Team Yukon will have played their final two games of the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts today at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw, Sask.

Representing the territory is, lead Kimberly Tuor, second Gabrielle Plonka (the Whitehorse Star’s very own), third Chelsea Duncan and skip Hailey Birnie. Rhonda Horte is an alternate and Lindsay Moldowan is coach.

Team Yukon began their final day, bright and early. In their sixth draw of the tournament, they took the ice against Prince Edward Island, skipped by Suzanne Birt.

Moldowan was reached in Moose Jaw yesterday and said P.E.I. is a good team.

“They are a strong team,” said Moldowan. “I expect them to be on their game. We are going to go out there and compete.”

On Tuesday, the team had one draw against British Colombia, skipped by Corryn Brown. They used the remainder of the day to get some rest after a heavy schedule to open the Scotties.

Moldowan said their game against B.C. was there best of the tournament. Even though they lost 12-5, she said there were plenty of good learning experiences.

“It was a close game and our best game so far,” said Moldowan. “Things were coming together. We were jelling and shooting well.

“Even though we lost, there were lots of positives to take away.”

The team is 0-6, they fell to P.E.I. 11-3 but Moldowan said there has been constant improvement throughout.

“The first game there were nerves as we got used to the ice and the surroundings,” said Moldowan. “Every game there is an improvement.”

The Scotties brings together the best female Canadian curlers in the country. In their second game, against the Wild Card team, they played Jennifer Jones.

“It can be intimidating but every team loves to curl,” said Moldowan. “Jennifer was great. It was nice to curl against her. It was a good learning experience.

“For us, we are a new team that hasn’t been together long. We are learning from playing a lot of the top teams.”

Moldowan said looking just at the scores can be scary, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

“It’s just a missed shot here and there.”

For the Yukon to have moved passed the round-robin, they would have needed to beat B.C. then win both of their games today.

Moldowan said she expects the team to remain competitive. They won’t change their strategy but will continue to make “tweaks here and there.”

Since the Scotties is a Canada wide tournament, Moldowan said it’s important that the Yukon be represented.

“We are extremely fortunate to be here,” said Moldowan. “We did everything we could to prepare.

“I’m extremely proud of how they’ve performed. It’s important that we have a team here.”

Team Yukon will play their final draw at 11:30 a.m. today against team Ontario, who is skipped by Rachel Homan.

The winner of the Scotties will go on to represent Canada at the women’s world curling championships, in Prince George, B.C., March 14-22. They also get to return to the following year’s tournament as “Team Canada”.