Calvert looking to score hit Manitoba Curling Tour Shootout

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This article was published 12/10/2023 (1044 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Braden Calvert is riding a tractor on his cattle farm in Carberry when his phone rings to discuss the 2023-24 curling season.

“Can you hear me OK?,” says Calvert as he shuts off the engine.

Most competitive teams have been on the ice for at least a month at this point, but that hasn’t been the case for this 28-year-old skip.

“It’s been awfully busy. We had lots of rain a couple weeks ago and it’s kind of delayed harvest so we’re still picking away at getting our crops in the bin,” Calvert explained.

“Usually, we like to be done by now. It hasn’t allowed very much time for curling yet, unfortunately.”

That changes this weekend.

Calvert will make his season debut at the Manitoba Curling Tour Shootout at the Selkirk Curling Club.

After five seasons with third Kyle Kurz, second Ian McMillan, and lead Rob Gordon, Calvert is now throwing the final stones for a different outfit. With McMillan taking his broom to Northern Ontario to join Tanner Horgan, and Gordon stepping back from competition, Calvert and Kurz were on the hunt this past offseason for new teammates.

The top target on their list? Corey Chambers.

Chambers accepted the offer, and happily agreed to play third despite proving to be one of the best skips in the Keystone Province in recent years. Rounding out the foursome is Chambers’ lead Brendan Bilawka. Kurz will now play second.

“(Chambers) was high on our list for several reasons. Just pure shotmaking would be No. 1,” said Calvert.

“He’s a guy where when you play him enough, you really learn just how good he is at shotmaking. He can throw the hard ones, make all the draws, and everything in between.”

Calvert has been tied up with the farm, so Chambers, Kurz, Bilawkwa, and subsitute Lucas Van Den Bosch played two bonspiels together in September. Calvert hasn’t even had a chance to practice with the group, so this weekend will truly be the first time they’re all together.

Calvert and Chambers, a 36-year-old from Winnipeg, have been knocking on the door at provincials for quite some time. Together, they’re hoping they can kick it down in Stonewall (Feb. 6-11) to earn the right to wear the Buffalo jacket at the Brier in Regina (March 1-10).

Calvert lost the provincial semifinal to Matt Dustone, the eventual winner, last year. Chambers went on a deep run at the event in 2022 by making it to the final four before bowing out to Ryan Wiebe.

With Dunstone pre-qualifying for the 2024 Canadian men’s curling championship based off their standing in the 2022-23 Canadian Team Ranking System, the biggest contenders for the Manitoba crown will likely be Reid Carruters, Wiebe, and Calvert.

“I think that cumulative experience between all four players and that sort of motivation and hunger to represent Manitoba is what excites me the most,” said Chambers.

“We both have had quite a bit of success, we just sort of haven’t been able to finish things off at provincials, but we’ve both been very close before. I’m sure looking forward to taking a step back and dropping down to third. It’s a position I previously played, and I feel very comfortable at it. We’re all playing positions we’re comfortable with so I’m excited to get things going.”

Team Calvert has a bit of a lighter schedule with seven events between now and the Viterra Championships. Outside of the Red Deer Curling Classic (Nov. 17-19) and Curling Stadium Western Showdown (Dec. 7-10) in Swift Current, Sask.,) they won’t be travelling this season. With Calvert’s work commitments, and Kurz and Chambers having children in the offseason, they’re focused on the Manitoba circuit.

“We are playing a little bit more locally than normal and it’s just to kind of balance our lifestyles and what we want out of the game right now,” said Calvert, a former world junior curling champion.

“It’s very hard to keep up with the European teams and the Asian teams that are funded by their government and able to curl full time and that’s what they do. They play in every single event every weekend and it’s hard to chase the same amount of points and world ranking spots as what they’re doing.”

Even though they won’t be packing their bags much, Calvert likes their potential.

“All of us on the team have won provincial championships, whether it’s juniors, mixed, mixed doubles, every single stress of competition, we’ve excelled at,” said Calvert.

“We’ve been really close at these Viterra Championships and have had some bad luck along the way and maybe haven’t caught some breaks when we needed to. We’re hungrier than ever.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31