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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatt Dunstone, skip of Team Manitoba-Dunstone, watches his last stone of the 10th End during the semifinal against Team Canada at the Montana’s Brier Canadian men’s curling championship, in St. John’s, N.L., on Sunday, March 8, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Paul Daly<\/p>\n
\u201cThis moment feels way more incredible than I ever would have imagined,\u201d said the 30-year-old skip.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe heartbreak that this group has had over the last three years, the amount that I\u2019ve learned from that, I played free and loose all week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you feel the hurt enough times, you don\u2019t really get too scared of it, when you know what\u2019s at the end of the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dunstone, Colton Lott, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden will represent Canada at the men\u2019s world championship March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah.<\/p>\n
The Granite Curling Club foursome out of Winnipeg earned the right to return to next year\u2019s Montana\u2019s Brier in Saskatoon as defending champions.<\/p>\n
The winning team also claims $100,000 out of a prize purse of $300,000.<\/p>\n
Dunstone lost both the Olympic trials final and Canadian championship final to Brad Jacobs last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Dunstone\u2019s rink eliminated reigning Olympic champion Jacobs this time with a 7-3 win in Sunday\u2019s semifinal.<\/p>\n
That gave Dunstone a rematch at night with Alberta\u2019s Koe, who had gone unbeaten until Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two months we had after the trials, very difficult months for us,\u201d Dunstone said. \u201cWe had a really good reset. This was a major event that we wanted to perform at.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would have loved to have been the Olympic team, but this was next on our list. Given that this group isn\u2019t going to be together next year with E.J. retiring, this group owed it to ourselves to put our best foot forward and get a Brier championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dunstone had fallen 9-7 in an extra end to Koe in a playoff game the previous evening.<\/p>\n
It was a tight final with three blank ends in the first six, and Koe up 2-1 going into the seventh, when the game turned.<\/p>\n
Dunstone stated \u201cit\u2019s time to dance\u201d after Koe missed a runback hit and the skip saw a chance for a multi-point end.<\/p>\n
Dunstone\u2019s first throw was a tap and roll to lie three. Koe\u2019s attempted freeze was light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dunstone\u2019s delicate tap pushed Koe\u2019s counter far enough for the first three points Koe gave up all tournament, and a 4-2 lead heading into the eighth end.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuge shift in the game,\u201d Dunstone said.<\/p>\n
The Dunstone team put all kinds of pressure on Koe by filling the rings with rocks behind guards. Koe hit and rolled for enough of the button to score one and trail 4-3.<\/p>\n
After Lott hit skimmed two guards to remove an Alberta stone and for Manitoba to lie three, Koe was heavy on a draw. Dunstone scored another two in the ninth to lead 6-3.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dunstone fell on his knees as his winning takeout sailed down the ice in the 10th.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dunstone\u2019s shooting percentage in the final was 94 per cent to Koe\u2019s 86, and his team\u2019s 90 per cent to Alberta\u2019s 85.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a well-played game,\u201d Koe said after the ninth Brier final of his career. \u201cWe did a good job hanging in there. We were in a decent spot up one in seven. I picked a bad spot to miss and it cost us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good to come here and be in contention and play well, but it\u2019s very disappointing. I\u2019ve been in so many of these, nine of them. Some of them you feel like you could win or should win and some you feel like you\u2019re a big underdog.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought this one was there for us. We just didn\u2019t get enough pressure on them most of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was also the first Brier title for 30-year-old Lott, who won a Canadian junior championship with Dunstone a decade earlier.<\/p>\n
E.J. Harnden claimed his fourth after victories with Jacobs in 2013 and Brad Gushue in 2023 and 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 42-year-old Harnden has said this is his final season of competitive curling. His brother Ryan, 39, also won a Brier with Jacobs in 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not done yet. That\u2019s amazing,\u201d said E.J., who was named tournament MVP. \u201cI never imagined this being my last Brier, and to win it, that was the goal, but to actually do it and how hard it is to win a Brier, this is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
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On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n