| Al Hackner | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1954-07-18)July 18, 1954 (age 71)[1] Nipigon, Ontario[2] |
| Team | |
| Curling club | Fort William CC Thunder Bay, ON |
| Skip | Al Hackner |
| Third | Joe Scharf |
| Second | Jamie Childs |
| Lead | Gary Champagne |
Curling career | |
| Member Association |  Alberta (1976–1977) Northern Ontario (1979–present) |
| Brier appearances | 9 (1980,1981,1982,1985,1988,1989,1992,1995,2001) |
| World Championship appearances | 2 (1982,1985) |
Allan A. Hackner (born July 18, 1954), nicknamed "the Iceman",[3] is a retiredCanadian Hall of Fame[4]curler fromThunder Bay,Ontario. He was born inNipigon, Ontario. He is a two-timeBrier andWorld Champion skip. He is of Ojibwa descent and is a member of theRed Rock Indian Band.[5] He is currently a member ofUSA Curling's High Performance Program Coaching staff.
Hackner has skipped theNorthern Ontario team at nine Briers. He won the Brier in 1982 and again in 1985.
In 1982, he defeatedBrent Giles of British Columbia to win his first Brier.
In 1985, he defeatedPat Ryan of Alberta to win his second Brier. To tie the game with last rock in the 10th end Hackner had to make a near impossible double-take out,[6] coming around a guard to hit two stones some 6 feet apart, which would later go down in curling history as the "Al Hackner double". Hackner's team then stole a single point in the extra end for the win. The shot was named the greatest moment in Northern Ontario curling history by the Northern Ontario Curling Association.[3]
In addition to playing for Northern Ontario, Hackner also represented Alberta at the 1977Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, playing second for Don Sutton.
In 2004, Al Hackner was inducted into theOntario Sports Hall of Fame.[7]
Hackner won the2006 Canadian Senior Curling Championships which he followed up with a silver medal at theWorld Senior Curling Championshipsin 2007.
In 2013, Hackner announced he would be playing in his finalprovincial championship, literally saying he was "too old for thisshite". However that was a short lived retirement. He lost the men's provincial final toBrad Jacobs in 2015.[8]
Hackner skipped Northern Ontario to the 2017Canadian Masters Curling Championships. He won the event again in 2022.
Hackner was part of the staff for the Team USA women's team from 2012 to 2014, and rejoined to become the coach in 2017. He led the team to the2018 Winter Olympics, where they finished eighth.[9][10]
Following the2022 Canadian Senior Curling Championships, Hackner announced he was retiring from competitive curling.[11]
Hackner is a retired transportation conductor withCN Rail. He is married and has one son.[2]
