Penny Barker is the first to admit that the last two games of her rink’s run at the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts were as disappointing as can be.
When you control your own destiny and are on the cusp of the playoffs at the national women’s curling championship, failing to win either crucial contest can be tough to take..
But there’s a silver lining for Barker and her Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre crew of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski -- they were just that close, one win away from a tiebreaker, and that’s something to build on.
“It’s disappointing, but you have to take the positives from it, find some things to learn from and what we have to do next time,” Barker said from Thunder Bay shortly after their 10-2 loss to Wild Card #3’s Emma Miskew in Saskatchewan’s final round robin game.
“It’s still hard to take, being that close and especially after those last two games, but there were also some close games earlier in the week that could have gone our way as well… We’re right there, we have to be proud of ourselves, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do to improve and take that next step.”
Barker carried a 4-2 record into her round-robin finale but dropped a 6-2 decision to Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville on Wednesday night before her tournament-ending loss to Miskew on Thursday afternoon.
“Nothing could go right for us the last couple of games, it’s really disappointing,” Barker said. “We’re really proud of what we did accomplish this week, but we’re just disappointed with how the week ended. We had ourselves in a good spot, but it was just lack of execution in the last couple of games.
“We still supported each other, though, and we know it’s a building experience. We know we belong here and now we just have to keep working hard and hopefully be back again next year.”
Barker opened the tournament against Wild Card #1 (Tracey Fleury) and fell 9-7 before winning her next two games 8-6 over Newfoundland (Sarah Hill) and 8-7 over Wild Card #2 (Chelsea Carey) to get into the thick of things early.
A 6-4 loss to New Brunswick (Andrea Crawford) brought Barker back to .500, but a 9-6 win over P.E.I.’s Suzanne Birt and 11-4 victory over Nunavut’s Brigitte McPhail sent Saskatchewan into the final two preliminary round days with a realistic shot at the playoffs.
“We just didn’t play very well, and that’s how it goes, sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield,” Barker said with a rueful laugh. “Neither of those games were how we would normally play and were probably our worst games of the season… it’s disappointing it happened now, but there’s a lot we can build off of and that’s what we’re going to hang out hats on.”
While the team might take a shot at an event or two post-Scotties, Barker was unsure of what the rest of the schedule for the season holds. One thing that she is confident of is the team taking another run at things next year.
“I love our team, we get along so well and we’ve had a really great season,” Barker said. “I think there’s lots more to come from us so we’re excited to keep going.”
The first two rounds of the playoffs take place Friday, followed by the Page Playoffs first round games Saturday, semifinal at 11 a.m. Sunday and championship final at 6 p.m. All draws are broadcast on TSN, and you can follow the scores live at www.curling.ca/2022scotties.
