GUELPH, Ont. — Kerri Einarson is feeling good now that she has a better idea of her team’s roster going forward.
Einarson relied on super spares through the first half of the season as second Shannon Birchard was recovering from a knee injury. Birchard made her season debut last month at a tour event in Swift Current, Sask., however, she was unable to finish the tournament and will now focus on returning in the fall.
Enter Karlee Burgess, who joined the Gimli, Man., club for the remainder of the season after leaving Chelsea Carey’s team earlier this month.
“It’s hard coming to every spiel with a new player,” Einarson said Tuesday during the WFG Masters. “It’s definitely challenging, but we really embraced it. Bringing on Karlee is huge for the team. I love her energy, great thrower and just a great person.”
Dawn McEwen, Joanne Courtney and Brittany Tran all took turns playing the role of Birchard during Grand Slam of Curling events. McEwen helped Einarson capture her sixth career Grand Slam women’s title at the HearingLife Tour Challenge while the team reached the quarterfinals of the Co-op Canadian Open with Courtney and the semifinals of the KIOTI National with Tran.
Considering all three fit in seamlessly, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Burgess is doing so as well.
“To be honest, I know it’s so cliche like oh my god, but she fits in perfect,” Einarson said. “She’s fit the role and we’ve all gotten along so great with her and her energy. We’ve played games. We’ve had so many laughs and I think that’s what we needed.”
Einarson also learned earlier in the day that lead Briane Harris had her provisional suspension for an anti-doping rule violation lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Harris tested positive for trace amounts of Ligandrol as the team was preparing for last year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The team, which also includes third Val Sweeting, alternate Krysten Karwacki and coach Reid Carruthers, said in a statement they’re so happy and relieved the case was resolved.
“It has been a difficult 11 months for all of us not knowing what was going to happen, so we’re thankful that we can all move forward with some clarity,” the team said. “This week, we are treating the WFG Masters Grand Slam event in Guelph as a team dress rehearsal for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts with the lineup we announced earlier this month.
“Once this event is done, and after we assess where we’re at, we will sit down as a team for further discussions.”
Einarson got out to a good start in the WFG Masters at the Sleeman Centre with a commanding 10-1 victory over Calgary’s Team Kayla Skrlik in Draw 3 Tuesday.
After converting with the hammer to score a deuce in the first, Einarson stole three in the second as Skrlik’s shooter rolled deep. Einarson swiped another point in the third to hold a 6-0 advantage.
Skrlik broke the shutout in the fourth end with a double bump to score a single, but it was early handshakes after Einarson added four more points in the fifth.
“It felt great,” Einarson said. “Krysten played unreal, she set it up for us and it just trickled down the line and that’s what happens in curling. If you get a good start it just helps the whole entire team in the lineup.”
In other games, Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes also rode the steal train to defeat Team Isabella Wranå of Sweden 9-2.
Already up 4-2, Lawes stole one in the fifth, two in the sixth and another pair in the seventh.
Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan extended its winning streak to 24 games with a 7-4 victory over Team Seung-youn Ha of South Korea.
Homan is seeking a third consecutive Grand Slam title after sweeping through the past two events in the series.
Team Momoha Tabata took two in the eighth end to beat Team Satsuki Fujisawa 5-3 in a matchup of Japanese clubs.
Round-robin play continues with Draw 4 at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.
Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins with Draw 10 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT.
The WFG Masters is the fourth Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … A new rule is being tested this week where teams will lose the hammer if they blank two consecutive ends. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions qualify for the playoffs. … If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be held Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals slated for Sunday.
