Dunstone crew could own the future

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2021 (1856 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kirk Muyres bolted from a team to join Matt Dunstone because he was convinced the young skip had the talent and poise beyond his years to make something special happen.

Nothing about a crushing defeat in the Brier semifinal Sunday afternoon made him regret his decision.

“When I decided to join, I thought (Dunstone) was the next big thing and we saw it (Sunday) and now he’s one of the best in the world. No moment is too big for him, and that’s what makes a great player,” said Muyres, a former skip who join the Regina-based team as second nearly a year ago. “When you see him wearing his heart on his sleeve like this, that’s a true leader and it’s just fun playing for him.”

Dunstone was, indeed, an open book when he spoke after Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher made a sensational long angle-raise takeout with his last stone to score two points and post a 6-5 triumph over Saskatchewan at WinSport Arena.

The Winnipeg product, just 25, was the picture of maturity and grace amid utter dejection.

“Just to be able to feel all the emotions again, how lucky are we to actually be here right now competing and playing on the biggest possible stage. I know it’s upsetting right now but in the grand scheme of things, it’s really a blessing,” Dunstone said, his voice breaking. “To be able to be out here competing in a global pandemic when there’s so many other thing going on in the world right now, we’re pretty thankful for the experience.”

The unseen forces said to lurk at sporting events clearly ignored green when planning their wardrobes for the semifinal, which pitted a pair of teams with identical 9-3 records. It’s the only explanation Dunstone could come up with on why Saskatchewan did just about everything right and still fell short.

“The curling gods were wearing a blue sweater (Sunday). That’s all there is to it. It totally stinks but this isn’t the end of us,” said Dunstone, who now calls Kamloops, B.C., home.

Saskatchewan’s last Brier champion was Rick Folk in 1980.

Ahead by one but without the hammer, Saskatchewan put the screws to Alberta in the 10th by getting shot rock positioned on the button, behind a wall of granite. With his final rock, Dunstone erased one avenue to his yellow counter with a well-placed guard, leaving Bottcher the far more intricate raise.

As the Alberta skip’s stone sailed down the right side of the sheet, third Darren Moulding’s on-again, off-again call to the sweepers was a clear sign the attempt was close.

“When our last one came to rest, Deuce (Dustin Kidby) and I said to each other, ‘Well, we did all we could and can have peace with that,’” said Muyres. “At the end of the day, (Bottcher) is always gonna be close on that one, and (Sunday) it went his way. Maybe next time it will go our way.”

Dunstone, a two-time Canadian junior champion, lost the semifinal in 2020 to eventual champion Brad Gushue of Newfoundland-Labrador.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“To be honest, it sucks … you get so close again,” he said. “There’s nothing to hang our heads about. It was a world-class game. They played awesome, we played awesome. We’re going to come back stronger. You keep putting yourselves in these sort of positions, you’re going to succeed eventually, and that’s all we can really do.”

Saskatchewan shot 88 per cent as a team, six points higher than the Alberta gang. The front end of Kidby (94) and Muyres (91) was dynamite, while third Braeden Moskowy (85) was instrumental in setting up a go-ahead deuce in the ninth end and then applied pressure on Alberta with a pair of shots in the 10th.

“Best guys to curl with. You couldn’t ask to be part of a better group. I’m really proud of how hard they battled this week,” added Dunstone. “I wouldn’t have wanted to win or lose with anybody else here.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell