Curling legend Al Hackner still curls twice a week and has some predictions for the Olympic Trials
I felt like texting Al Hackner the other day.
Why not? He’s a curling legend, his stories are legion, and he’s a groovy fella.
I had recalled some Brier predictions he’d made back in the day – when he wasn’t competing in them – for The Curling News. I would occasionally ask him and a few others (Randy Ferbey, Mark Dacey, the Middaughs and others) to pass their best guesses onto the curling fans, using our pages.
He did one in 2011, which Senior Columnist Kevin Palmer spotlighted in this 2023 “Buried Curling Treasure” piece.
So I asked Al if he would do so again, for these Olympic Trials, now underway in Halifax.
The Iceman says he still curls twice a week – recreationally – and plays hockey four times a week. In fact, he’s curling this weekend in an indigenous mixed bonspiel in his hometown of Nipigon, Ont. with his wife, his sister and a friend from there.
“I plan on watching a lot of the (Trials) games,” said Hack. “As a homie, I’m cheering for the six Northern Ontario boys on teams Dunstone, Jacobs and Epping.
“And Homan and Einarson, as I think they will be Canada’s best representatives.”
So there you go. And here we go, with Al Hackner’s 2025 Olympic Trials predictions:
I’m not going to comment on each team, I see tier levels instead.
Women
Tier 1 – Homan. Huge favourite. Everyone’s pick.
Tier 2 – Einarson, Black. Proven teams in playdowns and ’spiels.
Tier 3 – The rest of the field. All just a shot or two from getting to that next level.
Men
Tier 1 – Jacobs, Dunstone. Coin flip every time they play each other. Evenly matched at every position.
Tier 2 – Gushue, Epping, McEwen. These three all have moments of good play and just average outings. The skips will decide who makes the playoffs from this group.
Tier 3 – The rest of the field. A balance of youth and veterans. Good teams, but not there right now… but one of these might surprise.