London Calling Us Next

What a scene it was late on this Prairie evening.
A hardy group of skating folk — coaches, fans, parents and such — sat in the terminal at John Diefenbaker Airport weary after an often frenzied week in Saskatoon. And what were we gathered around a flat screen television watching as we waited for late-night flights to take us home to destination points from coast to coast?
CBC's coverage of tonight's men's free skate, of course. Wasn't enough that we'd already seen it live. We just had to hear what Kurt Browning and Tracy Wilson had to say about it all and had to know how the people at home saw it unfold.
Yeah, it's tough to shake the Canadian figure skating championships out of your blood (for the record, your faithful blogger noted it was also available for viewing on the first of three Westjet flights that will eventually get him back to Ottawa).
More precisely, at least from this corner, there is always a touch of sadness when this little family reunion of sorts ends every year. Sure, I'm exhausted and can't wait to relax in my own bed again sometime soon.
But admittedly, there will be a few days of withdrawal ahead.
We may well see grander performances in Los Angeles at the world championships two months from now. There is a Winter Olympics moving closer into view, this one right in our own backyard in Vancouver.
And yet, I can help thinking I won't soon forget the magic that Patrick Chan and Joannie Rochette weaved before our eyes. But they're real people to me, too (lucky person that I am to say that), and it's always a treat to be reminded of that.
They did a rather neat thing today at the Credit Union Centre on the last day of the championships. Before the men's free skate final, the junior medals were presented before the Saskatoon audience. Hanging the hardware around the juniors' necks were the winners of the senior events — the very skaters the young ones certainly admire and may well even idolize. Talk about bringing it all full circle.
But that's the kind of thing you see at this event every year. Everyone who comes to nationals is a member of the Canadian skating family. It's the grandest of reunions when we gather each and every year. It is also a spirit you won't find at any other figure skating competition and it brings me back every year for more.
We head eastward next year to the John Labatt Centre in London, Ont., where not only will national champions be crowned but Olympic dreams will also come true. It should be an exciting time, indeed, and the blog surely intends to be there to chronicle it all one more time.
Thanks again to those who chose to follow this "alternative" path along with me, and especially those who took the time to share your thoughts.
Let's do it all over again in London in 2010, shall we?

New Kids On The Block

Everyone knew the odds were stacked in favour of it.
Now, after a dramatic men's free skate final at the 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships, we can make it official. Say hello to the two newest members of Canada's world team: Calgary's Vaughn Chipeur and Jeremy Ten of Vancouver.
While most of the folks who came out to Saskatoon's Credit Union Centre tonight no doubt had eyes for Patrick Chan — who made it look easy in successfully defending his national title — there was another more intriguing subplot playing out. Namely, who would fill out the final two spots available for Canadian men at the 2009 worlds in Los Angeles.
There wasn't a lot to choose among about six contenders during Friday night's short program. And it was a blanket finish among four of them (Joey Russell of Labrador City, NL, and Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., couldn't keep up with the pack) at the end.
First it was former world teamer Shawn Sawyer of Edmundston, N.B., moving to the top of the leaderboard by posting a 201.24-point overall total. But the 19-year-old Ten, a former Canadian junior champ, pushed Sawyer down a notch with a sublime effort that included seven clean triple jumps. His overall score: 204.03.
The look of joy and disbelief on the face of the young man whose motto is 'Ten For 2010' (as in the Vancouver Olympics) was utterly priceless.
Then it was the turn of Kevin Reynolds, the gangly jumping bean from Coquitlam, B.C., who ripped up the only two quadruple jumps of the event. But Reynolds tired near the end of his program and managed a 201.97-point total, assuring Ten of a ticket to L.A.
"It has not sunk in yet," a shocked Ten said afterward. "It feels like when I won my national junior title. It’s going to take a while for it to sink in."
Chipeur had the last word in this six-act drama. He wasn't flawless but he was plenty good, especially with an opening triple Axel and followup combination. When the final numbers were posted — 206.30 overall and a second-place finish — Chipeur pumped his fists in celebration. California, here he comes.
"I thought it was a really good fight," said Chipeur, 24. "I made two little mistakes ... It was a good fight for the rest of the program and I’m really satisfied.
"I just wanted to enjoy the ride and enjoy the occasion. And enjoy the fact that the hard work has paid off."
Ten felt for Reynolds, his training mate in Burnaby, B.C. They'd hoped to jet off to the worlds together, but it wasn't to be.
"I was sitting in the kiss ‘n cry cheering him on," said Ten, who shared an emotional hug with Reynolds after it was over. "He’s my teammate. I just wanted him to skate well and he skated brilliantly. Really, it was up to the judges at that point. It was really out of my hands. I would have been happy either way."

More Than A Silver Lining

A little bit of simple math told Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin that it probably wasn't going to happen on this day. But it never hurts to try.
Duhamel and Buntin had to settle for the silver medals in the senior pairs event at the 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships at the Credit Union Centre. Although "settle" hugely understates the sentiment they'll carry home with them from Saskatoon.
"We won a silver medal," Duhamel said emphatically after it was over.
That they surely did. But their hopes of a Canadian title pretty much died when Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, the 2007 national champs, skated one mighty fine free skate before them and were rewarded with 126.21 points by the judges.
"It’s hard to start a program hearing somebody else’s scores that good," admitted Duhamel, 23, of Lively, Ont. "They got 126 and our personal best was 109. But we had a job to do. We came here to do two of the best skates that we can and we hoped to be rewarded with a gold medal from those two skates.
"Maybe we didn’t get a gold medal but we fought through."
The 116.76 points they earned for their free program might have one them a Canadian title on another night. Just not this one. Dube and Davison totalled 188.43 points overall, Duhamel and Buntin 182.50.
But if there is indeed victory in the struggle, than Duhamel and Buntin will claim one here.
"Did we come here to be Canadian champions? Yeah," said Buntin, 28, of North Vancouver, B.C. "But at no point in our program did we lose sight of that. I think we fought through everything out there. We fought through like champions, so I’m very happy."
They didn't wilt under the pressure of skating last in the competition
"We’re going to be twice as good next time because of the experience we got here," said Buntin. "We beat our personal best by (7.16) points. We got a world-class score in the short. And now we have this under our belt ... The performance and the drive and the fight was there and that, I think, is our biggest strength as a team and that’s just going to keep us going forward."
*****
For now, they're Canadian senior pairs bronze medallists.
What happens next for Mylene Brodeur and John Mattatall, they'll have to wait and see.
Not that they're letting the uncertainty spoil this moment.
"We're honoured to be here," said Mattatall, 26, of Wallace, N.S. "It's pretty special. It's been a long road. Last May, we didn't even think we'd be competing this year. To be here is pretty cool."
Imagine, then, what they'd think about representing Canada at the Four Continents Championship in Vancouver next month or the world championships in Los Angeles in March?
That's still a story for another day.
Skate Canada wants to give Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay — the 2008 national champions who withdrew from this competition because of injury — one last chance to prove their fitness before the two season-ending competition. Technical director Michael Slipchuk said the association expects to decide "within 7-10 days" whether Langlois' ankle injury has recovered sufficiently enough to allow she and Hay to go to Four Continents and worlds.
If the answer is no, those tickets will go to Brodeur and Mattatall.

