Birchard’s Scotties debut impressive in Team Manitoba’s 12-5 win over Saskatchewan

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This article was published 28/01/2018 (3103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PENTICTON, B.C. — Jennifer Jones didn’t say much to her bright-eyed young third, before they went out under the lights. Just the basics, of how to best savour a first slide down national ice: have fun, stay calm, enjoy the moment.

That’s what Shannon Birchard did, and after eight ends were done, her Scotties debut was a shining one.

Birchard, filling in at this nationals for Olympic-bound Kaitlyn Lawes, was rock-solid in Team Manitoba’s round robin opener, a 12-5 win over Saskatchewan. The 23-year-old felt a touch of nerves, but her poise betrayed nary a hint.

Still, the fact of playing alongside Manitoban icons she’s watched since she was a kid, hasn’t fully settled in.

“Every day, you’re just like ‘woo, okay, Dawn just made that shot, of course she did,’ ” Birchard said, laughing.

Her first shot was a straightforward hit; her second, a silky-smooth guard. After the first three ends, Birchard was shooting a sterling 100 per cent. (In fact, the whole Jones team was, which mostly meant they hadn’t been tested.)

Notably, Birchard continued that pace: at the end of the game, she was sitting at 98 per cent.

“I don’t even know what she missed,” Jones said. “I thought she was 100. She shot the lights out. She’s been great, every game she’s played in she’s played outstanding, and super easy on the ice. We’re having so much fun.”

After the game, Birchard joined the rest of Team Jones in signing a young fan’s jacket; another surreal moment.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Birchard said. “I haven’t signed a lot of autographs in my day. But it’s cool to have someone possibly look up to you in that way is pretty awesome, and makes you feel pretty good about what we’re doing.”

As the score suggests, the match wasn’t exactly a close one.

But there are few better sports in this game than Saskatchewan skip Sherry Anderson. After going down 10-1 at the break, she rallied back to get a sixth-end deuce; Anderson laughed and raised her arms in tongue-in-cheek triumph.

Elsewhere in that draw, Kerri Einarson survived an 8-6 close call against New Brunswick. It started in her favour, with a first-end steal of three; but after handing back a couple of stolen points, Einarson needed a careful last draw to win.

“I think we just kind of slacked off a bit,” Einarson said. “We got a little too comfortable. We definitely have to keep at them, and keep making those big shots when we need them.”

By the way, the Einarson four are officially called Team Wild Card. They’ve been playing with the name a bit — Team Wild Things, Team Wild Cat — but at least the sleek black-and-grey jackets are a hit, with her East St. Paul squad.

“I love the black,” Einarson said, with a laugh. “It makes us look mean.”

On the docket for Sunday: Jones faces Yukon’s Chelsea Duncan in the 4 p.m. CST draw, while Einarson will go toe-to-toe with Nova Scotia’s Mary-Anne Arsenault, who won five world championships with Colleen Jones’ iconic team.

Last year’s Manitoba champion and this year’s Team Canada, Michelle Englot, has two matches on Sunday: a morning tilt against Quebec at 11 a.m. CST., and a 9 p.m. CST match against the second seed, Alberta’s Casey Scheidegger.

The 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts runs through Feb. 4. The top four teams from each pool advance to a championship round, which kicks off Thursday; that round will determine next weekend’s final four playoff spots.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca