Team Alberta’s win over Team Sask. at Scotties proved emotional for both sides

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This article was published 25/02/2016 (3740 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — Shots like that one will haunt a curler, they can linger, they can float up in the darkness and hang there, replaying over and over.

That’s why Team Alberta third Amy Nixon walked off the ice on Thursday night, blinking away tears over the thought of the shot that won her team the game.

See, it wasn’t theirs. That last throw, it belonged to Saskatchewan skip Jolene Campbell, whose team fought ferociously hard to keep the tough Carey rink at bay. They did, mostly. They were tied up 5-5 coming home with hammer. Campbell’s last shot should have been straightforward, an open hit-and-stick to win.

The shooter rolled out, a stunning miss. Carey — who already had a spot in the 1-vs-2 Page playoff game locked up — picked up a steal of one, and the win. The crowd roared for Alberta, but the Albertan curlers looked more grim. Then there was Nixon, welling up with emotion over the way it had to end.

“I guess I’m more of a mom than I thought,” Nixon said. “Seeing somebody like that missing a very makeable shot to beat us, it’s just hard to see. I’ve been on a lot of losing ends of bad games. I guess most people wouldn’t associate Amy Nixon with someone who has a lot of empathy, but I did.”

Saskatchewan third Ashley Howard, who has been such a star in Grande Prairie this week, stood for just a moment looking forlorn at the ice. Skip Campbell retreated to the dressing room, not ready to face the cameras, the lights, the gaggle of reporters waiting to ask what happened, what it felt like…

Besides, they knew what it meant. With the 6-5 loss on what should have been a relatively easy shot, Campbell finished the round robin at 6-5. Her only hope for a playoff berth now is if Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson falls on Friday morning to New Brunswick’s Sylvie Robichaud. Then they could play a tiebreaker.

It isn’t impossible, but it is unlikely. Robichaud is 2-8 on the week, in last place. At 6-4, Einarson is pointed at the playoffs, and in the driver’s seat.

“They really came out to win tonight, and they probably should have won,” Nixon said. “Jolene had a moment. It’s a moment in time when you want that rock back so bad. And I know how that stuff haunts you, I’ve been there… that meant a lot to them, and we know it.”

So Thursday was a big day for the buffalo gals. They fought the battle of Manitoba in the afternoon, though it ended up being more of a minor skirmish as Jennifer Jones won 8-4 in just eight ends. The Manitobans rebounded at night, dealing an 8-7 win to Prince Edward Island’s Suzanne Birt.

Einarson’s crew controlled the first half against Birt, though gave up a single and three straight steals to limp out of the game. Still, they had enough of a lead built up to win — and got to wait and watch, to see if the Saskatchewan game next door would put them in control of their playoff fate.

Not that she was peeking over there while they were actually on the ice. “You just want to focus on your destiny and yours only,” Einarson said, before the Saskatchewan game ended. “You just have to go out there and play your game, and hopefully come out with a win. I’m really happy with where we are.”

One fun fact TSN dredged up: since the Scotties adopted its Page playoff format in 1995, no two teams from the same province have ended up in the playoffs at the same time. What a chance to start that with Jones and Einarson, to say nothing of the fact the last three Manitoba champs could be in it.

Speaking of Jones, the reigning Canadian champion sealed her own playoff berth on Thursday, with her polished 7-4 win over Ontario’s Jenn Hanna.

The first time they faced each other, over a decade ago, that jaw-dropping last shot marked the fork in the road. In that moment, their paths diverged: Hanna never got back to a Scotties final. Jones would, seven more times, and likely counting.

So when they met again at Revolution Place Thursday night, 11 years older but light years apart from who they were, it wasn’t nearly as electric as the hype implied. Producers tried to sell it: between ends, TSN ran a retrospective of 2005, of “the Shot” and those sailing rocks, and the rush of Manitoban joy.

This time, on the ice in Grande Prairie, Jones steered the game to its logical conclusion calmly. Her Team Canada four controlled the game fully, building on an exceptional performance by the skip. There wasn’t any visible difference when Jones finally ran Hanna out of rocks and shook on a 7-4 result in the 10th.

With the win, Jones rose to 8-2 on the week and clinched a playoff spot. Just three more wins could defend their championship, starting Friday morning when they wrap the round robin against a struggling British Columbia team. That would launch them to a spot in Friday night’s 1-vs-2 Page playoff game against Carey.

“It’s always nice to control your own destiny,” Jones said. “We knew we did, even when we were 1-2. We knew if we won out, we’d have a pretty good shot to make it. I feel like we’re playing well right now.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca