Ashley Thevenot - left and her team at this year's Viterra Prairie Pinnacle Provincial Playdowns (submitted photo/Ashley Thevenot)

By Ben Tompkins

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Thevenot ready to lead defending champs at provincial curling playdowns

Jan 21, 2025 | 5:28 PM

The 2025 Viterra Prairie Pinnacle Provincial Curling Playdowns are now underway in Kindersley, as the best women curlers in Saskatchewan vie for a spot in this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

The defending Saskatchewan champs, who won last year’s tournament in Tisdale, look a little different this time around, and are now being guided by a northeast local.

Team Thevenot, skipped by Ashley Thevenot, who grew up on a farm southeast of Melfort and attended middle school in Naicam, is having to take the reigns, following the departure of their former skip, Skylar Ackerman.

“I played a lot of skip back in my junior curling days and last year was actually the first time I played third, so I was excited to step back into the skipping role. It’s been a little bit of a learning curve for me because we’re in women’s now and everything is pumped up a little bit, but I’m excited to take charge of the team,” Thevenot told northeastNOW.

“We’re trying to keep the same mindset as last year and not put any extra pressure on ourselves. We’re not the exact same team as last year, so we are happy to be in this provincial event, we know we’re a good team, and if we come out on top at the end of the weekend, then that’s its own accomplishment in itself. We know we don’t reserve the right just because we’re the defending champs.”

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The tournament began in Kindersley Tuesday morning, with Team Thevenot losing their first game to Team Barker 6-2.

The event also features the men’s provincial playdowns, the first instance in which both have been held in the same place.

A change has also been made in the format, as there are no longer two separate pools in round-robin play. In total, there are nine teams on the women’s side, four of which will make the page playoff. Each team will play eight round-robin games in total, therefore seeing one another at least once.

Thevenot said she likes the changes as they resemble the Scotties to a closer extent. She can also then use said experience she gained from last year, in a more formidable manner.

“Our national Scotties experience last year was a whirlwind, it was an amazing time, but also a long competition. It’s kind of the way that they’re doing the provincial Scotties this year, just to try to make this winning team a little bit more comfortable going into the Scotties. Having that prior experience just helps us confirm within our own team that we deserve to be there and compete, and we definitely have a chance this weekend,” Thevenot added.

“We’re just really excited to get out there and play, and we feel very fortunate to have the chance to represent our province again.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8