Scharf beats Hackner

Joe Scharf knows a thing or two about Al Hackner.

A decade ago he played second for the Iceman at the 2001 Brier. On Tuesday they met again, this time on opposite sides, each looking to return to the national men’s curling championship for the first time since.

The former teammates waged a back-and-forth battle, to the delight of the packed stands watching Draw 8 of the Northern Ontario provincial men’s curling championship at Fort William Curling Club, with Scharf needing an extra end hit-and-stick for three to eke out a 9-6 victory.

It was just another day at the office, said Scharf of playing Hackner, who was called into emergency skipping duties when team leader Mike Assad – another member of the 2001 Brier squad – called in sick.

“He’s one of the best who ever lived. But I just go out there like it’s any other team. You just play,” said Scharf, who remained undefeated at 5-0, tied atop the standings with defending champion Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie.

Hackner, who last took part in the Northern Ontario play-downs in 2006 as a spare for Bryan Burgess, the fourth and final member of the 2001 squad, said there was no real adjustment to slipping back a spot in the rotation from third to skip.

Given his experience, which includes nine Brier appearances, this should come as no surprise.

“You just go and play the game,” the 56-year-old said. “I’ve played lots of them. It’s just a matter of getting a good handle on the team. We faced a pretty good opponent. We were two up after six, we just let it go.”

Despite the loss that dropped them to 3-2, Hackner is enjoying being back in the spotlight.

“The ice is really fun to play on, so it’s all good,” he said, adding he’s found more time to dedicate to the game since he retired from his post at CN Rail.

“I feel good. I’m 56 and I’m still throwing it pretty good, so I guess as long as you can keep doing that you can keep playing.”

Good just wasn’t enough against Scharf, looking to improve on his semifinal loss of a year ago.

Hackner took an early 2-0 lead after blanking the opening end, but an easy hit for three was downgraded by a point when he couldn’t hold his shooter.

Scharf bounced back in the second when Hackner couldn’t convert a double-takeout and left an easy draw to the four-foot for a pair and a 2-2 score.

Drawing against three in the fourth, Hackner made the outturn draw for one, then stole a point in the sixth when Scharf’s final shot crashed on a guard.

Scharf turned the tide in the seventh with a near miraculous final shot, needing a tough double takeout of Hackner stones , one on the button, one on the eight-foot.

“We weren’t even sure if it was there,” Scharf said. “We knew where we had to hit and just hoped for the proper roll and we got it.”

Though he’d fight back in the 10th to tie the match, sending it to an extra end, Hackner was frustrated at his performance in the seventh.

“I might have made a bad call on a rock earlier in the end. Thinking back maybe we should have banged something out of there. But Joe made a good shot for three there. It was a tough shot and he made it good. It gave him that one-point advantage and from there we had a battle,” Hackner said.

Scharf stole a single in the eighth when Hackner was forced to throw a tough double raise with his final stone and couldn’t make it. He then blanked the ninth and scored a pair in the 10th with a hit-and-stick.

The extra end was not so kind.

Hackner’s first shot nudged Scharf’s shot stone, but pushed it back far enough for it to easily be pushed out of the rings. Hackner then tried to freeze to shot stone, but glanced to the right, leaving an easy take-out that led to three points and the win.

Burgess, who entered the evening draw at 3-1, saw a three-game win streak snapped by Jacobs, despite an early 2-0 lead.

Jacobs said his squad is definitely feeling good heading into the second half of round-robin play.

“Every game I think we’re building a bit more confidence. That last game, it was a struggle. I wouldn’t even say that we necessarily won that game. I would say that Burgess kind of lost that game. They made a couple mistakes that cost them the game, otherwise they could have easily had us,” Jacobs said following the 6-4 win.

Jacobs and Scharf are two wins clear of the rest of the 12-team pack, but neither side is worrying too much about their afternoon duel.

For Scharf, memories of a fast start last year, only to fizzle in the playoffs, has him focused on learning from his mistakes.

“It feels good, but we’ve been here many times and we know, we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got ourselves in a good position, but we’ve got a long road ahead of us. I’m looking at (Jacobs) as just another game. It’s a 12-team round robin, so every game is obviously meaningful. So we’re just going to go out there and play like we’ve been playing.”

In other Draw 8 play, Tim Nordin (2-3) edged Robbie Gordon (1-4) 6-5 and Mike Jakubo (3-2) downed Dave MacInnes (0-5) 9-5.