The 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's curling championship, was held at Mile One Stadium in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador from February 19 to 27, 2005.[1] The tournament included 12 teams, one from each of Canada's provinces, one from Canada's territories and the defending champion Colleen Jones, whose team was known as Team Canada. Oddly, Jones' team is the only returning team from the 2004 Scott Tournament of Hearts as all other provincial champions lost in their playdowns. Colleen Jones, who had won the last four tournaments (for a total of 6) is joined by Cathy King who won the tournament in 1998. Also participating is 2002 Manitoba champion Jennifer Jones, 2001 Yukon/Northwest Territories champion Kerry Koe, 4-time Newfoundland champion Heather Strong, 2000 Nova Scotia champion (and former third of Colleen Jones) Kay Zinck, 3-time Prince Edward Island champion skip Rebecca Jean MacPhee, 1996 Quebec champion second Brenda Nicholls (playing skip this time), 1993 New Brunswick champion second Sandy Comeau (playing skip this time) as well as newcomers Kelly Scott of British Columbia, Jenn Hanna of Ontario and Stefanie Lawton of Saskatchewan.
After the round-robin play, 4 teams were tied for the last playoff spot, and defending champion of the last 4 years, Colleen Jones was eliminated in her first tie-breaker match against New Brunswick's Sandy Comeau who would later lose to Jenn Hanna of Ontario. As Colleen Jones was eliminated, it had become clear there was a new era in Canadian women's curling, and that was of youth. Three of the four playoff teams were former national junior champions (Lawton in 2001, Jennifer Jones in 1994 and Scott in 1995), and the other was a runner-up (Hanna in 1998). In the end, it was Jennifer Jones over Hanna, in a very close game that came down to the final shot.
Controversy arose during the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, as it was the first major tournament where the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had full rights to televise the games. Previously, The Sports Network showed all the draws except the semi-final and the final, which was covered by the CBC. However, in a decision made in 2004, the Canadian Curling Association awarded the new contract to CBC, which had a higher bid than TSN. This would mean only the afternoon draws would be covered on the main network while evening draws were shown on the Digital Cable Channel, CBC Country Canada which only reached half a million Canadian homes. Morning draws, which TSN did not want to renew anyway were not shown at all. Many Canadian fans were outraged come Tournament time, as they were disappointed with what many considered inferior coverage on the CBC as well as the scheduling problems. Some games were moved to The Score and some games on CBC Country Canada were cut short because of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulations that restricted the channel to only 12.4 hours of sports per week. This angered fans, and the CCA as well as many event sponsors were sent many angry letters and phone calls, some people even threatening to boycott the sponsors.
Jones had to make a difficult in-off to score four and win the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts.
The final game between Jenn Hanna of Ontario and Jennifer Jones of Manitoba came down to the very last shot. Ontario had control of the game, and looked like they were going to pull if off at the end. However, in the last end they did not have the hammer, meaning Jones would have last rock. Ontario had a rock on the button that was well guarded, and the only way at it was an in-off a rock sitting just outside the house. Jones made this very difficult shot, which gave her four points and the win.[2]
@ the Rideau Curling Club in Ottawa. After going down 1–4 early on in round-robin play, Jenn Hanna's team from the Ottawa Curling Club wins eight straight to win the championships over Krista Scharf 6–4 on January 30.
Results:
Jenn Hanna, Ottawa CC, Ottawa 5–4; won second tie-breaker, won "3–4" game, won semi-final, won final
@ the Crapaud Community Curling Club in Crapaud. Rebecca Jean MacPhee clinched the tournament with a 7–5 win over Suzanne Gaudet on January 26. Results: (teams knocked out after 3 losses)
@ the Whitehorse Curling Club in Whitehorse, Yukon. Double-round robin, no final. Kerry Koe wins in a tie-breaker on January 23 over Nicole Baldwin 9–5.
Manitoba
Ontario (Jenn Hanna)
Manitoba
British Columbia
Saskatchewan
Ontario
Alberta
Canada
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Quebec
Northwest Territories/Yukon
Prince Edward Island
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (Strong)
Alberta (King)
Saskatchewan (Lawton) 
Quebec (Nicholls)
British Columbia (Scott) 
Canada (C. Jones)
Nova Scotia (Zinck) 
Northwest Territories/Yukon (Koe)
Prince Edward Island (MacPhee) 
New Brunswick (Comeau)
