PEI town floats proposal to build statue of Golden Knights coach Gallant

A dazzling first season with the Vegas Golden Knights saw head coach Gerard Gallant capture the Jack Adams Award as the 2017-18 NHL coach of the year.

Now, his hometown of Summerside, Prince Edward Island has an even more impressive way to celebrate the coach's accomplishment.

On Wednesday, city councillor Gordie Whitlock proposed commissioning a statue that would pay tribute to the hometown hero, saying many residents want to commemorate the coach locally.

Another suggestion is to rename the street Gallant grew up on, changing it to Turk Street. The Vegas Golden Knights coach has long gone by the nickname "Turk."

While Gallant has been coaching in the pros for two decades, he spent three seasons as the bench boss of the Maritime Hockey League's Summerside Western Capitals before making the jump to the IHL in 1998.

Gallant was born in Summerside in 1963. He's among a handful of NHL alumni hailing from the city of less than 15,000, a list that includes Dave Cameron, Doug MacLean, and Steve Ott.

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