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It was the crowd which manufactured the moment.
It was never a game. Kevin Martin imposed his will early and never left hope for any other result than a trip to the Olympics for a second Alberta team dressed in black.
There wasn't going to be the last-rock emotion of the night before with Cheryl Bernard's Calgary crew. There wasn't going to be tears. There wasn't going to be sobbing.
But as the Edmonton skip took the trip to the other end of the ice to throw his first rock of the 10th end at the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings Olympic curling trials, 11,778 fans came to their feet and gave Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert a standing ovation.
STANDING 'O'
"Man, that was awesome," said Martin. "I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that before."
They stayed standing as Martin settled in the hack and cheered the rock down the ice for a simple takeout which would run Glenn Howard out of rocks.
The emotion came later after they'd put on their Canadian Olympic jackets, received their medals and trophies and headed off the ice.
"It's a combination of extreme joy and relief," said Kennedy. "And excitement. With each minute it sinks in. We're going to curl in an Olympic Games in Canada. This is going to be fantastic."
And as he said that, it sunk in some more.
"That's a life-changing victory. This is a life-altering event."
For Martin it's the third life-altering event of his life.
He just became Canada's all-time Olympic curler.
While officially it doesn't count, he competed and finished fourth in the 1992 Albertville Olympics when it was a demonstration sport. And, with an entirely different team, he went to Salt Lake 2002 and won silver -- or lost gold if you remember the last rock draw to win which he threw heavy.
"I'm going to want a medal and I can promise we'll try our best. That's all you can do," said Martin, who is now in a position to be the first Canadian curler to win more than one Olympic medal.
"The motivating factor isn't any previous Olympics, the motivation factor is that the Olympics are so much fun. It's high pressure and I just really wanted to get back," added the skip. "We failed in '06 and we made it this time."
Martin said he doesn't see it as gold or bust.
"I don't look at it that way. You never know what can happen but I'd love to go one step further up the podium, that's for sure."
For Martin and the team he put together after going 4-5 in the trials four years ago in Halifax, it has been a work in progress which progressed to the goal.
"This is by far the hardest I ever worked on curling," said Calgarian Morris. "For three and a half years we all worked so hard for this moment. And now that it's here, I'm still sort of stunned."
Martin said the overwhelming emotion is satisfaction.
"When we have worked so hard and trained so hard, to have it come together like this ... well, we didn't waste all those hours. There was a lot of work. A lot of hard effort put in.
"When it works, it makes you feel good."
Hebert, the Regina native who like former Ottawa curler Morris and Cheryl Bernard's Olympic women's team also resides in Calgary, said he never thought he'd say this after five trips to the Brier but ... "This is 10 times better than going to the Brier!"
LUCKY CHARMS?
The lead said he feels he's the luckiest curler in the world.
"You could put any guy on a team with these guys," he said.
Coach Jules Owchar said Hebert was so nervous on the morning of the game he was throwing up after breakfast.
Then he went out and shot 97%.
He can enjoy his breakfasts between now and Feb. 16.
That's when they play their first game of the Olympics.
You should know Martin lost the final against Pal Trulsen of Norway in 2002 and will open against Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in Vancouver.
TERRY.JONES@SUNMEDIA.CA