Brett Gallant

Brett Philip Gallant (born February 18, 1990 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) is a Canadian curler from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.[1] He currently plays second for the Brad Gushue rink.

Brett Gallant
Gallant in 2018.
Born
Brett Philip Gallant

(1990-02-18) February 18, 1990
Team
Curling clubBally Haly G&CC,
St. John's, NL
SkipBrad Gushue
ThirdMark Nichols
SecondBrett Gallant
LeadGeoff Walker
AlternateJeff Thomas
Mixed doubles
partner
Jocelyn Peterman
Career
Member Association Prince Edward Island (2006–2012)
 Newfoundland and Labrador (2012–present)
Brier appearances8 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
World Championship
appearances
2 (2017, 2018)
World Mixed Doubles Championship
appearances
1 (2019)
Top CTRS ranking1st (2016–17, 2017–18)
Grand Slam victories10 (2014 Masters, 2014 Canadian Open, 2015 National, 2016 Elite 10, 2016 Players', 2017 Canadian Open, 2017 Tour Challenge, 2017 Masters, 2018 Champions Cup, 2018 Elite 10 (Sept.))

Career

Juniors

Gallant has represented Prince Edward Island in the Canadian Junior Curling Championships numerous times, winning the 2009 Canadian Junior Curling Championships on his fourth attempt. Gallant won five straight provincial titles in P.E.I. from 2006 to 2010. He holds the record for most all-time wins at the Canadian Juniors (48) which he set after his second win at the 2010 Canadian Junior Curling Championships.

At the 2009 World Junior Curling Championships, Gallant represented Team Canada, and after placing first after the round robin, lost in the final to Denmark's Rasmus Stjerne rink.

Gallant also won a bronze medal for P.E.I. at the 2007 Canada Games.

Men's

Gallant joined Brad Gushue's team during the 2012–13 season as the team's third, and moved to Newfoundland and Labrador in the process. The team would win the 2013 Newfoundland and Labrador Tankard sending them to the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier, Gallant's first. The team would make the playoffs with an 8–3 record. They would lose the 3 vs. 4 game to Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs and the bronze medal game to Ontario's Glenn Howard. The Gushue rink failed to make the playoffs at the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier after going 6–5 in the round robin. Mark Nichols rejoined the team for the following season and Gallant moved to second on the team. They would improve on their best finish at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier where they lost in the semifinal to Team Canada skipped by Pat Simmons. During the 2014–15 season, Gallant would also win his first Grand Slam of Curling event, the 2014 Masters and the 2014 Canadian Open.

The Gushue rink would win three more slams during the 2015–16 season, the 2015 National, the 2016 Elite 10 and the 2016 Players' Championship. With their successful tour season, the team went into the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier as the number one seed. They led Newfoundland and Labrador to a 9–2 round robin record, earning them a spot in the 1 vs. 2 game. They would defeat Northern Ontario's Jacobs before losing to Alberta's Kevin Koe 9–5 in the final. The team finished second on the CTRS standings for the season, just behind the Koe rink.[2]

Team Gushue added one more slam title during the 2016–17 season at the 2017 Canadian Open. The team would also have their most successful Brier to date at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier which was hosted in St. John's. They once again finish 9–2 in the round robin and would win the 1 vs. 2 game over Manitoba's Mike McEwen rink. Tied 6–6 in the final end of the final against Koe, Gushue needed to draw full eight foot to win the title. The team swept it all the way down the sheet and the stone was just close enough for the win.[3] It was Newfoundland's first Brier title since 1976. The team represented Canada at the 2017 World Men's Curling Championship where they went undefeated en route to capturing the gold medal. The whole Canadian team was named the All-Star Team for the tournament. This would earn them first place on the CTRS standings for the season.[4]

The team followed this successful season up with another great season for the 2017–18 season. It did come with a bit of heartbreak though, as the team lost the semifinal of the 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials. They shook this off though, able to win three more slams, the 2017 Tour Challenge, the 2017 Masters and the 2018 Humpty's Champions Cup. His rink would defend their title at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier. Representing Team Canada, they went 10–1 through the round robin and championship pool and defeated Alberta's Brendan Bottcher 6–4 in the final. They would lose the final of the 2018 World Men's Curling Championship to Sweden's Niklas Edin team.

