Curling teams not afraid to make roster changes late in quadrennial

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The mid-season departure of Karlee Burgess from Team Chelsea Carey to fill an opening on Team Kerri Einarson was just the latest example of an unusual curling roster change late in the quadrennial.

Some of the country’s top rinks have not been afraid to tinker with lineups despite the fast-approaching national championships and Canadian Curling Trials.

Teams skipped by Kevin Koe, Brad Gushue and Matt Dunstone made changes last fall while Burgess left Carey’s side last week, less than two months out from the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Einarson said that even though it’s late in the four-year cycle, the player moves are the “nature of high-performance sports.”

“There’s pressure on teams to make the best lineup and create the best teams,” she said in a recent interview. “That’s what happens when it’s an Olympic sport.

“Everyone is just trying to create the best team possible to help win the Trials and help Canada bring home an Olympic medal.”

In-season moves can leave little time for players to find a true rhythm on the ice with new teammates. The process can take a bonspiel or two for some rinks and a full season or longer for others.

Only a few events remain on the calendar this season. The Olympic Trials are set for late November, just a few months into the 2025-26 campaign.

Koe made headlines last September by parting ways with Jacques Gauthier and picking up Aaron Sluchinski. Gushue followed a few weeks later with the departure of E.J. Harnden and addition of Brendan Bottcher.

Derek Samagalski stepped back from the Reid Carruthers team in November while Dunstone added Harnden last month after dropping B.J. Neufeld.

Einarson, meanwhile, added Burgess for the rest of the season as a replacement for the injured Shannon Birchard. It gave the Winnipeg-based side a top young player and impacted other teams as well.

In addition to unexpectedly losing her vice, Carey lost berths at the Scotties and the Olympic trials since the squad no longer met Curling Canada’s returning player minimum for pre-qualification. Her team’s future plans remain unclear.

Selena Sturmay — next in line on the 2023-24 rankings list that determines early entry — claimed the vacated Scotties berth while Einarson secured the spot for the trials.

It was a roll of the dice for Burgess, who left a struggling team for a brief opportunity with the four-time national champions. The move also left her without firm plans for the 2025-26 campaign.

“That’s where the sport is a little scary at some points,” Burgess said. “You’re never really secure in this sport.”

Carey, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine essentially had their season come to a premature end. They can’t enter the upcoming Manitoba playdowns because the field is set and they haven’t qualified for the remaining Grand Slam events.

This is the first year that Curling Canada named all three pre-qualified Scotties entries before the start of the season. Last year, the final wild-card team was named on the eve of nationals once the provincial/territorial playdowns were complete.

The Burgess developments sparked talk in curling circles about the possibility of a movement moratorium in the sport.

“Every off-season we debrief and strive to improve all aspects of our operations,” Curling Canada said in a statement. “From a high-performance perspective, the team changes this season are unprecedented so it will certainly be a topic for conversation as part of that process.”

The trials will determine Canada’s representatives at the Milan Olympics in February 2026.

“Right now the standard of curling is higher than it’s ever been,” said retired lead Colin Hodgson, who will coach Nunavut’s team at the Scotties. “Teams aren’t oblivious to that. They realize how good they have to be and then finding that perfect fit is more difficult than it’s ever been.

“When teams feel that there’s not as much hope as they would like at a certain point, then a change must be made.”

Top-ranked Rachel Homan is the defending champion at the Scotties. She also has the other pre-qualified women’s berth at the trials.

NUNAVUT RETURNS

After missing out last year, Nunavut will return for the 2025 edition of the national women’s curling championship.

Import Julia Weagle will skip the team at the Feb. 14-23 playdowns in Thunder Bay, Ont.

The Nunavut Curling Association did not send a team to the 2024 Scotties, citing a smaller pool of competitive players and the premature closure of the city’s four-sheet facility.

The Iqaluit Curling Club, which was used as a backup location for a television production last year, will host the men’s playdowns this week to determine Nunavut’s representatives at the Feb. 28-March 9 Montana’s Brier.