Chelsea Carey

Early career

Carey curled in six provincial junior championships, but did not win the event. She did win the 2000 Juvenile Provincial championship which she followed up with a silver medal at the 2001 Canadian Juvenile championship. She was also the Manitoba high school provincial champion in 2002. Due to her tenacity and skill on the ice, she has been referred to as "The Annihilator".

Carey has won a number of World Curling Tour (WCT) events including the 2005 Manitoba Lotteries Wheat City Curling Classic, the 2006 Interlake Pharmacy Classic (playing third for Barb Spencer in both events), and the Interlake Pharmacy Classic again in 2009, culminating with winning the 2009 Manitoba Curling Tour Championship.

In October 2010 Carey skipped her team to their first Grand Slam victory. Carey defeated Cathy Overton-Clapham 7-3 at the Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba to claim first place at the 2010 Manitoba Lotteries Women's Curling Classic.^[2] That season, she won one other WCT event, the 2011 DEKALB Superspiel.

Post-Grand Slam achievements (2011–2013)

2011 marked the coming out party for the Carey rink, who stepped onto the national stage in a big way during the 2011-2012 curling season. In December 2011 Carey emerged victorious in the Manitoba Curling Tour (MCT) Championships in Morris, Manitoba. Her rink overcame an early round robin loss, winning 5 games in a row to reach the finals where they defeated Kim Link 6-4.^[3] This came on the heels of a second-place finish in the 2011 Canada Cup of Curling in Cranbrook, B.C., where Carey's rink lost the final 9-4 to Jennifer Jones in what was the first national television appearance for Carey and her team. That season, Carey won one WCT event, the 2012 Victoria Curling Classic Invitational. With 95.7 CTRS points, Carey and her team finished 6th in 2011-2012 CTRS points^[4] In recognition of their strong season, Carey's rink was named the 2011 World Curling Tour Breakthrough Team of the Year.^[5]

In 2012-2013 Carey and her team continued their strong play, placing second in the Colonial Square Ladies Classic^[6] and continuing to play well through the early part of the season winning the 2012 Red Deer Curling Classic by defeating Jennifer Jones 7-3 in the final.^[7] They followed this with another finals appearance two weeks later in the ROGERS Masters of Curling in Brantford, Ontario being defeated 8-3 in the final by Rachel Homan^[8] and also collected a 3rd-place finish in the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown en route to accumulating 136.0 CTRS points in the 2012-2013 curling season, good for a 5th-place finish in the standings.^[9]

Carey has twice come extremely close to winning a Manitoba provincial women's championship. She lost the 2011 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts final to Cathy Overton-Clapham after going 7-0 in the round robin. She again made the finals of the 2012 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts after going 5-2 in the round robin. This was the closest Carey had come to winning a provincial championship, losing the final 6-5 on a heartbreaking last rock thrown by Jennifer Jones. At the 2013 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, her team placed fourth.

2013–14 gains and Manitoba Scotties Championship success

The consistent performance by Carey and her team from 2011 to 2013 allowed them to accumulate enough CTRS points to qualify as a direct entry to the 2013 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials held in Carey's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba in December 2013.^[10] The victorious team would represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. At the Olympic Trials the team competed admirably to a 4-3 record, setting up a tie breaker game against Sherry Middaugh, but would lose resulting in a fourth-place finish.^[11]

January 2014 brought yet another opportunity for Carey and her squad consisting of lead Lindsay Titheridge, second Kristen Foster, and third Kristy McDonald to chase a Manitoba provincial women's curling championship at the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Virden, Manitoba. Carey and her rink came in as the first seed in the tournament, with team Jennifer Jones absent in preparation for their own play in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Carey and her team finished the round robin 5-2, an identical record to veteran skip Darcy Robertson, setting up a tie-breaker game with Robertson for the right to enter the playoffs.

