Kerri Einarson has accepted the changes to her curling team’s roster.

The four-time Canadian champion recruited Joanne Courtney from outside the broadcast booth to play second at the Saville Grand Prix in Edmonton from Friday to Sunday as well as at the second Grand Slam of the season, the Canadian Open, in Nisku, in Alberta, next week.

Courtney will be the third woman to replace Einarson at second this season after a knee injury sidelined Shannon Birchard in September.

Courtney won a women’s world title in 2017 and represented Canada at the 2018 Olympics playing second behind Rachel Homan.

She retired in 2023 and is a television curling analyst.

“She’s been practicing. She’s preparing,” Einarson said.

“She said ‘this is not an ideal training length that I would like to have, but I’m going to give it my all.’ I said ‘it’s like riding a bike, everything will be fine’. She’s really excited to join us and we’re delighted to have her.”

Einarson was eliminated in her first match at September’s PointsBet Invitational knockout, with Laura Walker placing second.

Dawn McEwen, an Olympic champion and two-time world champion with Jennifer Jones, competed the following week at the HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown, where Einarson won the season-opening Grand Slam.

Einarson, Val Sweeting, Birchard and Krysten Karwacki attended a mid-October training camp in Saskatoon where it became clear that Birchard’s knee needed more time.

“She tried to throw on Friday, and it didn’t go well, so she’s still out for our next two events,” Einarson said.

“Unfortunately, it still bothers her, and she doesn’t really want to push it if it’s not absolutely necessary.”

Einarson, Sweeting, Birchard and Briane Harris have won four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts and two bronze medals at the World Championships from 2020 to 2023.

On the eve of February’s 2024 Hearts in Calgary, Harris was informed that she had tested positive for traces of the banned substance Ligandrol and was provisionally suspended from training and competing with Einarson.

Harris is awaiting the outcome of his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Karwacki played the lead role for Einarson in Harris’ absence.

McEwen was unavailable to play for Einarson in Alberta, although she is still in Einarson’s bullpen.

“She’s really willing to help us whenever she can,” Einarson said.

“She’s one of all our players. We have a team of eight players here. It’s been crazy.”

Birchard’s injury initially seemed like another setback for Einarson, whose team was still coming to terms with the shock of Harris’ situation.

“We were all excited to start the season and then all of a sudden we got news from Shannon. We were still disappointed and trying to play threes and get a replacement,” Einarson said.

“Right after PointsBet, we sat down and I said ‘girls, this is our lineup and we’re going to be constantly changing. Let’s accept it and go out there and love the game that we love and focus on that, at place to focus on who are we going to face next, let’s go out there and have some fun and do some curling shots’ and that’s exactly what we did when we went to the Slam.

“That’s how we approach these next events because we don’t know what’s going to happen. We can’t control it, so we make do with what we have.”

Einarson lost his first match in Charlottetown before winning six in a row. Beating reigning world champion Homan 5-4 in the final was a much-needed boost for Einarson.

“It gave us so much confidence knowing that we can still win, that we can still do it,” the captain said. “It’s great to be in the win column again.”

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AROUND THE RINGS: Brad Jacobs earned his first tournament victory with his new team Monday at the Nufloors Penticton Curling Classic. The 2014 men’s Olympic champion replaced Brendan Bottcher this season to replace Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hébert. Jacobs defeated Scott Howard 6-4 in the final. . . Bottcher is currently playing second to Brad Gushue at the Pan-Continental Championship in Lacombe, Alta., where Bottcher led all players in shooting percentage at his position (91.3) heading into Thursday. . . Kevin Koe went 3-3 and missed the quarterfinals in Penticton with Aaron Sluchinski in the lineup for the first time. Koe had faced a team of three players after firing sophomore Jacques Gauthier in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 31, 2024.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press