Viterra Championship

curling. But that pales in comparison to reaching the final in 10 of the 11 WcT events the team entered during the 2014- 15 season. Mcewen won eight of those final games. "Hopefully this year we've nailed the formula and can come out on top in the end," neufeld says. But in order to claim its first provincial championship, Team Mcewen will have to contend with 31 of Manitoba's best curl- ing teams, including defending champion reid carruthers. carruthers, along with third Braeden Moskowy, second derek samagalski and lead colin Hodgson of the West st. Paul curling club flew un- der the radar while the spotlight shone brightly on Mcewen and stoughton at last year's championship. But that will not be the case this season as carruthers feels ready to represent Manitoba at the Brier for a second consecutive year and im- prove his 4-7 record. "i wouldn't say i'm nervous going into this year's provincials. We beat the Olympic champs (Brad Jacobs) a few times this year, Mike's beat us a few times and we've beat Mike a few times," carruthers says. "There isn't anyone that i'm nervous playing. i respect everyone we're going to be playing because i know our team can be beat, but at the same time if we don't win this provincials the sun is still going to come up the next day." last season was Team carruthers' first to- gether. The goal was to find consistency as a new team and winning the provincial title was the icing on the cake. However, this year carruthers believes they've im- proved with consistency and communica- tion on the ice. His best finish of the season was at the deKalB superspiel in Morris. carruthers ousted Mcewen, provincial competitor dennis Bohn and up-and-coming alberta rink charley Thomas en route to the cham- pionship. Other Viterra championship contenders include a resurgent daley Peters who has led sean grassie's old lineup through a suc- cessful Manitoba curling Tour season; and scottish-born William lyburn who is backed by third Jason gunnlaugson, a rock-slinger and one-time russian curling prospect. Manitoba's contenders and champions have become familiar faces over the years, but the 2016 provincial champion- ship offers four fresh faces that could po- tentially make a splash on the provincial men's curling scene. skip Matt dunstone, third colton lott, second Kyle doering and lead rob gordon are cautiously optimistic heading into the Viterra championship. The team represented Manitoba at the national junior championship and dun- stone and lott represented canada at the world juniors in 2013 and brought home bronze medals for their country. last year, dunstone qualified for the provincial men's championship, but did not play as he was once again representing canada — at the 2015 Winter universiade, a multi-sport event for university athletes. it's fair to say the 20-year-old skip is cau- tiously optimistic heading into his first provincial men's championship, but that doesn't mean his competition hasn't taken notice of the young team's talent and bold style of play. dunstone defeated Mcewen twice at the deKalB superspiel and has held his own against Brier contenders like Kevin Koe and steve laycock this season. While the young skip has played on sev- eral provincial, national and international stages, the opportunity to compete for a spot at the Brier takes some precedence. dunstone was a four-year-old toddler when he was throwing makeshift rocks across the kitchen floor and dreaming of playing in the Brier. now, 16 years later, he's one step closer to that dream. and that's what the Viterra champion- ship comes down to — an opportunity to play on canada's grandest curling stage. it doesn't matter whether it's long-time favourite Mcewen winning his first cham- pionship, carruthers performing a provin- cial repeat, or an underdog like dunstone surprising the field and coming out on top. each team will follow a different path as they battle to get to the final on Feb. 14, but the destination is always the same — representing one of the most competitive provinces on curling's most distinguished stages. V i t e r r a C h a m p i o n s h i p . C a F e b rua ry 10 - 14 , 2 016 s e l k i r k r e C r e at i o n C o m p l e x ClassiC storylines Continued from p2 Reid Carruthers' team, from left, Derek Samagalski, Braeden Moskowy, Carruthers and Colin Hodgson. BOris MinKeVicH/WinniPeg Free Press Files 3 SCAN FOR A FREE QUOTE! BBB Torch Award Winner for Marketplace Ethics and Integrity 2010, 2011, 2012 Local • Long Distance • U.S. • Overseas 204-925-6683 204-925-6683 1-877-974-6683 1-877-974-6683 www.winnipegmoving.ca @WinnipegMoving Facebook.com/WinnipegMoving Allied Van Lines QUALITY AGENT OF THE YEAR Award - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Locally Owned and Operated since 1975 400 Oak Point Highway Winnipeg 'I respect everyone we're going to be playing because I know our team can be beat, but at the same time if we don't win this provincials the sun is still going to come up the next day.'

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