Dunstone, E.J. Harnden talk mid-season curling team changes

Dunstone formed a team with third Neufeld, second Colton Lott and lead Ryan Harnden prior to the 2022-2023 season, an outfit that won silver at the 2023 Brier.

“We had a great first season,” Dunstone said. “The last year-and-a-half, we just found we weren’t beating the top teams in the world consistently enough and that’s through no fault of anybody’s. We just felt like we needed a spark.”

Neufeld was unavailable to play for Dunstone last month at an event in Red Deer, so Lott moved to third and E.J. Harnden was invited to round out the front end, with his younger brother Ryan at lead.

Team Brad Gushue and the elder Harnden parted ways in October in another mid-season change that sent shockwaves across the curling landscape.

Harnden said there is no hostility toward Gushue, but noted his passion for the game was waning over the last couple of years, along with his own performance.

“I actually felt there was a lot of relief for myself,” Harnden said of his Gushue exodus. “We tried for the last little while, even though we were having success, to try to figure out how to get things to come to a place where everyone felt really comfortable and good about it. Not that there is a wrong or right, it just sort of never got there and we all made the mature decision to part ways.”

Gushue is the three-time defending Brier champion and second-ranked team in the world.

“I’m sort of in the late stages of my career, so if I’m going to sacrifice time on the road away from my family and missing my kids’ activities, I want to do it in a way that not only I feel I can win, but the most important thing is that I’m really enjoying myself,” said Harnden, a resident of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

E.J. said he brings leadership potential to the team and experience that includes a 14-year run with his brother on Team Jacobs, which won the Brier in 2013 and Olympic gold in 2014.

“Again, that’s something over the last couple of years that has slipped away from me a little bit, just being a little bit more involved in strategy and some of the calls we’re making and how we’re approaching the game, and Matt coming down and asking about weight and lines and being decisive on those and being a little bit more involved … I thought it was a real comfortable and natural fit right away,” Harnden said.

Added Dunstone: “On my teams, everybody has a voice. The only thing I’ve ever asked of anybody on my team is to just be themselves. That’s going to be the expectation of him.”

Dunstone won in Red Deer and the skip noted revived passion, seemingly spurred by the reuniting of the Brush Brothers and Lott’s move to third.

“There’s just a chemistry between me and Colton that I don’t think anybody in curling can match, with us at the back end,” said Dunstone, noting Lott has ample experience at the third position. “It all came together a little bit better than we all had anticipated while in Red Deer and felt something we maybe didn’t feel prior to and it was the spark we felt like we had to pursue.”

News of Neufeld’s departure came last week in a media release, a few days after Dunstone posted a 1-3 record at the KIOTI National Grand Slam in St. John’s, Nfld.

The team has a winless record at Grand Slam events since forming prior to the 2022-2023 campaign.

Neufeld, a Brier champion with Team Koe in 2019, helped Dunstone claim silver at the 2023 Brier and earn multiple victories at World Curling Tour Championships.

The elder Harnden’s addition to Team Dunstone was made official on Sunday (Dec. 8).

“I feel like I’ve proven to be one of the best seconds in the world for a long period of time, for over a decade, and as it relates to my play, I Iost a little bit of that over the last couple of years,” Harnden said. “I found that again in Red Deer, where I felt like I could go out and be that top second in the world. Bringing that energy, that fire, is helpful for everyone. I feel like for our team, that’s going to be a little bit of our niche and our MO.”

Dunstone is a two-time bronze medallist and one-time silver medallist at the men’s national curling championship. He is aiming to get over the hump at the 2025 Montana’s Brier, which is slated to begin on Feb. 28 in Kelowna.

The Canadian Curling Trials are scheduled to run from Nov. 22 to Nov. 30, 2025, at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.

Next up is the the Nutrien Ag Showdown, which gets underway on Thursday in Swift Current, Sask.

“The team was just looking for some sort of spark to get our act together a little bit and E.J.’s exactly the type of personality that will bring exactly that,” Dunstone said.

“It’s bittersweet because B.J. was a phenomenal teammate and he gave so much to this team.”

by Marty Hastings

Dunstone, E.J. Harnden talk mid-season curling team changes

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