For eight years, Brian Orser and Yuzuru Hanyu have danced a merry pas de deux as they fashioned the teacher-student relationship, spanning cultures, continents, and time zones. After guiding Hanyu to two Olympic and world championship gold medals, Orser thinks he has finally figured it out: less is sometimes more. Whatever they have already done […]
Yuzuru Hanyu
Jun-Hwan Cha Comes of Age
OAKVILLE, Ont. This weekend Jun-Hwan Cha, he a dreamy child not so long ago, grew into something else. A dreamy-eyed young man with a presence. The 16-year-old South Korean skater has been around, for sure, the dark locks of his bob flying out in all directions on a spin. At first sight of a […]
Hanyu: Not Perfect. But Calm.
OAKVILLE, Ont. There’s so much to drink in when you watch two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu steam about the ice on well-oiled springs. Perhaps that’s what inspires so many fans to make the long trip from Japan and snap up tickets. Some camped out all night outside the front doors of the Sixteen Mile Sports […]
Daisuke Takahashi: Heartfelt Comeback
Daisuke Takahashi will be the spice that warms your cocoa this season. The mulled wine. The Kobe beef. The autumn leaves kicked up into a new eddy in the sun. The jack of hearts. At 32, he has done the unexpected after a four-year absence, hobbled by a knee injury and an onslaught of competition […]
Patrick Chan, a Farewell Look
When I first met Patrick Chan, he was peering over the Hershey Centre rink boards from the ice with only his eyes in sight. He was 10 years old but looked eight, maybe less, at the Canadian national junior championships. As a juvenile, the category on the lowest rung, he took a bronze medal. His […]
Patrick Chan deletes a quad – for now
You have to feel for these guys. These single men’s skaters who are going to war this season to out-power all who lie in their paths. They will rotate like spinning tops. They will try to defy gravity, shrug at it, taunt it like fiends. They are coming close to Cirque de Soleil performers who […]
The quad fest at Four Continents
Is Nathan Chen for real? Has he been bundled onto earth somehow by a shiny space ship bearing gifts? Is he the lottery ticket somebody lost, then pulled triumphantly out of a drawer? Is this all a fairy tale? Injured after last year’s U.S. nationals, Chen was competing at only his second major international event […]
Gary Beacom: Blade Master
Around the rink they flew, all manner of skaters executing unusual shapes and steps, all in the mold of blade master Gary Beacom, a 56-year-old pied piper of sorts. There were falls. There were smiles.Giggles to be sure. A tiny girl clearly unafraid of the odd slip – who undoubtedly had never heard of Beacom […]
Kevin Reynolds, back in the saddle
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. Kevin Reynolds, he of the red, windblown locks that have spawned their own Facebook page, was a hit on Friday during the men’s short program at Skate Canada International. Finally, after years of his frustration – bad boots, injuries, surgery, everything – people took notice. They had to. He’s in third place, in […]
What Yuzuru Hanyu said
Yuzuru Hanyu. Star of the show. Sometimes removed from the rest of the world by a language barrier. At Skate Canada International this week, the Japanese media – who do understand him of course – liven up the place and fill it up too. There are at least 90 media accredited for this event, […]