Rachel Homan and her foursome from the Ottawa Curling Club are putting together one of the greatest seasons in Canadian history.
Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, and lead Sarah Wilkes will represent the country at the next month’s World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, N.S., after capturing the Scotties Tournament of Hearts title in dominating fashion, defeating legendary skip Jennifer Jones, 5-4, in Sunday’s final from Calgary.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the impressive numbers Homan and company have put together so far in their 2023-24 curling campaign.
11-0 at the Scotties
Team Homan are just the third rink in history to run the table in the playoff era of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The team won all eight of their round-robin games and three more in the playoffs at WinSport Arena, leading all major statistical categories, including points for (90), points against (43), stolen ends (17) and stolen ends allowed (two).
They also defeated Team Jones three times over 10 days in Calgary.
As a group, Team Homan shot a tournament-leading 88 per cent, with their skip recording an 89 per cent shooting percentage – eight points better than Canada’s Kerri Einarson, who finished second among skips.
Third Tracy Fleury, who captured her first Scotties title, shot a Scotties-best 89 per cent as well.
At the 2014 Scotties in Montreal, Homan posted a perfect 13-0 record to capture her second career Canadian women’s curling championship, beating Alberta’s Val Sweeting in the gold-medal game.
British Columbia’s Linda Moore accomplished the same feat in 1985.
Jones won all 11 of her round-robin games in 2013, before dropping the 1 vs. 2-page playoff as well as the championship game to Homan.
Saskatchewan’s Emily Farnham (1974), Manitoba’s Betty Duguid (1967), Alberta’s Gail Lee (1966), British Columbia’s Ina Hansen (1962) and Saskatchewan’s (1961) all posted perfect round-robin records before the introduction of the playoffs in 1979.
Homan, Fleury and Miskew were all named to the First All-Star Team while Wilkes was on the Second All-Star Team.
48-5
Team Homan have played 53 games so far this season and have won 48 of them. That’s a .905 winning percentage.
Their domestic dominance is even more impressive given that they hold a 39-1 record against Canadian teams in 2023-24, with their lone loss coming to Team Einarson at the Tour Challenge in October, the only event where they failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Against international teams, Team Homan is 9-4, dropping games to South Korea’s Team Eunji Gim (National final in November), Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini, and two games to Team EunJung Kim of South Korea.
Gim and Constantini will both compete at the women’s worlds in March. Homan is 3-0 against four-time defending women’s world champion Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland this season.
Team Homan have played eight events this season, winning six times, including the season-opening Saville Shootout in September when Homan was sidelined after recently giving birth to her third child.
The foursome are currently on a 16-game win streak as they enter the world championships on home soil.
Four Scotties Titles
With their win on Sunday night, Homan and Miskew, who have been teammates for all of their curling lives, have won four Canadian women’s curling championships.
Fleury earned her first, while Wilkes captured her second career title after winning with Chelsea Carey in 2019.
Homan and Miskew won back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014 before winning again in 2017. Team Homan would then miss the top step of the podium for six years, losing the gold-medal game three straight times form 2019-2021.
One of the major storylines this week was Jones attempting to win a recording-breaking seventh Scotties title to pass skip Colleen Jones and former teammate Jill Officer.
Jennifer Jones and Officer won their fourth Tournament of Hearts in 2010 at the age of 35 and 34, respectively. Colleen Jones won her fourth championship in 2002 at the age of 42. Homan is 34, while Miskew is 35.
The list of active players with four or more Scotties titles also includes Shannon Birchard, with five, as well as teammates Kerri Einarson, Val Sweeting and Brianne Harris, all with four.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.
“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.
“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.
McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.
“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”
Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.
Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.
“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”
