Team Einarson firing on all cylinders

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This article was published 27/04/2021 (1817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bubble life has certainly agreed with Kerri Einarson and her teammates from the Gimli Curling Club.

They just need another 10 solid days in Calgary to cap off one of the most sensational stretches in the history of women’s curling.

Einarson, 33, will skip Team Canada — with third Val Sweeting of St. Paul, Alta., and second Shannon Birchard, lead Briane Meilleur and alternate Krysten Karwacki, all of Winnipeg — at the 2021 World Women’s Curling Championship, set to begin Friday.

After nearly two months in the bubble, there’s a comfort level the two-time Canadian champions hope propels them to the world title.

“We can’t wait to step on the ice wearing that Maple Leaf on our backs,” Einarson said, in a Zoom press conference Tuesday. “This an amazing opportunity for us to represent our country. We’ve been here for a long time and have gotten comfortable with the facility, the ice conditions and knowing how quiet it is out there.”

Einarson’s crew was already in Prince George, B.C., a year ago when the world championship was scrapped at the 11th hour, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We didn’t get the opportunity last year, so we’re definitely going to embrace it. We’re going to focus on Team Einarson and not put that pressure on ourselves,” she said.

Originally, the 14-team event was slated to take place in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, however, complications caused by the global pandemic forced a switch to the curling bubble at WinSport Arena.

It’s the last of seven events at the spectator-free facility at Canada Olympic Park.

The Einarson crew captured a second consecutive Scotties national title on Feb. 28 and then won the lucrative Grand Slam tour’s Players’ Championship this past Sunday. The skipper also partnered with Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., to win their first Canadian mixed doubles title on March 25.

“I’m feeling really comfortable, and having won (the Slam) last week definitely gives us momentum going into the worlds. So, we’re very excited to start,” she said.

Einarson defeated Ottawa’s Rachel Homan 5-2 in the Players’ Championship finale on Sunday morning. Sweeting made 16 perfect shots to record a rare 100 per-cent game.

“We’re firing on all cylinders and there’s lots to carry forward,” said Sweeting.

They posted victories over Tabitha Peterson of the U.S., 2019 world champion Silvana Tirinzoni and Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, among others, to claim victory.

“We were really glad we got to play some of the top teams in the field during our Slam performances, so we go those games, kind of the monkey off our backs to see where we’re standing,” said Meilleur. “It’s a good test of our performance and we feel really great about where we’re at right now… we’re coming off a big win and we’re excited to get started.”

The field includes Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Russian Federation, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Teams play a full round robin over eight days, prior to the playoffs.

An unidentified team remains in quarantine after two players tested positive for the virus. More information on the status of the team’s participation in the event is expected Wednesday.

The world championship is an Olympic qualifying event, with the top six teams earning a berth for their nation at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

Credit the schedule-maker for generating some instant excitement. Einarson opens against Hasselborg — the only squad on the planet ranked higher than the Canadians — on the 3 p.m. draw Friday.

“It’s definitely not an easy one, that’s for sure. But we played them last week and we know what it takes. We’re going to have to perform against them. We’re going to have to be strong,” said Einarson.

Canada has collected a gold medal in seven of the last 20 world championships, the last coming in 2018 when Jennifer Jones and her St. Vital team downed Hasselborg in the final.

Homan’s crew didn’t even medal three years ago at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“It’s not new. We’ve been seeing the women’s teams come on strong for quite a number of years now and we’ve come to expect it. We’re more prepared, more able to embrace the challenge of knowing that every team that comes to the women’s worlds is training and prepared and well coached,” said national women’s coach Elaine Dagg-Jackson. “We are very prepared for the international competition. It’s going to be better than ever.”

Einarson, Sweeting, Birchard and Meilleur all skipped their own teams during the 2017-18 competitive season but formed an alliance in time for the start of the four-year Olympic cycle.

Meilleur said the quartet had lofty but entirely realistic expectations.

“I would say this is exactly what we dreamed of. When we made this team, we had a lot of confidence in it going in. We knew we had good personalities to play those new roles and take it on and not look back,” she said. “We’ve been really proud of how we’ve come together as a team so quickly.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell