'A bit of a wild card': Team Muyres ready to make Tankard debut in Estevan
The SaskTel Tankard Provincial Men’s Curling Championships kicks off in Estevan this week and newly formed Team Muyres is ready to make their mark.
“I think we’re a bit of a wild card, right? On paper, we’d be ranked quite low but if you look at our skill set we’ve been competitive curlers for a really long time,” Dallan Muyres, the team’s skip said.
Muyres, who is a six-time Saskatchewan Men’s Provincial Champion, is leading his team of experienced curlers; Third, Garrett Springer, Second, Jordan Tardi, and Lead, Dustin Mikush.
“Me, Dustin, and Garrett played a little bit together last year on the Deis Team and then you know I got a taste of skipping, loved it, loved the pressure, the environment back there and really wanted to increase my skill set,” Muyres explained, on how he began to build his team.
Tardi hails from Langley, B.C. and has played with Muyres in the past. However, both Springer and Mikush grew up in the neighbouring towns of Foam Lake and Wadena and first met while playing in juniors before moving onto the men's league.
Tardi comes to the team with loads of experience, having a World and Canadian championship under his belt.
“The competitive curling community is somewhat small, sometimes you have to go out of province [to build a team],” Muyres explained.
“You’re seeing it a lot more, even in Saskatchewan. The people who can put the time in and be competitive and run this schedule are getting less and less every year.”
Tardi noted the cold Saskatchewan winters are an adjustment for him but he loves the curling culture of the province.
“It’s nice see the different community Saskatchewan has versus B.C. There’s a lot more people that know what curling is, which is really quite fun. A lot of people know who we are no matter what club we’re at. We get looks all the time and people coming over to say hi,” Tardi said.
Team Muyres was at the Highland Curling Club in Regina on Tuesday for a final practice before they head to Estevan.
“We had a little bit of a slow start to the year and then in January we qualified [for the Tankard] at the last couple of events and had some strong performances. I think we’re moving in the right direction at the right time,” Mikush said.
“I think everyone plays in this province so they can end up in the Tankard at the end of the year and we’re looking forward to it. It’s been a long road to get to this for this team,” Springer said.
Even though Team Muyres is ranked lower and possibly considered the underdogs, the team is using that to their advantage.
“There’s not a target on our back, so we can go out there and play loose. Hope for the best, make some shots,” Springer said.
“The whole field is really experienced and really quality ... You just have to go one shot at a time and make the most of every shot,” Muyres said.
Team Muyres will open against Team Jacobson at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.