THUNDER BAY – Laurie St-Georges stole her way into the Scotties Tournament of Hearts record book.
The team Quebec skip on Saturday stole points in seven different ends, en route to an 8-2 shellacking of Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes, breaking the former record of six stolen ends set by Manitoba’s Jacki Rintoul in 1985 and New Brunswick’s Heidi Hanlon two years later.
St-Georges, making her fifth appearance at the Scotties, had no idea she had set a new mark, when asked after the game, played in front of a half-full Fort William Gardens crowd.
“I didn’t even know that. Oh my God, I’m glad I have a record now,” said St-Georges, who has worn the Quebec colours at the national women’s curling championship every year since 2021.
“I still feel like a rookie. One more record is good, but I think we’re far away from the job (being) done here. It was the first game, it was a good performance, but the team is going to get stronger and more confident on the ice I think we’ve just got to keep it up and keep making shots.”
St-Georges’ lead, former Scotties and Olympic champion Lisa Weagle, who played for two seasons with Lawes as a member of Jennifer Jones’ team, said it was a great way to come back to the Scotties for the first time in four years.
“It’s always a strange feeling, playing against former teammates. The last time I was at the Scotties, I was actually coach of that team. So, there were some emotions before that game, but you go out there and put that aside and just perform,” Weagle said.
“I think we were able to get our rocks in good spots and give Katilyn some tough shots and come away with the win and a lot of steals.”
Lawes shook it off, as former champions tend to do when adversity comes their way.
“Awesome,” she said, laughing.
“We just had to get rid of that dang hammer, I guess. Honestly, it felt really close and we were millimetres on the wrong side every time. So, we’re just trying to figure out how to tighten things up. The girls in front of me played great and if we’d turned any one of those steals into multiples, it would have been a different game.”
St-Georges, whose team also includes second Emily Riley and third Jamie Sinclair, started her thievery in the opening end, Lawes unable to cut her draw in quite far enough to tap her opponent’s shot stone back.
The teams blanked the second end, then St-Georges got to work again, forcing steals of one in five straight ends, ending her run with a deuce without hammer in the seventh.
Down 8-0 after eight, Weagle subbed in Rebecca Hebert for the ninth end, getting her alternate a chance to test out the ice with no pressure on. The two teams shook hands after the ninth.
The Gardens crowd had a definite favourite on the ice, cheering on hometown favourite Karlee Everist, who plays lead for Christina Black’s Team Nova Scotia.
The Halifax-based foursome battled back from a 5-4 deficit after eight ends, scoring three in the ninth before running Ontario’s Danielle Inglis out of rocks in the 10th to earn a 7-5 triumph in their 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts debut.
“We had momentum for most of the game, especially after we stole that two in the fourth end. We had the lead the whole way through until we gave up that steal in eight. After that end we said, look, we still have hammer, so let’s try to go for two,” Everist said.
“We got a couple of misses, and we had an opportunity for three, which was amazing.”
Four-time champion Kerri Einarson also opened with a win, knocking off Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brooke Godsland 6-4. In the other Draw 2 match, Manitoba’s Kate Cameron doubled up Kerri Galusha’s Northwest Territories team 8-4.
