Denis Sutton from Victoria is a warrior of countless curling battles. He has curled with many prominent players, including the likes of Hec Gervais, Doug Johnston and Randy Ferbey in Alberta before making the move to B.C.

But the Holy Grail of men’s curling — Tim Hortons Brier — has so far eluded the 55-year-old Sutton.

Sutton, who plays third for Neil Dangerfield, will have the opportunity to book his Brier tickets today when the team plays the Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. men’s championship final (3 p.m. on Shaw TV) against either defending champion Jeff Richard from Kelowna or Jim Cotter and his mates from Vernon and Kelowna. The semifinal was in progress at press time.

“I started curling in 1969 and I have been waiting a long time for this,’’ said Sutton on Saturday from his Vernon hotel room. “The closest that I’ve been before is a semifinal in Alberta. I am excited and a little nervous.’’

The Dangerfield team of Sutton, second Darren Boden and lead Glen Allen have been on a roll since Tuesday, rattling off seven consecutive wins to reach the final.

“This type of ice [lots of curl] suits our game,’’ said Sutton. “Also, our front end [Boden and Allen] has been making everything. We will not change anything for the final. We will keep doing what has worked for us and it really doesn’t matter who we play… we still have to make the shots.

“We like having rocks in play. If we can get any kind of a guard, the game is on. We like to force teams to play the tougher shots. With so much swing in the ice, almost everything is accessible. But, you will also see a lot of freezes and run backs.’’

Richard reached the semifinal earlier Saturday with a 6-5 win over Brent Yamada of Kamloops in the No. 3 vs. No. 4 playoff game.

The Brier is March 5-13 in London, Ont.