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 population ...

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 Ca ...

. He was born in

Nipigon, Ontario Nipigon () is a township in Thunder Bay District, Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located along the west side of the Nipigon River and south of the small Lake Helen running between Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior. Lake Nipigon is located approximat ...

. 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. * Bri ...

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 The Red Rock Indian Band (also known as Lake Helen Reserve) is an Ojibwe First Nation band government in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Their territory is located on the Red Rock 53 (formerly Parmachene 53) and Lake Helen 53A Indian reserves in ...

. 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 both ...

'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 Provi ...

team at nine Briers. He won the Brier in 1982 and again in 1985. In 1982, he defeated

Brent Giles Brent Marshall Giles (born November 11, 1953 in North Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian curler from the Vancouver area. He is a two-time provincial men's champion and 1982 Brier runner up. Career Juniors Giles and his Carson Graha ...

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 The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship is the national curling championship for mixed curling in Canada. The winners of the tournament will represent Canada at the World Mixed Curling Championship. In mixed curling, the positions on a team must a ...

, 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, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

. Hackner won the 2006 Canadian Senior Curling Championships 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 in ...

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 Bradley Robert Jacobs (born June 11, 1985) is a Canadian curler from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He is an Olympic champion skip, having led Canada to a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Jacobs is also the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier champions ...

in 2015. Hackner skipped Northern Ontario to the 2017

Canadian Masters Curling Championships The Canadian Masters Curling Championships are an annual curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and ...

. 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 , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

, where they finished eighth. Following the 2022 Canadian Senior Curling Championships, 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 railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

. 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