Matt Dunstone won his first Brier title earlier this month, and while the Winnipeg-born skip admits it feels like his team is “playing with house money” since they emerged from that stacked Canadian field, they’re also taking a level-headed approach into the upcoming world championships.
In other words, Dunstone, Colton Lott and brothers E.J. and Ryan Harnden aren’t exactly basking in that Tankard glow.
“I would say within the last week or so it’s kind of settled in and everything’s been forgotten about,” Dunstone said of their emotional win at the Brier, which for the skip resulted in a flurry of attention he called “overwhelming” in the best ways.
“Sport is ‘What have you done for me lately?’” Dunstone continued, “and the Brier’s over two weeks ago. So, we’ve moved on, and now all the curling fans have moved on to the world championships.”
The LGT World Men’s Curling Championship opens Friday in Ogden, Utah, and Dunstone’s world No. 4 Team Canada is the top-ranked rink in the field, since none of the teams who made the podium at the recent Olympics won their respective nationals to earn world berths. Dunstone and Co. will be trying to follow up on Brad Jacobs’ win in Cortina, and to end a (relative) drought on this particular stage for Canada’s curling men, who haven’t won a title in nine years.
For Dunstone, a two-time junior national champion and world junior bronze medallist who also owns two Brier silver medals, this is a first-ever appearance at a senior world championship.
“To represent your country means a lot,” the 30-year-old said. “It’s been 10 years for me (since the junior bronze). It’s felt like a lifetime.”
Lott is also making his men’s senior world championship debut, while the Brush Brothers, E.J. and Ryan Harnden, who won Olympic gold in 2014 alongside their cousin, Jacobs, are making return trips. Ryan owns a pair of world silver medals, and E.J. has four.
This 2026 world championships also represents a finale for E.J., since the second announced this curling season will be his last.
“This just feels like it's a bonus. There’s just a sort of lightness that I feel and excitement that I feel, and I haven’t felt this way in a number of years,” said E.J., 42, who credits Dunstone and Lott for helping to reignite his love of curling.
“I have to figure out how to control that passion and fire, because let's be honest, I haven't played with that for a number of years,” E.J. added, with a grin. “And it's like, holy moly, I gotta learn how to just control it a little bit at times, because I'm raring to go.”
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While the Harnden brothers curled with their cousin for years, they point out this Team Dunstone has that same familial feel. “So, that's why I think the emotions and some of the sentiments and conversations and the articulation of what this means comes out in certain ways, because this is an awesome group and we have something special,” E.J. said. “And I'm going to miss it a lot. But we're not done yet.”
While they won’t have to contend with world No. 1 Bruce Mouat of Scotland and No. 2 Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland, the teams that beat Schwaller and Mouat in their national championships both rank among the top 10 in the world. Scotland and Switzerland will be represented by skips making their senior world debuts in world No. 5 Ross Whyte, owner of a pair of Grand Slam titles, and Marco Hoesli, the world No. 9.
“It's definitely not your regular teams that you've seen at the worlds prior,” said Lott. “The Scottish team there [Team Whyte], they're equivalent to Mouat. They're a very good team, but I think for us, it doesn't matter who we play. We're going to go out there, stick to our game plan, stick within the team and perform at the best that we can by doing that.”
Earlier this week at women’s worlds, skip Kerri Einarson and her team won silver, following up back-to-back gold medals won by fellow Canadian Rachel Homan and her team on that stage. On the men’s side, Canada hasn’t won gold since Brad Gushue did it back in 2017.
Though it’s a first-ever experience for both Dunstone and Lott, this team feels ready following a season that saw them make Canada’s Olympic Trials final before winning the Brier, a victory that marked a big breakthrough for Dunstone on one of the biggest stages.
“I think a lot of relief has kind of settled in,” the skip said, adding that accomplishing the dream of a national championship is extra special with this team. “I'm not going to take it for granted, obviously. And Canadian curling's been on a nice little stretch here, and I’m excited to be a part of that and hopefully continue that run that we've been on.”
Canada opens play Friday with a double-header against Korea and Italy. The top six teams through the round-robin crack the playoffs ahead of the final on Sunday, April 4.
Dunstone called the tournament a “meat grinder,” but he’s been through plenty of those, and even one earlier this month to punch his ticket to Utah.
“The beautiful part about Canada is it's hard to get to represent the country, but having played in those events to do so, there's no better preparation for these types of events,” said Dunstone, which explains why he sees his team in that “house money” situation. “When you do get through those and you get to the World Championships, you're very well prepared for it. So, that's where I'm at, and we feel really good about it,” Dunstone added. “The way I see it, we’ve already played on the biggest stages that this sport has to offer.”
