Team Dunstone no stranger to bubble life ahead of Tim Hortons Brier

Bubble life isn’t anything new for Matt Dunstone and his Saskatchewan rink.

Team Dunstone has been in the Calgary curling bubble for a few days as it waited for the start of the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier — Canada’s men’s curling championship.

But prior to that, the team spent about two weeks in its own bubble in Wadena.

The team was welcomed by the community to use its rink as the team prepared for the tournament.

Dunstone said he and his teammates ordered out a few times and third Braeden Moskowy cooked up breakfast but the community would drop off meals for them to enjoy.

“The town welcomed us in with open arms, the people who knew about it anyways, and we were treated better than we deserved,” Dunstone told the Green Zone.

But while they didn’t work on their cooking much during their time in Wadena, the members of Dunstone’s rink focused on working off the rust that came with curling clubs shutting down in November.

“We’re feeling really good. The game’s in a really good spot right now. Everybody’s looking pretty tight out there when it comes to the mechanics and everything. It gives us a lot of confidence even though we haven’t played for three, four months now,” Dunstone said.

“All things considered to be able to practise once or twice a day for two weeks leading in, we’re feeling really good and not a whole lot of rust there at all. (It’s) pretty exciting stuff on our end and we’re feeling pretty confident about it.”

And they even found time to have a friendly singles tournament between the four of them — Dunstone, Moskowy, second Kirk Muyres and lead Dustin Kidby — with $250 on the line.

And who ended up with the biggest smile on their face at the end of that one?

“Well, yours truly. I took care of (Muyres) in the final. I don’t know if this was a tactic to have skipper feeling really confident going into the Brier. Whether they did it on purpose or not, I’m the one laughing — I’ve got $250 in my jeans because of it,” Dunstone said.

Now in Calgary, Dunstone said the team’s players had to self-isolate while they waited for their COVID-19 test results to come back before they could meet as a team.

Dunstone’s rink will try to be the first team from Saskatchewan to win the Brier since Rick Folk’s entry in 1980. Dunstone’s first game is Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Peter Mackey’s Nunavut rink.

“This team talks about (ending the drought) every single day. We want to be the people that do it. We know it’s been 41 years but we totally embrace that. Those 41 years are the reason why we get out of bed and put in the work we do to be the best not only in Saskatchewan and Canada but the world,” Dunstone said.

“We want to be the four or five guys that do that and bring it home. We talk about how much fun it would be to walk the streets of Regina and now Wadena and just holding that Brier tankard up to celebrate with all the people and it’s something the people of Saskatchewan deserve.”

Despite the year that was with COVID, Dunstone expects that when the rocks start flying, fans could be treated to some fireworks.

“I really do think it’s going to be amazing curling, some of the best we’ve ever seen,” he said. “We haven’t played for a while but everybody’s bodies have done nothing but recover and get healthier and stronger.

“I know (most) if not all (of the teams) have been able to get on the ice beforehand. I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of rust there. I truly believe this could be one of the best Briers ever,” Dunstone said.