Scotties Tournament of Hearts 2026 standings and schedule: unbeaten streaks by Kaitlyn Lawes and Beth Peterson set up a pivotal Thursday in Mississauga

The Scotties Tournament of Hearts 2026 has hit its squeeze point, where every stolen end and every hammer decision starts to feel like a playoff preview. Entering Thursday, Jan 29, two Manitoba teams are perfect so far in their respective pools, tightening the race for championship-round spots and turning the day’s three draws into the most consequential stretch of the week.

This year’s national women’s curling championship runs Jan 23 through Feb 1 at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, with a two-pool round robin feeding a championship round and a Page playoff finish. The immediate stakes are simple: the top three teams from each pool advance, and seeding can be the difference between a shorter path to Sunday night and a sudden-death slog.

Scotties 2026 standings: Pool A and Pool B snapshot

As of Thursday morning, Jan 29 (before Draw 16 begins), the pools look like this:

Pool A

• Manitoba (Kaitlyn Lawes) 6–0

• Canada (Kerri Einarson) 6–1

• Ontario (Hailey Armstrong) 4–2

• Nova Scotia (Taylour Stevens) 4–2

• Saskatchewan (Jolene Campbell) 3–3

• British Columbia (Taylor Reese-Hansen) 2–4

• Quebec (Jolianne Fortin) 2–4

• Northwest Territories (Nicky Kaufman) 1–5

• Yukon (Bayly Scoffin) 0–7

Pool B

• Manitoba (Beth Peterson) 6–0

• Nova Scotia (Christina Black) 6–1

• Alberta (Selena Sturmay) 5–1

• Northern Ontario (Krista Scharf) 3–3

• Alberta (Kayla Skrlik) 3–3

• New Brunswick (Mélodie Forsythe) 2–4

• Newfoundland and Labrador (Mackenzie Mitchell) 1–5

• Prince Edward Island (Amanda Power) 1–5

• Nunavut (Julia Weagle) 1–6

The headline within the headline is the symmetry: both pools have a front-runner at 6–0, both have an elite challenger right behind, and both have a mid-pack knot where a single upset can move a team from comfortable to desperate in one session.

Scotties Tournament of Hearts 2026 schedule: Thursday’s draws in Eastern Time

Thursday, Jan 29 brings the standard three-draw cadence, and the matchups are loaded with seeding implications.

9:00 a.m. ET — Draw 16

• New Brunswick vs Alberta (Sturmay)

• Manitoba (Peterson) vs Nunavut

• Alberta (Skrlik) vs Newfoundland and Labrador

• Northern Ontario vs Prince Edward Island

2:00 p.m. ET — Draw 17

• Quebec vs Northwest Territories

• Saskatchewan vs Manitoba (Lawes)

• Nova Scotia (Stevens) vs Ontario

• Canada (Einarson) vs British Columbia

7:00 p.m. ET — Draw 18

• Newfoundland and Labrador vs Prince Edward Island

• New Brunswick vs Northern Ontario

• Manitoba (Peterson) vs Alberta (Sturmay)

• Nova Scotia (Black) vs Alberta (Skrlik)

The standout pressure points: Lawes vs Saskatchewan and Stevens vs Ontario at 2:00 p.m. ET can reshuffle Pool A’s race for second and third. Then the nightcap has a potential Pool B measuring stick in Peterson vs Sturmay, exactly the kind of “see you later” game that can foreshadow a weekend rematch.

The teams to know: 18 entries, a wide-open field

With the defending champion not in the field because of Olympic commitments, the “Team Canada” spot shifted, and the tournament’s center of gravity moved from one dominant favorite to a cluster of credible title threats. The field includes Team Canada skipped by Kerri Einarson, plus provincial and territorial entries such as Kaitlyn Lawes and Beth Peterson for Manitoba, Hailey Armstrong for Ontario, Selena Sturmay and Kayla Skrlik for Alberta, Christina Black and Taylour Stevens for Nova Scotia, Jolene Campbell for Saskatchewan, Taylor Reese-Hansen for British Columbia, and representatives from Quebec, Northern Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon.

That depth matters because the Scotties format rewards consistency more than flash: a single flat draw can be survivable, but two can put even top-tier teams into tiebreak math.

What’s behind the headline: why this Scotties feels different

Three incentives are colliding at once.

First, it’s an Olympic year, which changes roster availability and shifts attention, sponsorship demands, and competitive planning. The absence of the defending champion doesn’t just remove a big name; it redistributes belief across the field. Teams aren’t arriving to “beat the champ.” They’re arriving to win the whole thing.

Second, the two-pool structure creates asymmetric pressure. Mid-pack teams can’t simply “steal one from the top” and hope for help; they need to manage head-to-heads against direct rivals. That’s why the Stevens–Armstrong and Saskatchewan–Lawes games feel like playoff games in January.

Third, hosting in a major market changes the stakeholder map. For the event, strong crowds and clean TV windows are commercial necessities. For athletes, that means heightened scrutiny and sharper reputational stakes: every decision, every miss, every timeout feels louder.

What we still don’t know

• Who clinches first. The top of both pools is strong, but clinches depend on how the 3–6 and 4–2 cluster breaks over the next two days.

• How tiebreakers will land. If multiple teams finish level, last-stone draws and head-to-head results become decisive, and that calculus changes from draw to draw.

• Whether the schedule creates fatigue edges. The three-draw rhythm can punish teams that grind out extra-end wins or rely on tight defensive games.

What happens next: realistic scenarios and triggers

1. Lawes locks Pool A’s top seed if Manitoba continues unbeaten through Saskatchewan, forcing the rest of Pool A to fight for the remaining two spots.

2. Einarson steals the pool if Canada keeps pace and Manitoba slips once, turning seeding into a hammer-and-matchup debate for the championship round.

3. Ontario vs Nova Scotia (Stevens) becomes a “win-and-in” track if the 4–2 teams trade results and Saskatchewan steals one more.

4. Peterson vs Sturmay becomes the Pool B separator if the winner controls the top seed and the loser gets dragged into a logjam with Black nearby.

5. The 3–3 tier detonates if Northern Ontario and Alberta (Skrlik) split their Thursday tests, pushing multiple teams into “must-win” territory before the Page qualifiers begin.

Why it matters

The Scotties isn’t only about a trophy. It’s about momentum, funding, future roster decisions, and who gets to carry the maple leaf at the next major international test. Thursday’s draws are where contenders turn into favorites—and where favorites discover how thin the margin really is.