‘It would be a dream come true’

Braden Calvert couldn’t stick around for the entirety of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Mississauga, Ont.

After cheering on Team Beth Peterson — skipped by his wife Kelsey Calvert — in person during the opening days of the event, it was time to retreat to Carberry for farm chores and some last minute preparations for next week’s Manitoba men’s curling provincials in Selkirk (Feb. 3-8).

Watching Kelsey compete on the national stage elicits far more nerves for Calvert than when he’s on the ice — even when he’s battling to earn a trip to the Brier.

“I think it’s probably a thousand times harder to watch than actually play. When I’m playing, I feel in control and everything’s good. But in about an hour, I’m going to be a wreck watching them on the TV here,” Calvert told the Free Press early Thursday, prior to Team Peterson’s 8-5 afternoon loss to Kerri Einarson in the 1B vs. 2A playoff. The result dropped Peterson to the B-side where she will now have to beat Alberta’s Selena Sturmay at 7 p.m. tonight in an elimination game.

Regardless of how this weekend ends, Kelsey has proved herself as one of the best shotmakers in the country by guiding third Peterson, second Katherine Remillard, and lead Melissa Gordon-Kurz to a perfect 8-0 round-robin record to earn the top spot in Pool B. Kelsey — a former two-time world junior champion skip — and Peterson swapped positions several months ago and the team has been rolling ever since.

“I think what (makes me most proud) is seeing how good of moms they all are to their little ones, and then being able to go out on the ice and play like rock stars,” said Calvert, who has an eight-month old daughter named Louella with Kelsey.

“And you know, since the lineup change, it’s really ignited a spark. I know for Kelsey, I’ve just seen her love of the game come back a little bit… I’m just really proud of how she’s been able to go out there and be one of the top skips statistically and act like she’s never left the position.”

The Peterson rink lost back-to-back provincial finals before breaking through earlier this month in Rivers where they outlasted Lawes to earn the Manitoba title. Calvert, who will be the No. 3-seed behind Reid Carruthers and Jordon McDonald in Selkirk, is hoping the third time also ends up being the charm for himself, third Corey Chambers, second Kyle Kurz, and lead Brendan Bilawka.

Carruthers has bested them in the last two provincial finals, leaving 30-year-old Calvert still searching for his first Brier appearance.

“Obviously, for all four of us it would be a dream come true to get to the Brier for Manitoba,” said Calvert.

“Having the heartbreak that we’ve had the last couple years, I think it’s going to battle test us. We’re not going to give up on trying to make our dreams come true. It’s kind of cliché, but we want it so bad.”

Life as a cattle farmer doesn’t allow Calvert to play events every weekend, but the ones he does have time for, he makes them count. He’s 27-9 this season, highlighted by a first-place finish at the DeKalb Superspiel in Morris in November. In October, Calvert and company lost a best-of-three final against McDonald in the Canadian Curling Pre-Trials.

“We’re pretty proud of ourselves for playing as well as we did at the pre-trials and the last event we played in (the DeKalb),” said Calvert.

“I just think we’re trusting the process, practising lots, and we’re going to treat (provincials) like any other event and try to play our best.”

Provincials will look different this time around with the field being reduced from 32 to 24 teams — the fewest in 60 years — and the format switching from a double knockout to a triple knockout, with eight teams advancing to the championship round.

“I’m obviously biased and sometimes hate change, but I am going to miss the 32-team format just knowing it so well and knowing the gauntlet that it was,” said Calvert.

“But I think it probably was time for a new format like this to be introduced and I’m excited to see how it plays out.”

If he can duplicate Kelsey’s momentum, it might just play out in his favour.

“Because we live in Carberry and we don’t practice with our teams as much as we’d like, Kelsey and I go out lots together,” he said.

“I hold the broom for her, she holds the broom for me and we give lots of feedback. Sometimes we have to be hard on each other, but it comes from a good place of wanting to push each other to be better. And yeah, we talk a lot of curling in our household — if you can imagine that.”

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