | Order of Merit rank: 13th

This is the second consecutive Players’ Championship appearance for the team. Jaeggi finished pool play with a 2-2 record but lost to Jones in a tiebreaker and missed the playoffs.

Team Jones

Lineup: Jennifer Jones (skip), Kaitlyn Lawes (third), Jill Officer (second), Dawn McEwen (lead) | Hometown: Winnipeg | Order of Merit rank: 1st

Team Jones is riding the momentum from the Sochi Games where they became the first women’s curling team to post an undefeated record and win the Olympic gold medal. Jones has had a lot of success at this particular tournament: in the eight years the Players’ has been held, Jones has won the event four times. 

Team Lawton

Lineup: Stefanie Lawton (skip), Sherry Anderson (third), Sherri Singler (second), Marliese Kasner (lead) | Hometown: Saskatoon | Order of Merit rank: 4th

Lawton won the Players’ Championship the last time it was held in Summerside, P.E.I., two years ago as the lowest-ranked club. They won’t be underestimated this time around. Team Lawton finished the Masters round-robin play with a 3-1 record but was edged out in an extra end by Team Jones in the quarterfinals.

Team Middaugh

Lineup: Sherry Middaugh (skip), Jo-Ann Rizzo (third), Lee Merklinger (second), Leigh Armstrong (lead) | Hometown: Coldwater, Ont. | WCT Order of Merit rank: 12th

Middaugh finished the Masters with a 2-2 record but the team bounced back from that performance and came in second place at the Canadian Olympic trials, including a 10-4 win over Team Homan in the semifinal match.

Team Muirhead

Lineup: Eve Muirhead (skip), Anna Sloan (third), Vicki Adams (second), Claire Hamilton (lead) | Hometown: Stirling, Scotland | Order of Merit rank: 3rd

Muirhead won the Players’ Championship a year ago in Toronto, defeating Sigfridsson in the final to claim her first Grand Slam of Curling title and become the youngest skip in series history to win a title at age 22. Muirhead, who earned a bronze medal at the Sochi Olympics, finished runner-up to Homan in the Masters.

Team Nedohin

Lineup: Heather Nedohin (skip), Beth Iskiw (third), Mary-Anne Arsenault (second), Laine Peters (lead) | Hometown: Edmonton | Order of Merit rank: 9th

Nedohin finished the Masters round-robin with a 3-1 record including an impressive 8-2 rout over Homan in just five ends of play but fell 6-3 in the rematch during the quarterfinals.

Team Sigfridsson

Lineup: Maria Prytz (fourth/vice skip), Christina Bertrup (third), Maria Wennerstroem (second), Margaretha Sigfridsson (lead/skip) | Hometown: Harnosand, Sweden | Order of Merit rank: 5th 

The Sochi Olympic silver medallists reached the finals at last year’s Players’ Championship but fell to Team Muirhead. Sigfridsson was the only team to post an undefeated 4-0 record in round-robin play at the Masters earlier this season and faced Muirhead again in the quarterfinals. Sigfridsson trailed 4-2 and rallied to score a single in the seventh and a steal of one in the eighth to tie it but Muirhead grabbed the game-winning point in the extra end to advance.

Team Sweeting

Lineup: Valerie Sweeting (skip), Laura Crocker (third), Dana Ferguson (second) and Rachel Pidherny (lead) | Hometown: Edmonton | Order of Merit rank: 11th

Sweeting was the runner-up to Homan at this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts to earn silver medals. The team has said goodbye to third Joanne Courtney, who will head east and join Homan next season. Former skip Crocker will sub at third.

Team Tirinzoni

Lineup: Silvana Tirinzoni (skip), Manuela Siegrist (third), Esther Neuenschwander (second), Marlene Albrecht (lead) | Hometown: Aarau, Switzerland | Order of Merit rank: 10th

Tirinzoni is coming off of winning the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown title, defeating Team Muirhead in the final last month. They finished last year’s Players’ Championship with a 2-2 record but fell to Renee Sonnenberg’s team in the tiebreaker.

Team Webster

Lineup: Crystal Webster (skip), Cathy Overton-Clapham (third), Geri-Lynn Ramsay (second), Jen Gates (lead) | Hometown: Calgary | Order of Merit rank: 20th

Webster was a finalist at the Players’ in 2010 while Overton-Clapham, a five-time Scotties champion, earned three Players’ titles with Team Jones (2006, 2007 and 2009) and skipped her own team to the final in 2012. Team Webster won the Shoot-Out @ the Saville Centre in September.