Allan A. Hackner (born July 18, 1954), nicknamed "the Iceman", is a retired

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Hall of Fame curler from

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populatio ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He was born in Nipigon, Ontario. He is a two-time

Brier Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to: * Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket People * Brier (surname) * Briers, a surname * Briars (surname) Places * Briar, Missouri, U.S. * Briar, ...

and

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

skip. He is of Ojibwa descent and is a member of the Red Rock Indian Band. He is currently a member of

USA Curling The United States Curling Association (USCA or USA Curling) is the national governing body of the sport of curling in the United States. The goal of the USCA is to grow the sport of curling in the United States and win medals in competitions bo ...

's High Performance Program Coaching staff.

Career

Hackner has skipped the

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Prov ...

team at nine Briers. He won the Brier in 1982 and again in 1985. In 1982, he defeated Brent Giles of British Columbia to win his first Brier. Hacknerdouble

In 1985, he defeated Pat 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, coming around a guard to hit two stones some 6 feet apart, which would later go down in curling infamy 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. In addition to playing for Northern Ontario, Hackner also represented Alberta at the 1977 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, playing second for Don Sutton. In 2004, Al Hackner was inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located ...

. Hackner won the

2006 Canadian Senior Curling Championships The 2006 Canadian Senior Curling Championships were held March 25-April 1 at the Silver Fox Curling Club in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The winning teams represented Canada at the 2007 World Senior Curling Championships. Men's Teams Stand ...

which he followed up with a silver medal at the

World Senior Curling Championships The World Senior Curling Championships is an annual curling tournament featuring curlers from around the world who are at least 50 years old. Matches at the World Senior Championships are played in 8 ends played instead of the 10 played in most i ...

in 2007. In 2013, Hackner announced he would be playing in his final provincial championship, literally saying he was "too old for this shite". However that was a short lived retirement. He lost the men's provincial final to Brad Jacobs in 2015. Hackner skipped Northern Ontario to the 2017 Canadian Masters Curling Championships. Hackner was part of the staff for the Team USA women's team from 2012-14, and rejoined to become the coach in 2017. He led the team to the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

, where they finished eighth. Following the

2022 Canadian Senior Curling Championships The 2022 Everest Canadian Senior Curling Championships was held from December 4 to 10 at the Mariners Centre and the Yarmouth Curling Club in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The winning teams will represent Canada at the 2023 World Senior Curling Champi ...

, Hackner announced he was retiring from competitive curling.

Personal life

Hackner is a retired transportation conductor with

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

. He is married and has one son.2018 Continental Cup Media Guide

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackner, Al Canadian people of German descent Curlers from Northern Ontario Curlers from Alberta Living people Curlers from Thunder Bay World curling champions 1954 births Ojibwe people Brier champions First Nations sportspeople Canadian curling coaches Canadian male curlers