Carey and her rink prevailed over Darcy Robertson 7-3 in the tie-breaker game, advancing to the 2 vs. 2 playoff game against another Manitoba Scotties veteran, Janet Harvey. The team won that game 8-2 advancing them to the semi-final where they again won to go on and play in the final. The semi-final brought Carey a small measure of revenge, as Barb Spencer had eliminated Carey from the Manitoba Scotties playoffs the previous year. This was the third Manitoba Provincial Scotties Final in the last four years for the Carey rink. In the final Carey and her team won 6-2 over Kerri Einarson, running her out of rocks in the 10th end. This clinched their first Manitoba Provincial Scotties Championship and the right to represent Manitoba at the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal, Quebec.^[12][13]

At the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal Team Carey won the bronze after going 9-2 during round robin play. They lost the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game against defending and eventual repeat champion Rachel Homan and then beat Saskatchewan's Stefanie Lawton in the bronze medal game. Following the event, the team decided to mutually part ways as some of her teammates were starting families. MacDonald formed a new team for the 2014-2015 season and Carey announced a move to Edmonton to skip a rink composed of Laura Crocker at third, Taylor McDonald at second, and Jen Gates at lead.^[14][15][16]

2014 move to Alberta

Carey's very first World Curling Tour event after forming her new team was the 2014 HDF Insurance Shoot-Out, which they won.^[17] Unfortunately, the team struggled to gel during the season, alternating between flashes of promise (including winning the 2014 Boundary Ford Curling Classic) and frustrations of inconsistency. Despite some drama, they put together an impressive run at the 2015 Alberta Scotties. Carey, known for her hitting and ability to throw big weight had a unique metal slider that she had been wearing her entire curling career stolen from the dressing rooms in Lacombe, Alberta.^[18][19] Despite this significant setback and change to her equipment in the middle of the provincial playdowns, Carey battled through to the final, but fell to eventual repeat champion Val Sweeting.^[20]

2015: Taking over Team Nedohin

In the spring of 2015 Carey's team dumped her in favour of Kelsey Rocque who had played with Taylor McDonald in the junior and CIS ranks,^[21][22][23] With Rocque graduating from junior curling and taking over the team, Carey was left in the lurch, seeking a new team.

As luck would have it, 2-time Canadian Women's Champion Heather Nedohin whom Carey had defeated in the 2015 Alberta Scotties semi-final had decided to take a step back from elite curling to focus more on her family. Nedohin's rink consisting of third Amy Nixon, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Laine Peters decided as a group to bring Carey on as skip, hoping to continue their winning ways.^[24] In their first season together, the team made the final of the Curler's Corner Autumn Gold Classic, beating Val Sweeting in the semi-final, but eventually losing the final to Rachel Homan.^[25] After turning in a solid season on the world curling tour, Carey avenged her 2015 Alberta Scotties final loss by defeating Valerie Sweeting at the 2016 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts to earn the right to represent Alberta in the 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Grande Prairie, Alberta.^[26]

2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Carey and her rink had a strong round robin, posting a 9-2 record to claim first place in the round robin, winning a tie-break by virtue of their 12-5 win over Jennifer Jones and Team Canada on the opening day of tournament. Carey played Jones as Team Alberta and Team Canada squared off in the 1 vs 2 page playoff game. Carey and her team controlled the bulk of the game, emerging victorious with a 7-5 win, with Carey shooting a blistering 96% in the game. This vaulted Carey and Team Alberta into the final where they faced Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville. It was a tight, back and forth game tied 6-6 in the 10th end. Ultimately it came down to Carey's final stone, which she used to draw the back 4 foot for a single point sealing a 7-6 victory to claim the national title. Carey and her team represented Team Canada at the 2016 Ford World Women's Curling Championship in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.^[27] After finishing the round robin with an 8-3 record, the team lost both of their playoff matches, settling for 4th place.

Team Canada: 2016–2017

Carey and her rink began the 2016-17 season by winning the inaugural Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic in August 2016, which would be her only tour victory of the season. As defending champions, they represented Team Canada at the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. There, she led the team to a 9-2 round robin record, good enough for third place. In the playoffs, they first played Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville rink in the 3 vs. 4 game. They lost 8-1 to Northern Ontario, which put them in the bronze medal game. After Northern Ontario lost their semifinal game, the two teams would face each other in a rematch for the bronze medal. This time Carey would prevail, leading her team to a 7-4 win.

Following the season, Amy Nixon left the team and was replaced with veteran third Cathy Overton-Clapham.

Cathy O at third: 2017–present

Carey began the 2017-18 curling season with a mixed doubles tour win with partner Colin Hodgson at the Canad Inns Mixed Doubles Championship.

Former events