Manitoba dominating the competition at Scotties

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/01/2018 (3120 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PENTICTON, B.C. — Every day, the Scotties produces its own newspaper, a running fan guide to the competition. And if you want to know the buzz around this field, all you needed to do was look at the cover of Tuesday’s edition. 

“Numbers say it all,” the inside headline blared. “Manitoba steamrolling the competition.” 

That goes beyond 2018 provincial champ Jennifer Jones, though she’s been dominant through the first four days here in Penticton. It also includes Team Canada’s Michelle Englot (5-1) and wild card Kerri Einarson (4-1). 

Let’s start with Jones. She rose to 5-0 on the week with her lone Tuesday game, a 7-4 win over New Brunswick’s Sylvie Robichaud (2-3). True, she hasn’t really been tested, but the numbers behind the streak are astonishing. 

After the midday draw Tuesday, Jones led all skips with an 86 per cent shooting percentage — and third Shannon Birchard, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn McEwen were also leading the field at their respective positions. 

Jones has only been forced once while holding hammer. In over a third of her ends without the last rock, she’s stolen points from her opponents. Only once has a rival managed to steal any points from her, and that was only a single. 

Here are a few other fun numbers. The Manitoba titans have notched two five-enders and a six-ender, and average a whopping 11.2 points a game. And they did it while playing just 40 ends through five games, the fewest of any team.  

Jones will close the first round on Wednesday, with games against Northern Ontario (3-2) and Einarson (4-1). 

Einarson polished her own record on Tuesday with a 10-3 victory over winless Yukon skip Chelsea Duncan. Before facing Jones on Wednesday night, she’ll tackle Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha (1-4) in the 11 a.m. CST draw. 

In the other round robin group, Englot burnished her record with a 7-5 win over Prince Edward Island’s Robyn MacPhee (1-5) on Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, she’d handed Newfoundland’s Stacie Curtis an 8-5 loss. 

The tilt was a disappointment for Curtis, who came into the morning game standing atop the skip shotmaking charts. But she struggled against Englot, finishing that game at 64 per cent. She also handed Canada three stolen ends. 

Newfoundland’s struggles continued at night, where she lost in a 9-7 upset by young Team Quebec. That was a triumphant achievement for 18-year-old Quebec skip Emilia Gagne, who rose to a respectable 3-3 on the week. 

The day’s events meant that Englot and Alberta’s Casey Scheidegger (5-1) are guaranteed to move on to Thursday’s championship round. Curtis, now 4-2, is still in a good spot to seize one of the last two berths out of the round robin. 

Also duking it out Wednesday for those last spots are Gagne, who will have an uphill battle against Alberta; British Columbia’s Kesa van Osch (3-3), who is yet to play Curtis; and Ontario skip Hollie Duncan (3-3), who will face Englot.

The 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts runs through Feb. 4. The top four teams in each round robin group advance to Thursday’s championship round, where they’ll play each other to determine the weekend’s final four playoff spots.  

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca