And now, most of those questions have been answered.
Curl Sask announced Thursday that both provincial championships would not be contested this year, with Matt Dunstone being named the province’s representative for the 2021 Tim Horton’s Brier and Sherry Anderson representing Saskatchewan in the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Both events are taking place in a quarantine bubble at the Markin McPhail Centre ice complex, with the Scotties running Feb. 20-28 and Brier from Mar. 6-14.
The 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw last February.
Curl Sask petitioned the provincial government earlier in the month to hold a bubble championship of their own, but on Jan. 12, the Ministry of Health decided to extend the current restrictions to Jan. 29, and on Jan. 13, Curl Sask’s proposal was denied.
As a result, the provincial reps were determined by using the last two years of point accumulation on the Canadian Team Ranking System.
Dunstone -- who will be joined by Braeden Moskowy, Kirk Muyres and Dustin Kidby -- is the reigning Tankard champion and reached the semifinals at the 2020 Brier.
Anderson will be joined by Nancy Martin, Chaelynn Kitz and Breanne Knapp. It will be Anderson’s 10th trip to the national Scotties, with her most recent appearance coming back in 2018.
Defending provincial champion Robyn Silvernagle would have been a natural pick for the Scotties berth, but with only second Jessie Hunkin returning from that team, they were ineligible.
Several other provinces have also outright named their representatives.
In Northern Ontario, Brad Jacobs and Krysta Burns will take the Brier and Scotties berths, with Burns landing her spot after defending champion Krista McCarville opted out due to her teaching job and quarantine requirements.
Ontario will be represented by Rachel Homan and John Epping, Manitoba by Jennifer Jones and Jason Gunnlaugson. Jones finished third as the Wild Card entry in the 2020 Scotties, with Manitoba champion Kerri Einarson winning the event and playing as Team Canada in 2021.
Corryn Brown and former Saskatchewan standout Steve Laycock will represent B.C. after their provincials were cancelled last week.
Quebec will be represented by Mike Fournier and Laurie St. Georges, Nova Scotia by Jamie Murphy and Jill Brothers and the Yukon by Dustin Mikkelsen, with the territory having yet to name their Scotties rep.
Alberta cancelled their provincials last week, and their representatives will be determined in the near future following a decision by the Curling Alberta board of directors.
Curl Sask also announced Thursday that Mike Armstrong and Ashley Quick will be the province’s representatives for the 2021 Mixed Doubles championship.
