Homan looking indestructible

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/11/2015 (3912 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While local curlers and fans mull the topic of who will win Manitoba women’s title, it’s worth considering this may be entirely the wrong question. The right question is pretty simple: who the heck is gonna be able to beat Rachel Homan?

Let’s back up. One way or another, Manitoba will have two representatives at the 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The first will be Jennifer Jones, returned to her familiar post as the reigning Canadian champion. The team that will wear the buffalo jacket is yet to be determined, and Manitoba is wide open for the taking.

There are several teams that could easily march into the provincials in Beausejour in January, and win. The top two curlers in the mix are Kristy McDonald, in her second year back skipping, and two-time provincial finalist Kerri Einarson, who’s turned some heads this fall on the Canadian circuit.

Whoever makes it out of Manitoba will face a daunting challenge — which brings us back to Team Homan, and their arsenal of shots.

The Ontario foursome wasn’t at its best at the 2015 Scotties in Moose Jaw, Sask. It was their first campaign with second Joanne Courtney, freshly imported from Alberta, and they weren’t quite the bulletproof unit that soared undefeated through nationals in 2014, and lost just one match — to Jones — the year before.

In Moose Jaw, Homan finished 7-4, dropped a couple of upsets and had to fight for her playoff life in the last draw. She then lost the 3 vs. 4 game to Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton, which ended Homan’s hopes of a threepeat championship. Jones went on to win; Homan settled for a bronze medal.

Through the first 11 weeks of 2015-16, Homan’s team has been deadly. They lost just four of their first 37 games. Of the five major events they’ve competed in, they’ve won the top prize in all but one, after they lost the Tour Challenge final to Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni in early September.

Other than that? Homan was unbeaten at the Oakville Tankard, and didn’t lose a game at the elite Masters grand slam last weekend. She’s won more cash so far this year — $82,254 — than any of the men’s teams, and blew past Jennifer Jones for first place on the World Curling Tour’s overall merit rankings.

All of this, while three members of Team Homan are just 26 years old; lead Lisa Weagle is the senior at the ripe old age of 30. Their best years may be still ahead of them, which is slightly terrifying. With two Canadian championships already to their name, it seems unlikely they won’t win more.

Of course, nothing is guaranteed. For the first time since winning Canada in 2012-13, Homan will have to win Ontario to make it to the nationals. Strange things happen in provincial battles — just ask Mike McEwen, who similarly dominated the circuit last year before dropping the Manitoba final to Reid Carruthers.

So it’s not impossible veteran Sherry Middaugh or last year’s Ontario champion, Julie Hastings, could mount a major upset. Hastings did beat Homan once before… erm, in 2008. Still, if one was to make bets on how the nationals would look, smart money would take Homan to be there near the end.

There are several skips who would have a good shot of stopping her. Jones is the most obvious; of the last 11 times they’ve faced each other, Jones has won six. Their games tend to be intense and high-scoring; in two meetings in October, Homan won both, by scores of 8-4 and 8-3. Usually, Jones racks up more.

Golden

But it seems as if the golden Jones foursome hasn’t yet hit its stride this season. They’ve qualified in four of six events, and the highest they finished was the semifinal of the Stockholm Ladies Cup, and the final of a Canad Inns Prairie Classic last month that lacked most top teams. They have yet to win an event.

That’s only notable in light of high expectations, though. Meanwhile, back in Manitoba, a team that didn’t start with too many national expectations has been mounting a surprise campaign. Yeah, we’re talking about Einarson, fresh off a semifinal appearance in her first grand slam, and ready to try again.

In its first event of the season, Team Einarson rolled unbeaten to victory in the second tier of the new Tour Challenge. That finish won them a berth in last weekend’s Masters, where they caught the eye of many observers for their gutsy — if inconsistent — play. They pushed their way up to the semifinal of their first main grand slam, where they lost 5-3 to Sweeting; they also beat Eve Muirhead and 2014 world champion Binia Feltscher in the round robin, but lost to McDonald.

The Masters showed Team Einarson’s promise, and its inconsistency. In an elite field, all four members’ shotmaking statistics fell into the bottom half for their position; Einarson’s 73.4 was third-lowest amongst skips, and their team shotmaking was ranked last at 74.6 per cent.

It showed on the sheet. Einarson’s wild 10-7 quarter-final win against Swiss Tirinzoni made for great entertainment, but it was uneven curling; with her hammer shot in the second end, Einarson nailed a dazzling triple to score four. In the very next end, she missed with her last rock, allowing Tirinzoni to hit for five.

Well, they have another prime chance to get some practice. Einarson is moving on to The National in Oshawa next weekend, where she’ll open with games against Chelsea Carey and… gulp… Homan. Trial by fire, indeed. McDonald and Jones will also be there, continuing the trifecta of leading Manitoban teams.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca