McCarville rink eyes playoff

• There’s no satisfaction for Krista McCarville and her Northern Ontario rink. The 34-year-old skip is hoping — and confident — that feeling will come on Sunday night in the final of the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

McCarville certainly was not looking past the 3-4 Page playoff, which comes on Saturday afternoon at the Meridian Centre against Team Canada, skipped by Chelsea Carey. The women know each other quite well: In the 2016 Scotties final in Grande Prairie, Alta., Carey’s Alberta rink beat McCarville 7- 6. In the round robin this week, McCarville emerged with an 8- 4 victory against Carey on Thursday.

“I think we are more prepared for it this year,” McCarville said of earning a playoff spot. “Last year was our first year together and it was kind of like, ‘Yay, we’re in the playoffs,’ almost like an excitement that we weren’t believing.

“We knew we were good enough to get there, but this year we know we are a good enough team to win this whole thing.”

McCarville ended strongly on Friday, beating Kerry Galusha and the Northwest Territories 10-6, giving Northern Ontario an 8-3 record. Also in Draw 17, Carey and the Canada rink beat Alberta 7-4, enabling Carey to come out of the round robin at 9-2.

The winner of the 3- 4 Page playoff will head to the semifinal against Ontario or Manitoba on Saturday night with a ticket to the final on the line; the loser will play for bronze.

McCarville and Carey were in agreement: Neither team will have surprises to reveal. “I don’t think there are any secrets at the top level,” Carey, 32, said.

“All the teams in the playoffs play against each other all the time. It’s a matter of who plays better ( on Saturday) under pressure.”