Scotties Tournament of Hearts preview
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts
begins Saturday at Kingston's K-Rock Centre (or as I like to call
it—the Crock Pot.)
The field is deep with former champions
Heather Nedohin, Kelly Scott and Mary-Anne Arsenault (along with
Colleen Jones) from Nova Scotia.
I have my favourites, but I also like
to cheer on a good story. There is nothing better than a feel good
story, and this field has a lot of good stories to cheer for.
So without further ado, I rank down the
Scotties field. What I've done is include what the headline could
look like for each team if they won. News editors can thank me now.
I also was able to ask ice-maker Gord
Downie what he thought of the ice in Kingston and he told me,
“Sometimes the faster it gets, the less you need to know. But you
gotta remember, the smarter it gets the further it's going to go.
When you blow at high dough.”
Then he added, “It'd be better for us
if you don't understand. It'd be better for me if you don't
understand.”
OK, you got me, that's just some lyrics
from Kingston's most famous sons—The Tragically Hip. The lyric
might have something to do with the ice, it might not.
A little known fact: The Tragically Hip
appeared in the curling flick 'Men With Brooms' and are reportedly
huge curling fans. They will make a couple cameos in the following
rankings.
As Casey Kasem would say ... on with
the countdown:
Rachel
Homan (Ontario)
Headline:
Homan wins the Scotties, won't be her last
I went out on a limb and compared Team
Homan to Michael Jordan a couple days ago in this blog. Do you really
think I was going to pick someone else?
The young guns, this could be their
breakout party.
Heather Nedohin (Team Canada)
Headline: Holy Shitballs! Nedohin
repeats as champs
I predict that Nedohin will lose her
voice by Tuesday. She should cruise to the playoffs.
Kelly Scott (B.C.)
Headline: Great Scott! Scott takes the
Scotties
Probably
not the best adjective, but this team is scrappy. Always in games.
This is her s̶e̶v̶e̶n̶t̶h̶ eighth Scotties appearance.
Also have to give a shot out to Scott.
She was one of my first Twitter followers last month and one of the
first to reply to us. That puts her on a pedestal in our books.
Jennifer Jones (Manitoba)
Oh baby! Jones bounces back with
Scotties win
Whoa baby I feel fine. I'm pretty sure
it's genuine. Again, a Tragically Hip lyric, but it could also apply
to Jones.
Jones has had quite the season. First
she underwent knee injury in the off-season, and then she gave birth
to a baby girl in December and jumped back into curling in January.
A four-time champion, Jones and her
team has to be considered a favourite.
Kristie Moore (Alberta)
Headline: Moore Excitement! Moore wins
Scotties
A bit of an upset in Alberta to get
here, but we figure that Alberta has the deepest women's field, so
she has to be good.
Moore has experience with Heather
Nedohin at a previous Scotties, so the experience isn't totally new.
Jill Shumay (Saskatchewan)
Headline: Shumay, she might, Saskatchewan wins
tonight
Shumay was the upset winner in
Saskatchewan. If she wins, the team will never have to buy another
drink in Saskatchewan for the rest of their lives. Grocery stores
from Moose Jaw to Weyburn to North Battleford will be selling Shumay
Shreddies.
The Shumay team, including Kara
Johnston, Taryn Holtby and Jinaye Ayrey, is making its Scotties debut
She is 38 years-old and has never been to the Scotties. She is 38
years-old and has never been to the Scotties. I swear that is my last
Tragically Hip reference.
Mary-Anne Arsenault (Nova Scotia)
Headline: Seventh heaven for Jones
Mary-Anne Arsenault will skip the Nova
Scotia team with former teammates Colleen Jones — who is playing
third — and second Kim Kelly. This will be Arsenault’s 11th trip
to the Scotties. Arsenault, Colleen Jones (as skip), Kelly and fifth
Nancy Delahunt won the Canadian title five times and the world
championship twice. Together they still hold the record for
consecutive Canadian wins, at four. Colleen Jones is the most
decorated women’s curler in the game.
If this team makes it as far as the
playoffs, the media will go bananas. I don't blame them, it might be
the last kick at the can for most of this team. Would be nice to see
them go out with a bang.
Suzanne Birt (P.E.I)
Headline: Birt is back
A few years ago it seemed that Birt,
(formerly known as Suzanne Gaudet) was on the verge of being the next
big thing in women's curling.
She is a two-time Canadian junior
champion and former world champion who is making her seventh
appearance at nationals. She finished with the bronze in 2003, but
hasn't reached those heights since.
Kerry Galusha (NWT/Yukon)
Headline: Northern Exposure, Galusha rises to top
This is Galusha's 11th trip
to the Scotties.
She too, was one of Hurry Hard's first
followers, so she too is okay in our books.
Stacie Devereaux (Newfoundland and
Labrador)
Headline: First Newfie Scotties winner
A former Canadian junior champ,
Devereaux would be a Newfie legend if she could break on through.
Andrea Crawford (New Brunswick)
Headline: Crawford with the biggest curling upset
ever
Actually it wouldn't be a huge upset.
Crawford has four Scotties appearances, and in each one finished with
a 5-6 record. She could break through and sniff the playoffs.
Allison Ross (Quebec)
Ross is the boss at Scotties
Ross will be a longshot. She was the
lead for Kim Gellard's Ontario rink at the 1999 Scotties.
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