Dunstone back at Brier

More curling, anyone?

If you didn’t get your fix after 135-plus games at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, you’re in luck: the Brier starts today in St. John’s, N.L.

Winnipeg’s own Matt Dunstone took the time to watch many of those battles between the world’s best from his living room. Considering his squad was the runner-up at the Canadian Curling Trials in November to Brad Jacobs — who went on to win the gold medal last Saturday over Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat — it wasn’t easy.

“It’s tough, man. I think a couple years ago I probably would have been a little bit more petty and committed to really not watching,” admitted Dunstone in a chat with the Free Press on Thursday.

“But you know, I saw it as a really good opportunity to try and learn. I mean, a lot of the teams at the Olympics are teams that we play five to 10 times a year.”

While Dunstone didn’t get to live out his dream of wearing the Maple Leaf on the grandest stage of them all, he can still make another dream come true this week.

After losing two out of the last three Brier finals (2023 to Brad Gushue, 2025 to Jacobs), the 30-year-old is hopeful this will be the year he finally reaches the top of the Canadian curling mountain.

Dunstone, third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden all gathered in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a pre-Brier training camp to ensure they’re ready to hit the ice against Canada’s best.

“We’ve been one of the best teams in the world all year. We’ve been in multiple slam finals, won the PointsBet, and made the trials final. We’ve contended in every single event and given ourselves a chance to win,” said Dunstone, who is ranked second in the nation behind Jacobs.

“And you know, over the course of your career, winning those finals are going to be 50-50 so it’s just a matter of getting into those. I think for this group, it’s a little cliché, but if we take care of business on our end, I think we’re going to like where we sit at the end of the week.”

He’ll be one of two Manitoba representatives in the field with Brier rookie Braden Calvert set to make his debut after outlasting Jordon McDonald in the provincial final in Selkirk earlier this month. The 30-year-old from Carberry is the first non-Winnipegger to win the province since Brandon’s Rob Fowler accomplished the feat in 2012.

“When you achieve something you’ve been kind of working your whole life towards, you sit down and reflect and it makes you think of every small curling rink you’ve played in, every practice you’ve gone to, every drive from Carberry to Winnipeg, and all the time that you’ve sacrificed for the game,” said Calvert, who lost the previous two provincial finals.

“You get emotional thinking about it, for sure,” said Calvert.

Representing a small town is something Calvert takes a lot of pride in.

“Lots of guys reached out and congratulated us on our success, but honestly, probably one that kind of got me maybe a little emotional was Grant Shewfelt. He’s a curler from Baldur who lost the 1995 Manitoba final (to Kerry Burtnyk while playing third for Rob Ramage) and he just kind of said he was proud of me for winning it for rural Manitoba,” said Calvert.

“So, that kind of got me excited about playing for rural Manitoba.”

Calvert, third Corey Chambers, second Kyle Kurz, and lead Brendan Bilawka are ranked 12th in the Canadian Team Ranking System and are in Pool B alongside Dunstone and Winnipegger Mike McEwen who skips Team Saskatchewan. Carberry will also be represented in Pool A with Derek Samagalski skipping Team Nunavut.

“Our goal is to try to find the gear that we touched in provincials and in the pre-trials (where they lost to McDonald in the final) and maybe even up that a little bit,” said Calvert.

“We feel like if we can play that way we can kind of hang with all these teams. We’ll see where the wins come and where they don’t.”

The biggest storyline is Gushue playing in his final Brier and doing so in his hometown of all places. The six-time national champion is retiring at the end of the season and is looking to write a storybook ending to his illustrious career.

“I feel fortunate to have been able to compete at the same time as him and play him in a lot of big games. He is one of, if not the best curler in Canadian history,” said Dunstone.

“I would love nothing more than to meet up with him later in the week. Definitely want to have a crack at him in his home barn and get to experience that.”

Then there’s Jacobs, who was home for 18 hours before having to return to the airport to defend his Brier title. The Olympic heroes are likely running on fumes, but until someone knocks them off, they’re the team to beat.

“I expect them to be great. They want to continue to win,” said Dunstone.

“I would imagine there’s fatigue there, I know I would have some, but they’re full-blown competitors and phenomenal curlers. They’re going to bring it.”

The opening draw, highlighted by Gushue taking on Quebec’s Jean-Michel Ménard, takes place today at 5 p.m. CT. Both Dunstone (vs. New Brunswick’s James Grattan) and Calvert (vs. Alberta’s Kevin Koe) play their first games on Saturday at noon.

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