Monday, January 24, 2011

Back to B.C.

Canadian Nationals just wrapped in Victoria. Victoria is hop across the water from Vancouver which still (always) has a warm place in my heart.

There was very little in the way of surprises at Canadian Nationals. In Ice Dance, it was a really close battle between Crone and Poirier and Weaver and Poje. Barely over a point separated the two teams with Crone and Poirier barely squeaking the win with their much heralded Beatles Free Dance. Paul and Islam did a nice job in capturing the bronze...but they will likely be the odd ones out assuming the Olympic Champs Virtue and Moir return to competition next month.

No big surprise amongst the women either with Cynthia Phaneuf capturing another title (she last accomplished the task in 2004...7 year gap, that's patience). With Rochette not competing she was the easy front runner. Not an especially difficult program but good enough on the night for the win. Cynthia spends so much time trying to be a pretty skater...I wish she would stop trying to cut against the grain and just be channel her inner Slutskaya and be a muscle skater...it suits her better.

Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch easily won the pairs competition. With Dube and Davison out due to Bryce's knee it was clear sailing for the Canadian duo that has turned heads this season with big tricks and unexpected presence. I think this team has the real possibility of cracking the top six at World's.

Finally, the big story of the event was Patrick Chan. Patrick, who didn't just win (as we all expected), but rather won with a flawless performance that rivals some of the best performances ever put to ice. If he skates like this in Tokyo...I don't know that anyone can catch him. He looks better every time he takes the ice and those quads are impressive. Bravo Patrick Chan, bravo!



Check the full results here.

Next Post: Ladies and Dance rundown of U.S. Nationals

1 comment:

physics girl said...

Oh, but there were surprises! Not so much the winners perhaps, but how about these eyebrow-raisers:

- Alexandra Najarro placing 2nd in the short program and 4th overall (she competed in the JGP this year!)
- Kevin Reynolds and Andrei Rogozine totally bombing (by their standards)
- Joey Russell cleaning up his camel spins and claiming the bronze
- Sensational performances from Shawn Sawyer
- New pairing of Duhamel and Radford swooping in for silver
- Surprise crowd favourite Elladj Balde finishing 5th
- Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill wowing the crowd with their exciting free dance