After reaching the semifinals a year ago, Robyn Silvernagle is eager to pick up right where she left off at the women’s provincial curling playdowns.
Silvernagle’s Twin Rivers Curling Club rink, which features third Dayna Demers, second Cristina Goertzen and lead Kara Thevenot, will be battling it out with eight other rinks in Melville Tuesday at the Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“To make it to the playoffs last year was a great experience for us,” Silvernagle said. “It was great for us to learn things like how to control your nerves when you get to the playoffs, wearing microphones in a televised game and getting used to playing in front of a big crowd, especially when they are right on the ice with you as that’s something you don’t usually see on the cashspiel circuit.
“The main thing that we focus on though is just playing our game and not getting distracted by what’s going on around you, especially when everyone gets into a groove.”
At last year’s playdowns in Prince Albert, Silvernagle finished in first place in Pool B with a 4-1 round-robin record.
She lost a 5-4 affair in the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game to Stefanie Lawton and was knocked out of the provincials by a score of 6-4 to eventual champion Jolene Campbell in the semifinal.
With her team staying intact during the off-season, Silvernagle built off of her provincial success with a strong showing at a number of World Curling Tour events.
She had a semifinal finish in Saskatoon and reached the quarter-finals at bonspiels in Lloydminster, Red Deer and St. Paul, Minn.
“It’s not very often that I’ve been with the same group of girls during back-to-back years,” Silvernagle said. “As a result, we’ve been able to build off of the chemistry that we had last year.
“We’re all pretty good friends off the ice as well. Cristina and I have curled together off and on for the last 10 years, Dayna and I travel a lot together and Kara fit right in when she joined us last year”
Thanks to their strong play, Silvernagle’s rink earned enough points in the Canadian Team Ranking System to earn an automatic berth into the provincial playdowns.
“It’s a great feeling to get that monkey off of your back early and not have to worry about going through the last chance events,” Silvernagle said.
“We’ve been able to practice quite a bit and we were lucky enough to play at a bonspiel in Saskatoon a couple of weeks ago. We really feel like we’re right at our peak right now.”
This year’s provincials, which wraps up Sunday, will feature a slightly different format.
With only nine teams competing instead of 12, there will be a straight up round-robin competition with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs.
“Having those eight games in a short amount of time is a good thing as it helps to prepare your team for what you can expect when you go to the Scotties,” Silvernagle said.
“We’ve played a lot of games this year at many of the events we’ve gone to, so I feel like we’re ready for that challenge.”
Silvernagle’s first game will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday against Saskatoon’s Sherry Anderson.
Also in the field are Lawton, Biggar’s Brett Barber, Moose Jaw’s Penny Barker, Regina’s Chantelle Eberle, Kornau’s Kim Schneider, Saskatoon’s Nancy Martin and Balgonie’s Mandy Selzer.
There will be a new provincial champion this year as Campbell’s Regina-based rink failed to qualify for the playdowns.
The winner will go on to represent Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in St. Catharines, Ont. from Feb. 16 to 26.
