ISSUE 9 | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018 AN OFFICIAL … · ISSUE 9 | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018 AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CURLING CANADA Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones (centre) celebrates

ISSUE 9 | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018 AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CURLING CANADA

Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones (centre) celebrates a big playoff win Saturday night with Jill Officer (left) and Shannon Birchard.

Manitoba’s Jones advances to finalLocked and loaded

2 – Sunday, February 4, 2018 | HEARTCHART | curling.ca/2018scotties

1-2 GAMEIt’s that Jones girl againBattle of Manitoba Part Deux went to five-time Cana-

dian champion Jennifer Jones’s Winnipeg team, but a rubber match may be in the offing to determine

who will be 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion.In what was by far the best played game of the tourna-

ment, Manitoba defeated Team Wild Card, skipped by Kerri Einarson (East St. Paul, Man.), 9-7 in the Page Playoff 1-2 game Saturday night to advance to today’s final.

“That was a great game for TV. I thought that was a really well-played game, lots of tough shots and hopefully the final will be like that tomorrow,” said Jones. “You want to entertain and show what we can do.”

Einarson’s entry to the 16-team field was only gained by winning a wild-card game against Chelsea Carey of Calgary the night before the Scotties’ opening day. In the last draw of round-robin Pool A play, Wild Card dispatched Manitoba 9-4. It was Einarson’s first victory over Jones in 18 tries.

Einarson will take on Mary-Anne Arsenault of Nova Scotia (Dartmouth) in the semifinal today (9 a.m.) with the winner playing Jones in the final (4 p.m.).

“The biggest thing (about the victory) is not having to play in the morning,” said Jones. “To go late tonight and then back on the ice in the morning is a tough turnaround, so we were playing for the sleep-in.”

The clash was filled with exquisite shotmaking and high-stakes gambling as both teams tried to put pressure on the other. Holding the last-shot advantage, Einarson rolled the dice in the first end attempting a split off one of her rocks in front of the house to score two instead of blanking the end. It didn’t work but she blanked the end anyway.

Einarson gambled again in the second end trying an angle double-raise takeout in the hope of scoring four. She got rid of the Jones stone, but only notched two. In the

third, Jones got the deuce back with some finesse ticks on a bunch of rocks on the inside edge of the 12-foot. Jones appeared to take control in the fifth by coming out ahead on a cat-and-mouse game, scoring three to take a 5-3 lead.

“I thought we were scrambling early and once we scored that three I thought we were in a good spot and we weren’t chasing all the time,” Jones said.

But Einarson managed to come up with two of her own in the sixth for a 5-5 tie. In the seventh, Jones was poised to pick up multiple points, but Einarson made a fantastic freeze, forcing Jones to try a bullet raised takeout. But when the granite cleared the only rock left to count was Team Wild Card’s.

Jones responded with two in the eighth thanks to some delicate shotmaking by both skips with rocks all over the

house and around the button. A force of one in the ninth created a 7-7 tie and set up some 10th end dramatics. Jones made a precise draw to the four-foot to sit two and the only way Einarson saw to get rid of them was a long angle-raise of a Jones rock from another area code that didn’t work.

“I just had to be in the four-foot to give ourselves a really good chance to win the game and we put in a perfect spot,” said Jones.

Einarson said she and her team are feeling comfortable and “not scared” anymore when playing Jones.

“I thought we played really well and we put some pres-sure on them,” said Einarson. “We put some heat on her and made her make some great shots. I think we just need to do that and hopefully we can get another chance at doing that.”

By GRANT GRANGERHeartChart Writer

Manitoba’s dominant force back in another Scotties final

SCOREBOARDSEMIFINAL

Wild Card ........................... 020 102 101 0 — 7Manitoba.............................002 030 020 2 — 9

WC SH P % MAN. SH P %MacCuish 20 63 79 McEwen 20 69 86Fyfe 20 58 73 Officer 20 70 88Kaatz 20 71 89 Birchard 20 65 81Einarson 19 59 78 Jones 19 63 83Team Totals 79 251 79 Team Totals 79 267 84

Team Wild Card skip Kerri Einarson lives to fight another day. She will play NovaScotia’s Mary-Anne Arsenault in today’s Page Playoff semifinal.

