In a close but lacklustre Tim Hortons Brier final that had more unusual moments than big shots, Randy Ferbey's Alberta foursome captured its fourth Brier title in the past five years, all but assuring itself of a spot at the top of the game's honour roll. Ferbey, Dave Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque knocked off Nova Scotia's Shawn Adams 5-4 in a game that was decided by the last rock, a draw to the four-foot by Nedohin.

Alberta had that last rock by virtue of blanking the ninth end, which required them to take out their own stone. It was a curious move, but one that paid off.

Using his old-school tuck delivery, body balanced on his toe and broom across his shoulder, Ferbey, the 45-year-old curling shop owner with the thinning hair and slight paunch, directed his team through 10 ends against a stubborn Nova Scotia team. The game was a tight affair from the start. Adams managed to keep the Ferbey machine at bay in the early ends, knowing that surrendering an early lead was tantamount to a curling death sentence.

Capitalizing on a rare Ferbey miss, Adams managed to force the Alberta team to one in the first end, then pounced for two in the second when Nedohin's first stone — a down-weight takeout attempt — caught some debris on the ice and wrecked on a guard.

In the third end, with Alberta looking ripe for a multiple-point end, Adams made a stellar freeze with his last shot that forced Nedohin to draw for a single point to tie the game at two.

One end later, it was Ferbey's turn to force the issue, leaving Adams to make his last shot against two Alberta counters.

In the fifth end, it again appeared as if Alberta was on track to score two points, but the Nova Scotia skip make a dandy hit and roll behind cover. The move was not that surprising to Adams, who said it revealed just how talented the Ferbey team is.

"With what they did in the ninth, it shows just how much confidence they have in each other," Adams said. "They're pretty confident that Dave can hit that pinhole whenever he needs to. It was interesting. It seemed to work out for them."

The game was a tight affair from the start. Adams managed to keep the Ferbey machine at bay in the early ends, knowing that surrendering an early lead was tantamount to a curling death sentence.

After five ends, the score was tied and Adams seemed to be gaining momentum.

But in the sixth end, the Nova Scotia skip finally slipped up. With Alberta sitting two, he attempted to hit and roll to the button for one. He got the hit part of the equation, but failed to execute the roll, giving the Alberta team a steal of one.

Adams recovered in the next end to bail his team out of a big jam. With Alberta sitting one on the button, hidden behind cover, he and third Paul Flemming debated whether to throw a cold draw to the button or a long run-back double to blank the end. Exhibiting the unflappable demeanour he had all week, Adams chose the latter and made it perfectly, retaining last rock.

The eighth end was another opportunity missed as Adams, with his first stone, had a chance to make a triple to sit four. However, his rock failed to curl enough and removed just one Alberta rock. That allowed Nedohin to play a freeze on the shot stone that forced Adams to draw for one and tie the score 4-4.

That led to the unusual ninth end, setting up the game-winning shot.

It was a sweet way for Nedohin, who missed his final rock a year ago to lose the championship, to seal the win.

"When I saw that come into the four-foot," Nedohin said, "that's definitely the most excited I've been making a curling shot."

The victory gave Ferbey, who won two titles playing third for Pat Ryan, a record sixth Brier title and pushed Rocque, Pfeifer and Nedohin into second place on the career win list with four.

That may be as far as this foursome goes, however, as Ferbey, who has been troubled by knee problems, hinted after the game that he may be ready to call it a career.

While disputing a label of professionals dropped on them this week, the members of the Ferbey team left their jobs — either permanently or temporarily — this past year to concentrate on curling full-time this winter. While winning the Brier was one reason for the sabbaticals, the team has one more goal in its sights, a visit to the top of the podium at the Turin Olympic Games next year. To do that, the team must win the Canadian curling trials in December in Halifax, where it will once again meet up with Adams, whose runner-up finish gave him a spot in the elite field.

In addition to the Brier tankard, the victory gave the Ferbey rink two years of Sport Canada funding totalling $144,000, $40,000 in "cresting revenue" (the Canadian Curling Association's term for prize money) and the right to represent Canada at the world championships in Victoria in April.

The victory also pushes the catastrophic flop of a year ago — when Alberta dropped three points in the final end to lose — into the nether-regions of the record book. The ledger will show four Brier wins in five years, with the 2004 mistake only a blip on the page.

A dynasty, to be sure.