What to know for curling's championship season

This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.

The start of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Friday night kicks off the busy stretch of Canadian and world championships that form the core of the curling season. Here's a guide to what's coming up, led by a storyline-rich Scotties.

Tournament of Hearts (Feb 16-25 in Calgary)

The great Jennifer Jones announced Tuesday that this will be her final Scotties as she's decided to retire from women's curling at the end of the season (she'll continue playing mixed doubles with her husband, Brent Laing). But save your rocking chairs: the 49-year-old is a legitimate contender to win a record-breaking seventh Canadian women's championship.

Last year, with a new set of Manitoba teammates who are half her age, Jones made it all the way to the Scotties final before a loss to Kerri Einarson left her tied with Colleen Jones for the all-time titles record among skips. This season, Jones' rink won the Grand Slam opener and is currently the second-highest Canadian team in the world rankings, behind Rachel Homan's.

The three-time Scotties champ and her Ontario rink could be Jones' biggest obstacle to a storybook ending after winning a pair of Slams this season. Einarson's Team Canada hasn't looked the same, but the skip can surpass Colleen Jones (now coaching Nova Scotia) for the consecutive Scotties titles record by winning her fifth straight. Read a full Tournament of Hearts preview here.

The Brier (March 1-10 in Regina): Brad Gushue made history last year, becoming the first skip in the nearly century-long existence of the Brier to win it five times. Now he'll try to become just