Einarson in a class of her own

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This article was published 23/02/2023 (1146 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KAMLOOPS — Colleen Jones knew this day would come.

Between 2001-04, the curling legend from Halifax, N.S., did the unthinkable, skipping the first team to win four straight Scotties Tournaments of Hearts. It’s a record that some believed would stand the test of time, but in a few days Jones might have company.

Gimli’s Kerri Einarson, the reigning, defending three-time champion at the Canadian women’s curling nationals, is the favourite to win it again this week. The round robin concluded on Thursday in Kamloops and Einarson — who beat Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik 9-8 in the morning draw — was a perfect 7-0 in Pool A before concluding group play against winless Nunavut at night.

“I remember a couple years ago my coach Ken Bagnell saying ‘Four in a row will never be broken. That’ll never be touched.’ And I said ‘Oh no, don’t be crazy. Records are made to be broken,’” said Jones, 63, in an interview with the Free Press.

“His argument was that teams don’t stay together anymore, but obviously Kerri, because of their success, they’re definitely staying together. Gosh, the way they’re playing they could win four in a row, then five or six in a row even because they’re just playing with so much confidence.”

Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, and lead Briane Harris are well aware history is at the tips of their fingers. Team Canada also looks like it’s on a mission, as Einarson was beating opponents by an average of 3.7 points through their first seven games.

“I definitely looked up to Colleen,” said Einarson moments after beating Alberta. “I always watched her when I was a little girl and always dreamt of being here. To potentially be up in the record books like she is would be pretty special”

The only other teams to have three Canadian crowns in a row are Jennifer Jones (2008-10) and Saskatchewan’s Vera Pezer (1971-73).

“Honestly, as a competitive curler, you’re not necessarily thinking about records. You’re really just thinking about one shot at a time, one end at a time, and one game at a time to try to win the Canadian championships,” said Colleen.

“So, records are bonuses and really nice to get. In hindsight, you kind of go ‘Yeah, that is really hard to do. No wonder why not many people have done it.’ There’s a lot of great teams gunning for you and trying to make sure it doesn’t happen. It’ll be a tough record for Kerri to get because those last couple of games are pressure filled and can always go either way.”

Even if Einarson doesn’t raise her arms in celebration Sunday, she’ll more than likely still leave Kamloops with a new record to her name. Assuming she sailed through Nunavut, Einarson will have become the first team to go undefeated in the round robin in back-to-back years. A victory over Nunavut would also make Einarson 29-2 in round-robin games at nationals since 2020.

It was a different format during Jones’s run as there were only 12 teams — no wild cards — and they all started in the same group, forcing the contenders to play each other before playoffs. While that’s not the case anymore, Einarson’s feat is still incredibly impressive.

“It’s pretty surreal. I don’t think we saw us being this dominant, but we’re still always wanting to learn and be the best and figure out different ways and strategies,” said Einarson.

“I think that’s something special about this team and always wanting to be better.”

Jones was 32-12 in round-robin action during her four-peat.

“It’s hard to compare that record as she hasn’t done the crossover with the other teams and hasn’t played Krista McCarville, Jennifer Jones or Rachel Homan. The preliminary round robin is just a stepping stone now, really. But what impresses me about Kerri’s team is they have not become complacent,” said Jones.

“And the fact they’ve stuck together in a season where everybody changed players is a real testament to, first off, how much they must like each other because you spend so much time together you have to like each other. And they keep trying to get better and you can tell that every year… Now they just have that calm aura of a champion. They just look great.”

Jones is also paying close attention to another Manitoban — Jennifer Jones, of course. If Jennifer ends the week on top of the mountain, she will become the first player to win the Scotties for a seventh time. Jennifer is currently tied with Jones and former teammate Jill Officer with six titles.

Jennifer Jones and Team Manitoba are the No. 2 seed out of Pool B after going 7-1 (Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville finished first as she beat Manitoba at the start of the week). Jennifer will play the third-place team from Pool A in a Page Playoff qualifying game Friday afternoon. The winners advance to the Page playoff seeding games on Friday night to play the top-ranked teams in each pool. The winners of that will then go to the Page 1 vs. 2 game while the losers are forced to play the Page 3 vs. 4 game.

The event wraps up Sunday with a 2 p.m. CT semifinal followed by the championship game at 8 p.m. CT.

“It’s awesome to watch them going through it. It’s fun, because I think I go through it feeling a little bit of nerves for both of them because you only get close to records every now and then,” said Jones.

“I feel nervous for them mostly because I know how much they both want to win a Canadian and it just opens the doors and lifestyle for you that you never envisioned when you got into the sport when you were a kid. It’s dreamlike.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31