Kerri Einarson and her rink from Gimli, Man., won the opening bonspiel of their 2025-26 season this weekend at the Saville Shootout in Edmonton.
Einarson, joined by third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, new fulltime lead Karlee Burgess and alternate Krysten Karwacki, went 7-0 over the short three-day event and defeated South Korea's Team Eunji Gim, ranked sixth in the world, by a score of 7-0.
The dominating shutout victory saw Team Einarson, ranked fifth, score two in the first end with hammer before picking up consecutive steals of one, two, one and one, leading to early handshakes after just five ends of curling. They also defeated South Korea's Team Youbeen Park in the quarterfinal and Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States in the semifinal.
Team Einarson, who won four straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts from 2020-2023, should be more secure with their lineup this season. The 2024-25 campaign saw a slew of different lineups as Team Einarson dealt with a season-long knee injury to Birchard and former lead Briane Harris being unavailable due to a suspension.
Harris was suspended for testing positive for a banned substance ahead of the 2024 Scotties, but was eligible to return to competition in January 2025 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport stated Harris bore "no fault or negligence" for the violation.
However, Team Einarson had already committed to Burgess ahead of the 2025 Scotties as she was permanently added this off-season.
Harris competed with her new rink in Team Kate Cameron at the Saville Shootout, missing the playoffs with a 1-3 record.
Team Kaitlyn Lawes were also at the event and made the playoffs before losing to Team Serena Gray-Withers in the quarters.
On the men's side of the draw Victoria's Team Cameron de Jong hammered Vancouver's Team Matthew Blandford, 7-1, in the championship game.
Whyte Wins in Oakville
After a strong 2024-25 season, Scotland's Team Ross Whyte picked up their first victory of this curling campaign at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard.
Whyte squared off with American Korey Dropkin in Monday's final, winning the contest 7-3 after taking a 4-0 lead after three ends.
Team Whyte, with third Robin Brydone, second Craig Waddell and lead Euan Kyle, went 6-0 in Oakville, highlighted by a 7-3 victory over Ontario's Team Scott Howard in the quarterfinal and a 5-2 win over Sweden's Team Niklas Edin in the semifinal. Whyte defeated both Howard and Edin in the round robin as well.
Ranked fifth in the world, Whyte and company are now 11-4 on the season.
Team Whyte are back-to-back Scottish champions and captured their first Grand Slam title last season at the Masters.
Ontario rinks led by John Epping and Sam Mooibroek both made the quarterfinal round, but lost to Dropkin and JaeBeom Lee, respectively.
On the women's side of the draw, South Korea's Team Seungyoun Ha scored three in the final end to defeat Japan's Team Momoha Tabata, 6-5, in the championship game.
Ranked 10th in the world, Team Ha won all six of their games at the bonspiel, topping Ontario's Team Hollie Duncan in the quarters, 7-2, and Sweden's Isabella Wrana in the semis, 7-5.
