CHARLOTTETOWN – Peter Gallant’s resumé in the sport of curling speaks for itself.
The Charlottetown native has left his mark as both a player and coach locally, nationally and internationally.
Gallant, along with Mark O’Rourke, Kathy O’Rourke, Robert Campbell and Mark Butler, will be inducted into the P.E.I. Curling Hall of Fame and Museum on Oct. 23. The induction ceremony will take place at the Cornwall Curling Club, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available at the door.
The third in a Journal Pioneer series of profiles on the inductees features Gallant, who will be honoured under the “Curler and Builder” category.
Gallant started to curl at the Charlottetown Curling Club in 1971 while attending Birchwood Junior High School.
Gallant skipped the P.E.I. team of third stone Kathie Gallant, second stone Phillip Gorveatt and lead Simone MacKenzie to the Canadian mixed championship in 1987. He also won nine provincial men’s, four provincial mixed and one provincial senior championship over a 28-year career as a player.
Nationally, he skipped P.E.I. to an impressive 11-1 (won-lost) record en route to winning the 1987 Canadian mixed championship in Summerside, where he received the all-star skip award. Gallant was recognized as the all-star third stone at the 1995 Canadian men’s championship and the 2010 Canadian senior championships.
Coaching
Coaching has been a large part of Gallant’s involvement with the sport as well.
He coached his son Brett Gallant’s team to back-to-back P.E.I. junior men’s championships in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, the rink also won the Canadian junior men’s title, and returned home as silver-medallists at the world junior men’s curling championship in Vancouver.
Gallant coached his son Christopher at the Canadian junior championship in 2012 after winning the provincial title. He also coached Suzanne Birt’s team to the 2013 and 2015 provincial women’s titles, and Nova Scotia’s Heather Smith rink at the Canadian women’s curling championship in 2014.
Gallant coached Mike Gaudet’s squad at the Canadian men’s curling championship in 2012, and also coached the Brad Gushue team at the Brier in 2013 and 2014.
He coached the Tyler Smith rink to a championship win at the 2017 P.E.I. junior men’s championship in Montague.
In the winter of 2016, Peter joined Team EunJung Kim in South Korea as coach. Since then, the team has won the 2016 Korean national championship and the 2017 Pacific Asia championship, which enabled them to play at the 2017 world women’s championship in Beijing.
As well, the team was successful in winning the 2017 Korean national championship, giving them the right to represent Korea at next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Gallant is currently working with the team in preparation for the Olympic games in February.
Championships
Championships Peter Gallant has won as a player:
Canadian Mixed
1987 – skip with third stone Kathie Gallant, second Phillip Gorveatt, lead Simone MacKenzie.
Provincial Men
1982 – second stone with skip Peter Jenkins, third Doug Weeks, and lead Roy Rodd
1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 – third stone with skip Robert Campbell, second stone Mark O’Rourke, lead Mark Butler.
2001 – third stone with Peter MacDonald, second Mark O’Rourke, lead Mark Butler.
2007 – threw skip rocks with third stone Kevin Champion, second Mark O’Rourke, lead Robert Campbell.
2008 – skip with third stone Kevin Champion, second Mark O’Rourke, lead John Desrosiers.
Provincial Mixed
1982 – second stone for skip Bill Merklinger, third stone Kim McLeod, lead Kathie Gallant.
1986 – skip with third stone Kathie Gallant, second Barrie Stevenson, lead Marion MacAulay.
1987 – skip with third stone Kathie Gallant, second Phillip Gorveatt, lead Simone MacKenzie.
1991 – skip with third stone Kathie Gallant, second Phillip Gorveatt, lead Leslie Allen.
Provincial Senior
2010 – third stone for skip Rod MacDonald, second Peter MacDonald, lead Doug MacGregor.
