As one Yukon team arrives home, another prepares to depart for the Curling Canada’s bubble at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary.

The 2021 Tim Hortons Brier, the popular curling tournament, will begin March 5. Representing the Yukon will be, lead Robert McKinnon, second Brandon Hagen, third Alexx Peech, skip Dustin Mikkelsen, and alternate Ray Mikkelsen.

Dustin Mikkelsen said besides the alternate Ray, his father, this will be the first Brier the team will have played in.

“It’s very exciting, and I am a little nervous,” said Mikkelsen. “It’s everyone’s dream. We are going to play in the Brier. It’s everyone’s first time except the alternate. It will be cool to go with my dad.”

Although it is most of the team’s first Brier, there is plenty of curling experience in their ranks.

“I’ve been playing for 22 years,” said Mikkelsen. “Rob and Alexx are new to the team but the others we’ve curled together for seven years.”

The 2021 Brier will be unlike any other played before. Because of the bubble, there will be no fans cheering on their favourite teams and the extracurricular activities surrounding the tournament will also not be held.

All teams will be regularly checked once in the bubble. Mikkelsen was doing a self-isolation before departing for Calgary, where upon arrival, he and the team will be tested.

“I’m comfortable with the situation in Calgary,” said Mikkelsen.

It being his first Brier, Mikkelsen said he isn’t sure how the bubble will play out.

“I’m not sure if it is going to make it easier,” he said. “When watching the Scotties, we compared the atmosphere to golf.”

To ensure no positive tests in Calgary, Mikkelsen said Curling Canada asked all teams to practice amongst themselves.

“We have been able to practice here and there but mostly on weekends,” said Mikkelsen. “We are allowed to practice but not against other teams. We had to cancel our league games.”

When the team has been practicing, Mikkelsen said they have been working on “runbacks, hits, low weight stuff, finesse kind of shots.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the field was expanded to 18 teams to accommodate rinks that didn’t get an opportunity to compete for their provincial or territorial championship.

The teams will be separated into two pools of nine. Team Yukon will be in Pool A. Team Yukon will be up against strong competition, including Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario, and last year’s runner-up Alberta, skipped by Brendan Bottcher.

“We get Brad Jacobs early,” said Mikkelsen. “The strategy will be to keep games close and capitalize on mistakes, keep it clean.”

Mikkelsen said the team’s goals for the Brier are to win a couple of games and keep the games close.

Team Yukon won’t have to wait long to meet Northern Ontario, they are their first draw. That game will start at 8:30 a.m. March 6.

They will play again on the sixth at 6:30 against Manitoba, skipped by Jason Gunnlaugson.

The top four teams in each pool will move on to the Championship Pool after round-robin play is completed.