Pic of the Week

Sergei Voronov is another one of those skaters I would consider a 'Dark Horse' in any competition. While he's yet to win a major international title, he's shown flashes of brilliance in his career.

While he finished second at last week's Finlandia Trophy, he won the free skate in that competition ahead of Daisuke Takahashi. He did so with a textbook quad toe-loop. When Voronov gets in the zone his jumps are some of the best in the world. Some of that may be attributed to his coach, Olympic Champion Alexei Urmanov, who also was known for solid jump technique.

He's also been a skater that's not been afraid to break the mold of Russian skaters, he's a little different than the others...in a good way I believe.

He'll have a chance to prove his case this week as he goes up against a dense men's field at Trophy Eric Bompard. If he can medal there (perhaps win) he'll set himself up nicely for this season.

Voronov's goal this season should be to keep the Russian spotlight on him and not let it move over to Plushenko. A tough task to be sure, he's going to have to produce results to do it.