Team Matt Dunstone will have its regular lineup back together for the upcoming Saskatchewan provincial playdowns.
Vice-skip Braeden Moskowy withdrew from Canada's Olympic trials last November on the eve of the competition. The team cited personal reasons for his absence.
Dunstone said Moskowy will return for the Feb. 9-13 tankard in the team's first competitive appearance since the trials.
"We're happy to have him on board as we move forward for the next couple of events we have to close out the season," Dunstone said from Kamloops, B.C.
Dunstone, Moskowy, second Kirk Muyres and lead Dustin Kidby are favourites to win the 12-team triple-knockout event in Regina. The winners will represent the province at the March 4-13 Tim Hortons Brier in Lethbridge, Alta.
Colton Lott, who played with Dunstone at the junior level, was a last-minute replacement for Moskowy at the trials. The team missed the playoffs at 3-5.
Brad Gushue won the men's competition in Saskatoon and Jennifer Jones took the women's competition. They'll be joined at the Feb. 4-20 Beijing Olympics by Canadian mixed doubles representatives Rachel Homan and John Morris.
FAMILIAR FACES
Two members of Team Mike McEwen will serve as coaches at the upcoming national women's curling championship in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Colin Hodgson will handle coaching duties for Chelsea Carey's Wild Card No. 2 side at the Jan. 28-Feb. 6 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Vice-skip Reid Carruthers will be working with Team Canada's Kerri Einarson.
Hodgson said he and Carruthers have worked with high-performance groups, men's teams, women's teams and junior players in the past.
"It's a different perspective and it's really exciting," Hodgson said while en route to Thunder Bay.
Carey and Einarson are in different nine-team pools but are good bets to make the six-team playoffs. Both teams are in the top five of the Canadian women's rankings.
ATHLETES COMMISSION
The World Curling Athletes Commission is welcoming four new members, including American Tyler George, Switzerland's Benoit Schwarz, Estonia's Harri Lill and Norway's Rune Lorentsen.
They will replace outgoing members — including Canadian chair Nolan Thiessen — whose terms have come to a close.
George and Schwarz will succeed Thiessen and Scotland's David Murdoch as men's curling representatives while Lill succeeds Australia's Kim Forge as a mixed doubles representative.
Lorentsen succeeds American Patrick McDonald as the wheelchair curling athlete representative.
The new members will join board liaison Cathrine Lindahl of Sweden and women's curling reps Jill Officer of Canada and Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic. The group will name a new commission chair at an upcoming meeting.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022.
Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
