Dunstone at the top of his game

Matt Dunstone remembers when he decided to dedicate his life to curling.

It was at the 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Winnipeg when an up-and-coming Brad Jacobs burst onto the scene by punching his ticket to Sochi.

“I went to as many draws as my parents would allow me to. And then that final weekend getting to watch Team Jacobs go on their run, I’ll never forget that runback Brad made against Kevin Martin to lock up their spot in the final. I was sitting front row for that,” said Dunstone, who was 17 at the time.

“And you know, as soon as I saw that, I just kind of said to myself, ‘This is a sport and an opportunity that I need to pursue.’”

Dunstone is one of 16 skips (eight on the men’s side and eight on the women’s) who will try to inspire the next generation this week at the 2025 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Halifax. The two winners will represent Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

This is Dunstone’s third trip to the trials but his first as a favourite as the Granite Curling Club skip, third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden are ranked second in the world behind Scotland’s Bruce Mouat.

“That was the moment that I wanted to commit myself to curling and give myself the best opportunity to go and do what they did in 2013, and beyond. And it’s also kind of funny how it’s gone full circle and now I’m playing with half of them,” said Dunstone, now 30.

The half would be the Harnden brothers. They played alongside Jacobs during that magical run that ended with a gold medal for Canada. The brothers from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., also made it to the finals at the 2021 trials with Jacobs where they lost to Brad Gushue.

“They just they know how to win this event, and you know we’re going to lean on that a lot and that they’ll bring that side of it,” said Dunstone.

“And then it’s up to me and Colton to be killers in the back end, to make the big shots when we have to.”

Dunstone won the AMJ Masters and the PointsBet Invitational this season but is still in search of his first career-altering win at the national level after losing both the 2023 and 2025 Brier finals to Gushue.

“We’ve played in a lot of big games in the last four years. I think it’s helped me personally for sure and grow as a person and as a skip. And you know what? I just feel very free and sort of at peace with what’s on the line here,” said Dunstone.

“At the end of the day, come Dec. 1, when this is all over, I hope I’m planning for Italy in February. But I know, regardless of that, that I’ve got Christmas to plan for, and we got an event in December that we’re going to need to get ready for. Like I’ve just really learned over the last four years that life continues to go on and I’m very at peace with that.”

While the expectations are high for Dunstone, the other Manitoban in the men’s tournament — 22-year-old Jordon McDonald — enters as a darkhorse. McDonald secured the eighth and final berth into the event last month after outlasting fellow Manitoban Braden Calvert in the pre-trials finals.

McDonald, who plays with third Jacques Gauthier, second Elias Huminicki and lead Cameron Olafson, is set to become the youngest skip to ever compete at the trials.

“Oh, no, absolutely not. This was never, ever close to being on my radar,” said McDonald on qualifying at such a young age.

“We’re super proud of ourselves. It was an amazing accomplishment for us just as a young team and being able to experience this at a young age.”

They may be the future, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make noise now. They went 3-1 at the PointsBet and have beaten Dunstone twice.

“We know we can beat anyone if we play our best,” said McDonald. “I’m sure there might be some weird things that happen, like there always is at the trials, and it’s just whoever comes out on the right side of that who is gonna have a good week.”

EINARSON, LAWES, AND CAMERON

The 2021 trials are a bit of a touchy subject for Team Kaitlyn Lawes.

Lawes and second Jocelyn Peterman, who were playing with Jennifer Jones at the time, prevailed 6-5 in the final after Tracey Fleury came up short on a draw attempt in the 11th end.

Two of Fleury’s teammates in that heartbreaker, third Selena Njegovan and lead Kristin Gordon, formed a new rink with Lawes and Peterman the following year.

“The game is a little bit off limits to talk about,” said Lawes with a laugh. “Joking aside, yeah, it’s come up, but we try not to mention it too much.”

The good news for Fleury is she now plays third on arguably the most dominant team in curling history with Rachel Homan and will likely be there at the final weekend for a shot at redemption.

Homan is 80-2 against Canadian competition dating back to the 2023-24 campaign and has won the last two Scotties and world titles.

“Obviously everyone is chasing them this week, but again, it’s the trials. I think what excites everyone in this field is anything is possible,” said Lawes.

“And if they’re going to be the team that represents Canada, we all hope that we can give them the best games to prepare for the Olympics.”

Nearly half the field hails from the Keystone Province — Lawes, Kerri Einarson, and Kate Cameron — but unfortunately for them, the odds of pulling off an upset have become less likely as the event final is now a best-of-three showdown.

“I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be in that first game and if you lose, you feel like you have a second life. Or you win, you feel like you’re that close and there’s still another game, and possibly another game after that,” said Lawes, a three-time Olympian and two-time gold medallist.

“I feel like the mental grind of it is going to feel a lot different this time around.”

The biggest threat to Homan is Einarson. The four-time Scotties champ welcomed second Shannon Birchard back from a knee injury this season, and the team’s new lead Karlee Burgess is fitting in well on a roster that also includes third Val Sweeting. They’ve had an average year by their standards — a 15-10 record — but Homan’s last two losses against a fellow canuck came against Einarson with one in 2023 and another in 2024. Homan won their previous six meetings.

“Everyone dreams about going to the Olympics. I know my first trials I put way too much pressure on myself. And this year, we’ve just been treating it like any other event,” said Einarson. “I actually feel really comfortable going into this. Even though we haven’t had the big, successful start to the season that we wanted, we know we’re actually playing pretty well.”

Einarson is ranked second in CTRS, with Lawes not far behind in fourth and Cameron cracking the Top 10 at the No. 9 spot.

Former Team Einarson lead Briane Harris teamed up with Cameron, second Taylor McDonald and lead Mackenzie Elias after being out of the sport for a year. They’ve played a jam-packed schedule to make up for lost time with seven events, highlighted by five playoff appearances and two finals.

“I think Briane fitting in has been pretty seamless, especially right from early on,” said Cameron.

“I think we’ve brought a light to her to come back to curling and I think she’s sparked one in us as well, just being excited to get going and really giving it a fair chance. I think we’ve all committed to that and we’ve done everything we can going into this to feel as ready to go as we can.”

With the trials happening once every four years, the pressure is dialed up to max for everyone who steps on the ice in Halifax.

“Everything is just different at the trials. Intensity is at an all-time high and everyone wants it so bad,” said Cameron. “You can see it in body language, you can see it in demeanor, and you can hear it in people’s voices. It’s just a whole different beast.”

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