The Long And The Short Of It

Well, so much for some closing night drama at these 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships in Saskatoon.
At least at the top of the final standings, that is.
While there is much still to be sorted out below him (see our previous post for more), Patrick Chan pretty much slammed the door on any possible doubt about who'll emerge as the newest king of Canadian men's skating. Turns out it's the same guy who won in Vancouver last year. Although there was nothing the same about the chap who showed up at the Credit Union Centre tonight.
From the moment who floated through the air and stuck the landing of his triple Axel, Chan was the man in this competition. He checked off the rest of his jump repertoire, wowed the crowd with some flashy spins and footwork, then grinned the biggest of grins as he soaked up the standing ovation that enveloped him even before he was done.
With an astonishing 88.89-point score — 7.5 better than his previous personal best — Chan pretty much made it game, set and match for this competition. He's a whopping 17 points ahead of his closest pursuer, Vaughn Chipeur of Edmonton. That isn't just a mountain of a deficit, it's a veritable Mount Everest.
"I was super excited to see that number," said Chan. "88 is just great."
Now here's the scary part. He says we haven't seen his best yet.
"I’m not going to complain," said the 18-year-old from Toronto. "Seriously, that is the best program I’ve ever done. But there’s little things you can work on, like footwork."
Still, he quickly grasped the magnitude of what he had wrought. And what it could help deliver for him at the world championships in March in Los Angeles.
"I just have to repeat the exact same thing," he said. "I’ll probably be a medal contender at worlds (with that performance), I would say."
Chan could only imagine what a similar effort would have done for him last month at the Grand Prix final in Korea, where he couldn't recover from a sub-par program and wound up fifth.
"I wish I knew," he said. "If I did know, I definitely wouldn’t be this hard on myself and I wouldn’t have this much pressure. Too bad we can’t predict the future because things would be much easier.
"But things would have been much different. I think I would have got a medal at the Grand Prix final if I did a short program like that."
The downer in Korea, he acknowledged, likely played in hand in what transpired tonight.
"You have to go on your ups and downs and (the Grand Prix final) was one of those downs," he said. "It was a really bad down. I came home after Korea and I was really upset, depressed. But I think it was good to have that now instead of closer to the (2010) Olympics.
"Hopefully, next year will be different and I won’t have to go through that again. Maybe a smaller down, not such a big down."
For now, though, everything is very much on the up and up.
Who knows where it will lead on Sunday night? It could be quite the finale to this Prairie ice show, indeed.

Only One Way To Go

There is not a hint of doubt anymore about who they are, what they are all about and — perhaps most importantly — where they want to go.
The mad dash is finally over for Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin, who now consider themselves precisely on track in their development as a pairs team. Their performance Friday night in the pairs free program at the 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships couldn't have said it more clearly — or loudly.
It was a supremely confident Duhamel and Buntin who set the pace at Saskatoon's Credit Union Centre, hanging a 65.74-point score on the board that couldn't be matched. They'll carry a 3.52-point lead over current world bronze medallists Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison into Saturday's free skate final.
Clearly, this isn't the same team that was merely happy to be a part of the proceedings at the 2008 nationals in Vancouver after putting together their partnership in seven short and frenzied months. They claimed the bronze medals there and went on to place sixth at the world championships two months later in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Things have surely changed in the year since Vancouver.
"We’ve hit a big marker now in that race," said Buntin, 28, of North Vancouver, B.C. "When we first started, our plan was to get here. And this is where we are right now. Some people might say ‘wow, you guys have really taken off’ but no, on paper, this is where we are.
"A little over a year to the (2010) Olympics and those marks are finally starting to look like solid international marks and we were right on track to where we want to be."
They intend to leave Saskatoon as Canadian champions.
"We came here with a plan to do our best short and our best long (programs) and we were hoping we’d be rewarded with first-place marks for both programs," said Duhamel, 23, of Lively, Ont. "One step done and we have to come out tomorrow and stick to our plan."
And where does that plan take them next? Let's the just say this is a pair that isn't exactly thinking small about the year to come.
"Right to the top," said Duhamel, who confidence has blossomed in a noticeable way since she let Buntin do all of the pair's talking a year ago. "You come to a competition to be the best, no matter where you’re going. That’s the only way, whether you win or not, that you’re going to achieve your best result and your best skate."
That kind of thinking goes for the biggest stages of them all, too.
"When we started, the goal was world and Olympic podium," said Buntin. "That is how high we can get. We’ve had stumbling blocks along the way beyond what anyone could have imagined but we’ve managed to stick with our plan and that’s what we’re continuing to do.
"If we come out of this at the end of our careers knowing we did absolutely as best as we could have done and that’s not it, you know what, we’ll have no regrets. But why would we stand here a year before the Olympics and say ‘we’re not going to make the podium?’ Why would we come to this competition and say ‘we’re probably not going to win?’
Good questions. More than ever, they appear to have all the answers.

