MOOSE JAW, Sask. — A Canadian mixed doubles trials victory. A Grand Slam of Curling final appearance. A Montana's Brier title.
The 2025 calendar has been successful but relentless for Brett Gallant, who has been strong in both disciplines during a season that's several weeks away from completion.
Gallant, who plays second for Team Brad Jacobs, was off to Summerside, P.E.I., to play with wife Jocelyn Peterman in the national mixed doubles playdowns just days after winning his fifth career Brier title.
After falling in the playoffs, it was another quick turnaround ahead of the ongoing BKT World Men's Curling Championship where Gallant has helped Canada to a 3-0 start.
"He was the first guy to the rink on the Monday after mixed nationals when he was home," said coach Paul Webster. "He was home on Saturday, back practising on Monday.
"I can tell you just from watching him in the drills that we do all the time, it looked like he hadn't left."
Gallant has thrown at an impressive 91.7-per cent clip so far in round-robin play at the Temple Gardens Centre. He did have a couple misses in a 9-3 win over South Korea's Hyojun Kim on Sunday afternoon but still finished at 89 per cent.
"If you're playing this late into the year, it certainly beats the alternative because all the events you really want to be playing in are at this time," Gallant said. "So I'm pretty grateful to be being playing in them."
Jacobs, Gallant, vice Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert defeated Japan and Germany on the opening day of the 13-team competition. Canada was joined by Scotland's Bruce Mouat and China's Xiaoming Xu at 3-0 after five sessions of play.
"There isn't a shot out there that we're scared to throw, right up and down through the lineup," Jacobs said. "It's been a long time since I've felt this type of confidence in my teammates and myself. It's a really satisfying thing."
China defeated Italy's Joel Retornaz 9-4 in the evening draw and Scotland rolled to a 9-3 win over South Korea. Sweden's Niklas Edin beat Austria's Mathias Genner 8-4 in the other game.
Sweden was in a five-way tie for fourth place at 2-1.
Canada will meet the top-ranked Scots on Monday before a run of four straight two-game days.
Gallant, 35, was on the last Canadian team to win this event, taking gold eight years ago with skip Brad Gushue. He left that team after the 2021-22 season to join this Calgary-based squad, which brought Jacobs on this season after parting ways with Brendan Bottcher.
Currently ranked third in the world, they're one of the favourites to reach the podium next weekend.
"I think that team dynamic that they've developed among the four of them, it's just helping them when they make a miss or two," Webster said. "Just to get (ready) for the next shot. I couldn't ask more of them right now."
Gallant said his six-foot-three, 200-pound frame is feeling good despite the heavy workload and he's taking steps to keep his focus in check as well.
"These are high-pressure games and high-stake games," he said. "They just seem to take a little bit out of you mentally. So I'm just really focusing on my mental performance, doing the things I need to do to just stay sharp.
"When you're playing in Canada at a world championship in front of a lively crowd, that helps a lot too."
Gallant and Peterman won the mixed doubles trials in January, which would give them the spot should Canada qualify for the 2026 Milan Olympics. They'll try to secure that berth at the April 26-May 3 world mixed doubles playdowns in Fredericton.
And just days after the men's worlds, Gallant and Team Jacobs will head to Toronto to play the Grand Slam season finale at the AMJ Players' Championship.
"I'm pretty lucky that these three guys have been pretty supportive of me going off and playing mixed doubles," Gallant said. "Not all teammates are quite as supportive as they've been and they're kind of rooting me and Jocelyn along the whole way.
"(That) makes it a lot easier, honestly, when you know they're supporting it. So that's been great this year."
The 2026 Games will be the first time that Canadian players can compete in both mixed doubles and four-player disciplines, something that other countries have done in the past.
Gallant has a chance for the rare double as Team Jacobs has pre-qualified for the four-player team trials in Halifax in November.
"I don't want to look too far ahead, but I'd love nothing more than to be in Italy next year," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2025.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
