Chelsea Carey’s rink one of three Wild Card teams invited to Scotties

Chelsea Carey and her Regina-based rink are heading to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Curling Canada announced that instead of having a playoff for one spot, it will be inviting three Wild Card teams to the Canadian women’s curling championship tournament. This will increase the Scotties field to 18 teams.

Tracy Fleury’s team will be Wild Card 1, Carey’s rink will be Wild Card 2, and Rachel Homan’s foursome will be Wild Card 3.

Homan will be representing Canada at the Olympics in mixed doubles so she won’t play in the Scotties, but since three of the four members of the team will be eligible to play, the team is qualified to enter.

So excited to be chosen by @CurlingCanada as the second wild card team for the upcoming Scotties Tournament of Hearts! #CareyOn #curling #STOH2022 pic.twitter.com/2zBzAieCZj

— Team Carey (@TeamCareyCurl) January 13, 2022

The top three teams on the Canadian Team Ranking System that did not qualify for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts were the ones given the invites.

Carey lost 7-5 to Penny Barker’s Moose Jaw rink on Sunday in the 2022 Viterra Saskatchewan Scotties final, losing the right to represent Saskatchewan at the Scotties. It was Carey’s only loss of the tournament.

Carey has won the Scotties twice before, in 2016 and 2019 when she was representing Alberta.

The Scotties isn’t the only tournament changing its format; the Tim Hortons Brier men’s tournament also is adopting a similar format.

The Scotties is to take place from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6 in Thunder Bay, Ont., pending approval by Ontario’s Ministry of Health.