‘It’ll just keep us hungrier:’ Dunstone reflects on 2020 Brier

Even though the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier didn’t end the way they wanted, Matt Dunstone and the members of his Regina-based rink are still happy about their performance at the Canadian men’s curling championship.

“I’m really proud of everybody and what we did this week and it’ll just keep us hungrier,” Dunstone told the Green Zone on Monday, one day after the Saskatchewan champions were presented with their bronze medals in Kingston, Ont.

Lead Dustin Kidby, second Catlin Schneider, third Braeden Moskowy and Dunstone were in their first Brier together as a team and managed to fight their way to an 8-3 record and a spot in the 1-2 Page playoff game.

“That’s what every Canadian curler dreams of and we got to live that,” the 24-year-old skip said. “To experience it once, (it was) very cool and to get that experience will do nothing but help us moving forward.”

The Dunstone team fell 9-4 to Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher in the 1-2 game Saturday before losing 7-6 to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue in the semifinal Sunday. Gushue went on to defeat Bottcher 7-3 for his third Brier title in four years.

“(We’re) definitely very proud of the run we made but at the same time we knew exactly what we were getting into,” said Dunstone, whose team finished second in the round-robin standings.

“We definitely agree this Brier field was bar none one of the toughest it has ever been and there’s a lot of great teams out there that weren’t going to be on the podium this week. That championship pool bar none was some of the most tense curling and greatest atmospheres we’ve ever been a part of.”

Dunstone and his team stuck around following the medal ceremony to take in the whole atmosphere of the final moments of the Brier.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of at the end of the day with a bronze medal at the Canadian (championship) in a field like this and with how tough it actually is, you never know when you’re going to get back and have that opportunity,” Dunstone said. “It’s a part that stings but it’s the part that we can definitely be proud of.”

A Saskatchewan rink hasn’t won the Canadian men’s curling title since 1980, when Rick Folk turned the trick. But after a week of highlight-reel shots and hard-fought victories, Dunstone feels like he and his teammates put themselves on the map as one of the country’s top teams.

“We’ve proven that we belong, there’s no doubt about that,” Dunstone said. “We’ve proven that we can beat all the best teams in Canada and it’s just a matter of going back to the drawing board and figuring out how to be that much better and I think we’re really close to accomplishing what the main goal is.”