Team Peterman/Gallant finding post-Olympic rhythm at 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship

Since early February, Brett Gallant has played 34 high pressure curling games in three huge events on two continents across several times zones. It’s no wonder he’s got similar vibes to actor Bill Murray’s character Phil in a classic movie.

“At times it feels a little like Groundhog Day. Every time you lace them up, you’re competing. But then again I love to curl, that’s what I love to do. I’m pretty fortunate to be in the position to play in these events in the last little while,” said Gallant after he and his wife/mixed doubles partner Jocelyn Peterman evened their record at 1-1 with a 7-3 win over Team Prince Edward Island (Ella Lenentine, Jack MacFadyen and coach Andrew MacFadyen, Cornwall) Sunday afternoon at the 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, being held at the Cloverdale Curling Club in Surrey, B.C.

“It’s probably been a bit too much, but it’s been a pleasure.”

Team Peterman/Gallant (Chestermere, Alta.) represented Canada in mixed doubles at the Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy. They won their first three games but then lost five straight before winning their final game. It wasn’t enough, however, to reach the playoffs. The men’s competition with Gallant playing second for skip Brad Jacobs started the next day and ended in a much more pleasurable fashion, standing atop the podium with a gold medal hanging from his neck. A few days later, he was in St. John’s for the 2026 Montana’s Brier where the Jacobs’ Team Canada squad lost the semifinal to eventual champion Matt Dunstone’s team from Manitoba.

Now the husband and wife are at the opposite end of the country attempting to once again be Canadian mixed doubles champions having previously represented Canada at three world championships.

“We’re motivated in a way. We hate to lose and we’re a little bit frustrated from our last event (the Olympics) of not performing on how we wanted to, so we’re motivated to just play a bit better this week and just do the little things we know we can do just a little bit better,” said Gallant.

“Being honest, we’re coming off an awful lot of emotional highs and lows from the past number of weeks. So, we’re probably not quite where we want to be right now, but I think we know what’s in there, it’s just a matter of finding a little bit of focus and sharpening up a little bit. If we do that, come the playoffs we’ll be in good shape.”

In their opening game Saturday night, Team Peterman/Gallant fell behind 5-0 after three ends before losing 8-5 to Team Alberta’s Zoe Cinnamon and Johnson Tao.

“(We had trouble getting) a feel for the ice. They were having issues with the (ice) plant. It wasn’t our best, it wasn’t our sharpest. We’ve had a busy little stretch (but) came out strong today,” said Peterman.

On top of all the travelling, the couple attended the funeral of Peterman’s aunt on Friday before flying to B.C. for this event.

“It’s been a lot, but it’s nice getting here and get some rest,” said Peterman. “We were obviously disappointed in the final result (at the Olympics), but we’ve had some time to be home and process it and be proud of the way we handled the challenges there and how we stuck together as a team.”

Sunday’s victory was imperative for Team Peterman/Gallant because they’re in Pool A, which has some strong squads including the team of elite curlers Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher.

“In mixed doubles, there’s so many good team in Canada right now. I don’t know if you look fairly at our pool that way. You look across the pools there’s good teams, good games and you know there’s going to be upsets everywhere. That’s the joy and the fun of mixed doubles,” said Peterman.

The two teams will meet in the round robin’s final draw Wednesday a game spectators and event organizers are looking forward to.

“We’re not getting too ahead of ourselves,” said Gallant, who is from Charlottetown, P.E.I. and has played with Jack MacFadyen’s cousin Alex. “We have a lot of important games before we get to (Team Homan/Bottcher). We’ve got to keep playing well or that game’s not going to matter.”

In Sunday’s final draw, Team Homan/Bottcher (1-0) was up against Team Northern Ontario (Lily Wright, Brayden Sinclair and coach Andrew Sinclair, Kakabeka Falls, Ont.), in a clash of the only teams without a loss in Pool A. Earlier Sunday, Team Homan/Bottcher got off to a strong start by blowing out Riley and Brendan Craig (1-1) of St. Catharines, Ont., 12-4.

Also in an earlier draw, the high-powered tandem of Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing continued its high-wire act but this time it wasn’t as successful. Saturday evening, they surrendered an 8-0 lead but went on to win 9-8 a single point in the eighth end. On Sunday, however, they found themselves chasing Terri Weeks and Sam Steep of Waterloo, Ont., all game long before Team Weeks/Steep scored a 7-6 Pool B extra-end victory. They are set to play the pool’s other duo without a loss, Laura Neil and Scott McDonald (St. Thomas, Ont.) in Sunday’s late draw.

Pool C has Katie Ford and Oliver Campbell (Kitchener-Waterloo Ont.) and Anne-Sophie Gionest and Robert Desjardins (Chicoutimi, Que.) atop the standings at 2-0.

In Pool D, two Maritime teams were fast out of the hack winning both of their games. Melissa Adams and Alex Robichaud (Fredericton) won their two by a combined score of 25-7. Marlee Powers and Luke Saunders of Halifax moved to 2-0 by downing Courtney Woo and Daniel Wenzek, with coach Diane Gushulak (Langley, B.C.) 8-3 Sunday afternoon.

Live streaming of the 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship is available on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.

Live scores and standings will be available by CLICKING HERE. Draws continue Monday and Tuesday at 10 a.m., 1, 4 and 7 p.m. PT. The round robin wraps up Wednesday with draws at 10 a.m., 1 and 4 p.m.

For the schedule and team lineups, go to the official event website: www.curling.ca/2026mixeddoubles/

CLICK HERE for ticket information for the 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship.