Einarson rocking along unbeaten

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This article was published 24/01/2015 (4136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINKLER — Whether it’s the swing of arena ice or the thrill of a crowd that does the trick, this much is certain: Provincials are a blast for Kerri Einarson.

The joy of the game doesn’t fully explain how the 27-year-old East St. Paul skip rocked unbeaten through six games at these Manitoba Scotties. But it does matter.

“I think it’s just the ice, and the atmosphere,” Einarson said, of her knack for making waves on the provincial stage. “I know for me, being on this arena ice, and just the people watching you, I love that kind of pressure. It makes me curl well. It’s nice that fans come out to watch us curl and do what we love to do.”

From Day 1, Einarson, third Selena Kaatz, second Liz Fyfe and lead Kristin MacCuish have made themselves the buzz of this competition, and it feels like deja vu. Last season, the four streaked unbeaten through the Manitoba Scotties field in Virden, losing only in the final. Now, they have a chance to repeat the feat.

It’s been electrifying to watch. On the penultimate day of round robin competition on Friday, Einarson started her morning off with a thumping 9-5 win over second-seeded Jill Thurston (who later fell out of playoff contention), and followed it up later with a solid 8-5 win over Assiniboine Memorial’s Janet Harvey.

The team has been lights-out, mostly. “We’re just curling really well,” Einarson said, after handshakes with Harvey. “This game we had a few hiccups, but the ice got really frosty on us. So we’ll have to be really aware of that, and hopefully we just keep curling well.”

Friday’s wins left Einarson the last unbeaten skip in her Extreme Force round robin group, though still nothing was guaranteed. She has one last game to play, this morning against Granite’s Kristy McDonald (5-1). A win would put Einarson into the 1 vs. 1 Page playoff game; a loss could require tiebreakers to sort out, since Assiniboine Memorial’s Joelle Brown was also at 5-1 heading into her last game against Winkler’s Kaileigh Strath.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the round robin Friday night, the reigning Olympic champions continued to look almost unbeatable.

Jennifer Jones steamrolled AMCC’s Barb Spencer in front of a sold-out crowd, clinching a 10-1 victory in seven ends. Jones opened with a deuce, then stole four points across three consecutive ends to take an early 6-0 lead. The teams shook after Spencer’s seventh-end hammer wrecked, handing Jones another steal of two.

But hey, Jones did miss a shot in the game — a notable event, considering her St. Vital Curling Club foursome hasn’t bobbled many this week. “There’s a couple that we’d like to be in a little bit better spot,” she said. “You’re always aiming to be as good as you can be. I thought we were picking up on draw weight, which is great, and we’re making a lot of key shots when we have to.”

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Get ready, Beausejour. Friday night, Curl Manitoba announced the town will host the 2016 Manitoba Scotties. While the agreement still needs to be finalized, the event is slated for Sun Gro Centre from Jan. 20 to 24 of next year. Beausejour last hosted the Scotties in 2004 and also held the Safeway Championship in 2011.

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Dauphin’s Tiffany McLean has only skipped for two seasons, her team was coachless until last week, and only one of her foursome had ever thrown on arena ice. As you might guess, they had a rough welcome to their first provincials, giving up a historic steal of eight to Einarson in their first game.

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But let the record show Team McLean gave veteran Joelle Brown a run for her money on Friday, stealing a couple to tie the game 5-5 after eight. It was a gutsy showing by the Dauphin rink, despite an eventual loss.

“We could have had it, just a couple of key misses didn’t help us out,” McLean said. “The next time we come back, we’ll be able to adapt quicker.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large

Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Every piece of reporting Melissa produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.