Manitoba will likely send a remarkable five teams to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts national women's curling championship next month in Calgary.
Curling Canada revealed this morning it will use the Canadian Team Ranking System to decided the third wild-card team for the event.
That means Mackenzie Zacharias of Altona, the reigning world women's junior champion, 11th on the list, will qualify for the Scotties, to be staged Feb. 19-28 in a bubble format.
Winnipeg's Beth Peterson, ranked 12th, will also head west to participate, assuming Suzanne Birt of Prince Edward Island (ranked ninth) wins her province at the end of January.
Kerri Einarson of Gimli (defending Scotties champion), Jennifer Jones of St. Vital (representing Manitoba),and Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul (ranked No. 2 on the CTRS and the top wild-card team) will compete in Calgary.