CHARLOTTETOWN - The Brett Gallant rink already captured the keys to Canadians' hearts, now the five men in red have secured the keys to Prince Edward Island's capital city.
Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee handed the keys to the city to Brett Gallant, Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, Jamie Danbrook, Stephen Burgess and coach Peter Gallant during a ceremony at the Charlottetown Curling Club Tuesday evening.
The honour has only been bestowed on three sports figures in the history of the city including Dave 'Eli' MacEachern, Lori Kane, and Brad Richards.
The city honoured the Gallant rink for its silver medal finish at the world junior curling championships in Vancouver last weekend.
"We are here today to say how proud we are of you and to acknowledge your tremendous achievements," said Mayor Lee.
"Some people only dream of success, tonight gentlemen you are living the dream."
Junior curlers, carrying the Canadian, Prince Edward Island, and City of Charlottetown flags, led a parade for the Brett Gallant rink from city hall to the Charlottetown Curling Club.
The curling squad was divided into two, with Gallant and his father, coach Peter Gallant, in a black Ford Mustang convertible with the rest of his team following closely behind in a blue Ford Mustang convertible.
Pipers marshaled the team into the curling club, where more than 200 supporters, some wearing the Team Canada colours, cheered on their hometown boys.
Gallant choked back tears as he talked about his heart-breaking 9-6 loss Sunday to Denmark in the men's gold-medal game.
In his first interview since that heart-breaking loss, Gallant reflected on being only a couple of shots away from a world championship.
"My team played very well," said Gallant, as his eyes filled with tears. "I just didn't make the right shots. It's tough because all year long you want to be in that spot."
Anson Carmody, 19, of Summerside, said the support from Islanders is awesome.
"We're definitely thinking of next year," he said. "We want to come back and finish the job."
Adam Casey, a proud resident of Seven Mile Bay, said the support being showed by Islanders during the welcome home reception and at the world championship in Vancouver made their job that much easier.
"Makes us almost feel important," joked Casey, with his trademark ear-to-ear smile.
There will be little downtime for the curling team.
They leave for Montreal next week to represent UPEI at the Canadian Interuniversity Sports Curling Championships.
Coach Peter Gallant said once the dust settles the boys will appreciate their accomplishments, adding that second place in the world is not too bad.
"We'll get the job done next year," he added.
Curling rink captures Canadians' hearts
Team Canada Skip Brett Gallant, right, his father and team coach, Peter Gallant and Jamie Danbrook, the teams lead stone, arrive for a celebration Tuesday night at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The team won silver at the recent world curling championshi
-
Published on
March 18, 2009
- Published on June 21, 2010
-
Wayne Thibodeau
CHARLOTTETOWN - The Brett Gallant rink already captured the keys to Canadians' hearts, now the five men in red have secured the keys to Prince Edward Island's capital city.
Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee handed the keys to the city to Brett Gallant, Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, Jamie Danbrook, Stephen Burgess and coach Peter Gallant during a ceremony at the Charlottetown Curling Club Tuesday evening.
- Rate
- Top of the page
