News Players' Championship

TORONTO — Casey Scheidegger has hopped aboard the “steal train” once again in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series.

The Lethbridge, Alta., native stole her way through the Meridian Canadian Open en route to her first Grand Slam title in her elite-level series debut and was back at it Thursday night at the WestJet Players’ Championship.

Scheidegger broke a tie game by stealing three consecutive ends to finish a 7-2 victory over Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in Draw 9 of round-robin play.

“It’s always nice right,” Scheidegger said after stunning the world gold medallist Homan. “Hopefully that’s a good omen for us.”

After alternating points in the first couple ends to start, it was Scheidegger who surrendered a steal in three looking to make a tricky raise to punch out Homan’s shot stone, but didn’t get the right angle and gave up one. Scheidegger rebounded in the fourth end with a great tap at the back of the four-foot circle to tie it 2-2.

While it was tight in the first half, it was all Scheidegger from there.

A great double takeout in the fifth by Scheidegger on her first skip stone set the wheels in motion for the first of three straight steals. Homan clipped a guard with her first skip rock and didn’t even make it into the house on the draw with her second to concede a trio and fall behind 5-2.

“I think the shot was pretty obvious,” Scheidegger said on her double takeout. “We knew we had to make it to put some pressure on them and we came through.”

Homan clipped another guard with her last in six to hand over another point and landed on the nose while looking to roll for a double in seven to give up one more.

Scheidegger recently made a lineup change bringing in veteran Kristie Moore to replace Stephanie Enright at lead. It’s a trial run for Moore, who will also play with Team Scheidegger later this month at the Humpty’s Champions Cup, and the skip will make a decision for next year after this season is over.

“She’s awesome. She brings a lot of experience to the team, that’s wonderful, and she’s a really smart player,” Scheidegger said. “She’s someone we can look to for advice or strategy and things like that, so she’s been a really good fit so far.”

Homan, who went undefeated at the world championship, entered the match riding a 17-game winning streak dating back to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in February. Homan, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle also competed in the Canadian mixed doubles championship this past week with Courtney and Reid Carruthers defeating Homan and John Morris in Sunday’s final.

Both Scheidegger and Homan hold 2-1 records and are tied for second in Pool A behind Silvana Tirinzoni (4-0) of Switzerland, who became the first to four wins with a 7-3 victory over Masters champ Allison Flaxey (1-3) of Caledon, Ont.

Brad Gushue’s winning streak has come to an end after Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen outduelled the world champ from St. John’s, N.L., 6-4. Gushue, who went 13-0 en route to gold Sunday, now holds a 3-1 record alongside McEwen and the two are tied for first in Pool A.

Elite 10 winner John Morris of Vernon, B.C., is still in the mix earning his first win of the tournament after downing Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher 8-5. Morris and Bottcher are both at 1-3 in Pool A and still need victories in their final round-robin games Friday to stay in playoff contention.

Morris is also chasing down Steve Laycock for the final direct Olympic Trials spot based on points and is in the race for the Rogers Grand Slam Cup bonus.

“This week for us is obviously big with the Olympic Trials and it’d be nice to maybe get a little bit of that bonus money in the Rogers Cup,” Team Morris lead Tyrel Griffith said. “A good team game in that one there. Everybody started to settle in a little bit. It felt good. We put together a couple nice ends, a couple mistakes [as well] but we’ll try to clean those up over the next game tomorrow.”

Griffith switched positions in the lineup with lead Rick Sawatsky injured. Catlin Schneider is subbing for the remainder of the season and is playing in Griffith’s usual spot at second. Schneider made his Brier debut this year with Saskatchewan’s Team Casey and Griffith said he’s gelling well with the group.

“He’s a great communicator and really sharp, I’d say,” Griffith said. “He’s really keen, he’s the young guy so I’m no longer the youngest guy. … He’s fitting in really nice and very interactive with all the guys. He’s a good kid for sure.”

Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers climbed to a 2-2 record after hammering Calgary’s Kevin Koe 9-1 in only four ends. Carruthers opened with the hammer and jumped out with a five-spot in the first. Koe (2-2) was forced to just a single in the second. Carruthers matched in the following end to reclaim the five-point advantage and Koe called it a night early after giving up a steal of three.

Round-robin action at the WestJet Players’ Championship continues Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET with TV coverage resuming at Noon ET.

NOTES: The WestJet Players’ Championship is the sixth event of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre. … The Rogers Grand Slam Cup will be awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the WestJet Players’ Championship. … Winners of the WestJet Players’ Championship will earn berths to the Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 25-30 in Calgary.