Matt Dunstone, skip of Team Manitoba-Dunstone releases his stone during the 1 vs. 2 playoffs at the Montana's Brier Canadian men's curling championship in St. John's, N.L., on March 7, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly
By The Canadian Press

In the Rings: Rivalries, ratings and rule tweaks on the Grand Slam circuit

Nov 2, 2026 | 11:07 AM

A budding rivalry in The Roaring Game will see a fresh chapter this week at the Grand Slam of Curling’s P&H Masters.

Danny Casper’s American rink is scheduled to play reigning Canadian champion Matt Dunstone’s side in round-robin play in Medicine Hat, Alta. The matchup comes after the two sides engaged in a lively game last month at the Co-op Invitational in Victoria.

Casper’s foursome was quite demonstrative at times and Dunstone took notice. The Canadian skip had words for his opponents after making a game-winning shot in an 8-7 win.

Teammates Mark Nichols, Ryan Harnden and Colton Lott pumped their fists and voiced their excitement after scoring a pair for the victory. Dunstone was just as joyous as he slid down the ice to join them.

After the teams shook hands, Dunstone delivered a parting shot while looking at the American players.

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“That’s when you celebrate, boys, that’s when you celebrate,” he said as players cleared rocks from the house.

Team Casper third Luc Violette said with the game picked up by ESPN for linear broadcast in the United States via ESPNU, the players wanted to “generate as much excitement” around the matchup as possible.

“Our teams, when we play, we have different philosophies of how we show our emotion and enjoy the game,” Violette said in a recent interview. “Those kind of came to a head there a little bit.”

Dunstone’s team helped deliver another blow to Casper’s side in the round-robin finale against Brendan Bottcher’s rink. When that game went to a shootout, it ensured both teams would advance to the playoffs while leaving the American rink outside the cutline.

“At the end of the day, the scoreboard dictated that there was a lot of risk either which way,” Dunstone said. “That’s just how we decided it.”

Dunstone got two points for the shootout win (giving him eight points) and Bottcher picked up one point for the shootout loss (seven points). Casper, who was 2-2 on the week, had six points.

Grand Slam organizers have since modified the shootout points structure. Teams that would have played an extra end without hammer will no longer receive a single point for a shootout loss.

“They needed to do it and I think they got it right,” Colton Flasch, the third on Team Tyler Tardi, said of the change via direct message.

Grand Slam broadcaster Brad Gushue, who’s also USA Curling’s high-performance director, said he’d like to see how the modification plays out.

“I didn’t see any issue with what happened in Victoria,” he said in a text message. “It was smart and it wasn’t pre-arranged. Extra ends cure all the issues. But I think that ship has sailed.”

Round-robin action starts Tuesday at Co-op Place with play continuing through Sunday’s finals. The Dunstone-Casper matchup is set for Friday night.

“Our two teams just kind of play the emotional game the exact opposite of each other,” Violette said. “I think it makes for a great matchup. Especially (now), I think it is pretty solidified as a rivalry here.”

RATINGS INFO

The season-opening Grand Slam generated decent ratings for the CBC in the broadcaster’s first event since signing a five-year deal with The Curling Group.

Two Saturday games had an average minute audience of 141,000 while the Sunday final drew 168,000, per Numeris data, a network spokesperson said via email. GSOC games were the top live sports on the CBC Gem streaming service that weekend.

The competition averaged 113,400 viewers on Sportsnet and the Sportsnet+ streaming service, a network spokesperson said via email.

Things did not appear to be as rosy south of the border. ESPN declined to provide ratings information for its first linear Grand Slam broadcast.

“We have agreed with the league that we will not be sharing viewership numbers,” a network spokesperson said in an email.

On Monday, The Curling Group announced that DAZN has been added as an international broadcast partner on a multi-year deal.

DRINK TO THAT

The Curling Group has added Molson Canadian as its presenting partner for the Grand Slam season and finalized all but one of its event sponsors on the five-stop circuit.

The Co-op Invitational, P&H Masters, HearingLife National and season-ending Kioti Players’ Cup now have sponsors in place, per event listings on the circuit’s website. The GSOC Open is the lone competition without one.

The Curling Group also recently announced that UNA Sports Group was leading an eight-figure investment round in TCG with participation from Relay Ventures.

As part of the investment, UNA president David Rader will join The Curling Group’s board and UNA CEO Del Wright will serve as a board observer, TCG said in a release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2026.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press




by The Canadian Press

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