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Kennedy good as gold

"I'm going to the Olympics in Canada! Are you kidding me!" an elated Kennedy exclaimed after the Saville Sports Centre foursome dismantled Glenn Howard of Ontario 7-3 in Sunday's final at the Roar of the Rings.
PURE GOLD
Photo supplied/CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION/MICHAE

"I'm going to the Olympics in Canada! Are you kidding me!" an elated Kennedy exclaimed after the Saville Sports Centre foursome dismantled Glenn Howard of Ontario 7-3 in Sunday's final at the Roar of the Rings.

"That's a life-changing victory," he gushed. "This is a life-altering event."

The pride of St. Albert was bouncing up and down with an ear-to-ear grin after the biggest victory of his star-studded career.

"It's just so exciting. This is going to be fantastic. I'm on cloud nine right now," said the Paul Kane High School alumnus. "It's an absolute dream come true. It's going to be the experience of a lifetime."

With 11,778 fans going bonkers, the 27-year-old Kennedy struggled to keep his emotions under wraps as Martin ran Howard out of rocks in the 10th end to seal the deal.

"You couldn't script it any better," Kennedy said with a twinkle in his eye. "As a small town boy from St. Albert, to win this in Edmonton is unbelievable. Growing up as a curler you think about winning the Brier some day. You think about being good but this just tops everything.

"I still have memories of the St. Albert Curling Club and to think of where you came from and where you're going, you get pretty emotional. It's extreme joy. There is some relief. Excitement. A little bit of fear too about what's to come, but it's definitely going to be the time of our life."

Team Canada

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics open Feb. 12.

"It won't sink in for maybe 30 years what we just did in front of the hometown fans and how lucky we are to play in the Olympics in our home country and to come out of Canada with the strength of the teams, especially how good Glenn's team is," Kennedy said. "We're so fortunate to do what we do and to have the team we have."

Since 2006, when Martin brought on board John Morris at third, Kennedy at second and Ben Hebert at lead, they have gone to win three provincial championships, two Briers, a gold and a silver medal at worlds, plus tons of major cash spiels and World Curling Tour events.

"This is exactly the reason Kev put this team together. He prepared us for it. We worked hard for four years, every single day in practice, just for this moment so we could represent Canada at the Olympics," said Kennedy, the first team all-star second at the last three Briers. "We don't realize how lucky we are to play this sport and to have the wins we've had that could easily go either way. You can be the bridesmaid a million times in this sport, so we're fortunate right now to be where we are.

"That's four years now where in just about every big game we've somehow managed to win. I think the curling gods have been on our side for a long time now. Hopefully they stay on our side for a little bit longer."

The first game for Team Canada is Feb. 16 against Thomas Ulsrud of Norway. Ironically, it was Pal Trulsen of Norway who edged out Martin for the gold medal at the 2002 Olympics. Trulsen was able to steal one in 10 when Martin was a tad heavy with his last draw.

"This is where Kevin's experience is going to kick in. He knows what happens there. He knows it's bigger than just the curling. It's bigger than just the teams," Kennedy said. "I imagine it's just going to be amazing and I'm glad we're going with somebody like Kevin."

This is the third different line-up for Martin at the Olympics. He competed at the 1992 Winter Games when curling was a demonstration sport.

"This was big for Kev. He was quiet the last few days, just going about his business and he came out and played unbelievable," Kennedy said. "Kev was our MVP the last couple of days. He just played so well."

Canada is expected to win gold and Kennedy isn't worried about the hype, not after the emotional whirlwind of the Roar of the Rings as the number one seed in the eight-team men's draw. With first place up for grabs and a berth in the final at stake, Martin knocked off the undefeated Howard squad 8-6 in Thursday's thriller as both teams finished the round robin at 6-1.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure but for the next couple of months we won't worry about it too much," Kennedy said. "The good thing is we have that international experience. We've played these guys. We know what to expect. We're just going to prepare like we do for every event. We'll hold some training sessions and we'll get ourselves in a frame of mind that we're ready to play. We'll just do what we do and go out and try to beat up on teams."

Howard humbled

They pounded Howard into submission with a show of force in a game that was supposed to go down to the very last rock. Instead they took advantage of a big break in two, when Howard tried a double raise takeout but was a bit thin as Howard's raised rock slid past Martin's shot rock. Martin then nailed a draw into the eight-foot for a pair. He went on to steal a point in three and the rout was on.

"We got some early misses from Glenn and that was the difference," said Kennedy, a silky-smooth southpaw shooter who outcurled his counterpart on the Howard rink, Brent Laing, 90 to 86, after tying Laing for second place in the round robin at 88 per cent. "In this game you need a few breaks and we got breaks all week long. We weren't playing very good the first four games and we were 3-1 so definitely the curling gods were on our side."

A stern-looking Kennedy was the first player on his rink out of the dressing room for Sunday's pre-game warm-up, barely acknowledging those he passed while marching towards the ice surface.

"I was really ready to play. I was really, really in a good mind frame and I think we all were and that's why we got such a great start," said Kennedy, who had that eye of the tiger the moment he stepped onto the pebbled surface. "We had a couple of days to think about it and deal with the nerves and just get yourself in a frame of mind where you're really going to play your best, win or lose, and not be tentative because the first thing that happens with the nerves is you get tentative so you have to just come out and attack and play your best and stay positive."

The butterflies quickly faded after the first end and from then on it was smooth sailing.

"There's nerves of course because you know what's on the line. It's tough but you have to keep them under control. When the game is going on you just have to try to push through those emotions and get the doubt out of your mind and just battle through it," Kennedy said. "All of our big games the last few years have really prepared us for that game."

As the final wound down and the outcome no longer in doubt, Kennedy admitted it was hard to stay completely focused.

"It gets a little dicey. You start thinking about the finish and you shouldn't but it was a tough game," he said "But all the credit to Glenn's team. The two teams have pushed each other so hard the last few years and just made each other so much better, so a lot of credit to that team."

Kennedy said it's a tough call whether the rink will compete at provincials, with the possibility of another trip to the Brier doable despite the hectic Olympic schedule.

As well, the Martin rink will receive $180,000 over a 30-month period from Sport Canada as A-carded athletes. In addition, the Canadian Curling Association, in partnership with the host committee of the Roar of the Rings, have allocated $50,000 from the Olympic trials event's net profit to be directed to the team to help defray Olympic-related costs for the players and family members, from accommodation to tickets to training and competition expenses.

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