Team Einarson chasing history at Scotties

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This article was published 16/02/2023 (1131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kerri Einarson’s team is chasing history at this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

If the fearsome foursome out of the Gimli Curling Club finishes on top of the podium in Kamloops, B.C., it joins the Colleen Jones dynasty (2001-04) in the record books as only the teams to win four consecutive Canadian titles.

“I think it’s kind of just unspoken amongst all of us. We’re obviously not putting pressure on ourselves to accomplish that. It would be the cherry on top of winning this event next week, but I think it would be huge,” said Einarson’s second Shannon Birchard on Wednesday.

“It’s something we’ve all dreamed of as a team to really just show our dominance over the last four years and being able to prove that we’re able to continue to get better and still stay at the top of our game.”

The first draw takes place Friday night with Einarson taking on Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges at 8 p.m. CT. The 18-team competition wraps up Sunday, Feb. 26.

Einarson, third Val Sweeting, Birchard and lead Briane Harris — who are ranked first in the Canadian Team Ranking System — will once again proudly wear red and white as Team Canada. Manitoba couldn’t ask for a better fallback as Jennifer Jones will don the Buffalo crest. Jones, a six-time Scotties champion who’s ranked third in the CTRS, also has a chance at history as a seventh title would put her in first place all-time (Jones is currently tied with former teammate Jill Officer and Colleen Jones). To do so, Jones will need her new promising lineup of third Karlee Burgess, second Mackenzie Zacharias, and alternating leads Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine to be at their best.

Last season, Mackenzie skipped the up-and-comers to a 5-3 record at nationals before falling short in a playoff tiebreaker to Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha. In the game before that, Mackenzie and Co. held a 5-0 lead over Einarson after two ends before the defending champ stormed back to win 10-7.

Now with arguably the greatest curler of all-time in Jones leading the charge, Burgess feels they’re more equipped to handle games on the big stage. Burgess, the Zacharias sisters and Lenentine also qualified in 2021 as a wild-card team but were knocked out early after going 3-5.

“(The loss to Einarson) is not one I like to think about again just because we had an early lead and let it slide, but it was fun. It was our first time at the Scotties representing Manitoba,” said Burgess, 24. “I think the adrenaline was pretty high, but I think things have changed. We’ve grown into more knowledgeable curlers and now having Jen on our side, I think if we get the chance to play her again, we’ll see what happens.”

“Obviously, last year we were just as excited, but I think this year we have the potential to make the podium, so we’re really excited to go out and play.”

Einarson and Jones aren’t the only names from the Keystone Province in Kamloops as Kaitlyn Lawes and Meghan Walter qualified as wild cards. Walter, who took over skipping duties from Abby Ackland midway through the season, led her team from the East St. Paul Curling Club to the provincial final by taking down Lawes 8-5 in the semis. Jones proved to be too much to handle as the veteran — who didn’t lose all week — beat Walter 10-5 for the right to be called Team Manitoba. Walter was granted one of the three wild card positions since they’re ranked seventh in the country.

Despite coming up short at the Manitoba Scotties, Lawes, ranked No. 4 in the CTRS, and her teammates still believe a deep run at nationals is in the cards. They will, however, have to do it without third Selena Njegovan on the ice. Njegovan is pregnant with her first child and due at the end of March. Njegovan made the trip in a supportive role as she’s listed as a non-playing alternate. Jill Officer replaced Njegovan at provincials, but Laura Walker, who skipped Alberta to a third-place finish at the 2021 Scotties, will be sliding in for the event. Walker filled in for the team earlier this season when Lawes stepped away from curling to give birth in December to her first child.

Lawes also plays the Friday night draw as she will meet Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik. Jones (vs. Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville) and Walter (vs. Wild Card no. 2’s Casey Scheidegger) play their first games Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.

“We’re feeling really good actually,” said Lawes’ lead Kristin MacCuish. “We’ve prepared a lot and done some training with Laura and (second) Jocelyn (Peterman, who lives in Chestermere, Alta.,) as they came to Winnipeg to train. We’re familiar with Laura and she fits in really well with us. We’ve worked hard over the last few months knowing there would be musical chairs with our teammates, but we knew that and have all taken on new roles. It’s worked out really well so far.”

“And I think losing (at provincials) is only going to teach us a few things. We can always take a step back and learn from that.”

This year’s Scotties will also be a return to normalcy after the last two were played without fans owing to the pandemic. Einarson won the 2020 edition in front of a packed house in Moose Jaw, Sask., by hitting a perfect draw to beat Ontario’s Rachel Homan in the 11th end. The following year, Einarson got the best of Homan in the final once again, this time in a Calgary bubble without fans. Last year was slightly better as family members were able to watch Einarson beat McCarville to win her third straight, but it was far from the atmosphere they experienced in Moose Jaw.

If Einarson, or any other team, wants to bring home the trophy, they’ll likely have to get through No. 2 -ranked Homan who now has Tracy Fleury with her handling skip duties. Einarson defeated Homan 6-5 in extra ends to win the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters in December. Two months earlier, Homan outlasted Einarson to win the Hearing Life Tour Challenge in Grande Prairie, Alta.

Homan is a three-time national champion but hasn’t captured a Scotties since 2017.

“They’ve kind of been our big rival from this season and seem to always come across them in each event, at least once or twice,” said Birchard. “I think they’ve been playing really well and hopefully we’ll both make it to the playoff round and get a chance to play against each other because that’s gonna be a really great game as we’ve had a lot battles this year already.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31