Rocking the ice for Canada at the Olympics was too good to be true for St. Albert's golden boy of curling.
"It's not very often that the ultimate dream comes true. We won Olympic gold in our home country in front of eight million people and we didn't lose a game doing it," an excited Marc Kennedy told the Gazette Wednesday. "There was however almost a moment of sadness there, realizing that it doesn't get that much better. What else is there to work towards?
As the best of the best, skip Kevin Martin, third John Morris, the southpaw-shooting Kennedy at second and lead Ben Hebert made Canada proud by going 11-0, an Olympic record.
"It's a very overwhelming experience to represent your country at the Olympics, especially on home soil," said the 28-year-old Kennedy, who grew up making Brier-calibre shots at the St. Albert Curling Club. "The tough part is just trying to keep yourself relaxed and calm and focused on what you have to do and not let a lot of those distractions affect you. We actually did a really good job of that."
A tidal wave of emotion engulfed the Saville Sports Centre foursome after doubling Thomas Ulsrud of Norway 6-3 for the gold last Saturday at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.
"For hockey and curling, if you don't win gold it's considered a bit of a disappointment so to come through the way we did, there was a lot of relief with the excitement," said Kennedy, who curled 95 per cent in the biggest game of his life. "I just tried to bottle up all emotion, but definitely there were a few tears just realizing the amount of work we put into it and the amount of effort to get to this stage in our careers."
Heavy expectations
The heat was on the host nation to whip up a gold medal.
"There was a lot of pressure but you don't want to get distracted by it so you kind of pretended like there isn't any," Kennedy said. "Once it was done the pressure was gone. You felt like you've made everybody proud and that's a great feeling."
Since the formation of the fab four in 2006/07, they have performed admirably in the glare of the spotlight, especially at the Roar of the Rings Olympic trials in December at Rexall Place.
"We're lucky in curling because every event we go to we're expected to win so we deal with that pressure all year long," Kennedy said. "Whether it's the whole country expecting us to win or just a few people, it's the same feeling and we've gotten so used to that and it's actually helped us perform a the highest level. A lot of the other sports don't have that same kind of advantage, so when they come to the Olympics, I think they feel the pressure a little bit more than we do because we're use to it."
Canada marched through the qualifying round with nine wins, including a tight 7-6 decision over the Norwegians. In the semifinals the 2008 world champions and last year's silver medallists defeated Edin Niklas of Sweden 6-3.
"It was a lot of the same teams that play at the worlds and almost all of them are exactly the same. The difference is they are all getting better and they were preparing for this Olympics," said Kennedy, who shot 83 per cent in the round robin en route to finishing the Olympics with a grade of 85 per cent.
Among the many unforgettable moments for Kennedy was in the 10th end against Great Britain when the crowd busted loose with a rousing rendition of the national anthem as the Paul Kane High School alumnus was about to throw his first rock. After a moment to soak up the atmosphere, the former St. Albert Storm quarterback threw a perfect shot as Canada went on to win its sixth straight game by a score of 7-6.
"It was absolutely unbelievable. We all just had to stop and listen and enjoy it," Kennedy said. "It really wasn't your typical curling crowd. I'd say out of 6,000 people in the arena, there was about 1,500 that actually knew about curling and the rest … they're just learning the sport. They don't know when to cheer, they don't know you're not supposed to cheer misses, that kind of thing."
Sid the Kid
The next best thing to winning gold for Kennedy was rubbing shoulders with other Olympians.
"We met so many fantastic people. After Canada beat the United States in hockey for the gold medal, that night in the village all the athletes got together for beer and pizza and it was a really good atmosphere. At the end of the night, Sidney Crosby invited us for a drink so it was Sid the Kid and Shea Weber and me and Ben Hebert and Adam Enright [the rink's fifth man]. We sat in his room and had a couple of drinks just [chatted] with each other and told stories. They wanted to know about curling and we wanted to know the ins and outs of the hockey guys," Kennedy said. "It was unreal. On the way out the door Crosby signed a bunch of game sticks for us. He is just the nicest guy in the world."
Life after the Olympics continues for Canada's rock stars with a guest appearance at the Brier, which starts this weekend at Halifax. They close out the season with the Bear Mountain Classic in Victoria at the end of March and the Players' Championship in April.
As for the rink's future, the two-time Brier champions will continue playing before a decision is finalized in regards to the 2014 Olympics in Russia.
"We had a quick talk and Kevin decided he is going to play for at least two more years," said Kennedy, a three-time Brier first team all-star second. "It's important after a big victory to kind of stick together for a year for a victory lap kind of thing. We get to go to all the cities together. We get to see a lot of people and do a lot of autographs and that's really important.
"After a couple of years we're going to decide whether we're good enough to give it another try because it would sure be fantastic to get back to another Olympics. It's a pretty amazing experience."
