Canada Cup of Curling: Val Sweeting emerges from choppy seas, hoping for stability and another title

2014 has been a strange year for Val Sweeting.

"I guess we’re just that team that there’s never a dull moment," she said with a chuckle, as she made her way to a practice session in Edmonton, recently.

An Alberta championship. Second place at The Scotties. A teammate leaving. A new teammate joining, then leaving abruptly. A major championship with a fill-in at vice. Now, a chance to have her team fill out the field at January's Continental Cup, in Calgary.

Prior to some of the best men's and women's teams gathering for this week's Canada Cup in Camrose, Alberta, the 27 year old skip talked about that improbable November grand slam win, the heartbreak of losing a valued teammate at the end of last season and the head-spinning loss of another as this season was really just ramping up.

On the first point - the loss of Joanne Courtney, who left Team Sweeting to join Rachel Homan - Sweeting says she was taken aback.

“I, personally, didn’t see it coming," she said. "I didn’t know until she told me. Some other people might have," she added with another chuckle.

Courtney dropped the news on Sweeting as they were wrapping up their third season together. It was a season where they'd made some noise at the Olympic Trials, following up with a dominant win at the Alberta Scotties, before losing to Homan at nationals.

“I was surprised. That one, I think, hurt a little bit more because we worked so hard and we had such a good season," Sweeting said, of Courtney's exit. “It hurt at the beginning. But as you reflect on it and have more time to think of it, it creates opportunity for both sides. It’s an opportunity for our team as well," she said, before adding that she has moved well past it.

“It’s just a great opportunity for her. Now I understand. I’m over it.”

The winning of a Grand Slam of Curling event may have helped in that process. Beating Homan on the way to victory at The Masters, last month, must have been tasty. However, it didn't come without another surprise bombshell landing at Sweeting's feet before that event began.

With Courtney gone, Team Sweeting had added 7-time New Brunswick champion Andrea Crawford to their roster. It was an arrangement that didn't last long. Crawford left the team shortly before The Masters, forcing Sweeting to scramble to find a replacement.

“There’s not many details to be shared," said Sweeting, quickly adding that there was no animosity involved.

"There was not one certain thing in particular. It was a number of circumstances and she decided to leave the team. It’s unfortunate. You never know what could’ve been. But we respect her decision and things like that happen. You’ve just gotta move forward.”

The team did that - and how - immediately. The win at The Masters came with Cathy Overton-Clapham filling in at vice. Permanent replacement Lori Olson-Johns would join the team afterward.

We obviously had to handle some adversity, for sure. I don’t know what else to say," said Sweeting, laughing.

“It was different for sure," said Sweeting, of playing with Overton-Clapham, whom she knew but had never teamed up with, previously. Because of that, they flew a little blind, meshing styles (Overton-Clapham is more aggressive in shot calling, Sweeting admitted) as the week went along.

The bumpy road behind them, Team Sweeting is now fixing its sights on some season's goals.

While winning another provincial title and taking aim at a national Scotties championship are front and centre - “Those are definitely huge goals that everyone wants to accomplish,” Sweeting said - there is an immediate task at hand for Sweeting in Camrose.

With Team Homan and Team Jennifer Jones already invited to take part in The Continental Cup, one more women's team berth is on the line. Winning the Canada Cup would send Sweeting to the "Canada vs the world" event as well.

“It’s definitely an event that I’ve always wanted to play in, especially with it being in Calgary. It’s close to home and that would be a lot of fun,” said Sweeting, who could also qualify without a win, depending on how the CTRS standings look on December 15th.

In this week's Canada Cup, we'll see how Team Sweeting shapes up with Olson-Johns at vice.

"We’re excited to have her on board,” said Sweeting, noting that she'd already had some familiarity with Olson-Johns from some off-season play. “She was familiar with how we operated because we had played with her in the summer. That’s why it was a natural fit.”

"She has a lot of experience, too, and a lot of knowledge coming off playing with really good teams, like Cheryl Bernard, Cathy King," Sweeting continued. "It’s all worked out in the end.”

Provided that's the end, right?

Sweeting laughs when asked if her team is done with surprises, particularly those that test a team's and a skip's patience and will.

"I hope so," she said with a laugh. "But you never know."