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Darren Calabrese \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg skip Matt Dunstone\u2019s squad was the runner-up at the Canadian Curling Trials in November to Brad Jacobs \u2014 who went on to win the Olympic gold medal last Saturday in Italy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough, man. I think a couple years ago I probably would have been a little bit more petty and committed to really not watching,\u201d admitted Dunstone in a chat with the Free Press on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know, I saw it as a really good opportunity to try and learn. I mean, a lot of the teams at the Olympics are teams that we play five to 10 times a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Dunstone didn\u2019t get to live out his dream of wearing the Maple Leaf on the grandest stage of them all, he can still make another dream come true this week.<\/p>\n
After losing two out of the last three Brier finals (2023 to Brad Gushue, 2025 to Jacobs), the 30-year-old is hopeful this will be the year he finally reaches the top of the Canadian curling mountain.<\/p>\n
Dunstone, third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden all gathered in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a pre-Brier training camp to ensure they\u2019re ready to hit the ice against Canada\u2019s best.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been one of the best teams in the world all year. We\u2019ve been in multiple slam finals, won the PointsBet, and made the trials final. We\u2019ve contended in every single event and given ourselves a chance to win,\u201d said Dunstone, who is ranked second in the nation behind Jacobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you know, over the course of your career, winning those finals are going to be 50-50 so it\u2019s just a matter of getting into those. I think for this group, it\u2019s a little clich\u00e9, but if we take care of business on our end, I think we\u2019re going to like where we sit at the end of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll be one of two Manitoba representatives in the field with Brier rookie Braden Calvert set to make his debut after outlasting Jordon McDonald in the provincial final in Selkirk earlier this month. The 30-year-old from Carberry is the first non-Winnipegger to win the province since Brandon\u2019s Rob Fowler accomplished the feat in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you achieve something you\u2019ve been kind of working your whole life towards, you sit down and reflect and it makes you think of every small curling rink you\u2019ve played in, every practice you\u2019ve gone to, every drive from Carberry to Winnipeg, and all the time that you\u2019ve sacrificed for the game,\u201d said Calvert, who lost the previous two provincial finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get emotional thinking about it, for sure,\u201d said Calvert.<\/p>\n
Representing a small town is something Calvert takes a lot of pride in.<\/p>\n
\u201cLots of guys reached out and congratulated us on our success, but honestly, probably one that kind of got me maybe a little emotional was Grant Shewfelt. He\u2019s a curler from Baldur who lost the 1995 Manitoba final (to Kerry Burtnyk while playing third for Rob Ramage) and he just kind of said he was proud of me for winning it for rural Manitoba,\u201d said Calvert.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, that kind of got me excited about playing for rural Manitoba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calvert, third Corey Chambers, second Kyle Kurz, and lead Brendan Bilawka are ranked 12th in the Canadian Team Ranking System and are in Pool B alongside Dunstone and Winnipegger Mike McEwen who skips Team Saskatchewan. Carberry will also be represented in Pool A with Derek Samagalski skipping Team Nunavut.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to try to find the gear that we touched in provincials and in the pre-trials (where they lost to McDonald in the final) and maybe even up that a little bit,\u201d said Calvert.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like if we can play that way we can kind of hang with all these teams. We\u2019ll see where the wins come and where they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biggest storyline is Gushue playing in his final Brier and doing so in his hometown of all places. The six-time national champion is retiring at the end of the season and is looking to write a storybook ending to his illustrious career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel fortunate to have been able to compete at the same time as him and play him in a lot of big games. He is one of, if not the best curler in Canadian history,\u201d said Dunstone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love nothing more than to meet up with him later in the week. Definitely want to have a crack at him in his home barn and get to experience that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Then there\u2019s Jacobs, who was home for 18 hours before having to return to the airport to defend his Brier title. The Olympic heroes are likely running on fumes, but until someone knocks them off, they\u2019re the team to beat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect them to be great. They want to continue to win,\u201d said Dunstone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would imagine there\u2019s fatigue there, I know I would have some, but they\u2019re full-blown competitors and phenomenal curlers. They\u2019re going to bring it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opening draw, highlighted by Gushue taking on Quebec\u2019s Jean-Michel M\u00e9nard, takes place today at 5 p.m. CT. Both Dunstone (vs. New Brunswick\u2019s James Grattan) and Calvert (vs. Alberta\u2019s Kevin Koe) play their first games on Saturday at noon.<\/p>\n
winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n
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Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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