Columnist image

TSN Figure Skating Analyst

Archive

It should be a great weekend in Halifax as defending and past champions will vie for the titles in the men's and ladies events at the Canadian Tire Figure Skating Championships.

World Champion and Olympic silver medallist, Patrick Chan will attempt to reclaim the Men's title by trying to win his eighth Canadian Championships. While Chan sat out last season, young Nam Nguyen was able to step up and win his first National title on his way to a sensational fifth place finish at the World Championships in Shanghai.  

While Chan has his sights set on gold his focus is also on fine tuning his performance as he searches for the consistency which has eluded him in his comeback attempt so far. His ultimate goal is to regain his number one World ranking. While he sat out last season and regrouped, he decided that he still had more to offer the sport, particularly from an artistic standpoint, and that was a driving force in coming back. 

There is no question that the quality of his material and his artistry are both World class. It is his inability to deliver on demand that has been mercurial and has led to a pattern of being down in the short program with flawed performances followed by rising up in the free skate.  In the short program, skaters are seeded based on their World ranking with the highest ranked skaters skating last. The way to climb these rankings is to compete often and do well. Due to the fact that Chan was out of action for 18 months, which saw him drop in the standings, he now finds himself in an unfamiliar position of starting each of his Grand Prix assignments this season at the top of the order.  Although that may sounds like a small thing, it can be disconcerting and humbling as it moves you out of your comfort zone and the perceived group of contenders. It is a physiological difference  that I have seen catch many returning skaters off guard.  In any event, Chan has been unsuccessful, by his lofty standards, in his three short programs thus far.

Once again Chan will be first to skate in the final flight in Halifax.  Delivering a clean short program will be key for him both here and moving forward. 

Last to skate in the men's short program in Halifax will be the defending champion, 17 year old Nam Nguyen.

Nguyen is coming off a dream season and while his current campaign has been solid, at this point, he does not appear to have had the same ease and consistency.  That likely has a lot to do with the fact that he no longer competes as the underdog with nothing to lose.  Because of his Championship pedigree, he has to handle the additional pressure associated with that title and finds himself having to fight through and pay his dues.

The distraction of having Chan back in the mix is real and he will have to resist getting sidetracked. I believe that the toughest defense of a title is often the first one. History dictates that Nam is a tough competitor who does best when he works the audience and puts on a show.  Fortunately for Nguyen, there is no better venue than this as Halifax audiences are known for bringing the best out in a skater.    

The Ladies event has the makings of perhaps one of the best women's events ever. 2014 Canadian Champion Kaetlyn Osmond is making her return to the competition and will take on the defending Champion Gabby Daleman.  They will both be challenged by last year's silver medallist Alaine Chartrand.  Never has Canadian skating seen three such strong women at the same time. While Osmond was sidelined last season by injury, an intriguing rivalry developed between Daleman and Chartrand, with Daleman winning the Canadian title and then Chartrande finishing higher at Worlds. This season Chartrand has had the highest score of the Canadian women in the short program and Daleman the highest in the free skate.  Both women have a lot going for them; they have youth on their respective sides, they both execute triple-triple combinations with ease and both are developing artistically by leaps and bounds.  With Osmond healthy and back in the mix, this event now has an even greater "wow" factor. 

Like the others, Osmond has tremendous potential; however due to injuries, her progress has thus far been stalled.  Now for the first time ever, she has had a full Grand Prix season under her belt. Coming in to Halifax she has said that she is healthy and is in the best training shape that she has ever been in.  Canadian women have never been stronger and the potential for any one of these three to finish top five at the Worlds leading up to the 2018 Olympic Games is real.   

In terms of both the pairs and ice dance competitions, the defending champions are the overwhelming favourites to win gold. World pairs Champions Megan Duhamel and Eric Radford and World Ice Dance medallists Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje have been dominating their fields internationally.  Duhamel and Radford recently saw their undefeated streak of ten wins come to an end when they finished second at the Grand Prix final. They have moved some elements and instead of adding any more technical difficulty, they will focus on quality and performance in an effort to tie the record and win a fifth Canadian title.