Team Dunstone prepared for big-city Brier in small-town Saskatchewan

It’s a case of a double bubble for Matt Dunstone’s curling team.

In preparation for the bubble in Calgary for the Tim Hortons Brier, Saskatchewan’s representatives at the Canadian men’s curling championship isolated themselves in Wadena.

COVID-19 public health orders forced a number of curling clubs to close early in 2021 — including Regina’s Highland Curling Club, where Dunstone normally practises — so another rink was required.

“Scott Comfort is the icemaker (in Wadena) and he said, ‘If you guys can get down here, I’ll make Brier ice for you,’ ” Kirk Muyres, Dunstone’s second, said on Tuesday’s Green Zone as the team drove to Calgary. “So we kind of started working through the motions.

“Once the government said we could practise together, we said, ‘We need to quarantine, so we might as well move in together (and) quarantine together.’ We went from the house to the curling rink and back to the house for 14 days and that was kind of the routine.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but we feel great. We feel prepared. The ice was great. Home-cooked meals were left on the doorstep a few nights. It was quite an experience.”

The teammates — Dunstone, Muyres, lead Dustin Kidby and third Braeden Moskowy — learned a few things about life in a bubble. They also learned a few things about each other.

Moskowy apparently is the best of the four in the kitchen.

“The other three of us are more cleaners and Braeden’s a good cook,” Muyres said. “He made some beauty breakfasts.

“Honestly, a lot of the meals were delivered to us on our doorstep so we didn’t have to do a lot of cooking at night, but Braeden really spearheaded the breakfasts.”

As for quarantining together, Muyres said the men made it work.

“I was a little worried about the amount of time we were going to spend together as a group,” he said. “We all live alone, we all do our own thing and now we’re coming together for two weeks of 24 hours a day together. But I think we did a good job of taking our own time, taking a couple hours away, sitting in our room and doing that.

“I think the big one was that our team is able to work together really well for long periods of time and you need that when you want to win a Brier or a world championship.”

The teammates also watched the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which was held in the same venue in which the Brier is to be played.

Dunstone’s girlfriend, Erin Pincott, is the third on the Corryn Brown team that represented B.C. in the Canadian women’s championship. She provided some intel to Dunstone and his teammates that they hope can help them in Calgary.

“Also the people running the bubble — Curling Canada — went through a dry run (with the Scotties), so they can make it a little smoother for us to come in there and go through it,” Muyres said.

“It’s huge to watch the Scotties unfold for 10 days and know what to expect when we get in there. It’s one less thing for us to worry about. We can just focus on the curling, which is ultimately why we’re going.”

Making the long drive to the bubble in Calgary! #roadtrip #Brier2021 pic.twitter.com/Mcqu8lkgDL

— Team Dunstone (@TeamMDunstone) March 2, 2021

That said, Muyres noted the team isn’t relying on others for everything. The players know the ice won’t be the same as it was during the Scotties and they’re well aware they’ll have to adjust to life in the bubble.

Muyres isn’t concerned.

“We got a little correspondence through Pat Simmons, the high performance director (at CurlSask), on what to expect and what to bring (into the bubble),” Muyres said. “We’re bringing the Netflix, the work, the computer, books — anything to fill our days. Hopefully it’ll work.

“But at the same time, I feel like pretty much all the world has got pretty good at quarantine over the last year, so I think we’ll be able to handle it for a few days.”

As for handling the field, well, that’s going to be tough.

A number of Canada’s top teams are at the Brier, including those skipped by Brad Gushue, Kevin Koe, Mike McEwen, John Epping and Brad Jacobs.

“Every year, we say it’s the best Brier field ever and it just keeps proving itself year after year,” Muyres said. “There seems to be more depth every year we go, so this year’s no different.

“We’ve seen it with this new format that they’ve been using for a few years. It’s really tough to make a run deep in the championship pool or the playoffs if you go into that championship pool with a 4-3, 4-4 record.

“Getting off to a quick start, winning the games you have to win and winning most of the games against the top teams are going to be huge for us in the first eight games.”

Saskatchewan hasn’t captured a Brier title since Rick Folk won it all in 1980.