The Gallant Rink plays Alberta today (Friday, March 9 at 6 p.m. AST) in the semi-finals, with the winner advancing to the final tonight at 11 p.m. AST.

Chef de Mission Francois Caron stated, “The flag bearer is a very important part of Team PEI and the men’s curling team have shown great leadership and sportsmanship throughout their week in Whitehorse. Team PEI will be very proud to follow the Brett Gallant Rink into the closing ceremonies.”

Brett Gallant started curling at the age of 4 and has won the PEI Provincial Championships every year since, competing in Novice, Under 13, Under 15 and under 17. In 2004, he competed in the Canadian Junior Men's Curling Championship as a 13 year old finishing with a record of 3 wins and 8 losses.

The team of Gallant, third Adam Casey, second Anson Carmody and lead Alex MacFadyen formed in 2005 to compete for the PEI Canada Games playdowns.

In 2005, Gallant and Casey were on a team that were runners-up in the Atlantic 17 and under championship. The next year, in 2006, Casey and Carmody’s team won the Atlantic 17 and under championship.

In 2006, at the Canadian Junior Men’s Curling Championships, the Gallant rink finished with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses. This past February, the team were runners up at the Canadian Junior Men's Championships with a record of 9 – 3. At the 2007 Canada Winter Games, the team went through the round robin with a perfect 6 – 0 record.

Gallant resides in Charlottetown and is a grade 11 student at Colonel Gray High School; Casey, MacFadyen and Carmody attend Three Oaks High School in Summerside, where Casey is in grade twelve and Carmody and MacFadyen are in grade 11.

With Prince Edward Island playing host to the Canada Summer Games in 2009, the athlete that will accept the torch from 2009 Host Committee President, Joe Spriet, at the Closing Ceremonies will be Team PEI squash team member Hilary Hansen. Hansen is a three-time Canada Games athlete previously competing in the 2003 Canada Winter Games in squash and the 2005 Canada Summer Games in tennis. Hansen has won three Atlantic Tennis Championships and placed 5th at the National Squash Championships in 2001. She is a bilingual, grade 11 student at Charlottetown Rural High School and hopes to go to university on a tennis scholarship to study sports psychology.

At the 2007 Canada Winter Games, Team PEI consisted of 244 athletes, artists, coaches, managers and mission staff competing as 19 teams in 16 sports. Team PEI will arrive at the Charlottetown Airport on Sunday, March 11 at 6:09 p.m. AST.