What an NCAA rule change might mean for junior hockey in Sask.
6h ago
Previously, WHL players were declared ineligible to play NCAA hockey in the U.S.
With all eyes on Sheet B for the afternoon draw Friday at the 2021 Tim Hortons Curling Trials, Kerri Einarson wasn’t able to come up with the shots to send her team directly to the playoffs.
Instead, Einarson’s 8-4 loss to Kelsey Rocque and Casey Scheidegger’s 8-6 win over Rachel Homan set up a double tiebreaker scenario for Saturday morning.
“We just weren’t as sharp that game,” Einarson said following the loss. “We never do anything the easy way, so we’ve just got to keep grinding and keep fighting out there.”
Krista McCarville, who had the day off and was watching from the stands, went from having the least-likely chance of qualifying for the playoffs to playing in the second tiebreaker game.
Two games will be played Saturday ahead of the playoffs with Scheidegger playing Einarson first. The winner of that game will face McCarville in the afternoon. The winner of that second tiebreaker advances to face Jennifer Jones in the evening draw.
Scheidegger, who curls out of Lethbridge, Alta., thanked her northern provincial competitor — the Edmonton-based Rocque — for doing her a favour.
“I can’t believe it,” Scheidegger said. “It’s thrilling, really. I have to thank our friends from Alberta, Kelsey Rocque, for helping us out there. That was very kind of them.”
Rocque, who was eliminated from playoff contention before the draw began, was happy to end on a winning note and cause headaches for other teams in the process.
“We wanted to come out and finish strong and play well and shake up the standings as much as we could,” Rocque said. “So I think we did our job and we’re happy with how we ended the week.”
Saturday could have even been more complicated.
Laura Walker had a chance to join the tiebreaker party, but narrowly lost Friday afternoon following a dramatic draw attempt in extra ends.
With her game against Jacqueline Harrison tied at 9-9 after 10 ends thanks to a steal, Walker needed a draw to the four-foot to win the game. Sweepers Nadine Scotland and Taylor McDonald were unable to drag the rock as it settled at the top of the rings to eliminate both teams.
Einarson and Rocque traded singles and a couple two-point ends through the first seven ends of their game. Einarson opted to go for the difficult in-off attempt in the eighth end but narrowly missed to allow Rocque a steal of one.
The following end, Einarson attempted a nearly identical shot in the same path but was unable to make any contact near the button for another Rocque steal of one.
Those two throws ended up being the difference between sleeping in Saturday and having to play three games to make it to Sunday’s final.
“(Those shots) are extremely hard,” Einarson said. “I made it absolutely perfect, but obviously I didn’t throw enough weight to get it out. I just missed them.”
Kevin Koe won his final game Friday 9-3 over John Epping to claim the final playoff spot on the men’s side.
Entering the day, a tiebreaker could happen only if Mike McEwen won and Koe lost.
Brad Gushue remained the top seed on the men’s side after a 6-4 win over McEwen.
Brad Jacobs finished the round-robin in second place.
Curling Canada announced a schedule change for Saturday. The women’s and men’s semifinals are being reversed.
The men’s semifinal will now take place at 2 p.m. and the women’s semifinal will occur at 7 p.m.
“The change was made to allow both semifinals to play on the featured Sheet C (where both of Sunday’s finals will be played) and to not run concurrently, protecting the competitive integrity of the games for the athletes chasing their Olympic dreams,” a statement from Curling Canada read.