A lot has changed since Kerri Einarson’s team wore the Maple Leaf while playing at the 2021 world women’s curling championship in Calgary.
Karlee Burgess is now Einarson’s lead instead of Briane Harris. And Canada has been back on top of the podium at the event for the last two seasons thanks to Rachel Homan and her teammates.
But most importantly, this time in Calgary, there are fans to cheer Einarson and Team Canada on throughout the week.
In 2021, while the event was hosted at the the WinSport Event Centre, nobody was allowed into the building to watch due to COVID-19.
The tournament wasn’t great for Einarson. She just barely made the playoffs with a 7-6 record and was eliminated in the qualification game. It was just the eighth time in 42 years Canada didn’t earn a medal. Einarson wore the Maple Leaf again in 2022 and 2023, winning bronze in both events.
However, in 2026, it already feels like Einarson has a very good chance for a different outcome.
With the packed stands cheering Einarson on during the opening day at the 47th edition of the tournament, Canada was able to pick up commanding wins over Sweden and the USA.
Canada’s experience pays dividends
It’s hard to believe after watching Canada play on Saturday that Einarson and her teammates Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard and Burgess didn’t play a legit game since the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final six weeks ago.
Now, obviously they practised a lot and even played two-on-two against each other during that time, but that’s not what helped them adapt right away to the ice and the environment of the women’s worlds.
The experience factor, something Einarson will have an advantage over a lot of teams this week, loomed large
In both her games on Saturday, she faced rookie skips.
First, it was Sweden’s Isabella Wrana. After the Swedes jumped out to a 2-0 lead, the Canadians didn’t panic, but instead settled into the match and read what the ice was doing to really let the game come to them.
By the sixth end, Einarson and her team were able to apply pressure to Wrana, forcing a steal of two that gave Canada a 5-3 lead. From there Canada played great, situational curling, understanding the scoreboard to earn the 7-5 victory.
At least for Sweden, Wrana didn’t look helpless on the big stage.
That can’t be said in the second match for the U.S., unfortunately.
After the rookie squadron of Americans led by skip Delaney Strouse didn’t play in the first draw, their first game had to be against a home team feeling good about themselves.
Einarson went to work and used her knowledge from the first game to make even better shots against the Americans.
Her best came in the fourth end. Because the ice was similar to the first draw, Einarson was able to trust what she was seeing and made a nice soft-weight hit through a tight port to score three and take a 4-1 lead. Einarson went on to win 11-3.
Get ready to learn new names this week
Sweden’s Wrana and the U.S.’s Strouse weren’t the only skips making their debuts on Saturday. For nearly half the field, this is their first world championship.
There are six rookie skips in total. Scotland’s Fay Henderson, Norway’s Torild Bjornstad, Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller and Australia’s Helen Williams, who is leading the country’s first-ever appearance at the women’s worlds, are the others.
All six lost their opening draw on Saturday, but Schwaller became the first rookie to win at the event with a 6-5 victory over China in the night draw.
For Wrana and Schwaller, playing against the other top teams in the world won’t be something new as they compete in the Grand Slam of Curling, but this stage will be different.
In the other four cases, it will certainly be a big challenge, but it doesn’t mean they can’t pull off some crazy upsets.
Canada’s next game will be against China on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. MT.
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