“Why not six Scotties titles in a row?”: Meet the “frickin’ huge” Team Einarson

W e Will Rock You” blared over the arena’s speakers, while fans stomped their feet to the beat in Prince George. As Sweeting headed back to the ice after the fifth end break during her team’s opening game of the 2022 world championship — an eventual 9-6 win over the Czech Republic — she broke out in goosebumps as she listened to those pounding feet. “I would take a minute and just think: ‘It’s so cool to be here and have this opportunity to represent Canada in front of fans.’ It was a dream come true,” Sweeting says, recalling in particular the way the fans erupted after a big shot. “When you think it’s going to happen two years ago, and a year ago, and then it finally happens, it’s extra special.”

Adds Einarson, of the crowd’s reaction to big shots: “I will never, ever forget that feeling.”

Any feelings of déjà vu the team had being back in Prince George quickly dissipated after they arrived in March. And though both Scotland and Japan were forced to withdraw due to COVID cases on their teams, the Canadians stayed upbeat and focused on the event, controlling what they could. In the semi-final, up 6-4 against Korea, Team Einarson failed to score in the final three ends, and had to settle for a loss. It meant regrouping for a bronze medal game the next morning against the Swedes, who’d won Olympic bronze a month earlier.

“The bronze game is tough, but we definitely wanted to bring home a medal. We knew how much that would mean to us, and to Canada,” Sweeting says. The team thought about the experience of Team Gushue at the Olympics, having to regroup after tearfully losing in the semi-final, and then going on to earn bronze. “I knew we would be proud to get that medal, too,” Sweeting says.

The game came down to the final stone, and an extra end.

“As soon as I released the rock, I knew it was really close,” Einarson says. “The fans started chanting — and it wasn’t too loud, and as soon as the rock made contact, Val threw her arms up in the air. It wasn’t the celebration you’d normally see for gold, but it was still so special.”