Matt Dunstone of Winnipeg, Manitoba has made a significant change to his curling team right before Christmas. On Sunday, Dunstone announced he was replacing B.J. Neufeld of Winnipeg, Manitoba with E.J. Harnden of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario according to Jonathan Brazeau of Rogers Sportsnet. E.J. Harnden will now be reuniting with his brother Ryan. Ryan and E.J. curled for skip Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie and won a gold medal together for Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
With the two Harnden brothers coming from Ontario, there was an obvious question by many when it came to the Curling Canada residency rules. This is particularly for the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, British Columbia from February 28 to March 9. Well according to X, Team Dunstone posted the following, “regarding the Curling Canada residency rules for the 2025 Montana’s Brier, as a pre-qualified team, we meet the requirements and look forward to competing in Kelowna in late February.”
Team Dunstone is one of four teams that have already qualified for the Brier. They are joined by Team Gushue of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Team Jacobs of Calgary, Alberta, and Team McEwen of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The women’s teams that have prequalified for the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ontario in February are Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Ontario, Chelsea Carey of Winnipeg, Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg, and Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba.
