Jones enters rare territory with 100 wins
Winnipeg lawyer will skip Manitoba versus Ontario in Saturday playoff
KINGSTON Jennifer Jones claimed she had no idea, not until someone mentioned it on television earlier in the day. That was the first time she realized she had the chance to do something only one other woman had ever accomplished in Canadian curling.
Jones, the 38-year-old lawyer from Winnipeg, became only the second skip to record 100 wins at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Friday.
She held on for a 7-6 win over New Brunswick to clinch first place in the round-robin standings and a rematch with Ontario in the 1 vs. 2 playoff on Saturday.
“Like I’ve said, I pinch myself,” said Jones. “After the first time, you never think you’re going to come back. And to have it be our 10th time, and then to get 100 wins, it’s pretty special.”
Only Colleen Jones, the six-time Canadian champion from Nova Scotia, has won more, with 138 wins as a skip. Jennifer Jones has won the Canadian title four times, and she has qualified for the playoffs in each of her 10 trips to the Scotties.
“I grew up watching her,” said Kaitlyn Lawes, Manitoba’s 24-year-old third. “I know she doesn’t like me saying that because I’m playing with her now. But she’s so talented and just works so hard. Everything she accomplishes, she deserves it because she’s put so much time into it.”
Jones underwent surgery to repair a damaged ligament in her right knee last June, and she gave birth to a daughter in November.
She began physiotherapy on her repaired knee 24 hours after the operation, and she was on the ice within weeks of giving birth.
Jones powered through stretches of the round-robin schedule, though back-toback steals conceded to New Brunswick delayed her 100th win for a few minutes Friday afternoon in Kingston, Ont. She beat Saskatchewan in the final draw to finish with an 11-0 record.
Manitoba still has a chance to become the first team in almost 30 years to finish without a loss at the Scotties. Linda Moore was the last to run the table, finishing 11-0 as skip of the British Columbia rink in 1985.
“I practise a lot and I work hard,” said Jones. “But I always say that I’ll retire when I feel like I can’t get any better. And I still feel like I’m getting better.”
Team Canada will face the current B.C. rink, led by Kelly Scott, in the 3 vs. 4 playoff on Saturday. The winner of that game will face the loser of the Manitoba/Ontario game in the semifinal on Sunday. The championship is Sunday night.
“It doesn’t matter what your record is going into the playoffs, it’s the fact that you get there,” said Lawes.
“Everything starts fresh. So what we’ve done to get here can only help us in the playoffs, I think.”
Jones rolled through the preliminary round last year, as well, finishing first overall with a 9-2 record, but she lost in the 1 vs. 2 playoff game, and she lost again in the semifinal to Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin, the eventual champion.
Manitoba also rolled through the round-robin in 2011, finishing with an 8-3 record.
She beat Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland in the 1 vs. 2 playoff — in an extra end — but lost the rematch with Holland in the final.
TSN analyst Russ Howard has suggested this year might be different because Jones has fixed what he saw as a problem with her slide.
Howard said that, before the knee surgery, Jones was not as clean as she could have been coming out of the hack, which can impact the way she reads the ice.