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 team leads the NHL among U.S.-based franchises in merchan
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| wanglili |
Geplaatst op 03-06-2015 06:16
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 Guru  Berichten: 1263 Datum van aanmelding: 28.03.15 |
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - Less than a year out from the Sochi Olympics, Patrick Chan traded picturesque Colorado for downtrodden Detroit. But according to the three-time world champion from Toronto, happiness isnt about where he is, but who hes with, and he believes his move to the Motor City will help propel him to Olympic gold in Sochi. "Honestly the mountains and high altitude air gets old very quickly," Chan said Thursday, on the eve of Skate Canada International. "Nature is beautiful, but no mountains or snow is going to make you happy when youre just not in a good environment." The 22-year-old moved from Colorado Springs last spring, just a couple of weeks before winning his third consecutive world title in London, Ont. The training environment in Colorado had grown chilly, he said. "I dont think I was surrounded by friends where I could feel I had camaraderie, and thats what I found in Michigan," Chan said. Chan has found a home in whats become a hotbed for figure skating, and where he trains alongside fellow Canadians Elladj Balde, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, and American Jeremy Abbott. Detroit also filed for bankruptcy protection in July in the largest municipal filing in U.S. history. "Honestly, sure the first thing people say about Detroit is how theyre bankrupt and its run down. But honestly its growing, its making a reversal," Chan said. "I go out every weekend with friends, we go to really great restaurants, its not like its Armageddon. Its not like its wasteland, its still a really nice place, its culturally abundant and a place Im really happy to be at." Chan makes his season debut at Skate Canada, and is hoping to rediscover the confidence he had three seasons ago when he set three world scoring records in winning his first world title in Moscow. He spent a good chunk of his off-season looking back at his most successful skates, and conjured Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, who was asked after a win: "How did you know you were going to win?" "And he was like, Well the minute I stepped on the mound, I knew I was going to win. I noticed that when I won my first world championship, the minute I stepped on the ice, I knew I was going to win. There was no question, there was no doubt, there was no worry. I was just there to do my job, I was kind of like a robot." He hasnt added any new elements to his programs this season, and said his No. 1 focus will be "landing on my feet." "(I have) a new long program but Im not trying any new jumps or anything, because I believe I have all the elements I need. I still havent skated a competition yet where Ive done both a great clean short program and a clean long program. "I have all the elements, so its just putting them all together with the beautiful transitions that I have and then landing the jumps. All of that together I think is an unbeatable program." Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir will debut their new short and free dance programs for a Canadian audience in whats expected to be their final season competing. Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, who won bronze at last springs world championships, will be favourites in pairs. Kaitlyn Osmond, a 17-year-old from Marystown, N.L., is the defending Skate Canada womens singles champion, but was sidelined last month with a stress reaction |
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