If you can’t beat her: Jocelyn Peterman changes sides and wins with Kerri Einarson's crew

It’s kind of an if-you-can’t-beat-em, join-em sporting story.

Jocelyn Peterman had too often been on the wrong end of the success celebrated by Kerri Einarson and her super-sensational rink from Gimli, Man.

So when the reigning queen of Canadian curling came calling for her help, Peterman didn’t think twice about sweeping the invite under the pebbled ice. She jumped at the chance in the off-season.

“When Kerri gave me a call, she was kind of the only only call I had where she had a really clear vision of what she wanted,” recalled Peterman of Einarson’s bid for her services following the departure of longtime vice-skip Val Sweeting from the five-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champions.

“Kerri was very direct on what spot was available on the team and the role she saw me in and how confident she was and what she thought we could achieve,” continued Peterman. “It was kind of the only conversation that went like that.”

The summons was certainly what Peterman needed at the time.

In fact, call it a ‘pick me up’ for the 33-year-old from Red Deer, Alta.

Peterman was fresh off falling short of mixed-doubles expectations at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, where she and husband Brett Gallant finished with a heartbreaking 4-5 record and shy of the playoff round.

She had also watched helplessly as her teammates skipped by Kaitlyn Lawes lost the dramatic Scotties finale in an extra end — to none other than Einarson — In Mississauga, Ont.

“I think Kerri’s call just kind of gave me the confidence and a bit of a path that I needed in that kind of post-Olympic dark phase I was in,” recounted Calgary’s Peterman, candidly. “So it seemed like a no-brainer to join her when she kind of framed it like that.

“When most of the other conversations were kind of very vague, of like, ‘We don’t really know what it would look like or where we would train out of or what would be the best combination,’ Kerri had a really clear vision so that kind of got me excited.”

That excitement got the revamped lineup into the swing of things early this year and into three spiels ahead of this past weekend’s start to the Grand Slam of Curling schedule.

Then came that major — the Co-op Invitational in Victoria, B.C. — and championship success for new-look Team Einarson.

The affable skip, third Shannon Birchard, second Karlee Burgess and lead Peterman defeated South Korea’s Team Bo-bae Kang 6-3 Sunday to win the title.

It was Einarson’s seventh Grand Slam championship, earned in her 18th final, and the first Slam title for the reworked lineup. The team collected $38,000 at the opening Grand Slam event of the season after beating South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim 8-4 in Saturday’s semifinal.

The men’s title in Victoria went to an international winner. Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller defeated Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell 7-3 in Sunday’s final to capture his second career Grand Slam championship.

“Honestly, I wasn’t feeling too nervous going in to (the first slam with Team Einarson),” Peterman said. “We’ve had three club events before that one, and we’d lost the quarters at all three. But honestly, it felt like we were playing pretty good and jiving pretty good. So it was just fun to get out there and have a good run in the playoffs.

“It just seemed like a bit of a natural fit,” continued Peterman. “We haven’t really been grinding on much yet. It’s just kind of flowing and seems to be working.”

Given the job change — even for the experience she boasts — it’s turned out to be a quick adjustment, for sure.

Peterman throws lead rocks after spending much of her élite women’s career at second. She is also calling the line for Einarson, with the skip asking her to read the ice, set the broom and call the shot.

“They’re both totally new roles for me,” Peterman said. “I’ve never played third in the house-responsibility aspect, and I’ve never thrown lead rocks. I want to try to be the best lead I can be and try to be a world-class lead and also give Kerri what she needs in the house and be confident with my line-calling.”

It is a curious combination — first to throw, then become front and centre when the skip has the final stones.

But Peterman is embracing both ends of the assignment.

Einarson’s logic was simple. Sweeting had called the line for her, so the replacement needed more than a reliable lead-stone résumé.

“We were looking for someone to potentially play lead and call the line, and we thought of Jocelyn because she plays mixed, where you have to make that perfect raise,” Einarson said. “She also calls line for Brett, so she did that a lot, and we thought she would be a great fit for us.”

Peterman’s résumé made the fit even more appealing. She began curling at age five, won the 2012 Canadian junior championship as a skip and captured the 2016 Scotties as the second for Chelsea Carey. She played women’s curling at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with Jennifer Jones and then returned to the Games in mixed doubles with Gallant in 2026.

Peterman and Gallant also won silver at the 2019 world mixed doubles championship, and Peterman has competed at the women’s worlds.

Indeed, navigating all the high-end duties at so many positions on a curling crew has helped make her one of Canada’s most versatile athletes.

“She’s just got so much experience,” said Einarson, of Peterman. “Obviously, she’s been to the Olympics twice, and that’s our goal, to get there. Her knowledge and being there and that experience definitely will help us in the next step, and we want to bring home gold.”

Peterman’s world experience matters, too, for a team that won silver at the 2026 women’s world championship and has repeatedly come close to the top step.

“That’s another one of our goals, to get gold on the world stage,” Einarson said. “We’ve been so close so many times. That’s definitely our next step.”

For Peterman, the best part may simply be to join a winner. She has watched Einarson make enough outrageous, game-turning shots against her to know the feeling.

“They just make you feel sick to your stomach,” added Peterman. “Honestly, it’s nice to be on the other side of them now.”

One slam into the new partnership, the if-you-can’t-beat-’em plan already has Peterman hoisting a trophy.