Mary-Anne Arsenault will make her 14th appearance at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Saturday in Moose Jaw, Sask.
It will also be Arsenault’s last as a Nova Scotia skip. A few weeks following the completion of the Scotties, Arsenault will be making her ‘retirement’ move to British Columbia.
The 51-year-old has done it all at the national event. She’s a five-time champion as the second for the Colleen Jones rink. Arsenault is a five-time all-star – 1st team in 2006, 2002 and 1993 and 2nd team in 2004 and 1999.
She skipped her team to nine straight wins and a bronze medal in 2018.
With a lifetime of amazing curling experiences, Arsenault couldn’t be blamed if she got a little nostalgic and let the emotions get the better of her.
But Arsenault said she is well equipped to handle the wave of emotions that will come her way in her last competition with third Christina Black, second Jen Baxter and rookie lead Emma Logan, who is also her niece.
“I realize it is a special week and it will be even more emotional because it’s my last one.
“But I think I am blessed with the innate ability to focus on the task at hand and I don’t think it will be emotional (for me) until the very end.”
Arsenault will also draw inspiration from Scotties' first-timers Logan and fifth Kristin Clarke.
“It’s nice going with a couple of girls who it’s their first time, the fresh eyes and excitement.”
For the 22-year-old Logan, playing with her aunt on curling’s biggest stage is a ‘dream come true.’
“I still can’t believe it. Since I started curling it’s been my dream to make it to the Scotties especially with all the times I saw my aunt play at that level and now I’m going with her, it makes it that much more surreal.”
With any new team member, there is a learning curve, but for Logan, who lost her hearing as a baby, the challenge was much bigger.
“I was 13 months when I had meningitis and due to the severity of the disease, I lost my hearing,” said Logan. “Shortly after I got two hearing aids and then (I got) cochlear implants.”
So the challenge of communication was paramount for Logan and her new teammates.
“Of course with any team, just bringing in a new team member communication alone is a challenge. Having my hearing loss on top of that presented an extra challenge for us to overcome.”
Early in the season, Arsenault worked with a glove system that had different colour tape to help Logan with what weight to throw. But the introduction of a Bluetooth microphone was the difference-maker.
“It’s been a game-changer quite literally for us,” said Logan. “At the start of the season, we started to notice how much I was missing at the time when we weren’t using the microphone and then started the conversation about how we were going to use team communication to help compensate with my hearing loss.”
Baxter and Black use the microphone when they are sweeping with Logan.
“So we decided to switch the mic from Mary-Anne to the alternate sweeper and we noticed a huge difference and all of a sudden I recognized how much I was missing before and how critical it was for the full-team communication.
“It’s been an ongoing process all season, but I think we figured it out at just the right time.”
The big test was at the provincial Scotties and the team passed with flying colours.
“We had worked out all of the intricacies with our new communications system before provincials. We were already a well-oiled machine before going into provincials so by the time the Scotties rolls around it’s business as usual.”
Work begins on Saturday for the Nova Scotia champions when they open against Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories (3:30 p.m. AT)
On Sunday they play P.E.I.’s Suzanne Birt (3:30 p.m.) while on Monday they take on Hailey Birnie of Yukon (10:30 a.m.) and Erica Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador (3:30 p.m.).
Tuesday action will feature a pair of heavyweights with Ontario’s Rachel Homan (3:30 p.m.) and the wildcard winner between Jennifer Jones and Tracey Fleury (8:30 p.m.).
They finish preliminary play on Wednesday against Corryn Brown of B.C. (3:30 p.m.).
The great run in 2018 gives the Nova Scotia foursome confidence ahead of Saturday’s opener.
“We certainly got off to a great start last time, played well right out of the gate, and I’m hoping that is the same thing that’s going to happen this year,” said Arsenault.
“We are going in with the same mindset. We understand that this a very strong field and that there are a number of teams that get to play in these conditions (arena ice) week after week, so it’s old hat for them. We don’t have any delusions of grandeur that we are going to walk through the field but we know we will be competitive with everyone.
“Our first goal is just to make it in the championship round and after you do that, it’s all gravy.”
She has had a career with all the trimmings.
Arsenault has played in 158 games at the national Scotties and when she throws her last stone next week she will move into fourth place all-time in games played. She will trail only Colleen Jones (227), Jennifer Jones (187) and Kim Kelly 180.
But Arsenault isn’t thinking about adding to her historic achievements. Instead, she is staying in the moment.
“Just being able to get to the Scotties, it being my last one for Nova Scotia and to be able to get there with my niece is beyond words.”
