It wasn’t a question of if but more a question of when Nunavut would finally be able to raise their arms in official victory at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
We now know when – Feb. 16, 2019 – and it now means every jurisdiction in the country has won at least one main draw game at the event.
photo courtesy of Curling Canada
The rink from the Iqaluit Curling Club, consisting of Megan Ingram, Jenine Bodner, Jennifer Blaney, Alison Griffin and Sadie Pinksen won their opening game of pool play at the 2019 edition of the Canadian women’s curling championship in Sydney, N.S., thanks to a 4-3 win over Quebec.
It’s not the first win for Nunavut at the event; the territory won its very first game over B.C. in 2016 during the wildly unpopular days of the pre-qualification event.
In the post-match scrum, Bodner, who skips the team but throws second stones for the rink, said she was still in shock.
“I knew we could do it but to actually get it under our belts is another story. We are so excited that this happened,” she said.
Quebec opened the scoring with a single in the second end after both teams blanked the first. Nunavut struck back in the third end with a deuce to take a 2-1 lead, which was equalled by Quebec in the fourth end as they took the lead back, 3-2. Nunavut tied the game with a single in the fifth end.
After that, it was blank curling as ends six through nine were scoreless, leading to the 10th end. Quebec skip Gabrielle Lavoie needed a hit-and-stick to score a single and win the game but her shot ended up wide of the mark and her rock slid off to the side, leaving the Nunavut stone in the rings for a steal of one and the win.
Bodner said the keys to victory were figuring out the ice as well as the hitting game but having enough time left on the clock was the big difference.
“I’m glad we had a lot of time, really glad we had the chance to talk about it, get all on the same page,” she said. “We’re all very different women in regards to how we think, so taking the time, having it available really helped us.”
Nunavut will have two games tomorrow against Ontario and B.C.