The Eyes Have It

The eyes, it's often been said, never lie.
And Bryce Davison, who saw exactly what he needed when he glanced at the brown-eyed girl on the ice beside him, would most heartily agree after the way she skated at the Credit Union Centre today.
Jessica Dube might not always be the straw that stirs the drink in this pairs skating partnership. But she gave Davison all the right cues before they set out on the free skate that would send them to a golden finish at the 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships.
"I knew just looking at Jess and looking in her eyes that we were going to skate something like that," Davison said after he and Dube regained the Canadian pairs title they surrendered to Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay a year ago in Vancouver. "When she has the confidence that she had today, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to have the confidence that I need. It was really strong and we did it together."
What they did was come up with the kind of world-class free skate they needed to stave off Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin for the gold in Saskatoon. The 126.21 points they racked up — a personal best score — wiped out the slight deficit Dube and Davison faced after Duhamel and Buntin topped the short program on Friday. Dube and Davison finished with 188.43 points overall, 5.93 better than Duhamel and Buntin.
Now they're Canadian champions for the second time in three years. And Dube agreed her head was in the right place to make it happen.
"When I feel good on the ice, it shows in my face," said Dube, 21, of St. Cyrille de Wendover, Que.
"It doesn’t show as much in his face when he feels good."
That it was a battle to the finish suited Dube and Davison just fine. They expected nothing less from Duhamel and Buntin, who finished sixth in their first try at the world championships a year ago in Gothenburg. Dube and Davison were bronze medallists in Sweden, while Langlois and Hay also cracked the top 10.
"Most of the great pair countries have more than one team and it’s great for us to have," said Davison, 22, of Cambridge, Ont. "We knew coming in that it wasn’t going to be easy at all. There’s always great depth for pair skaters in Canada and just having Anabelle and Cody not here (because of injury) wasn’t any kind of relief for us.
"We knew Meagan and Craig had been training very, very hard and they’ve improved substantially. We’d seen them skate over both seasons and they’ve been doing great things. It’s great for Canadian skating."