Team Carruthers drops bombshell Partnership with Gunnlaugson comes to an end after only a few tournaments By: Taylor Allen Posted: 7:00 PM CST Monday, Dec. 19, 2022

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This article was published 18/12/2022 (640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Team Reid Carruthers dropped a bombshell on the curling scene Monday afternoon.

They announced on social media that third Jason Gunnlaugson and the newly formed rink — featuring Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski, and lead Connor Njegovan — have mutually agreed to part ways.

Gunnlaugson skipped his own team the past six seasons and represented Manitoba at the Brier twice before joining forces with Carruthers for the new quadrennial.

Gunnlaugson declined to speak to the Free Press about the move.

“I’m not panicking, I guess I’m just disappointed in the fact that it didn’t work out,” Carruthers said. “I was so excited when we put this together with Jason and the thought of winning something big with him was really exciting to me. I really like the guy and there’s nothing I wanted more than to win with him but we just decided that it was time to part ways.”

Gunnlaugson had to make a position change in order to make it work with Carruthers and early on, it looked like a great fit for the pair of Winnipeggers. In September, they won a whopping $50,000 prize for capturing the inaugural PointsBet Invitational. After that, outside of reaching the final of the DeKalb Superspiel in Morris earlier this month, the wins didn’t pile up. They failed to qualify for the playoffs at two Grand Slam events, the Boost National and the Masters.

Even with a few hiccups, Carruthers is ranked fifth in the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS). Manitoba Provincials, the Viterra Championship, are less than two months away as they take place Feb. 7-12 in Neepawa. Team Carruthers is off for the next few weeks before travelling to Camrose, Alta., for the next Grand Slam event, the Canadian Open (Jan. 10-15).

They’re expected to announce Gunnlaugson’s replacement soon.

Gunnlaugson also played third for Carruthers between 2005-08.

“When you’re up against the best teams in the world, you need something that’s dynamic, explosive, and something you know can be battle tested. I think for Jason and I, it was whether or not we could do that together. We had that magic when we were very young when we curled together, but for whatever reason, it was a little more difficult to recreate that at this stage of our career with each other,” said Carruthers. “It wasn’t happening as much as we had hoped so it’s time to try something different.”

Einarson returns from Japan

Kerri Einarson didn’t have much time to celebrate winning the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters.

A day after beating Ontario’s Rachel Homan 6-5 in the final with a double takeout in the extra-end, Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, and lead Briane Harris were on a plane to Japan for the Karuizawa International.

It was the team’s first time travelling internationally for an event since the 2019 Arctic Curling Cup in Dudinka, Russia.

The Karuizawa International reserves one spot in their seven-team field for a Canadian foursome. Curling Canada asked Einarson if her rink had any interest in making the trip to Japan and they jumped at the opportunity. They ended up losing the final 6-3 to Korea’s Eunjung Kim on Sunday. Kim, who captured silver at the 2018 Olympics, took home $8,000 while Einarson settled for $4,000.

“We felt so welcomed. They would just clap and bow for us and there were kids in tears just to shake our hands and we’d give them autographs,” Einarson said Monday as the team flew back to Winnipeg.

“It’s such an amazing country and we’re so glad and lucky that we got this opportunity.”

With a win at the Masters and a finals appearance in Japan, Camp Morton’s Einarson feels they’re right where they need to be at the Christmas break.

Einarson currently holds the No. 2 spot in the CTRS behind Homan.

“We’re definitely feeling really good. These are the goals that we’ve set and we have achieved them. We wanted to win a slam, we wanted to make some finals and we’ve done all that,” said Einarson.

“That’s something we’re really proud of and we worked extremely hard in the offseason and this season. So, to have this success early, it’s pretty good.”

50-year anniversary for dominant Miles Mac team

It was 50 years ago when Miles Macdonell Collegiate’s women’s curling team made history.

In 1972, they won their third straight provincial curling title. It marked the beginning of an impressive career on the ice for twin sisters Chris Scalena (née Pidzarko) and Cathy Shaw (née Pidzarko).

Chris and Cathy were the only players on the team for all three years. In 1970 and 1971, Maureen Jackson skipped. Margaret Sader played lead in 1970 and Gaye Birchall took over in 1971. In 1972, Chris threw the last rocks, Cathy played third, Janet Walker was at second and Linda Walker handled the lead position.

In 2014, the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association (MHSAA) inducted all three teams into their hall of fame.

Chris and Cathy would go on to win the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 1978. Chris won again in 1984 and won gold at the world championships that year as the third for Connie Laliberte.

Chris and Cathy haven’t seen their high school teammates since their MHSAA induction in 2014, but those curling days at Miles Mac still bring up positive memories.

“It’s just amazing that it’s been 50 years. It goes so quickly,” Chris said.

“… High school days you don’t really remember the schoolwork, you remember the other stuff you do. And it was the curling that we really enjoyed and the coaches and everyone that was involved in it at the time. It was a stepping stone in my curling career.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31