Holland looking for confidence with new team

This morning both Edmonton papers have stories on Amber Holland and her new rink, which qualified for the playoffs at The Shoot-Out at the Saville Centre. For those unaware, Holland dusted her Canadian championship rink of a couple of years back and brought in a new lineup that features Jolene Campbell, Dailene Sivertson and Brooklyn Lemon.

It’s kind of shocking, to say the least, to leave a team that so recently won a Canadian championship. Perhaps even more surprising to leave one that had a pre-trials spot and Sport Canada funding. Norm Cowley got Holland to dish on the departure.

Holland gave up a lot when she chose to quit playing with her previous rink of sisters Kim and Tammy Schneider and Heather Kalenchuk. She walked away from an Olympic pre-trials berth next fall and $18,000 in Sport Canada funding.“A pre-trials spot obviously was the harder thing to give up,” she said. “The carding and the money, I never played the sport for money. I probably never will. I’m not going to get rich off of it. I know that.“I play it to have those goals — get back to the Scotties and the Olympics. Those things are why I played this game and try to be the best player I can be out there.“I just felt that, for me, I was at a stage where after seven years, I felt I needed to do something different. ... There’s lots of things within a team that need to stay within a team, so you’re not going to get any dirt from me,” she continued. “But it’s one of those things you have the feeling where you want the confidence to play with the team you’re playing with. After the Scotties this year, I just felt I lost a little bit of confidence in me ... .

There's a cryptic comment about not revealing any dirt, which makes you wonder if there's more to the story here. (Or it could just be Amber being Amber -- she has a wry sense of humour). Of the other three former teammates, Kim and Tammy Schneider and Heather Kalenchuk, only Kim Schneider is playing competitively this year. 

You can read the Journal story here and the Con Grikowsky’s story from the Sun here.