KAMLOOPS — Kerri Einarson’s curling team won a fourth straight Canadian women’s curling championship with a 10-4 win over Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones in Sunday’s final.
Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris became just the second team to win four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“Oh my god, it means so much,” Einarson said. “I think this one is even better than our first. It never gets old.”
Colleen Jones’ foursome won four in a row from 2001 to 2004.
“So much grit, determination, this team never gives up,” Einarson said. “That’s what makes us who we are.
“We just go out there and enjoy every single minute, have some fun and that’s when we really shine.”
Einarson will represent Canada in the women’s world championship March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.
Einarson stole two points in the fifth end for a 4-2 lead.
When Jones missed her attempted raise in the ninth end, Einarson made an open hit to score four, and Jones shook hands.
Manitoba had hammer to start the game because of earning the higher playoff seeding
After holding each other to single points in the opening four ends, Einarson stole two points in the fifth for a 4-2 lead.
With two Einarson stones at the top of the eight-foot rings covering the button, Jones had to throw more to the wings and her draw came up light.
“If I could throw one again, that would be it,” Jones said.
The two sides again traded single points until the ninth.
The defending champions beat Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville 7-5 in the afternoon semifinal to get to the championship game.
Harris, who is pregnant and due in June, was a sweeping workhorse Sunday in back-to-back wins for Einarson.
“She’s just determined. She pushes through anything,” Einarson said. “She doesn’t ever complain.”
Einarson and company return to the 2024 Tournament of Hearts in Calgary wearing the Maple Leaf again as Team Canada, with a chance at a record fifth consecutive title.
They also pocket $108,000 from a prize purse of $300,000 and are eligible for Sport Canada “carding'” money as part of Curling Canada’s national-team program.
Einarson won the first of four Canadian crowns in 2020 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Less than a month later, the world championship was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Einarson placed sixth in the 2021 world championship in Calgary’s bubble.
Her foursome won the bronze medal last year in Prince George, B.C.
Einarson said earlier in the tournament in Kamloops she felt her team had unfinished business at the world championship.
Jones fell a win short of a record seventh Canadian championship.
The 46-year-old skip had taken over a young team of curlers under the age of 25, who played in their first Hearts final Sunday.
“I’m just disappointed we didn’t come out and put our A game together, but all in all, pretty happy with the week,” Jones said.
Einarson, Sweeting and Birchard were selected first team all-stars at their position with Northern Ontario’s Sarah Potts chosen at lead.
Ontario skip Rachel Homan, Wild card third Laura Walker, Ontario second Emma Miskew and Harris comprised the second all-star team.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
