(by Grant Harrison, Special to SaltWire Network)
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Peter Gallant started his curling career at Birchwood Intermediate School over 50 years ago.
Gallant enjoyed the curling section in physical education class so much he joined the after-school curling program.
After all, he only lived a stone’s throw from the Charlottetown Curling Club.
One day, Gallant was playing against the teachers of Birchwood. In the first end, he threw his rock down the ice and split his pants.
He left the ice, ran home, changed his pants and got back on the ice before the second end started.
“I loved the game too much already,” Gallant said after being inducted to the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame Nov. 25 in Charlottetown.
Gallant has won 14 provincial championships: nine men’s titles, four mixed and one senior. He has also won a Canadian mixed championship.
As a coach, he commanded the South Korean women’s curling team to an Olympic silver medal in 2018, and he is father to Canadian Olympic curler Brett Gallant.
Peter Gallant’s former teammate, Robert Campbell, was also inducted into the hall of fame at the same Nov. 25 event. The teammates went to the Brier seven times together.
The two worked well on the ice together, with Gallant offering guidance said Campbell.
“I was probably heading down that road of being too fiery at times. But having a third like Peter Gallant slowed me down somewhat and gave me some wisdom,” Campbell said.
Curlers and former teammates Peter Gallant, left, and Robert Campbell catch up with each other after their induction ceremony into the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame in Charlottetown Nov. 25. Grant Harrison • Special to The Guardian – Contributed
The 1995 Halifax Brier sticks out the most to Campbell.
“We started off 0-4. We weren’t Nova Scotians, obviously, but we had kind of a hometown crowd by the end of it. We reeled off seven straight wins to make the tiebreaker.”
Unlike Gallant, Campbell said he won’t be coaching an Olympic team anytime soon.
“Coaching – it’s always interested me. But I don’t know if I have the patience Peter does.”
Click the link for the full story on The P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony: Former teammates share induction into P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame | SaltWire
Grant Harrison is a student in the journalism program at Holland College.