Saskatchewan second Jessie Hunkin (left) and lead Kara Thevenot during the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. (Curling Canada/Facebook)

By Britton Gray

‘Pretty magical:’ Saskatchewan savours final Scotties game in front of home crowd

Feb 22, 2020 | 11:45 AM

They didn’t post the record they wanted, but the members of Team Saskatchewan will still look back fondly at the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

“I think every Scotties experience is something that you will never forget and getting to play here in Moose Jaw is unbelievable. The crowd was amazing and we had a lot of fun,” said skip Robyn Silvernagle, whose rink finished out of the playoffs at the Canadian women’s curling championship tournament with a 6-5 record.

“It definitely was pretty magical. We may never get to play in a hometown Scotties ever again. You never know if you’re going to make it to a Scotties again so we will cherish these memories forever.”

The team got to send its fans home cheering, as it defeated B.C.’s Corryn Brown 7-6 at Moose Jaw’s Mosaic Place on Friday night. Both teams, along with Prince Edward Island and Team Canada, failed to qualify for the Page playoffs.

“I was getting a little teary-eyed because it’s pretty special to have (the fans) being so supportive and they want us to win just as much as we want to win,” Silvernagle said.

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Third Stefanie Lawton, who was the skip for Saskatchewan during the 2015 Scotties in Moose Jaw, said it was an incredible experience.

“Moose Jaw does a fantastic job here and the volunteers and everybody around here were just incredible, so it definitely exceeded expectations for sure,” Lawton said.

Lead Kara Thevenot said the team had a lot of fun competing in front of the thousands of Saskatchewan supporters.

“You don’t know when you’re going to get to the Scotties and they can be all over the country,” Thevenot said. “We made sure to take it all in and enjoy everything.”

None of the team’s members have thought about what the future holds for them, with both Thevenot and second Jessie Hunkin expecting children. Hunkin is due in July while Thevenot is due in August.

“We haven’t really talked much about it. (We’re) just kind of getting through each of our events one by one. We’ll probably take a couple of weeks and then we’ll probably figure out a plan for that,” Hunkin said.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Jones’ Team Wild Card, Rachel Homan’s Ontario squad, Krista McCarville’s Northern Ontario team and Kerri Einarson’s Manitoba rink will play in Page playoff games Saturday.

Jones and Einarson are to meet in the 1-2 playoff while it’s a battle of Ontario in the 3-4 game.

Saskatchewan’s hopes of winning the title were dashed earlier Friday.

The rink struggled with the ice throughout its afternoon game against Homan, who won 9-4.

“Rachel’s team just played really, really well. They just didn’t give us a lot of missed opportunities and it was just a bit of a battle,” Silvernagle said following the loss.

While the loss to Homan didn’t officially end Silvernagle’s title chances, she didn’t get the help she needed from the other games.

P.E.I.’s Suzanne Birt lost 6-5 to McCarville, who clinched the fourth and final spot in the playoffs.

Silvernagle said her team was happy to have reached the Championship Pool in a year when competition was stiff at the Scotties.

“We know we don’t have a chance in making playoffs now but we’re still just excited to play (Brown in the finale) and we’ll just fully enjoy the crowd and the experience,” said Silvernagle.

Silvernagle admitted her North Battleford-based team let two close games — one against Canada and one against Northern Ontario — get away in the round-robin.

“That was the difference was those two losses,” she said. “We would’ve been in the playoffs and those were the difference.”

Silvernagle said she and her teammates learned a lot throughout the week.

“Playing those tight games and winning some and losing some, you can take away many things,” Silvernagle said.