The first team to qualify for Canada’s women’s national curling championship – outside of defending champion Chelsea Carey and her Alberta-based teammates – was determined in mid-December as Nunavut’s representative was acclaimed.
Skip Lori Eddy’s team, of the Iqaluit Curling Club, was the only foursome to enter for Nunavut playdowns and thus declared representatives for the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, set for Feb. 15-23 at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Team Nunavut, with PEI’s Alison Griffin on the left
Eddy is joined by returnees Sadie Pinksen and Alison Griffin at third and second, respectively, and lead Kaitlin MacDonald. Griffin, [originally from PEI], played second and threw third stones for skip Jenine Bodner in 2019 in Sydney, N.S., and Pinksen was the team’s alternate.
Eddy – of Dundas, Ont., and the McMaster University men’s team coach – is no stranger to the Scotties, having reached the final back in 1997 while representing Ontario with skip Alison Goring, losing the championship to legendary Saskatchewan skip Sandra Schmirler. Eddy also served as a fifth with Sherry Middaugh at the 2013 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings where they lost the final to eventual Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones.
Pinksen and MacDonald have represented Nunavut numerous times at the junior level, in fact, Pinksen’s first appearance at a Canadian championship was as a 13-year-old back in 2013, which was also Nunavut’s initial competition at nationals.
Team Nunavut made history by winning its first-ever Scotties round-robin game via a 4-3 victory over Quebec in Draw 1 in 2019. It was the team’s only win as it finished 1-6 in Pool A play.
Tickets for the 2020 Scotties are available in various packages online at https://www.ticketrocket.co/search/events/1/all-events?searchText=scotties or at the Mosaic Place box office, or by calling (306) 624-2050.