5 things we learned in the Canada Cup: Jones, Nichols all clear
It was supposed to be moving day at the Canada Cup in Brandon, Man., but the playoff picture isn’t quite set yet.
On the line at the event are direct berths to next year’s Olympic Trials in Ottawa and teams refused to give up easily during the final day of round-robin games.
Entering Friday’s action at the Keystone Centre, just Jennifer Jones was guaranteed to play for another day while Kelsey Rocque was the only one eliminated, meaning business was sure to pick up fast.
Everyone was still in it to win it on the men’s side to start the day. Even after Kevin Koe was eliminated in the morning, six teams were in the mix until the end.
Here are five things we learned in the Canada Cup Friday:
No Gushue? No problem, part VIII
Mark Nichols’s impressive run as the interim skip for Team Gushue continues.
Nichols, who normally plays third, helped the St. John’s, N.L., squad advance to the playoffs by eliminating defending champ Koe of Calgary 5-3 in the morning draw.
The win also guaranteed somebody new will earn a Trials spot as Koe is the only one on the men’s side with his ticket to Ottawa already punched.
Nichols, who won Olympic gold with Brad Gushue in 2006, has qualified for the playoffs in all eight events the team has competed in this season. It’s remarkable what Nichols has accomplished — without any skipping experience at the pro level prior to this season — making the most of a worst-case scenario with Gushue recovering from a hip/groin injury.
For Koe, who’s also the reigning Brier and world champ, it was a disappointing end to the short week. While his team seemingly had nothing to lose with their berth in the bank, surely they would have liked to have come out on top again and send a message to the six other Canadian teams. Koe did play the spoiler in his final round-robin game holding on to oust Mike McEwen 7-6 in an extra end.
Meanwhile, Gushue is looking to make his season debut next week at the Boost National in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Sweeting splits to reach tiebreaker
Bad breaks did Val Sweeting in during her 7-3 loss to Rachel Homan in the morning. Her Edmonton team struggled with their accuracy early and Homan, of Ottawa, capitalized with a couple of deuces in the first and third ends.
The woes continued as Sweeting missed on a blank attempt to give up a steal in six. “When it rains, it pours,” the skip lamented as she red-lighted her last rock in the seventh end to concede another point with the hog-line violation.
It didn’t get any easier from there as Sweeting had to immediately face Jennifer Jones in the next draw. However, Sweeting bounced back to pull off the 6-4 win over the reigning Olympic champ Jones.
Sweeting finished round-robin play with a 3-3 record and then played the waiting game as she sat idle in the evening.
“So you’re telling me there’s a chance!”
It’s a mess on the men’s side with only Team Gushue and Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers through at 4-2 records entering the evening.
If Brad Jacobs, who fell to Carruthers in the afternoon, defeated John Epping then it would crisp and clean with no tiebreakers as he would finish 4-2 as well.
Not so, as Epping earned a 7-6 victory over the reigning Olympic champs from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to bring 3-3 teams back into the picture.
Epping, who started the Canada Cup at 0-3, surged in the second half (both in the game and in the tournament as a whole) grabbing the lead with a three-ender in seven and added a steal of two in the eighth. Jacobs was held to a single in nine giving up the hammer coming home in the 10th end.
The game wasn’t over as Epping faced three counters with his last, but the Toronto skip punched out a pair to give up one and secure the W.
Jacobs now faces Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock (3-3) in Saturday morning’s tiebreaker with the winner taking on Epping during a second tiebreaker in the afternoon. The victor of that game then goes up against Carruthers in the evening semifinal while Nichols awaits in Sunday’s final.
Confused? Get the table!
Canada Cup Standings
| Men’s Team | Record | Scenario | Women’s Team | Record | Scenario |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Nichols | 4-2 | Final | Jennifer Jones | 5-1 | Final |
| Reid Carruthers | 4-2 | Semifinal | Rachel Homan | 4-2 | Semifinal |
| John Epping | 3-3 | Tiebreaker 2 | Kerri Einarson | 3-3 | Tiebreaker |
| Brad Jacobs | 3-3 | Tiebreaker 1 | Val Sweeting | 3-3 | Tiebreaker |
| Steve Laycock | 3-3 | Tiebreaker 1 | Chelsea Carey | 2-4 | Eliminated |
| Mike McEwen | 2-4 | Eliminated | Tracy Fleury | 2-4 | Eliminated |
| Kevin Koe | 2-4 | Eliminated | Kelsey Rocque | 2-4 | Eliminated |
Jones all clear to the final
The Jennifer Jones vs. Rachel Homan showdown in the evening draw may have seemed anticlimactic with both teams already holding spots in the Trials and qualifying for the playoffs with four wins apiece.
Still, the match would determine who would go straight through to Sunday’s final with the loser having to settle for a second shot via the semifinal.
Jones was on her game and firmly in control from the start jumping on every opportunity and giving Homan little to work with in the convincing 9-4 victory.
The Winnipeg native Jones scored pairs of points early to lead 4-1 through three ends and stole in four as Homan was left with no options and threw her last away to hand over one.
Homan settled for a single in the fifth end while looking at four counters and Jones pulled off a double in seven for a three count that all but put the game away.
Homan took two in the eighth, but she shook hands after Jones tacked on another point in the ninth.
Einarson beats the odds
Kerri Einarson was the closest to a dark horse pick in a tough competition like this and pinballed through the field.
Einarson, of East St. Paul, Man., won her first two, lost the next three and needed a victory over Chelsea Carey of Calgary to stay in contention.
Consider that done as Einarson knocked out the Scotties Tournament of Hearts champ 8-6.
Team Einarson has struggled this season and has yet to qualify for the playoffs in an event. Einarson can change that when she faces Sweeting in Saturday morning’s tiebreaker with the winner going on to play Homan in the semi.