Scotties field owes Hanna a round or two

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/02/2016 (3824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — Incredibly, no team at Scotties has yet offered to buy Jenn Hanna a drink, in exchange for services rendered toward their Canadian championship dreams.

It’s still early, though. “I’ll see what I can do in the Heartstop Lounge,” Hanna laughed, after practising at Revolution Place Friday afternoon.

See, it’s a whole different battlefield out here without Rachel Homan, and Hanna is the David who slew that particular Goliath. It’s a story that almost writes itself: 11 years after her first and last appearance at a Scotties she’s back, and once again wearing Ontario’s black-and-red jacket.

By the way, she’s just as surprised about that as every fan who watched, stunned, as the upset Ontario final unfolded.

“I feel very privileged to be here,” Hanna said. “That’s the best way to explain it. I’m not sure that I ever had it in my mind that I’d ever be here again.”

That’s especially true given much has changed since Hanna met Jennifer Jones in the 2005 Scotties final and very nearly won. Hanna often becomes a footnote in that famous story, but let’s not forget the only reason Jones nailed one of the greatest shots in history is Hanna made her throw it.

After that Scotties, the two teams went in entirely different directions. Jones went on to lead the vanguard of a rapidly professionalizing curling elite; Hanna, 36, happily settled in Ottawa, where she is busy raising her family and working for the federal government. She restricts her curling largely to regional cash spiels.

“Since 2005, you can now play this game as a professional sport,” she noted.

“That certainly does not describe my relationship with curling, and it never will… Curling isn’t the No. 1 priority in my life. It’s a passion of mine, and it always will be, but it’s slipped down my list of priorities.”

Make no mistake, though, she isn’t taking this Scotties lightly. Though Hanna comes into Grande Prairie as a curiosity — giant-killer, long-absent contender and a key part of one of the most memorable moments in Canadian curling history — Hanna and her first-year team are setting playoff hopes.

After all, Hanna noted, even though she and her sister, second Steph Hanna, have been to this rodeo before, third Brit O’Neill and lead Karen Seagle are Scotties rookies. It could very well be the last time any of them ever get to compete for the Maple Leaf — and they intend to make the most of it.

“This is what every girl who grows up curling aims to do,” Hanna said. “We still are underdogs… I consider us a rookie team, and we are here to hopefully treat it the same way as we did our provincials, which is stay as relaxed as we can, put everything out on the ice, and hope that gets us somewhere in the end.”

•••

Yellow and white looks awfully nice on Kerri Einarson, who finally got her buffalo jacket delivered to her hotel Thursday, before the Scotties opened.

That knock on the door, Einarson said after Friday’s practice, was worth waiting for.

“It was like Christmas morning,” she said. “It feels awesome, just to wear the buffalo on your back. I’m so excited to get out and play.”

The Manitoba skip and her crew of third Selena Kaatz, second Liz Fyfe and lead Kristin MacCuish face their first test at 7:30 p.m. CST today, when they take on the winner of the pre-qualifying round. Although the four teams competing for that spot are lower-ranked, Einarson emphasized that it doesn’t mean a gimme game.

“We definitely want to start off on a winning note,” she said. “They would have had to play four games already, so they’ll be prepared.”

•••

If you want to know the kind of person it takes to keep curling thriving in Canada, look no further than Newfoundland and Labrador coach Eugene Trickett.

Not only is Trickett fresh off coaching his son’s team at the Canadian juniors, he is also a vice-chair of the 2017 Brier set for St. John’s, N.L.

Oh, and when he got back from the national junior tournament, he found himself coaxed to take over coaching duties for contender Stacie Curtis.

“The junior conflicted with our Scott playdowns, but when I came back, the girls asked if I would coach them during the Scott,” Trickett said. “I said ‘sure ’nuff,’ and they played really well, and they won the Scott championship. They asked me to come here. I thought about it first, should I go to (the Brier in) Ottawa?”

Nah, Trickett decided: a lot of the work is done, and some other Newfoundlanders are headed to the Brier to spread the word. Besides, he has an ulterior motive.

“You know what, maybe I get a chance to encourage people here to come to St. John’s also,” he said, noting that there are many Newfoundlanders in Alberta.

By the way, Trickett is already beaming about turnout for the 2017 Brier. As part of the bid process, St. John’s had to show it could pack the 5,500-seat Mile One Centre; that early ticket drive has already secured deposits for over 2,000 full event passes. Tickets don’t even go on sale to the public until next week.

Now, they’re just hoping that Brad Gushue wins the Brier this year, so they can feature two Newfoundland teams next year. Either way, interest is booming.

“We’re fully anticipating a sellout at Mile One,” Trickett said proudly.

 

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca