Tim Hortons Curling Trials Profiles - Team Fleury

With the Tim Hortons Curling Trials quickly approaching, TSN.ca will profile one men’s team and one women’s team each day before the first rocks fly on Nov. 20 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Team Tracy Fleury

The Lineup

Skip: Tracy Fleury (Age 35)
Third: Selena Njegovan (29)
Second: Liz Fyfe (34)
Lead: Kristin MacCuish (28)
Alternate: Chelsea Carey (37)
Coach: Sherry Middaugh (55)

Curling Club: East St. Paul Curling Club in Manitoba

2021-22 Season

Events: 5 (3 wins)
Record: 30-5
CTRS Ranking: 1

Highlights: Team Fleury have been the best team in Canadian curling this season. They've won 30 out of the 35 games they've played, including winning three of five events. To start their season, the foursome captured the Oakville Labour Day Classic and Sherwood Park Women’s Curling Classic in September with a pair of identical 7-0 runs. They defeated two-time defending Canadian champions Team Kerri Einarson in the Sherwood Park final. Most recently on the Grand Slam circuit, Team Fleury defeated Jennifer Jones to win the Masters and then earlier this month made it to the final at the National, losing to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg. 

How They Got Here

Qualified for the Tim Hortons Curling Trials via Curling Canada’s Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS).

Trials Schedule

Nov. 20 – Kerri Einarson
Nov. 21 – Kelsey Rocque
Nov. 22 – Krista McCarville
Nov. 23 – Rachel Homan
Nov. 24 – Jacqueline Harrison
Nov. 25 – Laura Walker, Casey Scheidegger
Nov. 26 – Jennifer Jones

Expert Analysis's from TSN's Cheryl Bernard

Team Fleury will win the Trials if…

"Each member of this team will be competing in the Trials for the first time, but are coming in with a lot of confidence, winning 86% of their games so far this season. Another advantage for this team? Their alternate, Chelsey Carey, has significant Trials experience, losing the final to Rachel Homan in 2017 and knows what that pressure feels like. Team Fleury has historically been able to fly under the radar, but no more. Selena Njegovan at third will be a big part of this team winning the Trials. She has shown us that she has another level of consistency and shot making and now seems to embrace the pressure of those big games. They can win the Trials if they can adapt to the incredible pressure that comes with being one of the favourites at the Trials."

Trials Experience

This will be the first Canadian Olympic Trials for all four members of Team Tracy Fleury.  

Last Four Years

At the end of the 2017-18 season, Fleury announced she would be taking over for the rink previously skipped by Kerri Einarson.

Fleury, now 35, had previously skipped the Northern Ontario team at three Scotties Tournament of Hearts and now would be the out-of-province curler for this Manitoba-based team. The central prairie province, which has always been the deepest in women’s curling, had just got a whole lot tougher.

In their first year as a foursome, Team Fleury qualified for nationals after coming back to defeat Team Einarson in the Manitoba Scotties final, 13-7. At the Tournament of Hearts in Sydney, N.S., Fleury’s rink dropped a tiebreaker to get to the championship pool against Sarah Wark of British Columbia and went home with a 4-3 record.

Fleury had a strong start to the 2019-20 campaign, highlighted by her first Grand Slam title at the Masters. A few weeks later, they made a solid run at the Canada Cup in Leduc, Alta., losing to Rachel Homan in the final.

However, their season wrapped up with losses to Jennifer Jones at both the Manitoba semis and the Scotties wild-card game.

In the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season, Team Fleury were invited as one of three wild-card teams to the bubble Scotties in Calgary. Fleury elected to stay home with her young daughter, Nina, who was receiving treatment for a medical condition.

With Carey calling the shots and Sherry Middaugh now coach for Team Fleury, the East St. Paul rink went 6-6 through championship pool play and missed the playoffs. Fleury was able to play one event with her team inside the bubble, guiding them to a semi-final appearance at the Champions Cup.