2018 Scotties TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS

Skip Mary-Anne Arsenault gets a big hug from fifth player Carole MacLean.

Manitoba’sJill Officerhad anotherexcellent gamein thePage Playoff1-2 gameSaturday night.

curling.ca/2018scotties | HEARTCHART | Sunday, February 4, 2018 3

3-4 GAME

Skip Mary-Anne Arsenault gets a big hug from fifth player Carole MacLean.

A little Maritimes magicMary-Anne Arsenault is two wins

away from giving Nova Scotia, and herself, its first Scotties

Tournament of Hearts title in 14 years.Nova Scotia defeated Northern

Ontario, skipped by Tracy Fleury, 6-2 Saturday to advance to the semifinal of the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. It was Nova Scotia’s ninth consecutive win after starting the week with two losses in its first three games.

Arsenault is making her 13th appearance at the Scotties. She won five times playing second for Colleen Jones, who won six Canadian curling crowns and made 21 trips to the Scotties. The last title, however, came in 2004. Arsenault has skipped her own team three times since then at the Scotties with a record of 16-17. But this year, she emerged from the Championship Pool with a 9-2 record.

“It was so nice to put a really good game together, I’m so proud of my girls. They played awesome. Any time we got into a bit of trouble, then Jen and Christina (second Jennifer Baxter and

third Christina Black) would get us back out of trouble so it was awesome,” said Arsenault.

Nova Scotia will have to beat both Team Wild Card, skipped by Kerri Einarson, and Jennifer Jones of Manitoba Sunday starting with the Scotties semifinal at 9 a.m. (PT). The winner of that game advances to the final (4 p.m.). Those are the only two teams to beat Nova Scotia this week.

“We have a bit of time between now and next game to be proud of ourselves, but then it’s back to business,” said Arsenault. “Those two games, particularly the game against Jennifer (Jones) we didn’t play well, and the game against the Wild Card, my team didn’t play well. We just play like we did (Saturday) and we’ll be right in it.”

Baxter, 30, has been with Arsenault, 49, for 10 years.

By GRANT GRANGERHeartChart Writer

See BLUENOSERSPage 7

Nova Scotia on a roll



1New formatThe new two-pool, 16-team format was sure to be a topic of discussion all week, and it was. And the consensus after the week: the curlers don’t like it and the general public, according to social media, is mixed. The curlers saw some merit in It, allowing teams from the north to participate, but didn’t like the fact not every team played each other, and the Scotties is no place to appeal to the grassroots community. Now we’ll have to see what the men think of it at the Brier.

2No HomanNot having Rachel Homan and her high-powered curling machine at the Scotties is like Tom Brady and the New England Patriots not being in the NFL playoffs. There’s something missing. And Homan has been missed. She was supposed to skip Team Canada. But then she had the temerity to win the right to represent Canada at the Olympics. That created a conflict with the Scotties so her team was replaced. Take away a marquee name and the show suffers.

3Add the kidsAre Mary-Anne Arsenault, 49, and Sherry Anderson, 54, on the cutting edge of a new trend in women’s curling? The two veteran skips have apparently found a fountain of youth that carried them to the Scotties and, in the case of Arsenault, into the final four. They added three youngsters to their teams, providing the heavy lifting required to survive the long week. It would appear to be a way for experienced skips to stay in the game while passing on their knowledge to the younger set.

4Bravo curlers!Perhaps it’s because they don’t earn million-dollar salaries or maybe they were just taught to respect others. Whatever, the curlers here have handled themselves amazingly well: interacting with the fans, not turning down a single media interview request (hello NHL players!), not blaming the ice for bad shots and generally leaving all who met them with nothing but positive vibes. Curling Canada can be proud of how the curlers promoted their sport all week long.

5HospitalityThe mark of a great event is not always the play on the ice. The host community also has a lot to do with it, and Penticton did itself proud this week. Business owners made sure they helped promote the event with decorated shop windows, the volunteers were helpful, and the South Okanagan Events Centre was a fabulous place to hold the event. Yes, the crowds could have been better, but those who attended from out of town enjoyed Penticton and the weather.

T o p 5LEFT: Shop owners did their best this week to promote the Scotties.ABOVE: Experienced skips such as Sherry Anderson brought some youth along with them.RIGHT: The Scotties did missdefending champion Rachel Homan who couldn’t be here this week.

Takeaways from the Scotties


Amanda Gates of TeamNorthernOntario doesn’t hold anything back.

A fine spray and the ice is ready to go foranother draw.

Team Canada works as a unit.

Team Wild Card’s Kristin

MacCuish keeps her eyes

on the action.

AndrewKlaver

Photos of the weekby


www.cimcorefrigeration.com

CIMCO Refrigeration welcomes all

participants and fans to the...

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daysinn.ca/Penticton

SCOREBOARDSEMIFINAL

N. Ontario........................... 000 010 010 x — 2Nova Scotia.......................*000 203 001 x — 6

N.ONT SH P % N.S. SH P %Gates 20 75 94 Crouse 18 52 72Wylie 20 67 84 Courtney 20 69 86Webster 20 59 74 Black 20 70 88Fleury 18 53 74 Arsenault 18 70 97Team Totals 78 254 81 Team Totals 76 261 86

“We’ve been through some adversity this year just with shotmaking. We had a rough start and a rough year last year,” said Baxter. “It helps we’ve all been here before. 2013 was my first year, and although I’m not a nervous player, it was just a bit of different dynamics with Colleen no longer skipping. Then in 2015 we had two newbies on the team, so it was a bit of a big show for them. And now we’ve all been here before, because (Crouse) has been here before with another team (2009, 2010 with Nancy McConnery), it helps keep you focused.”

Baxter noted in three games against Jones the team has won two, the exception being last Monday morning, an 11-5 drubbing. But Saturday’s team is a lot

different than the one that started play last Saturday.

“This year, we just caught her early and we were not that hot, so I’m not that afraid of her. I’m not afraid of her talent. Yes, she deserves a whole lot of respect, but so do we,” said Baxter. “The Wild Card (a 7-5 defeat last Sunday), we were just off our foot at the beginning. We didn’t quite have our game ready. I’m not really that afraid of any of them. If we come out and have a game like we had today and we’ve been picking up at the end of the week I think we’ll be in contention.

“We have a lot more confidence right now, and a lot more ability on this type of ice. We’re a lot more confident and calm and going with the flow

BluenosersFROM PAGE 3

The Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship Award was presented to Saskatchewan skip Sherry Anderson on Saturday. The award, voted on by the curlers, is named in honour of the late Saskatchewan skip who won the first world women’s title for Canada in 1980. The award honours an individual who the competitors feel exemplifies the spirit of curl-ing. There to present the award to Anderson were Oliver Bukvic of Kruger Products, and Maureen Miller, vice-chair, board of governors, Curling Canada.

MARJ MITCHELL SPORTSMANSHIP

The finals are today! Witness the skills of the ultimate champion, who wins

$250. The runner up wins $150. Experience the free-to-play COOL SHOTS

tourney-a miniature version of the curling game! - Angus McStoneHOT HOT HOT bu�ets & a

variety of food options

available day & night. Food

service until 6 PM.

MEET US AT THE PENTICTON TRADE & CONVENTION CENTREJUST A SHORT INDOOR WALK AWAY!

FREE Super Bowl party AND Scotties

Finals all in one place at the HEARTSTOP.

Watch both great games on the BIGGEST

screens in town! Come for the sports.

Stay for the party!

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR STORIES AT THIS YEAR’S SCOTTIES TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS!

Let’s take a look at the good times we’ve had together...


YOUR START TO LIVING & WORKING IN THE SOUTH OKANAGANWE MATCH PEOPLE WITH JOBS. AND JOBS WITH PEOPLE.

PENTICTONSUMMERLANDAND THE SOUTH OKANAGAN

StartHereOkanagan.comFind your fit in our communities. The South Okanagan boasts over 2,000 hours of sunshine each year and offers outdoor adventure for every taste and interest. Our manufacturing industries produce custom products that are shipped around the globe and our access to global markets is attractive to a variety of consultants, innovators and entrepreneurs.

Proud community partner of the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Scattered among the 64 skips, thirds, seconds and leads competing here at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts are 36

mothers who, between them have 31 children.It would be a safe assumption that each

of those 36 mothers, while doing their best to focus solely on their responsibilities here as members of their teams, have occasional twinges of sadness, perhaps even a little guilt, and certainly moments of wondering what their children back home are doing.

And, let’s face it, each of them is missing those precious moments they’re losing with their sons and daughters. Oh yes, of course, with their partners as well.

It is the reality that sacrifices have to be made by elite level athletes in every sport as they pursue their hopes and dreams.

“Absolutely,” agrees Jill Officer, second on the Manitoba team skipped by Jennifer Jones. “Everybody who is here at the Scotties, whether they play on the Tour or not, they have to make certain sacrifices to play in the national championship.”

“For me, personally I have a lot of support, my husband’s a great support, both with looking after our child and obviously from a financial standpoint. My parents. And we have a lot of help.”

Without that help, competing often enough to remain competitive at the elite level can

be overwhelming. In some cases the women have made the difficult decision to give up the sport they’ve probably been playing most of their lives, to be home with their young family.

Kristy McDonald skipped one of the best teams in Manitoba until she got pregnant and decided to retire. The remainder of that team — third Kate Cameron, second Leslie Wilson and lead Raunora Westcott — recruited veteran skip Michelle Englot as a replacement.

Englot, an eight-time Saskatchewan champion, was available because her team decided they weren’t ready to make the sacrifices necessary to pursue a possible Olympic berth or compete on the Grand Slam tour.

“You need to make that commitment in order to compete against the Rachel Homans and the Jennifer Joneses,” said Englot, who was here as Team Canada, “and it’s tough for people who do have small children and who do have full-time jobs, to be able to compete.”

There are some who try, but it is extremely difficult.

Commitment often meanstime away from the kids

Curling moms make sacrificesBy JOHN KOROBANIK

HeartChart Writer

See MOMSOpposite page

LESLIEWILSON

Alberta skip Casey Scheidegger misses her kids when she’s gone.


MOMSIn 2013, Krista McCarville, a six-time

Scotties participant, decided to take a year off from the game to spend time with her two young children and focus on her teaching career. No doubt that was a difficult decision and after two years she returned for the 2015-16 season. She finished second in the Scotties in 2016, but couldn’t get back this year, losing the Northern Ontario berth to Tracy Fleury.

When McCarville did return she and her team made the decision to play in big bonspiels when they can, but they were not going to spend half of their year on the road chasing the curling dream. The lack of that constant top-level competition almost certainly was a factor in their losing the Northern Ontario Scotties berth.

Alberta skip Casey Scheidegger took time off from curling while on a maternity leave from her teaching job and is discovering how difficult it is emotionally to play the tour, provincials and now the Scotties.

“My son is 20 months, back at home watching on TV for as long as he watches, which isn’t very long,” she said. “I miss him lots, but I figure it’s better to do this when he’s young, he doesn’t remember that I was gone for so long.”

Luckily for the moms, technology created communications like FaceTime and Skype so they can see and talk to their children back home. Plus get reassurances from whoever is looking after the children that things are fine.

“I’m really lucky my mom and my in-laws take care of him while I’m away, so I know

he’s in good hands, so that’s a big comfort for me,” says Scheidegger.

Officer has her six-year-old daughter Camryn Hinchey here with her and while focusing her attention on trying to win a sixth Scotties championship, she does find moments to hug her daughter. It has to be enough for both of them this week and it beats the alternative of leaving her daughter at home. That is never an easy thing to do.

“It can be very difficult and it doesn’t necessarily get any easier as she gets older as she becomes more aware of the length of time (I’m away),” Officer said. “We were gone for a month when we went to the Olympics, and she was two and she was happy that I came back. Now it’s a little different because I think she misses me a bit more so the longer stretches, and we had a really long stretch in January, so it’s hard. But thankfully she’s here this week so I can spend a little more time with her.”

Her teammate, lead Dawn McEwen said organization is vital when teams play the Slam tour, then their provincials, the Scotties and, if they win, her the world championship just weeks later.

It means she hasn’t really been home to hold her two-year-old daughter in her arms.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been a tough run,” she said. “We’ve been curling for I feel like a month, so it’s hard. I’ve seen her not as much as I would like to this month. It’s tough for a two-year-old to be stuck in a hotel for 10 days so she’s at home in her environment and she’s happy.

“We Facetime every day. She’s very familiar with Facetime.”

“Everybody who is here at the Scotties ... have to make certain sacrifices to play in the national championship.

— Jill Officer (withdaughter Camryn)


BCLC is proud to support the2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

When you play with BCLC, you #PlayItForwardBC

Your OkanaganYour NewsGlobalnews.ca/okanagan


Thanks to our Friends!

You’ve been reading the HeartChart newspaper for nine days, but it’s a sad fact we never put out a final edition, chronicling the final game.

So that means tomorrow curling fans who have been reading about the Scotties in the HeartChart this week will have to find the final results elsewhere, beginning with the Curling Canada website. You will find everything you need right there at www.curling.ca

But before we go, we want to thank a bunch of people who have helped us get the paper out to you on a brief, but daily basis.

Of course, we’d like to thank

the competitors for their time and courtesy, all the volunteers, our print partners, and event manager Neil Houston for his help and guidance.

But mostly we’d like to thank you, the readers, for your interest.

EDITORDave Komosky

WRITERSGrant Granger

John KorobanikPHOTOGRAPHER

Andrew KlaverPRINTER

Penticton Western News

That’s all folks!

ALL-STAR TEAMS

THIRDCARY-ANNEMCTAGGARTALBERTA

THIRDSHANNONBIRCHARDMANITOBA

LEADDAWNMCEWENMANITOBA

LEADRANOURAWESTCOTTCANADA

SKIPJENNIFERJONESMANITOBA

SKIPTRACYFLEURYN. ONT.

SECONDJILLOFFICERMANITOBA

SECONDJESSIESCHEIDEGGERALBERTA

FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM

2018 Scotties TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS

(Determined by shooting percentages during the round robin)


Spotlight on: Wild CardEAST ST. PAUL CURLING CLUB, WINNIPEG

THIRD

Esse

ntial

s AGE: 24BIRTHDATE: Jan. 22, 1992BORN: WinnipegLIVES: WinnipegFAMILY: Husband, Connor NjegovanSTARTED CURLING AT: 8OCCUPATION: Staff Accountant, Deloitte Canada

kaatzselena

SECOND

Esse

ntial

s AGE: 28BIRTHDATE: May 11, 1987BORN: WinnipegLIVES: WinnipegFAMILY: Husband, Kevin; Lucy (1)STARTED CURLING AT: 6OCCUPATION: Wedding and event planner, self employed

fyfeliz

LEAD

Esse

ntial

s AGE: 23BIRTHDATE: Dec. 8, 1992BORN: WinnipegLIVES: Landmark MBFAMILY: SingleSTARTED CURLING AT: 10OCCUPATION: Business Specialist, IDC Communi-cations

maccuishkristin

WILD CARD AT THE SCOTTIES

Because this is the first year of a wild card at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, there are no past records.

FACTS

What would you do if you won the lottery? I would build a new house and a curling rink next to my house.

What is your pet peeve? Slow drivers.Any tattoos? Of what? I have two tattoos — a curling

rock and wings in memory of my brother Kyle.Are you a cat/dog person? Both. I love animals.What’s your favourite breakfast meal? Eggs and

bacon.What’s the first thing you do in the morning? I make

myself some tea.If you could go anywhere in the world where would

it be? Hawaii.What’s your dream car? Range Rover (white).Do you have a special talent? I’m really good at the

limbo.What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?

Say goodbye to a loved one.What’s the happiest moment in your life? I have

two—when I got married and when I had twin girls.If you knew this was going to be your last day on

earth how would you spend it? With family and friends.Do you believe in an after-life? Yes.Favourite TV show? Young and the Restless.

What’s your favourite day of the week? Friday.What’s playing on your Ipod now? Pretty much all

country.Got a phobia you want to share? Snakes.What’s the one thing you would do if given the

chance? Travel Europe.Who’s your hero? My parents.If we’re buying, you’re having … Steak and lobster.

SKIP

Esse

ntial

s

AGE: 28BIRTHDATE: Oct. 3, 1987BORN: Selkirk MBLIVES: Camp Morton MBFAMILY: Husband, Kyle; Children; Khloe, KamrynSTARTED CURLING AT: 8OCCUPATION: Rehabilitation Aide, Betel Home Foundation

einarsonkerri ALTERNATE

alternateNo

COACH:None


Spotlight on: ManitobaST. VITAL CURLING CLUB, WINNIPEG

THIRD

Esse

ntial

s AGE: 23BIRTHDATE: May 11, 1994BORN: WinnipegLIVES: WinnipegFAMILY: SingleSTARTED CURLING AT: 6OCCUPATION: Administrative Assistant, River City Ford

birchardshannon

SECOND

Esse

ntial

s AGE: 42BIRTHDATE: June 2, 1975BORN: WinnipegLIVES: WinnipegFAMILY: Married - Devlin Hinchey, daughter Camryn 6STARTED CURLING AT: 10OCCUPATION: RBC Olympian, RBC Royal Bank

officerjill

LEAD

Esse

ntial

s AGE: 37BIRTHDATE: July 3, 1980BORN: OttawaLIVES: WinnipegFAMILY: Married, Mike McEwen; Vienna (3)STARTED CURLING AT: 7OCCUPATION: Case Officer, Federal Government of Canada

mcewendawn

MANITOBA AT THE SCOTTIESLast five years:2017: Michelle Englot (10-1 Silver)2016: Kerri Einarson (7-4)2015: Jennifer Jones (10-1 Gold)2014: Chelsea Carey (9-2 Bronze)2013: Jennifer Jones (11-0 Silver)Last championship — Jennifer Jones (2015)Canadian titles — 9World titles — 2 (Connie Laliberte 1984, Jennifer Jones 2008)Other prominent women curlers from Manitoba — Chris Pidzarko, Peggy Casselman.

FACTS

If you were granted three wishes, what would you ask for? I only need one. For the health and happiness of my friends and family.

Which sitcom character do you relate to? Claire from modern family.

Who’s your hero? My mom. Last book you couldn’t put down. Only books I read

these days are children’s stories. What’s your favourite vacation destination? Africa.What is your definition of an incredible weekend?

Weekend anywhere relaxing with Brent and my girls. Are you a cat/dog person? Both. But can’t have any

because my husband is allergic. What is your favourite breakfast meal? Brent’s

French toast with lots of berries. Describe your life in one word: Chaotic. What is your favourite TV show? Blacklist. What celebrity annoys you the most? Donald Trump.

Beer or wine? Wine.If you could go anywhere in the world, where would

you go and why? Africa. It’s the most relaxing place and spectacular place.

Favourite musician(s)/bands you’ve seen in concert? Ray Lamontagne.

If you could go back or forward in time, where would you go? Back to the Olympics.

Name one thing you worry about. My kids.

Q&A

SKIP

Esse

ntial

s AGE: 43BIRTHDATE: July 7, 1974BORN: WinnipegLIVES: Oro-Medonte ONFAMILY: Married – Brent; daughters Isabella, Skyla STARTED CURLING AT: 13OCCUPATION: Senior legal advisor, National Bank Financial/Motivational Speaker

jonesjennifer

ALTERNATEEs

sent

ials AGE: 29

BIRTHDATE: Dec. 16, 1988BORN: WinnipegLIVES: WinnipegFAMILY: SingleSTARTED CURLING AT: 4OCCUPATION: Goldline Curling Supplies Ambassa-dor

laweskaitlyn

COACH:WendyMorgan


WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUPPORT OF THEGOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Documents

ISSUE 9 | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018 AN OFFICIAL … · ISSUE 9 | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018 AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CURLING CANADA Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones (centre) celebrates