Nedohin adds ‘glue’ to her Alberta rink
Kleibrink third Amy Nixon will be fifth player at Canadian women’s curling championship
scotties tournament of hearts
Heather Nedohin has found the ‘glue’ her Alberta rink will need to hold it all together at the upcoming Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
A day after Nedohin skipped her rink to the provincial women’s curling championship and a berth in the Canadian women’s championship in Red Deer from Feb. 18-26, she and her team added Amy Nixon as their fifth player.
Nixon plays third for Shannon Kleibrink’s Calgary-based rink.
“I had the privilege of being the fifth member for the Kleibrink team for the Olympic Trials when they were (in Edmonton) and I got an opportunity to get to know the whole team and specifically Amy,” Nedohin said by phone on Monday evening.
“She is a really a true team player. Whether it’s winning or losing, she’s like the glue for that team and I was just really pleased and impressed with her.”
Nixon will make a return trip to the national championship, having gone last year when the Kleibrink rink represented Alberta. In teaming with Kleibrink, Nixon has won three provincial titles and finished second to Jennifer Jones at the 2008 Scotties. She has also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics and placed second in the 2009 Roar of the Rings Canadian Olympic Curling Trials tournament.
“She comes with a wealth of experience as a player, but the wealth of knowledge of the little things you need to get done behind the scenes to win … she’ll bring that to the table for us,” Nedohin said.
Nixon, who works as a lawyer with Mount Royal University in Calgary, called it an interesting opportunity. While her heart is with the Kleibrink team, she said it won’t be hard to support Nedohin’s team in Red Deer.
“I think it would have been a lot harder if our team had lost in the final or something,” she said. “I can honestly say it just wasn’t there for us last week in Leduc, with my own team, so there’s a piece of me that’s just sort of like, ‘It wasn’t meant to be.’ ”
Nixon cited a close off-ice friendship with Laine Peters, who plays lead on Nedohin’s team, as another reason to hop on board as the fifth. Plus, she said she enjoyed having Nedohin with her team in 2009.
“(Having Nedohin) was a phenomenal addition to our team and, really, had we actually won it we would have pointed to her as a pretty major contributing factor to that,” she said. “It’s hard for me to say no to this team, these people, the scenario.”
It might also be hard for her to stay calm in this role.
“I’m sure I’ll get quite engaged in it; poor Darryl Horne, he has no idea,” she said, referring to Nedohin’s coach. “He’s going to have to be feeding me something under the table to keep my nerves in check.
“It’s one of those things where I need to give the appearance of being calm, cool and collected, but I’ll probably be vomiting in the bathroom halfway through games.”
Heading into her sixth Scotties Tournament, Nedohin has yet to win the whole thing as a skip. She played third on Cathy King’s winning team in 1998, but said that leading her own team through the tournament would be special.
She and her team aren’t just thinking about what’s in front of them, though.
“It would mean the world,” she said. “You prepare for this event every year and so finally to make it to the show, the event that we all dream about and to represent your country and to go to the worlds within Canada (the world championship is being held in Lethbridge this year), it would bring great pride.
“We’ve got a very dynamic team and we’ve worked really hard and that goal is definitely attainable.”