Carey remains quiet after Burgess departure, coach Howard confirms team has disbanded

Team Chelsea Carey started the curling season as one of the top rinks in the country with a berth in the national championship seemingly secure.

The team has since tumbled down the rankings, no longer qualifies for the sport's top events and the playing future for its three remaining players is unclear.

In just four months, a campaign that started with such optimism is essentially over.

"There's nothing left to play in," said coach Glenn Howard. "So it's really unfortunate. I guess it is what it is in today's curling [world].

"The team has disbanded and I'm no longer coaching them because there's no team."

With the deadline passed for provincial playdowns, avenues to the Feb. 14-23 national playdowns were shut down.

In a social media post confirming the Burgess news, the team said it will "make announcements in the near future on our team's plans." None have been forthcoming and Carey has declined media interviews, including a request made Wednesday night.

The team page on X, formerly known as Twitter, still includes a picture of Carey, Burgess, second Emily Zacharias and lead Lauren Lenentine. The page has been dormant for nearly three weeks.

<a href="https://t.co/WonibhkHqD">pic.twitter.com/WonibhkHqD</a>

Howard, who's coaching his son, Scott, and daughter, Carly, at the Ontario playdowns this week, said he chatted with Burgess before she made her decision.

"It does affect a bunch of us," Howard said. "Obviously Chelsea, Emily, Lauren and [I], it does affect quite a bit. That's the unfortunate part of making this type of decision. Karlee by no means took this lightly but she knew there would be repercussions as a result of it and that's the hardest part you've got to deal with."

Burgess, who's filling in for injured