The team added a tenth slam title to their name at the 2018 Elite 10 (September) the following season. They would lose the 3 vs. 4 game of the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier to Bottcher's rink. On the tour, they lost in the finals of the China Open to Russia's Sergei Glukhov and the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic to Scott Howard who was skipping the Glenn Howard team. They began their 2019–20 season at the 2019 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic where they lost to eventual champions John Epping in the quarterfinals. They then lost in the semifinal of the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard to Brad Jacobs who also went on to win the event. In Grand Slam play, the team didn't win any events, but finished runner-up at both the 2019 Masters and the 2019 Tour Challenge and lost in the semifinals of the 2019 National and the 2020 Canadian Open. The team would win the 2020 Newfoundland and Labrador Tankard after not having to play in it for the previous two seasons. At the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier, the team finished 8–3, which qualified them for the 3 vs. 4 game. They would beat Brad Jacobs in the 3 vs. 4, Saskatchewan's Matt Dunstone in the semifinal and Alberta's Bottcher rink in the final to win their third Brier title. The team was set to represent Canada once again at the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship before the event got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6] The Brier would be their last event of the season as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were also cancelled due to the pandemic.[7]

Mixed doubles

In April, 2016 Gallant and teammate Jocelyn Peterman won the 2016 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials after battling to a 12–8 win over Laura Crocker and Geoff Walker at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon, Sask. The new champions were playing in their first Mixed Doubles event together.[8] The pair played in the 2018 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Olympic Trials, going undefeated in group play, but lost to the eventual champion John Morris / Kaitlyn Lawes pairing in the semifinal. Peterman and Gallant also won the 2019 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, defeating Nancy Martin and Tyrel Griffith in the final. The pair represented Canada at the 2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, where they won the silver medal, after losing 6–5 to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg and Oskar Eriksson on the last rock.[9]

On the World Curling Tour, Gallant and Peterman have won the 2018 Battleford Mixed Doubles Fall Curling Classic, and the 2019 China Open.[10]

Personal life

His parents are Kathie and Peter Gallant, Canadian former Mixed champions. He attended Memorial University in St. John's. He engaged to his mixed doubles partner, Jocelyn Peterman.[11][12][13]

Awards

  • Brier: First Team All-Star, Second - 2018
  • Brier: Second Team All-Star, Second - 2019
  • World Men's Curling Championship: All-Star Second - 2017
  • Gallant was named Senior Male Athlete of the Year and was awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Award (presented to the top overall Island athlete) at the 2016 Sport PEI Amateur Sport Awards.[14]

References

  1. http://cloudfront9.curling.ca/2015brier-en/files/2015/02/TANKARD-TIMES-THURS-ALL-REVISE.pdf
  2. "2015–16 CTRS Standings – Men". Curling Canada. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDjwtgb2gBw
  4. "2016–17 CTRS Standings – Men". Curling Canada. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  5. The Canadian Press (March 14, 2020). "World Men's Curling Championship Cancelled". The Sports Network. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  6. "LGT World Men's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Glasgow, Scotland". World Curling Federation. March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  7. "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  8. "PETERMAN AND GALLANT ARE 2016 MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS". Curling.ca. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  9. Heroux, Devin (27 April 2019). "Canadians capture 2 gold medals, 1 silver at curling worlds". CBC Sports. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  10. "China Open Mixed Doubles". CurlingZone. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  11. Heroux, Devin (20 April 2019). "For the love of curling (and each other): Peterman, Gallant eye gold at mixed doubles worlds". CBC Sports. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  12. 2018 Canadian Mixed Doubles Olympic Curling Trials Media Guide
  13. "Congratulations on your engagement @jpete93 and @bpgallant!". Twitter. Curling Canada. September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  14. http://www.sportpei.pe.ca/annual-awards
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