Eric Gillies and Josée Picard
Class of 2017: Professional
Legendary coaches Eric Gillies and Josée Picard enter the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in the professional category.
Gillies, from Moncton, NB, and Picard, from Hull, QC, have coached countless skaters to national and international medals in singles, pairs and ice dance, including World Pair Champions and Olympic medallists Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, and World Ice Dance Champions Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz.
Picard and Gillies were also instrumental in the development and operation of a centre that combined education and sports – the first of its kind in Quebec.
Gillies was a noted Canadian ice dancer, and with partner Susan Carscallen, represented Canada at the 1976 Olympic Winter Games and captured gold at the 1977 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. Picard was also a national level skater and was one of the first coaches of 2018 world champion Kaetlyn Osmond.
