Fleury chasing Scotties glory with Team Ontario

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This article was published 22/02/2023 (1147 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KAMLOOPS — It’s hard to summarize Tracy Fleury’s four years curling out of Manitoba.

The Sudbury, Ont., product got the call to fill the shoes of Gimli’s Kerri Einarson — who left Selena Njegovan, Liz Fyfe, and Kristin MacCuish after the 2017-18 season to create a super team.

Fleury did a remarkable job leading the group as an import skip, but one moment sticks out above all: the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials. Fleury and Co. finished the round robin with a spotless 8-0 record to earn a bye to the final to play Jennifer Jones.

It was a classic game that went to an extra end, with the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing coming down to Fleury’s final shot. She needed to make a soft-weight hit on a Jones stone, but her rock curled too much and connected with a guard.

The biggest shot in the biggest game of Fleury’s career ended up being a nightmare.

“Yeah, I still think about it a lot. I think we’ll probably always think about it forever,” said Fleury, who is back curling out of Ontario with Rachel Homan. Fleury handles the skipping duties, but Homan still throws the last rocks. The team is 4-2 this week at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops.

“But it was a great experience and a lot to be proud of, too, going undefeated. Getting that experience playing in those really high-pressure games I think will help us all.”

While Fleury didn’t get a fairy-tale ending, she was one of the most impressive stories of the 2021-22 campaign. The previous season, Fleury only played one event as she wanted to stay at home with her daughter, Nina, who was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy called infantile spasms. When Fleury returned to competition, things clicked, and she led her Manitoba-based squad to the No. 1 ranking in the country.

“I think it was just about perspective. Life was hard and curling was fun so it was just fun to go out and kind of just take a more relaxed approach,” said Fleury, 36, who has Nina with her this week at nationals.

“We just really brought it together that season.”

The team disbanded this past off-season. Njegovan and MacCuish joined Kaitlyn Lawes, while Fyfe moved on to play second for Chelsea Carey.

“It was a great experience. I had great teammates, and we found a lot of success. A lot of heartbreak as well, but definitely achieved a lot together,” said Fleury.

One thing they didn’t achieve together was a podium finish at Canadian women’s curling nationals. Fleury is hoping to earn the first Scotties medal, preferably gold, of her career this week.

“That’d be amazing. That’s the goal for sure.”

Saskatchewan’s seven-ender

With a 2-5 record, it hasn’t been a great week in Kamloops for Robyn Silvernagle’s Team Saskatchewan.

The playoffs aren’t in the cards for them, but they can leave town knowing they’re only the fourth team in the history of the Canadian women’s championships to score a seven-ender.

No team has ever recorded an eight-ender.

Silvernagle scored seven against Nunavut’s Brigitte MacPhail in the eighth end of a 13-4 victory Wednesday morning.

“We had really good rock placement in that end and got a few misses. She had a chance on her last one but was just a little wide so that gave us a chance for seven,” said Silvernagle.

“It’s pretty cool because we’ve been struggling giving up big ends all week.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31