In March, Braeden Moskowy was a hometown kid playing in the Tim Hortons Brier in Regina.
But he wasn’t representing Saskatchewan.
He was part of the Reid Carruthers rink from Manitoba last year, but this year he is the third on Matt Dunstone’s rink based in Regina. And while Dunstone’s team has yet to pick up a win in four games at the Home Hardware Canada Cup, after an 8-6 loss to Brendan Bottcher (3-1) Thursday night, Moskowy is having a good time this week as part of the de facto home province rink.
“I think it’s pretty well known across the country and the curling world that Saskatchewan curling fans are some of the best out there,” said Moskowy. “I know when we get the chance to play in Saskatchewan and be the Saskatchewan team it’s a real privilege and a lot of fun and we’re doing our best.”
The fan support for the Dunstone rink has been noticed by the team as they curl.
“That’s always great to feel that support,” Moskowy said. “It’d be nice to put together a few more shots and a few victories for them to close out the week.”
The Dunstone rink is the youngest team at the Canada Cup and this is their first year together.
“This and the Tankard are two of our biggest goals of the year,” Moskowy said. “I think going into this week, we know we have beaten all these other teams in the past. We know we can compete and it’s not like we’ve been getting blown out every game.”
The Dunstone team isn’t in a good place to make even a tiebreaker but the learning experience is important for Moskowy, who first played in a Grand Slam event in 2011.
Casey Scheidegger (3-1) defeated Alli Flaxey (1-3) 12-2 in a match that looked to be basically over when Scheidegger scored four in the fifth end to go up 9-1.
“Getting those wins early is huge going into these last final games,” said Scheidegger.
Scheidegger has a tough day Friday, facing Kerri Einarson and Jennifer Jones, the two other teams that will enter the day 3-1.
“We’ll be happy to split the day,” Scheidegger said. “They’re two really good teams so we’re just hoping to play well and be there in the end.”
Being 3-1 at this stage and tied for the lead is good but that alone won’t get them into the playoffs.
“I feel like a lot of the women’s teams are equal,” Scheidegger said. “We’re mid-season so we should be in fine form now but I think that… before it used to be (Rachel) Homan and (Jennifer) Jones which were kind of far ahead but I think that the other women’s teams have done a lot of work to try and improve. I’m not surprised there’s a bunch of us that are going to be 3-1, I think that these last three games are going to be the difference-maker.”
Thursday night, Kevin Koe (3-1) edged Carruthers (0-4) 4-2, Einarson (3-1) defeated Darcy Robertson (1-3) 8-7 and Jennifer Jones (3-1) defeated Rachel Homan (2-2) 9-5.
Friday morning’s draw will see Einarson take on Scheidegger, Jones against Flaxey, Bottcher versus Koe, Dunstone against Carruthers and Robertson against Homan.
