Northern Ontario's best men's curlers take to the ice in Thunder Bay

A regional provincial curling championship taking place in Thunder Bay, Ont. this week will determine the team that goes on to represent northern Ontario at this year's Brier, and the field celebrates the sport's past, present and future.

Eight teams, representing the Thunder Bay and Greater Sudbury areas, as well as Sault Ste. Marie and New Liskeard will face each other in a series of round robin draws at the Men's Northern Ontario Provincial Championship at the Fort William Curling Club from Feb. 8 to 12.

Thunder Bay's Al Hackner is well aware of the sport's evolution in the area. The legendary curler, known as The Iceman, has been to and won the Brier multiple times, as well as a world title. Having strong competition for the Brier spot, particularly from the favoured Brad Jacobs rink from the Sault, is important, he said.

"For awhile there, 10 or 12 years ago, there was a lot of talk about getting rid of northern Ontario's spot [in the Brier]," he said.

"But since the Jacobs team has shown up, a lot of that chatter has gone away."

Even though there may be fewer curling clubs in operation in small northern towns these days, the ones that remain open do a better job of maintaining their ice, Hackner said.

"They've taken a little more care to make sure that playing conditions are a lot better," he said.

"I can remember even 20-something years ago, we'd show up to a little four-sheeter somewhere in the middle of nowhere, no-one watching and the ice is absolutely really tough to play on."

While Hackner, who is also a strong favourite at the northern Ontario playdowns, represents experience, Sudbury's Tanner Horgan and his rink point to the future. The 18 year-old skip and his team still play a few junior events, but primarily play against men, including taking on the region's best in Thunder Bay.

"It's pretty exciting," he said. "We get to come here and play against a lot of the guys that we haven't seen so much this year."

Making the step up from the junior ranks over the past couple of years has been good for the young team, he said.

"We think it's really helped our game," he said. "This time around now we're less nervous than we were last year playing the men's teams because that's pretty much what we've been doing all season."

Aside from the Jacobs, Hackner and Horgan rinks, other teams this year include those skipped by Jordan Chandler and Chris Gilbota from Sudbury, Ryan Sayer from New Liskeard and Dylan Johnston and Bryan Burgess from Thunder Bay.

The finals are scheduled for Sunday.