This year’s Scotties has had it all

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This article was published 22/01/2016 (3846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEAUSEJOUR — There was a moment Friday that could be the perfect snapshot of the 2016 Manitoba Scotties, one which has been by turns vibrant and surprising.

See, for just a few minutes on the third day at Sun Gro Centre, the shape of the provincial women’s curling playoffs came into crystal-clear view.

Kerri Einarson, guns blazing, had just scored a whopping seven-ender to secure a 12-2 blowout over third seed Barb Spencer.

Nearby, Cathy Overton-Clapham was leading her young team through a scrappy 6-4 win over Darcy Robertson. Those games lifted the winning skips to 5-1 on the week, and knocked the losers out of contention.

Right then, it seemed a given that Einarson and Overton-Clapham would clinch their round-robin group’s top two spots early.

It seemed so likely reporters on the media bench started tapping out words that told exactly that story: the hotshot and the rejuvenated veteran, headed to the playoffs in some configuration.

Then Lisa Menard threw a wrench into that plot, just like she’s done all week.

She’d already helped scuttle Spencer and Robertson’s playoff chances with major upset wins earlier in the round robin. On Friday, the Dauphin skip — who had gone 1-6 in each of three previous provincials — was ready to fight for her own place.

It was tight. Menard trailed Brandon’s Cheryl Reed 6-5 in the 10th end, but held the hammer.

As the house filled up, Reed looked poised to either steal and win, or have the hammer in the extra end. But Menard’s last shot, a Hail Mary of a hammer throw, moved enough granite to launch her to a 7-6 win.

When the rocks came to rest, Menard and her new team jumped for joy. The win put them at 4-2 on the week, which blocked Einarson and Overton-Clapham from mathematically clinching.

In the aftermath, Menard stood surrounded by reporters, beaming. She never expected hers would be one of the last teams standing.

“I’m just thrilled with the way the girls are playing,” Menard said. “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t feel the pressure, but at the same time we’re serious underdogs. So we’re just going to enjoy it all, and soak it all in. You don’t know when you’re going to get back here… We have nothing to lose.”

That’s it, that’s the picture of a provincials that has been deliciously unexpected. The wide open field has, as promised, delivered its share of upsets and enjoyable rises. It started when Einarson and Spencer each lost their first game of the week; but as the ensuing days proved, that was just the beginning.

There is also the way youthful Shannon Birchard rocketed up the ranks with a 4-0 start, then put up a pugnacious Friday afternoon battle against top seed Kristy McDonald, who won 9-4. (The score, in that case, doesn’t really tell the story: Birchard stole four points in the first two ends and pushed McDonald to her limits).

However, if Birchard finishes today, the former Manitoba junior champ will leave Beausejour having made a resounding statement. Her opponents certainly heard it.

“She’s an incredibly talented young player,” McDonald said. “Honestly, the first half of the game I was shakin’ in my boots. If she played like that at nationals, they’d have everybody shaking, because they were amazing. This is not the end for them, because if they keep playing the way they will, they’ll be in playoffs.”

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There were so many other surprises, other delights. There was Einarson’s seven-ender, a stunning echo of the historic eight-ender Einarson recorded last year in Winkler. That was a heck of a birthday present for Einarson third Selena Kaatz, a Beausejour hometown hero who turned 24 Friday.

“That was pretty cool,” Kaatz said, laughing with the thrill of the win. “I’ve only seen that on TV. I’ve never had that happen. The fans have been great, and it makes us just feel like they’re here for us, and let’s just go out and play and hopefully make them proud.”

And of course, the crowd fell in love with the Mackenzie Zacharias foursome, the Altona teens who surprised themselves by earning a Central region berth. The four teammates range in age from 14 to 17; it’s not their time yet, and won’t be for a little while. But when it is, this precocious debut will certainly be remembered.

Now, the buffalo hunt is rounding into its home stretch. Each team will play one last round-robin game Saturday, with one draw at 8:30 a.m. and the other just after noon. Then will come the tiebreakers — if needed — and the Page playoff games. The 1 vs. 1 game is slated to be broadcast at 6 p.m. on Sportsnet One.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca