PATIENCE MAKES CAREY PERFECT
Jones, Koe and McEwen also unbeaten, while Homan’s rink starting to heat up
For Chelsea Carey, the best part of being 3-0 at the Canadian Olympic curling trials is how her team did it.
“As important as anything is that they have not been runaway games,” Carey said moments after scoring an 8-7 extra-end win over Casey Scheidegger on Monday. “They’ve been battles of games. You need to get that battle-tested kind of feel early. If you roll over people and crush them, it’s great, but you’re not learning from that.”
Carey, who curls out of Calgary, is one of only two undefeated skips on the women’s side of the tournament. The other is Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, the 2014 Olympic champion, who is 4-0.
Carey’s other wins came against 2017 world champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa and Edmonton’s Val Sweeting, so she’s already in good position despite it being early in the week.
“We’re staying really patient and not getting flustered when we have an end that doesn’t go our way or have a pick or a miss or something,” said Carey, who curls with third Cathy Overton Clapham, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Laine Peters.
“That patience, in a week this long, is what you need. It doesn’t serve anyone well to get down on yourself and start to doubt things and lose confidence. It’s not like we’re making every shot, but we’re learning from the ones we miss and doing better the next time.”
Jones beat Julie Tippin of Woodstock, Ont., 12-6 in her only game Monday, recording a couple of big ends to win her 18th straight game of this curling season.
“So far, so good,” Jones said. “We’re making the big shots when we need to. That’s always the key to success. When we’re in trouble, we’re making big ones to get out of it, and when we need to score, we’re making them then too.”
Homan has bounced back nicely from her opening-draw loss to Carey. Her Ottawa team beat Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont., 4-2 in the morning, then topped Winnipeg ’s Michelle Englot 11-7 in the evening.
Homan was aggressive all day and made three big doubles to secure the two wins.
“That’s what she does,” Homan’s third, Emma Miskew, said.
“She’s good at everything, but that’s her strength. If you give her a high hard double, she’s good at them and we like her trying them. I’m glad to see that she’s confident.”
On the men’s side, 2014 Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs bounced back from an ugly miss on Sunday to beat reigning world champion Brad Gushue 7-4 on Monday night.
Jacobs threw away a game against Kevin Koe on Sunday by putting an easy-looking draw through the house, but he had some luck on his side on Monday, stealing three in the third end when Gushue’s last rock picked.
“We got the biggest break of all time when that rock picked,” Jacobs said. “Otherwise, that’s going to be a lot better game than what it was. Really happy with the way the guys played today. Every win here is huge and you do need breaks.
“I don’t like to admit that. I like to think that we’ll just go out there and take advantage of our opportunities.”
Gushue is now 2-2 — he beat John Morris 8-6 in the morning — but he’s bothered by the fact his team has yet to put together 10 complete ends.
“It felt a little bit like we were spinning our wheels,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of things right, but we haven’t gained any traction yet.”
Leading the way on the men’s side are Koe, at 4-0, and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen, 3-0. Koe stayed perfect by scoring two in the 10th end to beat Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher 7-6.
Morris, who won a gold medal in 2010 as the third for Kevin Martin and made it to the trials final in 2013, sits 0-3 and can’t afford another loss.
“Every loss is big at the trials and we’re in tough now,” Morris said. “We’re going to have to run the table to have a chance. We’re close, but we’re not getting eight shots an end, and we have to dig deep now because our Olympic lives are on the line.”
McEwen beat John Epping 8-5 on Monday and his team has looked strong. “Our game plan is matching pretty well with how the guys are throwing,” McEwen said. “The flow has been good as far as the decision-making and the thinking. There have been times when we haven’t had that. That can get kind of grindy. Right now, all four of us are on the same page when we’re thinking about the next shot.”
That patience, in a week this long, is what you need. It doesn’t serve anyone well to get down on yourself and start to doubt things and lose confidence.