CurlingZone: Einarson Finalizes Lineup Ahead of WFG Masters

Manitoba's Kerri Einarson (photo: Team Kerri Einarson/Facebook) ends the lineup carousel with a new player announcement ahead of the WFG Masters in Guelph, Ontario.

By Connor Simms,

Kerri Einarson, with Val Sweeting at third, Shannon Birchard, and Krysten Karwacki on the front end, recently announced that Karlee Burgess will join the team for the rest of the season.

Karlee Burgess announced her departure from Team Chelsea Carey at the beginning of January. Shortly after, Einarson announced, "Team Kerri Einarson is excited to announce that Karlee Burgess has agreed to join us for the rest of the season and will be playing second in place of Shannon Birchard."

"Shannon's injured sliding knee has not responded to treatment the way she had hoped. She tried her hardest to get back in the lineup and played with us at the RBC Dominion Securities Western Showdown last month in Swift Current, but she couldn't finish the event, and the decision was made for her to step aside and focus on rehabbing her knee to be ready for next season."

This season, they have had multiple spares in the lineup, including Dawn McEwen, Joanne Courtney, and Brittany Tran.

Einarson also announced, "After consultation with medical personnel, she has been granted an injury exemption by Curling Canada, which allowed us to seek out a replacement player for the remainder of this season and retain our eligibility for the 2025 Scotties."

With Burgess departing from Carey, Carey will lose her spot in the 2025 Scotties due to them not retaining three of the four players from last season. The place will now be given to Alberta's Selena Sturmay due to their finish in the 2023-2024 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS).

Burgess was asked on The Broom Brothers podcasts about the move, and she said, "I don't know where the team is at right now, but it's just like, for some reason, I feel like I'm a pretty loyal player, and this just kind of changes everything. I don't like the shifting in the middle of the season, but when I'm given the opportunity where I get to play with one of the best skips in the world and one of the top players that I want to play with in my career, it was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up."

Einarson already has their spot at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ontario, as one of the three pre-determined teams.

In their opening game at the WFG Masters in Guelph, Ontario, they take on Alberta's Kayla Skrlik at 3:00 pm Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday. Their next game is Wednesday against Japan's Momoha Tabata at 7:30 pm ET. On Thursday, they face Ontario's Rachel Homan at 11:30 am ET. They round up round robin on Friday against Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa at 8:00 am ET.

All the action continues, with the quarterfinals and semi-finals happening on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.

All the actions can be watched on HomeTeam Live or by clicking the red play button next to the linescore on the CurlingZone Website.

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