Carey to take skipping reins from iconic Jones

Jennifer Jones’ old curling team has a new skip.

Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine, who reached the last two Scotties Tournament of Hearts finals with Jones, are sticking together and announced Wednesday they’ve added veteran Chelsea Carey to the lineup.

Jones, 49, left big curling shoes to fill after announcing in February the 2023-24 season would be her swan song in women’s curling. Her final event was the Players’ Championship earlier this month in Toronto.

The 39-year-old Carey, a two-time national Scotties champion (2016 and 2019), has experience with the young trio as she filled in for Jones at two events last season — the Saville Shootout and the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic — with a pair of second-place finishes.

“I hate the word replace because no one can replace her. It’s a team that just had the greatest curler of all time on it,” said Carey, a Winnipegger who now lives in Calgary, during a conversation Wednesday morning with the Free Press.

“I think that’s the hardest part — like I don’t want to be put in the same conversation as Jennifer because I don’t consider myself on that level. I don’t consider anyone on her level, quite frankly… no one can fill Jennifer Jones’ shoes. That’s impossible.

“So, there’s an amount of pressure that’s going to go with that for me and for all of us… but we know that going in so we have lots of time to prepare.”

Carey, who is also a two-time runner-up at the Canadian Olympic Trials (2017 and 2021), reached out to the team after the 2024 Scotties to express her desire to fill the vacancy. A few candidates were considered — and Jones was consulted — before the gig ultimately went to the veteran shotmaker.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for a lot of reasons. They’ve had such success with Jen the last couple of years and have put themselves in that really high world ranking and everything so to be able to kind of walk off the bench and onto that team is pretty unbelievable,” Carey said.

“And they’re lovely people, great teammates and obviously great players so it’s just a very exciting opportunity.”

With Burgess, Zacharias and Lenentine remaining united, they retain their Curling Canada points and ranking, which means their participation in next year’s Scotties in Thunder Bay, Ont., and Olympic trials in Halifax is all but guaranteed.

“I think she’s a fierce skip and finds a way to win. I’m excited, I’m excited to learn from her even more, and see how we all bond together on and off the ice,” said Burgess. “It’ll be another chapter I can write in my curling story. I have no real expectations, I just kind of want to go in and enjoy it with Chelsea because I think she understands this is an opportunity she can’t pass up.”

Carey was a super-sub last year who also filled in for Kate Cameron at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Canadian Open in January and played third for Switzerland’s Michelle Jaeggi at a few events.

She last played full time in 2022-23 out of Manitoba with Jolene Campbell, Liz Fyfe, and Rachel Erickson. It was Carey’s return home after skipping out of Saskatchewan (2021-22) and Alberta (2014-20).

Jones recently told Carey she’s excited to see her compete year-round again and will be cheering her on.

“I needed a break, not so much from the curling part but from the team part that can wear on you a bit. Chasing sponsors, team dynamics, and all that kind of stuff can get to be a lot,” said Carey.

“So, I purposely didn’t put together a team and decided that I needed to take a mini-step back. I ended up playing more than I expected to but it’s a totally different thing when you’re sparing, you just show up and curl… I think it was the perfect thing for me to do and I am very happy that I went that direction.”

It’s been a handful of years since Carey was part of a national powerhouse, but she still feels she can compete with the sport’s best.

“It was only five years ago the last time we won (the Scotties) so, yeah, I don’t think anything’s really changed in that period of time as far as capabilities go. It’s just about finding the right group and getting yourself in the right headspace and all that kind of stuff,” said Carey.

“Is it possible? Do I think I have it in me? I think I’ve proven that I do, it’s just a matter of getting everything to come together at the right time.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31