Here We Go Again

Stop me if you've heard this one before.
The pairs short program at the BMO Canadian figure skating championships goes into the books. And when the results are posted, Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison find themselves staring up at someone else at the top of the leaderboard.
Yeah, the reigning world bronze medallists know this story.
Dube and Davison stand second after Friday night's proceedings in Saskatoon, earning 62.22 points for their efforts at the Credit Union Centre. Ahead of them are Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin, who'll carry 65.74 points — and a 3.52-point edge — into Saturday's free skate final. Well below them in third are Quebec's Mylene Brodeur and John Mattatall of Nova Scotia (55.63).
For Dube and Davison, it's a familiar refrain, although this time the situation isn't nearly as dire. A year ago in Vancouver, then finished a shocking fifth in the short program but rallied strongly in the free and came within less than a point of overhauling Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay for the gold. So they know the drill for Saturday.
"We would have liked to be first after the short," said Dube, 21, of St-Cyrille de Wendover, Que. "But we know we can do it and we’re going to come back strong for the long."
Dube's fall on their side-by-side triple Salchows made the difference between first and second. But Davison called it a "huge improvement" over short programs they performed at two Grand Prix events earlier this season.
"We really can't even compare them," said Davison, 22, of Cambridge, Ont. "Other than the (Salchow), everything else was very smooth ... With a short like that, I hope people noticed a difference in quality of our skating, especially. We just really look forward to getting back out on the ice (for the free program)."
Added Dube: "The rest of our program was pretty good so we can’t be disappointed with that. I am a little bit for my jump — I know I can do it — so the next time I’m going to land it."
They look forward to a duel for the gold with Duhamel and Buntin, who have clearly taken their game up a notch since last season.
"It’s good to see for them and it’s great to have competition inside our nation," said Davison. "It forwards our sport."

One For The Home Team

Now on the ice, representing Saskatchewan ...
After that, it was pretty much a blur for Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers, the home province kids and the clear favourites of the Saskatoon crowd during the early stages of the pairs short program Friday night at the Credit Union Centre.
They roared almost from the second Lawrence and Swiegers appeared on the ice for their six-minute warmup. Another big ovation followed as they glided into the starting position, then once more after the duo from the tiny Wawota Skating Club were done. Many of them stood proudly holding Saskatchewan flags as they cheered.
You betcha these two were still bouncing off the walls about their debut at the 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships.
"It was amazing," a still wide-eyed Lawrence, 18, said as she tried to put the moment into words. "Oh my goodness, that was the most fun we've had since last Canadians (in Vancouver in 2008). Surreal. I've never had an experience like that before."
The 21-year-old Swiegers was equally taken aback.
"Even on the warmup, they announced our names and the crowd went wild," he said. "We were like 'is that for us?' We always knew it was going to be a good home crowd because a lot of friends from home were going to come here. But we didn't expect it that loud."
In truth, Lawrence and Swiegers have had this night in mind since the 2008 nationals in Vancouver, when they were the surprise silver medallists in the junior pairs event. While being in Saskatchewan this week is reason enough to feel at home, their success of a year ago has given this young team a new sense of belonging.
"We got to know the national team a lot more and different members of the team," said Swiegers. "Now that we're here at nationals, we find ourselves talking to more skaters from other provinces. We're starting to fit in more here because we know everybody now. It's a big difference."
Lawrence and Swiegers are both studying at Brandon University, so they spend most of their time in neighbouring Manitoba. But it's a short drive home to their hometowns of Kennedy (Lawrence) and Kipling (Swiegers), which they make just about every weekend.
"We always love coming home to Saskatchewan because we love Saskatchewan as a province," said Swiegers.
Safe to say that feeling is pretty mutual, don't you think?

