Sports Series: Indigenous curler continues adding to his impressive resume

By Sam Laskaris

THUNDER BAY – Though his accomplishments may no longer be garnering considerable media attention and plenty of admiration in his hometown, Al Hackner continues to hold the title of championship curler.

Earlier this year, Hackner, who is 66 and a member of Red Rock Indian Band, skipped a squad to the championship in the Northern Ontario men’s masters (60 and over) championships.

Hackner, born in Nipigon, has lived in Thunder Bay since he was 18. His curling resume now includes three Northern Ontario masters titles and five championships at the seniors (50 and over) level.

“Every year I keep saying, ‘This is going to be my last year,’” Hackner said when asked about possible retirement plans from the sport. “Somehow though, I just go out there and carry on again. When you’re still winning, it’s very hard to stop.”

Hackner’s accolades during his elite competitive curling days are even more impressive than what he has accomplished at the senior and masters levels.

He represented Northern Ontario at the Brier, the Canadian men’s championship, nine times. He won that event twice, in 1982 and ’85.

Both years Hackner and his teammates advanced to the world men’s championship. They returned with gold medals both times.

The first global title was won in the German town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

“We were shocked and we didn’t know [the magnitude] of what we had won until we got home,” Hackner said.

Upon their return to Thunder Bay, Hackner and his teammates were greeted by a huge crowd at the local airport.

“We had a police escort through the city and at every intersection, there were hundreds of people cheering,” Hackner said. “And then we had a reception with 2,000 people at the [community] hall.”

Hackner, however, said he would not consider any of his championships more special than the others.

“Every one of them feels as good as the others,” he said.

Though he is now in his mid-60s, Hackner considers himself fortunate that he has the two attributes he believes have prolonged his playing days.

“You have to keep healthy and you have to have the desire to do it,” he said. “If you have that you can still play.”

Hackner said he is in relatively good shape.

“I’m stiff sometimes but that just comes with age,” Hackner said, adding with a bit of stretching he is usually ready to compete.

Hackner is looking forward to continuing playing.

“It’s up to the curling clubs to see when they’ll open,” he said. “But I think we should be able to play.”

With just four team members per squad, Hackner believes it would be relatively easy to socially distance from others and compete in bonspiels.

Hackner is also hoping to resume his coaching career. So far, his coaching duties have allowed him to take part in two Winter Olympics, both times as a staff member of the United States entries.

Hackner coached the men’s American team, skipped by John Shuster, to a 2-7 record at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Hackner then coached the U.S. women’s squad, skipped by Nina Roth, to a 4-5 mark, at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Hackner stepped down from his USA Curling responsibilities after those games.

“During the 2017-18 season, I was gone 85 days from my home,” he said. “It was too much.”

Hackner though enjoyed being a part of the team’s successes.

“It’s pretty fulfilling,” he said. “With the ladies’ team, they were winning and winning and winning. It was fun to be along for their ride.”

Hackner is planning to continue coaching. For the past couple of seasons, he has coached a Scottish men’s team at a half dozen bonspiels.

He has also coached a pair of high-profile Canadian Olympians, John Morris and Rachel Homan, at three mixed doubles events.

This story is part of an Anishinabek News series, written by Sam Laskaris, profiling former athletes with Anishinabek ties.