Karlee Burgess joins Team Einarson for remainder of season
Team Kerri Einarson has added Karlee Burgess to its lineup for the rest of the season.
The Gimli, Man., team made the announcement Friday as second Shannon Birchard will miss the remainder of the season due to a knee injury.
“Shannon’s injured sliding knee has not responded to treatment the way she had hoped,” Team Einarson said in a social media post. “She tried her hardest to get back in the lineup, and played with us at the RBC Dominion Securities Western Showdown last month in Swift Current, but she couldn’t finish the event, and the decision was made for her to step aside and focus on rehabbing her knee to be ready for next season.”
Team Einarson, ranked sixth in the world, has relied upon spares to fill in for Birchard calling upon Laura Walker, Dawn McEwen, Joanne Courtney and Brittany Tran this season.
Einarson captured a sixth career Grand Slam of Curling title at the HearingLife Tour Challenge in October with McEwen subbing at second.
Burgess had been playing third for Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey, which announced Thursday she was leaving the club to pursue new opportunities.
Team Carey said it will announce its plans in the near future.
The two-time Canadian champion Carey linked up with Burgess, second Emily Zacharias and lead Lauren Lenentine at the start of this season after skip Jennifer Jones retired from four-person team curling. Glenn Howard also remained on board as the team’s coach.
With Jones, the team won the 2023 HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 1 women’s title and earned back-to-back silver medals at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to Glenn, Chelsea, Emily and Lauren for their friendship and support, as well as all of the knowledge I gained from playing with them as teammates,” Burgess said in the social media post. “I will always value our time together. Chelsea is truly one of our sport’s best skips and she has been so generous in sharing her knowledge and insight in our short time together.
“And I will cherish the successes and experiences I’ve shared with Emily and Lauren over the years, and I know I’m a better player for having been their teammate.”
Team Carey, No. 19 in the world rankings, has lost its pre-qualified spot for next month’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts as it no longer has three of the four players who initially qualified. That spot will now go to Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay.
Additionally, Team Carey’s spot for the Canadian Curling Trials at the end of the year will now go to Team Einarson.