ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Brittany Tran is having her “welcome to the big leagues” moment at the Kioti National.
Tran plays third for Saskatoon skip Ashley Thevenot, and has competed in the Tier 2 division of the HearingLife Tour Challenge, but is making her Grand Slam of Curling major debut this week with Kerri Einarson’s club.
Second Shannon Birchard is recovering from a knee injury, and Tran got the emergency call to play with the No. 4 ranked team in the world.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Tran, who lives in Calgary. “They’re one of the best in Canada, best in the world, so just being able to learn from them every step of the way and being able to get on arena ice any chance that I get.
“It’s an amazing location, too, so it’s really exciting to be here. My boyfriend’s family is from here, so it’s exciting for them to get to watch me. I was really excited to get the phone call and to be here this week with them.”
Coincidentally, Tran was part of Jocelyn Peterman’s Alberta team that defeated Birchard’s Manitoba side in the final of the 2012 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. Peterman is a regular on the Grand Slam circuit playing for skip Kaitlyn Lawes, whose team also includes alternate Becca Hebert, another member of their old Alberta junior squad.
“It’s always fun seeing them around the tour,” Tran said. “Curling is a small world, kind of all your friends and you play with lots of people, so it’s nice to see everyone around.”
Tran is the third spare Einarson has called upon through three Grand Slam events this season. Dawn McEwen came on board during the HearingLife Tour Challenge in October — helping Einarson earn her sixth career Grand Slam title — and Joanne Courtney subbed at the Co-op Canadian Open earlier this month, with the team reaching the quarterfinals.
Laura Walker also entered the lineup for the Gimli, Man., club during the PointsBet Invitational.
The revolving door of alternates isn’t ideal, especially since Einarson’s regular alternate, Krysten Karwacki, is already filling in for lead Briane Harris, who is awaiting a decision on her appeal for a provisional suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.
Team Einarson is making it work despite the adversity.
“Another alternate filling in a spot here but it’s great,” Einarson said. “She’s a great thrower, and I’ve played against her a lot. She makes a ton of shots, so we knew she would be a great fit.”
Third Val Sweeting said after their opening game, the team didn’t feel like it was their first together.
“It feels like she’s been with us for a long time,” Sweeting said. “She’s been sweeping really hard, playing really well. She’s so positive. She’s been a really good treat to have out there with us and we look forward to seeing how far we can go in the event.”
And what better place than the Mary Brown’s Centre to make a major debut? The arena has been jam-packed with thousands of fans in the stands cheering and giving every curler a round of applause when they walk off the ice.
“I love the energy,” Tran said. “I love just being able to play in front of a great crowd that is clapping for all of the great shots out there, so it’s really fun.”
It also helps that Einarson is on a roll to start the tournament with three straight wins over Team Christina Black, Team Chelsea Carey and Team Seung-youn Ha.
“It feels like a relief,” Tran said with a laugh. “It feels good though. We’re still learning the ice and learning each other and stuff, so I think we’re just going to keep getting better and better as the week goes on. I’m excited to just get more games under our belts here.”
Einarson needed a gritty, come-from-behind 8-5 victory to defeat Ha on Thursday morning. Trailing 4-1, Einarson scored a skip’s deuce in the fifth end and stole one in the sixth to tie it all up. After Ha was held to a single in the seventh, Einarson completed the comeback with a double takeout to count four points in the eighth.
“I think we just kind of struggled a little bit with the ice early,” Sweeting said. “We felt pretty close but just weren’t getting results. It’s hard to stay patient. I was getting a little frustrated, but the girls did a really good job of staying calm. We hung in there, and I thought we had a really strong last three ends.
“Kerri made two beauties to get two in five, and then I thought we just started putting everything together at that point. Just made some clutch shots when we needed to and kept the pressure on them.”
The win ensured Einarson clinched a playoff spot and wouldn’t have to worry about taking a detour through the tiebreaker round or even face early elimination via draw-to-the-button shootout totals.
“It feels really good,” Sweeting said. “Last tournament, we were hoping and praying to get into a tiebreaker, so it feels much better to be in this position this time around.”
