Front-end duo a great get for Einarson

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This article was published 25/02/2021 (1706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRIANE Meilleur and Shannon Birchard were 20-something skips, just a few years removed from juniors, and looking for new opportunities on Manitoba’s ultra-competitive women’s curling scene.

Then, Kerri Einarson came calling with a radical proposal to assemble a squad comprised entirely of skips for the 2018-19 season.

Neither could resist the golden opportunity, particularly at the dawn of an Olympic cycle.

Since then, the accord to relinquish control of their own teams and unite with the Gimli-based skip and Alberta sharp-shooter Val Sweeting has paid huge dividends for the front-end duo.

“I never expected us to do so well so quickly, but I also had a lot of faith in our team and a lot of confidence in us. I knew we had the potential if we put it all together,” Meilleur said Thursday, by phone from Calgary.

“Everyone was totally on board with the positions we were going to play. We thought we put everyone where they would best benefit the team with their strengths, and we’ve never had any problems. Everyone’s bought into this team, 100 per cent.”

Birchard, 26, noted she was looking to shed the skip’s label and learn from an experienced leader.

“I didn’t have anything set at that point. I was lucky enough to be on Kerri’s radar,” she said. “It all fell together in about five days. I really wanted to grow my own game and learn a lot more about the game. We had an awesome start to our first season together and we’ve just continued to build from that.”

Meilleur, 28, acknowledged she, too, had no inherent desire to have the final say or deliver the pivotal pair of final rocks.

“Skipping has never been my first choice. I’ll do it if I have to,” she said. “I’ve always loved third the best — that was actually my favourite position. I’d never played lead before but I’ve always had aspirations to just do well and play wherever on a really strong team.

“I’ve always been open to other options, other opportunities, and I’m happy I felt that way because now I’m on a really great team and I’m really happy where I’m at.”

Indeed, the talented, cohesive crew has checked off some key boxes in its first three seasons together.

Einarson won several events on the fall bonspiel circuit in 2018, fell short at the provincials but rallied to win the Players Championship, a lucrative Grand Slam Tour event in April, 2019.

The foursome captured the 2020 Scotties title a year ago in Moose Jaw, Sask., and also secured a berth in the Olympic Trials, set for this November.

They’ve also taking the first major step in defending as Team Canada, constructing a 7-1 record to easily advance to the championship round inside the Scotties bubble at Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park.

Over and over, the 33-year-old skip’s faith in her decision to align with Meilleur and Birchard has been confirmed.

“They’re just overall great people. Their personalities, they are so down to earth. They love the game, they love the challenge. They put so much work and dedication into it,” Einarson said.

Meilleur served as fifth for Einarson at the 2016 Scotties in Grand Prairie, Alta., skipped a team at the ‘17 Olympic pre-trials in Prince Edward Island and also served as fifth for Manitoba’s Michelle Englot at the ‘18 Scotties in Penticton, B.C.

Birchard was recruited to replaced Kaitlyn Lawes as third for eventual champion Jennifer Jones at the ‘18 national championship in Penticton, shot the lights out at 86 per cent and was named a second-team all-star.

Clearly, Einarson knows how to recruit.

“I had played against them for years and they’re great shot makers,” added Einarson. “Shannon was a clutch skip and made a lot of big shots, and so did Briane. She could make some amazing draws. She’d hit that pin against me all the time.

“They’re both so tall and so strong, and they can really sweep. I knew I needed them.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell