SYDNEY, NS – The whirlwind week at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts came to an end Sunday afternoon for Saskatchewan’s Robyn Silvernagle.

The Scotties rookie and her rink out of the Twin Rivers Curling Club in North Battleford were one of the major stories at this year’s Canadian championship as they delighted the Centre 200 crowd in Sydney with great shots and a few upsets.

After an opening loss to defending champions in Team Jennifer Jones last weekend, the rink won eight of their next 10 games to punch their ticket to the all-important Page playoff 1 vs. 2 game.

The good fortunes for skip Silvernagle, third Stefanie Lawton, second Jessie Hunkin and lead Kara Thevenot dried up this weekend, however, with losses to Alberta’s Chelsea Carey in the Page playoff and Ontario’s Rachel Homan in the semi-final.

The skip says she couldn’t be any more proud of her team and how hard they’ve worked this season just to get to the Scotties.

“We’re all so proud of each other. We’ve worked very hard this year, mentally, physically, technically. We’ve worked so hard” Silvernagle told the media after Sunday’s loss. “Looking back from the beginning of our season to now is a whole different team. We just lost that game, but it’s still OK and we will come back stronger next year.”

The dagger for Saskatchewan came in the sixth end when a messy house and a hog-line violation by Lawton led to a score of four for Ontario. Saskatchewan struck right back with a three spot in the next end, but it wasn’t enough, eventually losing to Homan, 9-7.

Immediately following the loss, the foursome came together and wrapped their arms around each other to reflect on the wild week they had in Sydney.

The 31-year-old Silvernagle, as well as Hunkin and Thevenot, all made their Scotties debuts this year and will head home to the Prairies with their heads held high.

“Of course you want to be in that final game, but we can’t hang our heads low about not being there,” said Silvernagle. "For the first Scotties for three of us it was fantastic. We had a ton of great shots throughout the whole entire week. We just came up a little bit short today, but when you’re playing the top teams in Canada, you have to have a good game all the time. You can’t waver any.”

Team Silvernagle brought veteran skip Lawton on board this season to serve as a vice and her experience has been integral to their success all year and at nationals.

Silvernagle won her first provincial crown earlier this month after falling in the Saskatchewan final the past two seasons. The hair salon owner couldn’t even watch the last shot from her opponent Sherry Anderson in this year’s final, leaving the ice before returning when she knew they had won and were going to the Scotties.

Hometown support

Another storyline this week was the fact Silvernagle shares a hometown connection with curling legend Sandra Schmirler as both grew up in the small town of Biggar, just an hour west of Saskatoon.

Silvernagle was there for Schmirler the Curler’s greatest moments during the 1990s as their moms were great friends. Over a six-year span, Team Schmirler captured three Scotties titles, three world championships and that glorious gold medal at the Nagano Winter Games in 1998 when curling made its Olympic women’s debut as a medal sport.

“I actually remember being at my grandma's watching her at the Olympics and we watched her all the time,” said Silvernagle after her opening loss to Jennifer Jones last Saturday. “My mom and her were good friends growing up, so we definitely kept a very close eye on her always and I definitely remember watching her a lot and idolizing her.”

Team Silvernagle were the talk of the town in Biggar all week, an experience the skip will never forget.

“Just playing out there is the most incredible feeling,” she said. "Watching it on TV it feels like we were at something totally different so it was really neat to be the ones that everybody is watching. All the support we got from back home was absolutely incredible and not even just back home but all over Canada, was amazing. We definitely don’t take that for granted.”  

Saskatchewan last won the Scotties in 2011 when Amber Holland and her Kronau rink defeated Jones in the final from Charlottetown, PEI.

This past week in Sydney should only intensify the drive for Silvernagle the accomplish the same feat in the near future. ​