The biggest news on the first day of the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary on Friday didn’t happen on the ice, but off it: It was decided that Briane Harris of Winnipeg, Manitoba, will not be allowed to compete in this year’s Canadian National Women’s Curling Championship. No further explanation has been given so far. Various reasons are being speculated on the World Wide Web and social media, but nothing more can be said at the moment. Harris is the point guard on Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada, which has won the last four Scotties Tournament of Hearts. She will be replaced in the lineup by Canadian fifth-seeded Krysten Karwacki of Winnipeg.
On Friday, Canada played its first game of the 2024 Scotties and didn’t let it get to them, beating Team Quebec 8-2. This is a new Quebec group, led by Laurie St-Georges. That’s because Quebec’s new third is Jamie Sinclair of Anchorage, Alaska. Sinclair has represented the United States at two world women’s curling championships and has dual citizenship. She also played curling with Rachel Homan as a junior and won a gold medal for Ontario at the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon. In other games Friday, Saskatchewan beat Prince Edward Island 11-8, Alberta beat Manitoba 7-5 and Northern Ontario beat British Columbia 9-5.
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