Einarson, three former skips form super team for next season

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This article was published 16/02/2018 (2787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kerri Einarson will skip a powerhouse women’s curling team next season with three other former skips, including three-time Alberta champion Val Sweeting.

Einarson and Sweeting, who has agreed to toss third rocks, will be joined by Shannon Birchard and Briane Meilleur on the front end.

Sweeting won’t be making the move from Edmonton to Winnipeg. She’ll take advantage of the same Curling Canada rule as recent imports Michelle Englot and Pat Simmons, which permits teams to have one non-resident on the roster.

The new crew will play out of the Gimli Curling Club, Einarson’s local club.

“We’re really excited about putting this team together, and really hope next season is going to be a good one for us,” Einarson said Friday.

Major changes were expected to team personnel across the country after the four-year grind to get to the Olympic trials concluded and another Scotties championship wrapped up. But such a formation of high-profile last-rock throwers for the 2018-19 competitive season is, indeed, a headline-grabber.

“I know, that’s probably what we’re going to get some backlash on — four skips,” Einarson said, laughing. “I think it’s going to work out well.”

That’s a whole lot of deep thinkers on one squad, all used to having the final say. But Einarson maintains she’s got the full support of the group to lead the way as she sees fit.

“The girls have all skipped before, so they know what it’s like, and they don’t want to put me in a position that they wouldn’t have wanted to be put in,” she said. “They’re all going to trust my decisions and go with it because they do believe in me.”

Einarson’s current East St. Paul team of Selena Kaatz, Liz Fyfe and Kristin MacCuish announced earlier this week the skip was leaving at the end of the 2017-18 season. The foursome lost the Canadian women’s final to Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg just 10 days earlier in Penticton, B.C.

Playing with Jones, Birchard had a brilliant week out west filling in for Kaitlyn Lawes — who was in Pyeongchang having a golden time at the Winter Olympics.

Einarson said Birchard and Meilleur approached her after the Scotties about joining forces, and the trio was intent on seeking out a good fit at lead. But Sweeting, who lives in Edmonton, sent a note to Einarson letting her know she wanted to quit skipping and was interested in a possible partnership.

Sweeting’s team had disbanded earlier this week as well.

“Val said she was ready to play a different position in more of a supportive role. So, I ran it by Shannon and Briane and they were all for it,” she said. “They thought me as skip and Val as third and the two of them at front end would be a pretty solid team.

“(Sweeting) is a great thrower, and to have her in the house with me is going to be great. She knows a lot of strategy and has that experience, and Shannon and Briane have that knowledge as well.”

Einarson won the 2016 Manitoba crown with Kaatz, Fyfe and MacCuish to earn a spot at the nationals, and was back at the Canadian Scotties this year as the wild-card team. Sweeting, meanwhile, has lost two Canadian finals during her career.

Birchard is a two-time Manitoba junior champion, while Meilleur has participated in four straight Manitoba women’s championships, and played in the Olympic pre-trials in Summerside, P.E.I., late last year.

Sweeting said she ready to relinquish the duties and pressure of skipping, adding she’s psyched about next year’s hunt for a buffalo crest.

“It’s been an honour to represent Alberta… lot of support that way,” she said. “I actually grew up in Maryfield, Sask., about five minutes from the Manitoba border, so it’ll be neat to play events closer to home there. It’ll be an exciting challenge to try to win a different province and wear the buffalo just as proudly as I wore the Alberta rose.”

Meanwhile, Einarson’s squad has recruited an out-of-province skip to guide them through the next Olympic cycle.

Tracy Fleury from Sudbury, Ont., has come aboard, Kaatz confirmed Saturday morning.

“We’re really looking forward to getting started with Tracy. She’s such a great shooter and we’re really excited about what she’ll bring to the team. She’s so sweet and I think we’re going to get along really well,” Kaatz said.

Fleury just skipped Northern Ontario to a terrific showing at the Scotties in Penticton. The team made the championship round but lost the 3-4 Page playoff game to Nova Scotia.

The team will continue to play out of East St. Paul.

Einarson still has a pair of Grand Slam events with her current team in April. She anticipates no hard feelings within the group.

“I don’t think we left things on a bad note. Everyone was needing a bit of a change, and I think it should be OK. We’re still all friends, we’re all adults,” said Einarson.

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell