Drumroll please! Women's Preview of the 2021 Canadian Curling Trials
By the way, you can make your ranking predictions on this form here
- Kerri Einarson
- Tracy Fleury
- Jacqueline Harrison (PQ)
- Rachel Homan
- Jennifer Jones
- Krista McCarville (PQ)
- Kelsey Rocque
- Casey Scheidegger
- Laura Walker
In my mind there are five front-runners. Let's take a look at each (in alphabetical order)
Kerri Einarson (18-11)
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| Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns |
Okay, an 18-11 record is making this interesting right off the bat. Kerri Einarson was absolutely unstoppable last season, capturing the Scotties, Players', and Mixed Doubles National Championship. Add playoff appearances at both Worlds and a runner-up finish at the Champions Cup to that already impressive performance. The team of skips could be on target per their plan four years ago.
However, Team Einarson has seen mixed results and have not played quite to their tall standards yet this season. They've played a good amount of games so far, making the final at the Sherwood Park Classic and the quarterfinals at the Saville Shoot-Out and GSOC Masters. They did not make the playoffs at the Autumn Gold and Boost National, two top-tier events which makes things interesting.
Come Saskatoon, the foursome of Briane Meilleur, Shannon Birchard, Val Sweeting, and Kerri Einarson may be on the streaky side, but this is the absolute perfect time to peak in a curling season. Their results may be less impressive than earlier this year, but they certainly have what it takes to become Team Canada again (although at a much grander stage). A few months I would've put Einarson in my #1 spot for the Trials, but now they really need to make sure they're in the groove to reach the final.
My Key To Success: Shannon and Val need to bring their numbers up. That's it. A burger is only good if the patty is. Einarson herself does not seem to be struggling, but just needs the support behind her. The formula is quite simple: play a few games with all members in the high 80s, expect yourself to do very well.
Tracy Fleury (30-5)
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| Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns |
The men's field doesn't seem to have a crystal clear front-runner, but boy does the women's field. In the bubble, a Fleury-less Team Fleury skipped by Chelsea Carey did not make the playoffs at the Scotties with a 6-6 record. They rebounded with a semifinal result at the Champions Cup, but did not qualify at the Players', although the team was once again skipped by Carey.
Tracy Fleury has been simply unstoppable this season. Their record speaks for itself, along with their wins at the GSOC Masters, Sherwood Park Classic, and Oakville Labour Day Classic. They finished in 2nd place at the Boost National, losing to Anna Hasselborg. If anyone has momentum, it's Fleury.
Saskatoon, prepare for a blizzard! Or a Fleury I should say. Kristin MacCuish, Liz Fyfe, Selena Njegovan, and Tracy Fleury have been cooking up a storm. The team does not have much international experience, but if you manage to lose five times out of 35 games to world-class teams, you definitely deserve a place in the Olympics.
My Key To Success: Keep calm and Carey on! (Yes, Carey will retain her position as fifth) What more to say than to only do more of the same. Team Fleury knows what it feels like to play with a big crowd, but this could be the biggest one yet for them. They've held on to the underdog mentality for years now despite being a top 3/4 team in the country. Apply pressure with the middle two players and let Tracy draw for her deuce.
Rachel Homan (18-9)
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| Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns |
A .666 record could be not up to the par for Homan's standards but if there was a contest for who can peak at the exact right time every year: it's Rachel Homan. The Ottawa foursome have performed quite inconsistently at the slams over the past couple years. However, they did manage to reign victorious at the Champions Cup in the bubble, as well as make the final at the Players', all after coming in 2nd at the Scotties. Not bad!
This season, Team Homan has seen results similar to those of Team Einarson. Shockingly, their best result is the quarterfinals at the GSOC Masters, Boost National, Saville Shoot-out, and Autumn Gold Classic. Don't get me wrong, that is still much better than the majority teams on tour. In fact, it only proves my point of knowing when to peak at the right time.
Homan and Co. are arguably even more hungry to get back to the Olympics than Koe. They know what it feels like to play in a Trials final in front of a packed home crowd. Since there are no Saskatchewan teams on the women's side, Team Homan needs to harness the energy of the crowd in order to place better than they have this year.
My Key To Success: Joanne Courtney is still one if not the best sweepers out there and it seems as if she's only improved this season. However, her move to lead may not have been the smoothest transition this season. She needs to get guards in good places and execute in the final end to boost the team's chances. The hit game is still the strength of this team, so thwarting teams with a 85%+ hit accuracy will frustrate most finesse-shot oriented women's teams.
Jennifer Jones (25-12)
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| Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns |
These past few weeks have made things real interesting. After starting the season with okay results, Tema Jones is seemingly back on a resurgence. The bubble wasn't very giving to them though, finishing 4th at the Scotties and failing to qualify in either of the slams.
They've made the semis at a handful of events in Oakville, including the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and the Labour Day Classic, although those events did not have very strong fields. They made the quarters at the Autumn Gold Classic and Sherwood Park Classic. The most shocking thing for me was the final finish at the GSOC Masters, where the team lost two straight only to come back with five consecutive victories before losing to Fleury. The opposite happened at the Boost National where they did not qualify.
It's hard to say whether the five-player squad of Lisa Weagle, Dawn McEwen, Jocelyn Peterman, Kaitlyn Lawes, and Jennifer Jones have any momentum at the moment. They impressed me at the Masters and the early stages of the National, but fell apart later in the week, although they didn't seem to be playing too terribly. Will the veterans strike again and find their way to the playoffs after some streaky results?They've taken advantages of other inconsistent runs from Einarson and Homan this season and have won both matches against them. Fleury has won both their two meetings on the other hand.
My Key To Success: The back end needs to perform well, with at least 75% shooting percentages period. The front end is doing just fine, but Jennifer is still consistently shooting 60s which is obviously not ideal. When Kaitlyn performs well, Jennifer usually follows suit. This was shown at the Masters, where the team went on a winning streak when both back end players shot 80% or above.
Krista McCarville (14-3)
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| Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns |
Ah yes, the silent killer of women's curling. Often times, you can't see them, but when you do, it's already too late. The team from Northern Ontario declined the invitation to don the moose in the bubble citing work and family reasons. However, they are back after qualifying through yet another Pre-Trials. It's hard to argue against a team that's made the playoffs at the Scotties in 2016, '17, '19, and '20.
They have only played two events (which is very McCarville-like), being the Pre-Trials and the KW Fall Classic. They did not perform well at the latter, although they were probably fresh out of the summer break. They only lost once at the Pre-Trials en route to punching their ticket to Saskatoon.
There's not much to base off a prediction for Sarah Potts, Ashley Sippala, Kendra Lilly, and Krista McCarville, but one thing's for sure is that their going to be in it to win it. Who knows, maybe if they do well, I'll start resting more than my opponents.
My Key To Success: This team has made a living off of open ends and Krista McCarville draws. Although running ends up and down especially early in the game might frustrate both opponents and viewers, their undeniable ability to run away after scoring even just two will get them more success. Krista's strength is the draw and finesse game; messy ends are fine with hammer in hand, but only if a draw path is available.
Rest of the Field
Laura Walker (18-16) made her second slam appearance with her current team at the Boost National, making the quarters. Other results for them include 2nd at the Saville Shoot-Out, quarters at the Sherwood Park Classic. They also became the last of the three teams to qualify at the Trials Direct-Entry Event. Kate Cameron at third is the only player with Trials experience, and will need to support Laura under the bright lights.
Kelsey Rocque (18-13) has had a slow start to the season but is progressively improving like Walker. Their semifinal finish at the Boost National is their best result yet, and they could be on an upward trend. They had a quarterfinal finish at the Saville Shoot-Out and were the first team to qualify through the Trials Direct-Entry Event. They've had a bumpy road as a new foursome, but the dynamic duo of Pooks and Fergie at lead and second will be the key to guiding the team to a good result.
Casey Scheidegger (18-9) is back again! After not being able to play in 2020 and a low ranking in 2021 causing them to not be invited to top-tier events. They've shown that they're still worthy to contend at the highest of levels after being the second team to qualify through the Trials Direct-Entry Event. This trials season, they're almost like a McCarville prototype: hard to predict because of the lack of recent competition, but should do reasonably well nonetheless.
Team Harrison (15-9) may be new as a squad, but Jacqueline herself along with Allison Flaxey and Lynn Kreviazuk have had success before. They had a good run at the Pre-Trials to qualify and are riding a wave of momentum, but they'll need to surprise some big teams to make a splash. The only other event they've competed in is the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard where they finished in the quarterfinals.
That wraps it up for the preview of the largest bonspiel in Canada. It only comes around every four times so kick back, or pace around anxiously like I do! Enjoy the action all week be sure to check out my men's preview here, and be on the lookout for my European Champs preview/predictions (which is *conveniently* running at the same time). Good luck to all!
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