By Adam Laskaris
Kerri Einarson’s team will have been waiting nearly six weeks before they finally get to wear the maple leaf on the ice again.
Einarson was victorious in early February for a fifth time at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts after an 1th-end steal over Kaitlyn Lawes — highlighted by a fantastic tenth-end shot to force the extra end.
After watching the Olympics from their couches, they’ll start things off this Saturday afternoon against Sweden at the women’s world championship, taking place this year in Calgary.
“We've had a lot of downtime and some good practicing. So yeah, we're definitely feeling ready and excited for it,” Einarson shared on a call with media earlier this week.
Einarson’s rink has qualified for five world championships now, though this will be their fourth they’ll get to compete in with the cancellation of the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We're one of the oldest teams in the field, which is kind of strange to say,” said second Shannon Birchard, who also competed as an alternate in 2018 with Jennifer Jones’ rink.
None of the Olympic playoff teams will be in the mix, with Switzerland and Sweden’s Xenia Schwaller and Isabella Wrana having qualified. In the United States, not unlike Canada, their Olympic teams were unable to participate in the national playdowns due to scheduling being tight to the Games in Cortina.
“A lot of first-timers there,” Einarson added.
And while much has been made of curling’s tight schedule impacting top teams — including by many of the affected players themselves — the teams that are in fact competing can only play who’s in front of them.
"You don't know how many times you're going to be in this position. To come home with a victory would mean so much. Team Homan has really set the bar there... and so we'd love to to keep that gold in Canada," third Val Sweeting said.
The Einarson team themselves has had an up-and-down few years, highlighted off the ice by team shakeup in the wake of Briane Harris’ suspension, and an injury to Birchard that sidelined her for much of 2024-25.
This past year, a strong-but-still-disappointing Olympic Trials saw the rink bow out in the semifinal after a 7-1 round robin, before the team regrouped to make it all the way to the Crown Royal Players’ Championship final in their home province in January. The Scotties wasn’t a perfect ride either — they lost twice to Lawes’ rink in both the round robin and the 1-2 page playoff, before eventually taking them down in the final.
“I think just staying in the moment and capitalizing on opportunities when they come, and just sticking to the things that we do really well, I think, is going to get us a long way in the event,” Sweeting said.
For lead Karlee Burgess, who heads into her first world championship at the senior level after winning the 2020 World Junior title, she’s looking forward to being Team Canada once again.
“Sometimes you can have that pressure with wearing the maple leaf,” Burgess said. “But I'm just really excited that I get to play along the girls that have been there and have experienced it.”
With the curling quadrennial nearly wrapped, there’s no guarantees for the future of Team Einarson.
“There's always those huge changes at the end of the quad. And I know for us, we wanted to put that aside and still have our focus on the worlds, and we'll have conversations about the future and everything after the worlds,” Birchard said.
Lead by Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver
