Saskatchewan skip embraces underdog role at Brier
Saskatchewan skip believes he has a team primed to take on the big boys in Kingston
Matt Dunstone takes a look at the field for the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier and sees a list of legends still in their prime.
As a 24-year-old skip representing Saskatchewan who is trying to break through in the world of high-level men’s curling, it’s a daunting challenge.
First off, there’s Brad Jacobs’ Northern Ontario rink, a team full of Olympic gold medallists that has a remarkable 50-12 record and three Grand Slam titles this season.
Then there’s four-time Canadian champion Kevin Koe, who won the Brier last year in Brandon, Man.; two-time champ Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador, and world No. 2 John Epping of Ontario.
It’s a field full of favourites. “I don’t know what the stats would be, but I bet they’ve lost under 10 games this year,” Dunstone said of the Jacobs team. “They’ve been on a tear and Epping is as solid as ever. They’re right up there with Jacobs with the year they’ve been having. Gushue, Koe, the list goes on.
“There’s legends and guys who are in their prime and killing it. To win, it’s unreal how well you have to be playing. It’s going to be a pretty special Brier this year.”
Despite all that, Dunstone believes his Regina foursome has a chance.
Consisting of third Braeden Moskowy, second Catlin Schneider and lead Dustin Kidby, the Dunstone foursome broke through this season and won the Grand Slam Masters event in North Bay, Ont., in October, beating Gushue 8-5 in the final.
Dunstone was overcome with emotion after winning, realizing just how hard it is to win in such a deep field, but now he’s filled with confidence as the biggest event on the curling calendar gets underway in Kingston, Ont.
“I think that’s the reason we have that belief in ourselves,” Dunstone said of the Slam win. “That’s the top 15 teams in the world and we were able to win it.
“The Brier is a little bit of a different animal, but from a field standpoint, it’s no different. Most would argue it’s a little bit easier than a Slam when it comes to the field. You’ve still got to beat the toughest teams in the world to win the event. We’re up for the challenge, especially having won that Slam.”
Dunstone grew up curling in Winnipeg and played in several Manitoba championships before joining a couple different Saskatchewan teams.
He now lives in Kamloops, B.C., with his curler girlfriend Erin Pincott (who played third in the Scotties) and travels extensively to compete with his team.
“We put together a schedule where we’re playing the toughest events throughout the entire year and we’ve got a lot of that experience this year,” he said.
“We took our lumps for a good stretch, but we happened to pull one off as well so there’s definitely some progression against those guys.
“Going into this event, we’ve beaten all the best teams in the world and we’ve lost to the best teams in the world, so we know what we’re getting into. At the same time, we have a belief that we can pull this off.”
Gushue spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons as Team Canada, so things look a little different for his team from St. John’s, N.L. this year.
They’ve played well, made some semifinals and finals, but haven’t won anything, so they actually come into the tournament seeded fifth.
“Jacobs’ team has had a great year and Epping has had a good year,” Gushue said at Leon’s Centre on Friday. “It’s not unfair to list those guys as favourites with the years that they had and what they’ve accomplished
“If anything, we’re coming in more under the radar than we did as Team Canada. With the years that Epping and Jacobs have had and with Koe coming back as the defending champion, there’s less attention on us.
“The last couple years coming in as Team Canada, there was a ton of attention on us and a lot of expectations, but this year not as much. We’re still one of the favourites but certainly not the way it was the last two years.”
Koe knows how Gushue feels. His team hasn’t had its best year despite being Team Canada and having won a silver medal at the world championship last year.
“There’s a couple of favourites and we’re probably middle-ofthe-packers, people would say, this year,” Koe said.
“But I love our chances. We’re an underdog so we’ll just ride it and I think we’ll be OK.”
Going into this event, we’ve beaten all the best teams in the world and we’ve lost to the best teams in the world, so we know what we’re getting into.
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