Patti Knezevic is going to the national Scott Tournament of Hearts after all.
The Prince George skip, who led her team to a fourth-place finish at the
provincial women's curling championship last week at the Prince George Golf and Country Club, received a phone call she won't soon forget.
On the line was Kesa Van Osch's B.C. championship rink, who just won their first provincial title over defending champion Kelly Scott.
The Victoria team asked Knezevic to be their fifth player in the national bonspiel Feb. 1-9 in Montreal.
"It's surreal, it's quite an honour," Knezevic said. "I was at home after the final and they called and asked me to join them. What an opportunity - I said yes right away."
Knezevic hasn't competed at a national championship since her days a junior player when she skipped her Prince George rink at the junior nationals in Montreal in 1993.
Before Van Osch's team returned to Vancouver Island Monday, Knezevic met them and got fitted for their provincial uniforms and a rough schedule in the weeks leading up to the Scotties.
"I'm going to help them and be prepared as a player, continue my normal routine and throw a lot of stones," Knezevic said. "I'm going to do everything I can to make it easy for them and make it a good experience for them."
Van Osch beat Knezevic's rink 9-6 in round-robin play en route to securing her first-place berth in the playoffs.
On Sunday night, while Van Osch was on the ice battling for her provincial crown, Knezevic couldn't say enough about playing in her first provincial championships in front of a hometown crowd.
"It was an awesome experience, the fans were fantastic and it really lifted us," she said.
"We maybe didn't have our best week of curling, but it was enjoyable. The host committee did a bang-up job. The curlers from out of town really liked the hospitality, the fans were into it and supported the teams."
Prior to last week, the closest Knezevic came to competing at home was in her second last year of junior competition. She lost the 1992 final in Quesnel to Allison MacInnes, the same skip who competed in Prince George last week.
Younger rinks right out of the junior level competing at their first provincials impressed Knezevic too.
"The parity in our sport has risen to a high level, it's unbelievable," she said. "The younger players at this level are curling well and they're not lacking talent."
