PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Playing lighthearted bred wins and those wins in turn have Kerri Einarson’s curling team feeling composed as the race to the women’s world curling championship enters its home stretch.
That’s a groove Einarson wasn’t able to find in her world championship debut a year ago.
Canada’s 9-3 win over the United States on Thursday morning brought the host country to a 7-2 record with a game to play at night against South Korea (6-3).
“I think we’re in a good space right now, headspace, and feeling very confident going into the rest of the week,” Einarson said.
The top six teams at the conclusion of the round robin Friday continue playing into the weekend for a chance at a world title Sunday at the CN Centre.
With a fifth straight win — their fourth was a forfeit by Scotland — Einarson’s foursome out of the Gimli Curling Club controlled their playoff destiny.
Switzerland was assured of finishing first in the standings, however, with a 10-0 record Thursday.
Back-to-back defending champion Silvana Tirinzoni earned one of two byes to Saturday’s semifinals that go to the top two seeds.
Third through sixth plays off earlier Saturday to get to the evening semifinals.
Sweden ranked second at 8-2, but Canada at No. 3 remained in the hunt for the other semifinal bye.
Einarson’s round-robin win over the Swedes would rank Canada higher in the event of a tied record.
Japan was 6-4 ahead of Denmark and the United States even at 5-4. Germany and Norway were both 5-5 followed by Italy at 3-7, the Czech Republic at 2-7 and Turkey winless in nine games.
Canada caps the preliminary round Friday against the Germans and the Czechs.
The Scots withdrew Sunday because four players tested positive for COVID-19.
Since the seventh end of Monday’s win over the Danes, Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Meilleur have settled into their ice reads and execution.
Sweeting posted a fourth straight game of over 90 per cent shooting accuracy Thursday. Birchard shot 100 per cent through seven ends against the Americans, who conceded after the eighth.
Their hoarse skip — Einarson’s voice routinely takes a beating over the course of an event — was plus-90 on her takeouts against the U.S.
“It’s my winter voice,” Einarson said. “Every single event I curl in, it’s gone.”
Einarson and company opened last year’s world championship 1-5 in Calgary’s curling bubble.
Fuelled by fatalism, they won six of seven to squeak into the sixth and last playoff spot before losing out.
After a 2-2 start on opening weekend, their road in Prince George has been less of a white-knuckle ride.
“It’s night and day compared to last year,” Birchard said. “I think we’re really enjoying ourselves, whereas last year, we were backs against the wall at this point, and it was very stressful.
“We’re super comfortable and I think that’s really played into how we’ve been out there on the ice. I think we play best when we’re relaxed, and we’re having fun and enjoying ourselves.”
Einarson had draw weight locked in early Thursday and U.S. skip Cory Christensen did not, which led to Canada stealing four points over the first three ends.
“Gets tricky when you don’t have your draw eight and you have to try and make super-precise freezes,” Christensen said.
Another missed draw by the American skip in the fifth end left Einarson a makeable peel to score three for a 7-1 cushion in front of 1,446 at the CN Centre.
Christensen swapped out second Vicky Persinger, who played Olympic mixed doubles last month in Beijing, for alternate Sydney Mullaney to start the sixth end.
“We just figured it wasn’t our best game and we were likely not going to pull it off so we wanted to get our alternate in there,” Christensen said.
While Canadian championships feature tiebreaker games when teams are tied for the last playoff spot, the world championships do not.
If two countries are tied Friday, the winner of their round-robin matchup ranks higher. If three or more teams are tied, their record of the games between them provides seedings.
If that doesn’t resolve the deadlock, the average distance of all pre-game draws which determine which team gets hammer are used for ranking.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2022.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
