Joneses just couldn’t keep up

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2011 (5570 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHARLOTTETOWN — And in the end, Jennifer Jones played with fire one time too many.

The four-time Canadian champion, who cut her name and reputation on her ability to always rise to the occasion — to keep her head when all about her were losing theirs — went to the well once too often here in the final of the Canadian women’s curling championship Sunday night.

Jones and her Team Canada foursome squandered a 6-3 fifth-end lead and then saw their bid to become just the second team in Canadian history to win four straight Canadian titles slide a few inches too far on the final rock of the tenth end to hand Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland a game-winning steal and an 8-7 victory.

“It’s a little disappointing,” said Jones, “but I thought we had a great week, we had a lot of fun, we had a shot to win and that’s all you really want. Unfortunately it wasn’t our day today.

“We had the hammer coming home — that’s all you want. I just missed my last one.”

It was a moment of vindication for Holland, who was curling in just her second Scotties as a skip but is a longtime veteran of the competitive women’s game.

Asked if the win puts her among Canada’s elite skips, Holland was unequivocal. “I hope there’s no doubt. I worked really hard over the last few years to play at this level and be where I am, and be with the team that I am. I do deserve this.”

Jones’s final shot, a double-raised takeout to score a game-winning single, was not an easy one, but it was just the kind of high-pressure shot she has always made in the past — and nothing compared to the in-off for three that famously won Jones her first Canadian title back in 2005.

But it was the only shot Jones had on a night when her front-end — the most consistent part of the Jones juggernaut over the years — was outplayed by Saskatchewan.

While history will record Jones missed her final shot and was outshot 83 per cent to 68 per cent by Holland in the final, the real story of this night was written on the front end, where Saskatchewan lead Heather Kalenchuk outshot Dawn Askin 86-75 and Saskatchewan second Tammy Schneider dominated Jill Officer, 85-71.

An Askin flash in the tenth end, in particular, proved costly, getting her team in the kind of trouble from which they would never recover.

“I missed a few,” said Askin. “I’m obviously pretty disappointed in myself, especially missing that pick.”

Officer was more defensive when it was suggested she might not be happy with her game. “Gee, thanks,” said Officer. “I didn’t think I played that bad. I had a few misses early on but I had worse games this week.”

In fact, it was statistically the worst game by Officer by four percentage points — and 13 points off her all-star average of 84 per cent.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The loss in the final was a particularly bitter pill to swallow in a week when the Jones team won just about everything else, from Jones and third Kaitlyn Lawes finishing 1-2 in the individual skills competition last weekend to sweeping the first team all-star selections at the closing banquet Saturday night.

But when it counted most, it was Holland who won everything that mattered — MVP of the final game; shot of the week — for an impossible tapback for three in the sixth end that got her team back into the game last night; and, finally, the right to represent Canada at the world women’s curling championship, Mar. 18-27 in Esbjerg, Denmark.

The loss — the first in the Scotties playoffs since 2007, snapping an 11-0 run — was also a costly one for Jones financially. Holland qualifies for $144,000 in tax-free funding from Sport Canada over the next two years, plus another $50,000 in cash from the CCA and sponsors.

Holland also gets automatic re-entry into next year’s Scotties, as well as entry into the 2012 Continental Cup and the 2012 Canada Cup.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca