Team Manitoba-Dunstone claims berth in Montana’s Brier final

About the only thing Matt Dunstone did wrong Saturday night had nothing to do with calling line, throwing a shot, or plotting strategy.

The man they call the Sherriff just couldn’t keep his balance late in the ninth end and tumbled to the ice as he was starting his way to the other end to throw his first stone of the end in the Page 1-2 playoff game at the 2025 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI.

He didn’t exactly stick the dismount, but popped up immediately with a chuckle and proceeded to make yet another shot in leading his Winnipeg team to a 7-4 win over three-time defending champs Team Brad Gushue (St. John’s, N.L.).

With the victory at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C., Dunstone, vice-skip Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, alternate Adam Kingsbury and coach Caleb Flaxey are headed to the gold-medal game Sunday at 5 p.m. (all times Pacific) — the second time in three years that Dunstone will be playing in the final. Two years ago, he, Lott and Ryan Harnden lost the gold-medal game in London, Ont., to Team Gushue (who had E.J. Harnden tossing second rocks).

And, said Dunstone, he’ll be a different man than the one who played in that 2023 final.

“A lot less surprised, I would say,” said Dunstone. “Not surprised that we were there (in 2023), but just everything that kind of comes with it and the actual experience of it for Colton and me. I mean, the Harndens have played in a million of these, but now Colton and I know exactly what we’re getting into tomorrow.

“And, you know, that’s a very comforting feeling when we go to bed tonight. There’s going to be no surprises. It feels like we’re right where we should be. I think tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun.”

Neither team could establish momentum in the early going, although the first two ends were leaning in Team Canada’s favour. The reigning champs were able to force Team Manitoba-Dunstone to a single in the first end, and then scored a pair in the second.

But in the third, Dunstone returned the favour; after Gushue barely missed a get-out-of-jail double takeout, Dunstone had an open draw for a go-ahead deuce, and then applied the pressure in the fourth, resulting in Gushue needing to make a cold-blooded draw to bite a big piece of the button against three Manitoba-Dunstone counters.

The teams traded singles in the fifth and sixth ends, the latter on another pressure-packed low-margin-of-error draw by Gushue, followed by a blank in the seventh.

The door looked to have finally cracked open enough for Team Manitoba-Dunstone to generate what could be a game-turning deuce in the eighth. They were sitting two heading into skip’s rocks, but Gushue first played a perfect hit-and-roll, and then followed with a double-takeout, giving Dunstone the throw-through for the blank.

Clearly that fall didn’t rattle him in the ninth; Dunstone made both of his shots to score what would prove to be a decisive deuce on a night during which he shot a sublime 99 per cent.

“Phenomenal,” marvelled E.J. Harnden, before adding: “Not surprising. For his age (29), the composure that Matt showcases in the biggest games at the highest level is admirable. I know he’s going to win this at some point in time. I’d love to be a part of that. Hopefully we can do that tomorrow.”

The loss sends Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second/vice-skip Brendan Bottcher, lead Geoff Walker, alternate Adam Casey and coach Jeff Hoffart into the semifinal at 11 a.m. Sunday against Alberta’s Team Brad Jacobs (Calgary), who earlier on Saturday was a 6-5 winner over Manitoba’s Team Reid Carruthers in the Page 3-4 playoff.

“Well, we’ve got to get back to the way we played (Friday) as opposed to the way we played today,” said Gushue, whose team defeated Team Alberta-Jacobs 7-4 in the Page 1-2 qualifier on Friday. “And obviously playing Jacobs again, they’re going to be fired up and they’ve been playing well. So we’ve got to be better than what we were today.

It was the first time in four Montana’s Brier playoff encounters that a Dunstone-skipped team has prevailed over Team Gushue, but the second time (including their round-robin game Thursday afternoon) this week that Team Dunstone has beaten Team Gushue.

“I said it at the beginning of the event — those are the guys you want to be playing,” said Dunstone. “I mean, that’s Brad Gushue — in my opinion, the best curler of all time. He’s dominated this event for the last decade, it seems. I mean, those are the guys you want to be playing.

“I mean, I got beaten by him (Gushue) a lot, right? There was a lot of learning lessons there. We’re going to have to play a Brad tomorrow. And either one is going to be tough.”

The gold-medal game winner will represent Canada at the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship March 29-April 6 in Moose Jaw, Sask.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2025 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2025 Montana’s Brier, go to www.curling.ca/2025brier/tickets/

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025brier/nouvelles/?lang=fr