But Homan hasn’t fired her Bazooka.
No shame for Kerri Einarson. She was broken by the best.
A 6-1 score is still a 6-1 rout. No shame in the trying.
1 Like
Great job by Jennifer Jones. Incredible coaching.
1 Like
Now we turn to the Worlds in March. Rachel Homan, just based on her dominating season will be the odds on favorites to capture a 2nd straight (3rd overall) gold medal.
Unlike the Scotties where Homan was an overwhelming favorite (Einarson was able to give it the old college try but she’s no longer in the same league as Homan). . . . . but Alina Patz from Team Switzerland is. Patz has destroyed many comers over the last 10 years as the top ranch hand for Silvana Tirinzoni. At her best, Patz is Homan’s equal. This year, however, Patz has plenty of ground to make up. Homan has been the superior girl all season long.
Tirinzoni, as team Captain/Coach/3rd shooter is strategically superior to Tracey Fleury and capable of holding Fleury to a stand-off in shooting.
Big advant to Homan in front end. Experience, power, strength and intangibles give Wilkes & Miskew a big edge on the girl with the long name and their new babyface lead.
Can’t write off Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg yet, either. When Hasselborg runs hot she’s great but she’s as mercurial as Kerri Einarson - who’s as up and down as it gets.
3-Way Chase for Medals. If Sweden or Switzerland falters, one of the Asian teams could sneak in.
Brier preview. I sure notice that most top teams don’t have 4 curlers from their province anymore. Same with the women.
The world’s are essentially a grand slam without multiple Canadian teams there, which Homan doesn’t lose to anyways.
Agreed she’s the favourite as the top ranked team in the world.
Tirinzoni is like 46 years old, and that team has not looked great last year or this one. I’d be more worried about Hasselborg, but to put this in perspective all 3 of those teams would have been the best team at the Scotties.
Should be a good tournament. I expect Homan to medal but a gold is far from guaranteed.
Well reminder that we now have the residency rule. So your team has to have 3/4 either born in, or living in the province with one import allowed.
The women all seemed to fall under that umbrella (my wife takes a great interest in auditing that since Jocelyn Peterman always joked that she was Kaitlyn Lawes “roommate” meanwhile she was living with Jeff Gallant,").
The men seem to be daring curling Canada to actually do something about it. It appears the rules are basically out the window for the men. Crybaby Gushue even threatened to skip the Brier if they didn’t change the rules for his team. Curling Canada blinked and he didn’t.
The one thing I could never understand is why so many people are against the birthright rule “Rachel Homan rule”.
Don’t we want people representing their home? As someone born in Ontario I’d always want to represent my home province. Same way we have our Canadian Olympians and professional athletes living abroad representing Canada. It’s the people parachuting into other provinces pretending they live there that always seemed odd to me.
1 Like
Elite curlers generally do not need to folllow the residency rules.
Homan team is the poster child for abusing such rules:
Rachel - Ottawa born, resides in Alberta
Fleury - born in Northern Ontario, still resides there
Miskew - Ottawa born, lives in Ottawa, works in Ottawa
Wilkes - Alberta woman, current residency unknown
5th player - Brown, from Alberta
In addition to her unparalleled curling prowess, R. Homan is also great at poaching players.
She poached her previous power-brusher, Jo Courtney from Team Val Sweeting when Sweeting was an Alberta stalwart. She ditched her all-star lead Lisa Weagle for the more powerful and younger Sarah Wilkes. The coup de grace was demoting her childhood friend Emma “Big M” Miskew down to 2nd stones, bringing aboard a Manitoba skip Tracey Fleury, replacing Miskew at 3rd.
1 Like
Wilkes is born in Ontario. Currently lives in London. There’s no abusing of the rules, all 4 players were born or live in Ontario.
You’re missing my point. Why is it wrong to represent the province you were born in? Only in curling do we have a problem with this.
Why should Rachel Homan have to represent Alberta because life took her there? No different than Jennifer Jones representing Manitoba when she lived and worked in Ontario. I didn’t see an issue with that either. Why would anyone want Jennifer Jones representing Ontario and Rachel Homan representing Alberta?
If that was the standard we’d have very few Olympians because so many of them train in the US.
“Manitoba Skip Tracey Fleury” born in Ontario, lives in Ontario. Didn’t once step foot in Manitoba to represent them.
Representing where you were born is the standard so many other sports but in curling it’s frowned upon. Makes zero sense to me.
The poaching of players is another discussion for another day, every team does it. There should be some rules around when players can leave teams but that’s not coming anytime soon.
1 Like
Re: Fleury
She was born in Sudbury, Ontario, works as an accountant for Laurentian University.
Prior to being poached as a strategist (Tirinzoni role) by Rachel Homan she skipped a Manitoba team featuring the under-whelming Selena Njegovan at 3rd, the explosive Liz Fyfe at 2nd and Kristen McCuish (Jill Officer’s niece) at lead. The team won some events but essentially were a team of Mighty Mites. Fyfe was the team giant, at around 5’3" - the rest of them were just a tad over 5 feet.
They were the finalists in the previous trials, Fleury missed a relatively easy shot to go to the Olympics, and at the time were the number one ranked team in Canada. They just didn’t close the deal.
Imagine Jennifer Jones representing Ontario?
We identify these stars with their province:
Kevin Martin - Alberta
Jennifer Jones - Manitoba
Jeff Stoughton - Manitoba
Glenn Howard - Ontario
Sandra Schmirler - Saskatchewan
And so on…
The criticism Homan received for representing Ontario while living in Alberta was more about people not liking her attitude imo. Considering Jones was doing the exact same thing.
Where you were born or where you live should have always been the standard, but too many people were clinging to the “get 4 players and enter the platforms from your curling club” history. Which is long gone.
Other than citizenship is there anything (or anybody) capable of stopping the 500 Ton Freight Train known as Team Rachel Homan?
Out there? Anyone?
Lots of top women’s teams will stick together next year, mostly in desperate hope of retaining (or gaining) a spot in the Olympic Trials. The only changes Homan may make are in coaching or alternate, although I’m sure Rochelle Brown is tickled pink at getting medals for bench-sitting.
Einarson appeared to have cracks in her lineup early this year, not just due to Briane Meilleur’s suspension or Shannon Birchard’s injury. . . . more related to Einarson and Sweeting’s relationship, looked a bit frosty this year.
Nova Scotia & Alberta (Skrylx) can only get better. Einarson can’t get much better than she already is - even if Birchard & Meilleur return to the lineup. But Einarson is the overall key. She can look like a world champion one event and then 3rd runner-up in the Sisters of the Poor Club League the next. She is incapable of standing up to Rachel Homan. Then again, who is?
Einarson can get back to that form. They have the most talent. I wouldn’t be shocked to see them win the Olympic trials in November.
Or, all of these setbacks have taken their toll on this team and theyre done. I don’t think that’s the case.
They’re the only team that can give Homan a run for her money and I think when they get their original 4 players back they will be a force again in Canada.
1 Like
We have one going at our club. Powell River Curling Club.
1 Like
@Lyle_B_Style on the topic of men’s curling and residency…
How is Team Gushue even allowed to play in the Brier?
Gushue - NL born
Nichols - NL born
Walker,- Alberta born and Alberta resident
Bottcher - Alberta born and Alberta resident
This is directly from the Brier media guide. They aren’t even trying to hide it.
3 Likes
Good article on how men’s curling is all over the place, women’s not so much.
https://www.thecurlingnews.com/news/brier-and-shiny-penny-syndrome
2 Likes
Sorry to break it to you - but Gushue MAKES THE RULES
Not on paper but they’re secretly referred to as GOO RULES
2 Likes
Appears Brad “Goo” Gushue headed for a record-setting 7th Brier title. Goo is mid-40s now, has re-arranged the set pieces on his curling chess set but looks keener, meaner and leaner at the Kelowna thing.
Didn’t think he could replace Brett Gallant? He did.
Mark Nichols (3rd) continues to deliver fine performance after fine performance.
Brad Jacobs, the former Northern Ontario Madman, appears the main obstacle in Goo’s path to 7. Jacobs bolted as Reid Carruthers hired-gun 3rd after receiving a better offer from an Alberta team skipped by the moody and oft indifferent Brendan Bottcher (now playing 2nd in the Goo Zoo). . . . out of Alberta. Super team, Jacobs is even better than Botch - and far more focused and less distracted on the ice.
Mike McEwen, the Manitoba lad now a rent-a-skip in Saskatchewan can make his case every year, but he’s been doing the same thing for nearly 20 years now. ie. FALLING SHORT.
Matty Dunstone of Manitoba is always in contention - the team has a warrior spirit but Dunstone has been limping thru the preliminary round, barely able to get by fawns and scrap heapers.
Reid Carruthers picked up an all-star 3rd when moody Kevin Koe of Alberta gave B.J. Neufeld (his 3rd) a bus ticket back to Manitoba - and Carruthers poached him on the cusp of losing Brad Jacobs. Jacobs is great (wherever you put him in the lineup) but Neufeld isn’t far behind. Neufeld is a career 3rd, too. That might help. However, no matter how you want to shape it, Reid “Rammer” Carruthers is a career tour player with limited success as a Brier skip. Good guy, great coach (Team Einarson) but just doesn’t have that extra shot or miracle shot to slip by the current monsters.
My guess is on Sunday the Brier final will feature Brad Gushue (a given) vs. Brad Jacobs in a classic battle of the Brads.
Outside chance its Goo vs. Dunstone or Goo vs. McEwen.
Carruthers will make the playoff round but thats where his fun will end. He’s the Winnipeg Jets of curling.
2 Likes
And Dunstone outplays Gushue and outscores him 6-2 over the second half of the game to win by one to finish first in the pool of death. Gushue second and Manitoba’s Carruthers takes third. Had Gushue hung on then Carruthers would have been out and Epping in due to some complicated tie breaking crap involving draws to the button. May as well have penalty kicks. As it is Epping will miss the playoffs at 6-2.
In the puppy pool, McEwen plays Jacobs tonight for first place. Both teams are 7-0. And Nova Scotia plays Ontario for the final playoff spot. Both teams are 4-3, ensuring that one team will slither into the playoffs at 5-3, while Epping looks on from the outside at 6-2 in the much tougher pool, which also included Kevin Koe.
2 Likes