Two-time Scotties champ Carey may have to focus on mixed doubles to reach Games

Curling’s free-agent frenzy wasn’t kind to Chelsea Carey.

All three members of her rink moved on last March, leaving the two-time Scotties champion without a team entering the most critical season of the quadrennial.

Carey remains the biggest name available on the market, but her hopes of competing in the Olympic Trials appear slim. Teams have essentially locked in their lineups and barring an unexpected development,

Carey will likely find herself on the outside despite being one of the best skips in the country.

“It’s going to be really, really tough for her, to be honest,” said curling commentator Mike Harris, who won Olympic silver in 1998. “So I think the teams that are established have a chance (at qualifying) and then I think you might have to just kind of wait for the next cycle.

“It’s really tough for anyone that’s a free agent right now.”

Curlers are essentially independent contractors, and not afraid to make lineup changes if they feel it’ll improve their chances of representing Canada at the Winter Games.

The days following the national championships in late winter usually see the most player movement and this year was no exception.

One of the more high-profile moves saw vice-skip Sarah Wilkes leave Carey to join Team Rachel Homan. Carey’s front end of Dana Ferguson and Rachel Brown then moved to Team Kelsey Rocque.

The changes left Carey in an unenviable position where her options were limited to bringing three new players in — a stiff challenge this late in the quadrennial — or hope a vacancy pops up elsewhere.

Several events have been cancelled or postponed and the ranking point system is on hold for at least six more weeks. The qualifying process for remaining berths in the Olympic Trials, to begin Nov. 27, 2021, is under review by Curling Canada.

“It’s hard to do much because we don’t know what the rules are,” Carey said.. “We don’t know how qualification is going to work for the Trials anymore. If there’s going to be a pre-Trials event, if there isn’t, what the doubles qualification looks like, because we don’t know if we’re going to have the Scotties and (Grand) Slams and things to be able to do that.”