Little town on the prairie welcomes Dunstone crew

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/03/2021 (1998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Matt Dunstone is a proud Winnipegger now living in Kamloops, B.C., but is curling at the Brier on behalf of Saskatchewan for the third time in four years.

There’s definitely some green growing in that young heart of his now, if there wasn’t already. Credit the good folks of Wadena, Sask., for that.

Dunstone, third Braeden Moskowy, second Kirk Muyres and lead Dustin Kidby spent two weeks in the small town of about 1,300 residents, located along Highway 5 between Roblin and Saskatoon.

They threw rocks at least once a day at the local club, bunked down at a multi-bedroom home in the community and even had plenty of tasty meals delivered once word got around the athletes were in town preparing for the Canadian men’s championship.

“It’s just a really cool story. We were living in a fantasy world for two weeks,” said Dunstone, 25 a former two-time Canadian junior champion wearing the buffalo. “The hospitality was way better than any of us ever deserved. That’s small-town prairie life, to a tee.”

Dunstone raised his record to 2-1 in Pool B with a 6-3 victory over Greg Smith of Newfoundland-Labrador in the morning draw. The team, now affiliated with the Wadena Club, is idle until Monday evening when it collides with defending champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L. (Team Canada).

Back in January, the ‘21 Saskatchewan playdowns were cancelled, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the provincial federation selected Dunstone’s crew, the 2020 Saskatchewan champions, to participate in the Calgary bubble.

With most clubs closed across the province, it looked like last year’s bronze medallists would have little chance to tune up for the 18-team Brier, judged by many as the finest field ever assembled.

But Dustin Mikush from Wadena contacted the team and offered the use of the club, even though the ice plant had been shut off since November. The provincial health authority also gave its blessing — as long as a number of protocols were followed — and Team Dunstone began its own bubble in the community on Feb. 16.

“They’d do up the ice for us, we’d come in half an hour later and practise. We had keys to the club,” he said. “It was phenomenal. To spend every waking second together (as a team) for two weeks, what more could you ask for. Just basically moved in with these boys and we had a heck of a time. It was really beneficial (before) coming into this.”

A case of the shakes

Michael Fournier remembers when men were men and handshakes were handshakes.

Moments after throttling Peter Mackey of Nunavut 15-1 Sunday morning, the Quebec skip dutifully stuck out his stubby throwing broom to exchange innocuous taps with the brushes of his opponents before wishing the northerners well on the rest of the Brier journey.

Then, he turned to his teammates and clutched hands with each individually, executing their distinctive team handshake. It’s quick, consisting of a thumb lock and finger wiggle, however, Fournier, 49, insists it’s far more complex than it appears.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

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.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

“Our lead (Jean-françois ) brought us this on our run to the Brier in 2018, our provincials to get there. He said it’s his family’s shake, the Trépanier family handshake. It took me at least 10 games to get it right. It’s actually rather complicated but once I got it, it’s brought us good luck. So, we keep doing it, win or lose,” said Fournier, who represented La Belle Province three years ago in Regina.

He’s struck by the major differences between his first-ever Canadian men’s championship and the current version inside the protective bubble.

“Between the teams there isn’t a huge difference. We can’t shake hands but we’re as social as we can be. It’s more the off-ice is weird. Normally in a Brier, you’d be meeting people, you’d be in the Patch,” said Fournier. “I was just blown away (in 2018) the amount of people who just want to talk to you. Fans who want to talk about the curling game, which is awesome. I miss that more than anything else.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell