Carey rink perfect so far at trials
Skip hands Jones first loss and improves to 5-0 at Canadian Olympic curling trials
On the day one of her biggest fans was laid to rest, Chelsea Carey had a game that would have made him proud at the Canadian Olympic curling trials.
Carey’s grandfather, John Demkiw, died at the age of 93 Saturday in Winnipeg and his funeral was Wednesday. At the same time, Carey was on the ice at Canadian Tire Centre against Jennifer Jones in a battle of unbeaten teams at the Roar of the Rings.
Soon enough, Carey’s was the only unbeaten team left after scoring a 7-5 win over the 2014 Olympic champion.
“He was one of my biggest fans, for sure,” Carey said of her grandfather. “He would have been watching, yeah. It was a tough day, but I knew he’d be there with me. I’m sad I couldn’t be at his funeral, I’m sad I can’t be with my mom. My dad and I are both here.
“He would have wanted me to be here and he would have wanted me to pour all my energy and heart and soul into that game and that’s what I did.”
Carey improved her record to 5-0 and moved closer to clinching a playoff spot. Two of her wins have come against the tournament favourites, Jones and Rachel Homan, which will work in her favour if there are ties in the standings.
Jones fell to 5-1, losing for the first time in her team’s last 20 games. Homan was on the ice against Casey Scheidegger on Wednesday night, looking to join Jones at 5-1.
Carey took advantage of some rare misses by Jones, who came up light on two draws that led to a total of five stolen points.
“I don’t know that it was necessarily as well played a game as either team would have liked, but we’ll take it,” Carey said. “Those teams that you think are going to be there at the end of the week are the ones you most want to beat. If you’re tied with them, then you’ve got that one-up. So that was a big one, but it feels like we still have a week left yet, so we’ll enjoy this for about five minutes and then we’ll get right back to business.”
The Carey-Jones matchup featured some added intrigue because Carey’s third is Cathy Overton-Clapham, who played on the Jones team for many years and won four Canadian championships, but was dumped after the 2009-10 season.
Overton-Clapham, who certainly wasn’t happy about the move at the time, said it’s all in the past.
“It’s just playing another four people out there and we’re just trying to get every win we can this week,” she said.
Jones said she is struggling with the line calls on tricky ice. Her speed was OK, but she’s going to need to figure out where to put the broom if her team is going to make the playoffs.
“I think we’re made of something a little bit more than just crumbling after one loss,” Jones said. “It’s hard to go through this thing undefeated but, obviously, we don’t like to lose that way. It was not our best effort.”
On the men’s side, Calgary’s Kevin Koe became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. Koe ran his record to 6-0 with a 6-4 win over John Epping of Toronto.
“Our goal was six wins and we got there a little quicker than we would have anticipated,” said Koe’s third, Marc Kennedy. “That was our best game as a team and we feel pretty good.
“But we’ve all been here before. We know we haven’t won anything yet.”
Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen was in second with a 4-1 record heading into Wednesday’s evening draw. He was on the ice for a key match against world champion Brad Gushue (3-2). A win for McEwen would clinch him at least a tiebreaker, while Gushue had a chance to climb into the playoff picture.
Teams with three losses are still alive on both sides of the draw, but can’t afford any more slip-ups. The round robin concludes Friday and the top three teams will make the playoffs on each side, with the top team earning a bye directly into the Sunday finals. Carey has three games left and can earn the bye with two wins. Her team plays Julie Tippin (1-4) and Krista McCarville (2-2 heading into the evening draw) Thursday and Michelle Englot (1-4) Friday.
“We don’t necessarily need to win all of those, but it would be great if it happened,” Carey said. “I’m not worried about end results, I’m not worried about record. You think five or six wins will get you something, so Step 1 accomplished.”
He would have wanted me to pour all my energy and heart and soul into that game and that’s what I did.