Manitoba's Jennifer Jones will aim for her third consecutive trip to the Tournament of Hearts final when competition begins Feb. 17 in Lethbridge, Alta. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Compelling questions abound as the 2007 Scotties Tournament of Hearts prepares to get underway Feb. 17 in Lethbridge, Alta.

Will returning champion Kelly Scott solidify her reputation as one of Canada’s best curlers? Can 2005 champ Jennifer Jones make it three straight appearances in the championship final? Is 2002 Olympic darling Kelley Law ready to shake off the rust and reclaim her spot among the country’s top skips? And where the heck is Colleen Jones?

Well, we know that Nova Scotia’s Queen of Hearts — who has made 20 appearances and has won the tournament six times, including four straight from 2001-04 — will be relegated to the sidelines this year by virtue of her loss to upstart Jill Mouzar in the provincial playdowns.

British Columbia’s (from left) Kelly Scott, Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter and Renee Simons are set to defend their 2006 Tournament of Hearts trophy. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

As for divining answers on the teams that will be taking the ice in Lethbridge, CBC curling analyst and three-time Tournament of Hearts champion Joan McCusker says there’s no substitute for experience.

"The biggest factor is the pressure, in the amount of attention the Tournament of Hearts gets, compared to any other bonspiel," McCusker says. "Kelly Scott, Jennifer Jones, Kelley Law — those kinds of teams have an advantage if they get to the playoff round because they’ve been there before."

McCusker, who will provide commentary for both the semifinal and final rounds beginning Feb. 24 on CBC, sees this year’s entries falling into four tiers.

Scott and Jones, both of whom have enjoyed success in the past two national championships, are at the top of the pyramid, with veterans Law, Cheryl Bernard and Jan Betker — a former longtime teammate of McCusker’s — lurking close behind.

Here’s the skinny on the entire field, including details on each skip’s Tournament of Hearts experience and McCusker’s take on all 12 rinks.

THE FAVOURITES

Team Canada

Players: Kelly Scott, Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter, Renee Simons, Michelle Allen
Club: Kelowna (B.C.) Curling Club
Experience: Third appearance (2005, ‘06 champion)

Scott has been one of curling’s most consistent performers in recent years, seemingly always in the mix at major tournaments. The former world junior champion made it to the semifinals of her first Tournament of Hearts, in 2005, then lost to Shannon Kleibrink in the Olympic trials final later that year. Scott finally broke through at last year’s Hearts, erasing any questions about her big-game mettle by roaring back from a four-point deficit after four ends to knock off defending champ Jennifer Jones 8-6.

McCusker’s take: "Kelly Scott is just building and building. Along with Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones, she has the most experience and success over the last three curling seasons."

Team Manitoba

Players: Jennifer Jones, Cathy Overton-Clapham, Jill Officer, Janet Arnott, Kristen Williamson
Club: St. Vital Curling Club (Winnipeg)
Experience: Fourth appearance (2002, ‘05 champion, ‘06 finalist)

Looking to bolster her rink for a run at a third consecutive appearance in the Tournament of Hearts final, Jones made a bold move early in 2007, dropping lead Dana Allerton in favour of Arnott, despite enjoying a comfortable lead over Kelly Scott in the World Curling Tour Order of Merit standings. If the new team can mesh quickly, Arnott’s impressive resumé (three Canadian and one world championship) will be an asset.

McCusker: "Jennifer Jones has got to be one of the favourites coming in. She’s won the most money by far on the bonspiel circuit, despite the fact that she says her lead didn’t play very well. Definitely the team to beat to get to the playoffs."

PLAYOFF CONTENDERS

Team Alberta

Players: Cheryl Bernard, Susan O’Connor, Carolyn Darbyshire, Cori Bartel, Vicki Sjolie
Club: Calgary Winter Club
Experience: Third appearance (1993, ‘96 finalist)

Bernard's rink presents a dichotomy of sorts in that it's a group of veterans lacking in experience. The 40-year-old skip will be making her third Hearts appearance, but none of her teammates — all of whom are at least 35 — have been before. Bernard made the '96 final (she lost to Marilyn Bodogh), but the closest thing anyone else has to a big-time victory is third Susan O’Connor’s 2000 Canadian Mixed title. Surviving the tough Alberta playdowns, though, should have the team in fine form, and they’ll enjoy the support of the home crowd in Lethbridge.

McCusker: "Bernard has been to the Tournament of Hearts before but her team has not, so they might be overwhelmed. She’ll have to use her experience to settle them down."

Team British Columbia

Players: Kelley Law, Georgina Wheatcroft, Shannon Aleksic, Darah Provencal, Stephanie Jackson
Club: Royal City Curling Club (New Westminster)
Experience: Seventh appearance (1990, ’92, ’95, ’97; 2000 champion; ‘01 finalist)

B.C. skip Kelley Law, right, will have veteran third Georgina Wheatcroft watching her back in Lethbridge. (Peter Dejong/Associated Press)

Following a five-year Hearts hiatus during which she had a child, Law is back in a familiar position — as one of the favourites. Reunited with third Wheatcroft, with whom she won the 2000 world championship and ’02 Olympic bronze, Law again finds herself making up one half of perhaps the best back end in the country. But the perky skip could have her hands full managing a green front end that collectively has one national championship appearance.

McCusker: "Even with the time off, Kelley is still a force with all that experience winning Canadian championships and the Olympic trials. Her team has a very young front end, but they’ll be one of the favourites for a playoff spot. They’re going to be pretty tough."

Team Saskatchewan

Players: Jan Betker, Lana Vey, Nancy Inglis, Marcia Gudereit, Sherry Linton
Club: Caledonian Curling Club (Regina)
Experience: Ninth appearance: (1987, ’91; ’93 champion, ’94 champion, ’95; ’97 champion, ’98, 2003)

Betker boasts one of the country’s most impressive curling resumés, one that includes three national championships, three world crowns and an Olympic gold medal. The only caveat? She earned each of those titles playing third for the late Sandra Schmirler. But as the 46-year-old continues to gather valuable skipping experience — she finished in the middle of the pack at the 2005 Olympic trials — Betker becomes more of a threat to win it all.

McCusker: "Jan now has some skipping experience, which was the biggest thing holding her back. She is arguably the best female curler, technically, that I have ever seen. Lead Marcia Gudereit has the same amount of experience, but they have a very, very young third in Lana Vey, who has no national championship experience whatsoever. That will be the biggest challenge for the team, to get their rookie third adjusted to making shots at such a big event."

DARKHORSES

Team Ontario

Players: Krista Scharf, Tara George, Tiffany Stubbings, Lorraine Lang, Heather Houston
Club: Fort William Curling Club (Thunder Bay)
Experience: Second appearance (2006)

Following a disastrous showing last year in her Tournament of Hearts debut — she finished 4-7 to miss the playoffs by a wide margin — Scharf won the always-difficult Ontario playdowns for a second straight year to return to the Hearts. That experience should benefit the 24-year-old shotmaker, who can again lean on veteran lead Lorraine Lang, a three-time national champion making her seventh appearance in the big tournament.

McCusker: "They should have a better showing than last year, when they did not play very well. This is a team that beat Sherry Middaugh to get out of Ontario. They’ve played in an arena setting and they can build on that experience from last year."

Team Prince Edward Island

Players: Suzanne Gaudet, Robyn MacPhee, Carol Webb, Stefanie Clark, Sinead Dolan
Club: Charlottetown Curling Club
Experience: Fourth appearance (2003, ’04, ’06)

Gaudet returns to the Hearts for the fourth time in five years to anchor a talented young team — no player is older than 26 — that holds a combined six national junior championships. Gaudet, 25, showed in her rookie Hearts appearance in 2003 that she can hang with the best in the country, going 10-1 in the round robin before dropping both of her playoff games. But she’ll have to rebound from disappointing performances in her last two appearances, when she went a combined 6-16.

P.E.I.’s Suzanne Gaudet had a strong Hearts debut in 2003, but last year was left pondering what went wrong en route to a disappointing 4-7 finish. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

McCusker: "They’re continuing to build on their experiences from the 2003 nationals and their world junior championship in ’01. They can get on a roll and be very good. Now, whether they can continue that roll through an entire event and through a championship remains to be seen."

THE REST

Team New Brunswick

Players: Sandy Comeau, Denise Nowlan, Marie-Anne Power, Jeanette Murphy, Jane Boyle
Club: Beaver Curling Club (Moncton)
Experience: Third appearance (1993, 2005)

McCusker: "Sandy is a real character. She’s funny and witty, and she’s a wily veteran. This is one of those teams that just finds a way to win. They’re not flashy, they don’t throw a lot of big-weight hits, but they’ve come from behind to win more games than I have ever seen. They’ll come close and knock off some teams."

Team Newfoundland & Labrador

Players: Heather Strong, Shelley Nichols, Laura Strong, Susan O’Leary, Cathy Cunningham
Club: St. John’s Curling Club
Experience: Seventh appearance (1998, ’99, 2000, ’01, ’05, ’06)

McCusker: "Heather Strong gets back to the Hearts year after year because there’s not a lot of depth (in her province). She got better last year when she brought on Shelley Nichols to play third. The team is learning, it’s getting stronger, but it’s got a long way to go. They don’t get a lot of big bonspiel experience out where they live, and they’ll need another couple years under their belt before they become a threat."

Team Northwest Territories/Yukon

Players: Kerry Koe, Monique Gagnier, Kelli Turpin, Dawn Moses, Nicole Baldwin
Club: Yellowknife Curling Club
Experience: Fourth appearance (2001, ’05, ’06)

McCusker: "This is a really experienced team and they get stronger every year. It used to be that the territories were the free spot on the bingo card, but they’re not a free win anymore. They’re a team that you can’t take lightly."

Team Nova Scotia

Players: Jill Mouzar, Meredith Harrison, Teri Lake, Hayley Clarke, Mary Mattatall
Club: Mayflower Curling Club (Halifax)
Experience: Rookie

McCusker: "They definitely had to play well to get out of Nova Scotia, but they don’t have a lot of experience at the Scotties. They’re a rookie team looking to gain some experience, and I don’t think they’re ready to win a playoff spot."

Team Quebec

Players: Chantal Osborne, Cheryl Morgan, Catherine Derick, Sylvie Daniel, Brenda Nicholls
Club: Thurso Curling Club (Thurso, Que.)
Experience: Fifth appearance (1992, ’93, ’94, ’97)

McCusker: "Collectively, they have a lot of experience at the Tournament of Hearts. They’ve never been tremendously successful, but they have the potential to give teams a run for their money."