The 87th edition of the Northern Ontario Men’s Curling Championships gets underway Wednesday afternoon at the Fort William Curling Club.
The eight-rink field playing for the trip to represent Northern Ontario at the Tim Horton’s Brier in St. John’s, Newfoundland (March 4 -12) features the hometown favourite, the ageless Al Hackner and the seemingly unbeatable reigning champions Brad Jacobs from Sault Ste. Marie. Jacobs and Hackner are the teams many are expecting to play in the championship final Sunday afternoon. It would be a rematch of the 2015 championship in Kenora when the reigning Olympic champion defeated the famed Iceman 7-4.
The opening draw is set for 2:30 pm on Wednesday with what is expected an exciting week of curling at Fort William club which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Bleachers will be set up in club rooms and on the ice for fans to watch live action. Tickets for the championship event are available at the Fort William club with event passes $50, day tickets $10 and draw tickets $7. There will also be live streaming of games through to the championship game Sunday afternoon at 2 pm.
The top three teams after the eight-team round robin will advance to the playoffs. The first place finisher will be awarded a bye to the final, with the second and third place teams to meet in the semi-final set for Saturday night at 7:30 that is pending tiebreakers.
Jacobs The Favourites
Jacobs and his rink of Ryan Fry, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden are the odds on favourites to repeat as Northern Ontario champions. Jacobs and company have not only dominated Northern Ontario men’s curling the last five years but men’s’ curling in Canada. The Sault squad won their first Brier in 2013 which also was first for Northern Ontario dating back to when Hackner won in 1985. Team Jaobs followed up with Olympic Gold in 2014, then lost the Brier final in 2015 to Team Canada’s Pat Simmons on a draw to the button, and then last year in Ottawa, they went undefeated 11-0 in round robin play to lose out in the semi-finals to eventual champions, Kevin Koe of Alberta.
Team Jacobs record speaks for itself. Ths year coming in the playdowns, they are the third ranked team in Canada having won over $90,000 including the Grand Slam event held in Sault Ste. Marie earlier. At age 31, the Sault skip is bidding for his ninth Brier appearance, although 2008 was an alternate with his uncle Eric Harnden’s rink that included his two Harnden cousins E.J. and Ryan.
Hackner Still Competing
Hackner at age 62, twice Jacobs’s age, is bidding to win a 10th Brier appearance for Northern Ontario with his team of Kory Carr, Frank Morissette and Gary Champagne. Carr is the youngest member of the Hackner squad turning 29 with a birthday later this month. The former junior standout already has a Canadian curling title to his credit this season, winning the Canadian Mixed at second on the Thunder Bay rink skipped by Trevor Bonot. Carr will be proud to wear a Team Canada jacket for the 2017 World Mixed Curling Championship, Oct. 6-14 in Champéry, Switzerland. It should also be noted that Carr also skipped the Al Hackner rink to the Tbaytel Major League of Curling title back in January while his skip was away at the Continental Cup in Las Vegas.
Morissette who just turn 66 this weekend like Hackner is a veteran of the game of curling. Morissette born in Haileybury won a Brier berth for Alberta back in 1976 and also lost a couple of Alberta finals to the notable Kevin Martin. Morissette is also on Hackner’s Northern Ontario Masters championship rink that will play for the Canadian 60 plus championship in April. Meanwhile, Champagne at age 50 is making another bid for his first Brier berth, one that slipped away from him back in 2011 when the Northern Ontario championships were last played at the Fort William club. Champagne was the lead on the Joe Scharf rink that gave up a devastating steal of three for the Jacobs win in the title game that slipped away from the Thunder Bay rink in the late ends.
The Newcomers
And while Jacobs and Hackner represent the present and past greatness of curling in Northern Ontario, there is no question that the young Tanner Horgan rink from Sudbury is the future. Horgan returns for his second straight men’s provincial, coming off yet another strong performance representing Northern Ontario at the Canadian Juniors. The young Sudbury squad come to Thunder Bay on the heels of their lost in the semi-finals to Ontario over a week ago at the championship event in Victoria. Last year, the dominant junior team in Northern Ontario lost the national final. Horgan qualified for the Northern Ontario men’s as the second Northern Ontario team behind Jacobs with the most Canadian Team Ranking System points.
Thunder Bay Flavour
Local curling fans taking in the Northern Ontario men’s championships this coming week will also giving their support to two other Thunder Bay rinks skipped by Dylan Johnston and Bryan Burgess.
Johnston like Horgan lost the Canadian Junior final that back in 2009 on a team that included his current teammates Mike Badiuk, originally from Devlin, ON and his brother Cody who this weekend is an import from Vancouver. The fourth member of the Johnston squad representing the Fort William Curling Club is lead Travis Showalter who like Badiuk has played in the last three provincials with Johnston. Showalter hails from another small Northwest Ontario town, Nestor Falls. The Johnston rink was the only team to beat Jacobs at the provincials last year in North Bay, and will look to use that to their advantage.
The Northern Ontario men’s provincials are nothing new for Bryan Burgess and his rink of Robin Champagne, Al Macsemchuk and Pat Berezowski who are representing the Kakabeka Falls Curling Club. Burgess is playing in his 12th championship winning on his foray in men’s as third for Hackner back in 2001. All members of the Burgess squad brings years of experience playing at the provincials.
Fifth Men
Three other Thunder Bay curlers from the Colin Koivula rink are listed as fifth men for next week’s play. Koivula will be the sub of choice for Hackner, Mike McCarville has made himself available for Burgess, while Chris Briand will help out his former teammates on the Johnston squad.
Other Contenders
Two Sudbury rinks skipped by Chris Glibota and Jordan Chandler and the Ron Sayer foursome from New Liskeard round on the eight-team field that will compete for the coveted purple hearts. Glibota and Chandler and their teammate bring experience having played in previous provincial playdowns, while the Sayer squad will be looking to build on a strong performance from the East Qualifier in Timmins.
The Travelers Northern Ontario Men’s Provincial begins with two round robin draws Wednesday followed by two more draws Thursday and Friday. The final round robin game is Saturday morning.
The full draw and list of teams along with live scoring is available on the Northern Ontario Curling Association website: www.curlnoca.ca.
