Dunstone takes Red Deer crown
E.J. Harnden returned to the ice wars in Red Deer, Alta. and won the crown.
Playing second for Team Matt Dunstone, Harnden reunited with his brother Ryan at front end as the squad won the World Curling Tour’s Red Deer Classic.
It was Harnden’s first appearance since he was dropped from Team Brad Gushue, the two-time defending Brier champions, and replaced by Brendan Bottcher.
“Thanks Team Dunstone for having me, I had an absolute blast on and off the ice,” Harnden posted. “Winning is nice as well—great to be alongside Ryan Harnden again.”
Harnden replaced third B.J. Neufeld, while regular second Colton Lott moved to third stone.
The retooled Dunstone crew went 7-1 during the week, which included two wins over John Epping’s new Northern Ontario foursome—one of them a 6-0 pasting in the final.
Other victories came over USA’s Korey Dropkin (semifinal) and Dan Casper (quarterfinal) as well as
Saskatoon’s Charley Thomas, Brent Pierce of Vancouver and Dylan Vavrek of Sexsmith, Alta.
Dunstone’s only loss came in an A qualifier against Saskatoon’s Rylan Kleiter.
Harnden’s former Gushue teammates are still without a title this season, although they came close at the Grand Slam’s Canadian Open in Nisku, Alta.
Team Gushue were thumped 6-2 in the final, their second straight Slam final loss to Scotland’s Bruce Mouat.
Winnipeg’s youthful Jordon McDonald was the fourth semifinalist in Red Deer. The other men’s playoff berths went to fellow Winnipegger Braeden Calvert and Scotland’s Cameron Bryce.
The women’s title went to the Momoha Tabata foursome, 7-4 winners of an all-Japan championship battle over Satsuki Fujisawa.
Japan’s Ikue Kitazawa and Victoria’s Kayla MacMillan made the semis, while Calgary’s Kayla Skrlik, Winnipeg’s Beth Peterson, Korea’s Eun-jung Kim and Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura lost out in the quarterfinal round.