Team NWT wrapped up its time at the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Penticton, B.C., on Feb. 2 with a 9-7 win over Prince Edward Island in the placement round. They are, from left, Shona Barbour, Sarah Koltun of Whitehorse, Kerry Galusha and Megan Koehler.
It's often heard that the hockey gods don't shine down on you from time to time.
There must be such a thing as curling gods as well, because they weren't shining down on Kerry Galusha in Penticton, B.C.
Galusha and her rink of Shona Barbour, Megan Koehler and Whitehorse's Sarah Koltun had no luck at all on the ice at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts this year. They ended up winning two of their nine games, bookends, if you will. One of those wins came against Yukon in the opening draw of the round-robin by a score of 9-6 while the second win came in their final game against Prince Edward Island, 9-7, in the placement round.
"It was a struggle but we knew it was going to be tough," said Galusha. "We were in a tougher pool and it showed with the final results. The two teams in the final were from our pool and the teams from the other pool won just two of the 20 games that were played between both pools (in the championship round)."
The chances to win were there but those curling gods seemed not to care.
Following their win over Yukon, they played Saskatchewan, which ended in an 8-4 loss, but the game wasn't decided until the ninth end when Saskatchewan skip Sherry Anderson took advantage of a mistake to score four and put Galusha and company behind the proverbial eight-ball.
"We fought back to tie the game against them," said Galusha. "We should've tried to keep the end more open and played for the steal in the 10th end but you want to play your game and we went for it and it just didn't work out."
Next up was New Brunswick and the curling gods were smiling on Galusha as she held down a 7-4 lead after the sixth end. New Brunswick, though, scored a single in the seventh and then proceeded to steal singles in the eighth and 10th ends to tie the game, followed by another steal in the extra end to win, 8-7.
"We had trouble with draw weight that entire game," said Galusha. "There were lots of steals happening and it happened to us that game."
Manitoba and Jennifer Jones was always going to be a tough game and it was as Galusha lost, 12-4.
"Jennifer's rink is so good," said Galusha. "They're a level above everyone else and so far ahead of the other rinks."
A 9-8 loss to Nova Scotia effectively ended any hope Galusha had of advancing to the championship pool, which saw the top four teams from each pool move on.
"We controlled that game," said Galusha. "One of our guards in the 10th end rolled a bit too deep and we spent the rest of it chasing them. They played a good 10th end but we were in control in that game."
Their final game against the wild card team of Kerri Einarson from Manitoba was a 9-3 loss, meaning it was off to the placement round, where they would play Northern Ontario and Prince Edward Island.
Galusha admitted she was a bit shocked to see P.E.I. in the placement round.
"They're a much better team than they showed," she said. "We played a good last two games, though. We wanted to play like that all week long and it was nice to finish off on a positive note."
The end of the Scotties means the end of the season for Galusha and company. There was a brief chat after it was all done to talk about the future but nothing has been decided as of yet.
"We'll take a few weeks to relax and see where things go from there," said Galusha.