THUNDER BAY -- At 62 and entering his 19th Northern Ontario men’s curling championship, Al Hackner really has nothing left to prove.
Or does he?
Known affectionately in the curling world as The Iceman, the Nipigon-born Hackner is a former two-time world curling champion who could easily rest on his laurels and just enjoy the week, much the same way golfers Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson now do each April at the Masters.
Greyer and a little more grizzled than he was when he won Brier championships in 1982 and 1985, Hackner wants no part of being a figurehead as the Northern Ontario championships kick off on Wednesday at the Fort William Curling Club.
No, he’s here to win.
“One more crack at the Brier would be special,” Hackner said on Monday.
That said, he knows he’s carved a special place for himself in the game, and is willing to relish it a little bit these days.
“In curling, there’s a lot of respect everywhere and I can really sense a lot of respect from the other players, regardless of their age, toward me. I try to show them a little of that back. You carry forward with the traditions of curling and if I can show them an example of how to compete on and off the ice, that’s always a good thing,” Hackner said.
The nine-time Northern Ontario champion’s team ranges in age from 29-year-old lead Kory Carr to 65-year-old second Frank Morissette, who skipped the rink to a Major League of Curling championship in Hackner’s absence, appeared in his first Northern Ontario provincials in 1967 and led Alberta into the 1976 Brier.
Fifty-year-old Gary Champagne rounds out the roster, seeking to knock off prohibitive favourite and reigning Olympic champion Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie.
There’s no question the Jacobs rink, with Ryan Fry, E.J. and Ryan Harnden, is the team to beat this week, Hackner said.
But he thinks they’ve got as good a chance of anyone to take the crown away from Jacobs, winner of six of the past seven titles, the lone blemish coming in 2014 when the Sault Ste. Marie rink skipped the event to win Olympic gold in Sochi.
“We’ve been pretty steady,” said Hackner, who last captured the Northern Ontario title in 2001, 21 years after winning his first.
“Kory Carr, now the reigning national mixed champion (with Trevor Bonot’s team), has been throwing the rocks exceptionally well all year. If he continues to play like that, we should have a good chance at at least making the playoffs.”
Hackner’s squad is one of three Thunder Bay teams in the mix this week.
Dylan Johnston’s team was the only one to beat Jacobs at last year’s provincials, and will play alongside brother Cody, Miek Badiuk and Travis Showalter. Bryan Burgess will captain a squad that includes Robin Champagne, Al Macsemchuk and Pat Berezowski.
Other skips in contention this week include Sudbury’s Jordan Chandler and Chris Gilbota and Tanner Horgan, the younger brother of former Ontario Scotties champion Tracy Fleury and a finalist at last year’s Canadian Juniors.
Rounding out the event is New Liskeard’s Ryan Sayer.