Chan's Time Is At Hand

Already, he's becoming one of the faces of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. One of many Canadian athletes charged with upholding the host country's honour at the biggest show on earth.
Patrick Chan, all 18 years of him, doesn't shy away from any of it. Bring it on, says the reigning national senior men's champion, who fully embraces the opportunity to put figure skating in the biggest sporting spotlight of them all.
"Every night, I think about it," said Chan, whose face lights up at the mere mention of the Vancouver Games. "It’s huge just to think about it. I’ve been to Vancouver and I’ve seen the construction going on. To think that in a year’s time I’ll be in that construction area and living in that space and being at the opening ceremony … that’s always in my mind.
"What’s going to happen? That is the question, what’s going to happen in a year when I’m there and what’s going to be different? It’s a lot of questions and I wish I could read the future."
A little sooner than he'd planned, Chan is suddenly the man in Canadian men's skating. There is no shadow of Jeffrey Buttle to hide behind, not since the 2008 world men's champion announced his retirement from eligible skating last September. But Chan is clearly ready to accept whatever torch is being passed his way.
"I think I’m doing the job of trying to promote figure skating," said Chan, whose face you may have already seen on a few pre-Olympic commercials and ad spots. "I want to sort of be what Jeff was, a spokesman for figure skating. It is good timing for me ... to have all that attention now because it’s so close to the Olympics and that’s when most of the attention is. I want to do my best to promote figure skating and really bring it back up as it was before."
Without a doubt, another Chan-Buttle showdown at these BMO Canadian figure skating championships would have done a lot in that area. Especially with the men's final receiving prime time live television exposure on Sunday night on CBC.
"I knew this nationals would have been very exciting — a world champion and a national champion both fighting for it," said Chan, who upset Buttle to seize the Canadian title a year ago in Vancouver. "It was going to be an epic battle."
Instead, all eyes will be on Chan, who knows full well what's at stake.
"I have to make it to the world team," he said. "Last year, it was ‘I want to make it.’ Now, it’s not an option. I have to make it, especially if I want to be an Olympic athlete."
Through it all, Chan manages to maintain a balance in his life. He is clearly enthused about returning to Ecole Etienne-Brule in Toronto next month to finish high school and graduate with his class. School is also the place that helps him stay grounded as the road toward Vancouver grows ever shorter.
"You have to really look at the bigger picture and say ‘do I really want that much attention?’ " he said. "There's just the initial ‘oh, my God, I’m famous, I feel like a rock star,’ But you have to realize there’s much more than that. You’ve got your friends and other people. You always have to remember your friends. One thing that Kurt (Browning) taught me is try not to get a big ego and try to stay as grounded as possible. Keep your best friends closest to you.
"That’s what I love about school. You just go in the first day and they say ‘congratulations, we know you did great, I saw you on TV.’ And the next day they forget about it and treat me like a normal kid."
Even if the thoughts that run through his head are often anything but.

Saskatoon, Here We Come

The friendly young lad at the Westjet counter at the Ottawa airport didn't hear the word quite right. But given winter's severe bite in the air, I had to agree his response sure made a heck of lot more sense.
"Where are you headed?" he asked.
Your friendly blog correspondent's answer came across as muffled, given the fact he's been nursing a rather nasty cold for a few days now.
"Cancun?" he asked.
"I wish," came the caustic reply, no doubt brought about by the bitter winds that all but froze my face on the walk into the terminal.
Nope, Saskatoon is hardly Cancun. But that's where we find ourselves headed today. And you know what, nothing against the warmth in that favourite holiday hotspot, but we're quite happy to say we'll be in Saskatchewan in a few short hours.
The 2009 BMO Canadian figure skating championships await us and, if you're familiar with the yarns spun here in the past couple of years, you know this is one of our favourite weeks of any year. Granted, we could do without the minus-27 temperatures (the bitter winds no doubt making it much worse) that will greet us, but this is an event that does a lot of warm the heart each and every year.
Want to see a cross-section of where this sport stands in Canada as we sit a year out from what will be the biggest Olympic party our fair land has ever seen? Cast your eyes toward the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, where you'll see the stars of today and tomorrow. And we are happy to report there are plenty of both.
Birthday girl Joannie Rochette (happy 23rd!) is gunning for a Canadian fifth straight senior women's crown. Patrick Chan has to be favoured to make it back-to-back senior men's titles. And finally, after an autumn wiped out by injury, ice dance phenoms Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are ready to put on the grandest of shows again, starting with the senior compulsory dance later on tonight.
Sadly, the surprising pairs champs from Vancouver 2008 won't be with us. Anabelle Langlois' ailing ankle hasn't healed quite enough, so she and partner Cody Hay will have to take a pass this week. But look no further than reigning world bronze medallists Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison for some star power in that event.
The junior ice dancers are on the ice right now, with the men, pairs and women to follow. If you're looking for the next wave of Canadian talent, there's no better place to start.
We'll be here all week to chronicle it all, as we have been since the blog made a rather auspicious debut in Halifax in 2007. Mostly, it'll be about the skaters, but we'll try to give you a bit of Prairie flavour as well. Read us often and post your thoughts about anything you read here. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Most of all, enjoy what you see on the ice. It's more than reason enough to say you'd really rather be in Saskatoon.