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[cekoni]

http://www.kentucky.com/529/story/1078557.html
By BARRY WILNER - AP Sports Writer

Canada looking for gold from Chan

NEWARK, Del. -- No skater has a more daunting challenge at the Vancouver Olympics than Patrick Chan.

A Canadian man has never won the Olympic figure skating gold medal. They've come close, particularly Brian Orser earning silver in 1984 and 1988. Now, the pressure is on Chan to produce on home ice, and he won't run away from it.

"I know I'm going to be as excited as ever and that you have to block out distractions, of which there will be more than ever," says Chan, who turned 19 Thursday. "There will always be some distractions and if you're not able to cope with it, you are probably not ready for the Olympic Games.

Chan, who finished second at last March's world championships, prefers to look at the positive side.

"You can't blow this being the home games out of proportion," he says. "So you kind of downplay it and be comfortable with your situation at the Olympics. I think I've had enough understanding of what the expectations will be at the Olympics. Each athlete copes with it differently."

One way Chan has coped is by training in Florida and Delaware with Don Laws, who coached Scott Hamilton to four world titles and the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics gold medal. Chan believes he doesn't "get much of the craziness. I can focus on my training and what I have to do" away from Canada.

During an Olympic season, training becomes more intense and stressful, particularly if a skater is struggling with a certain element or is not completely comfortable with his programs or the choreography. There's also a greater need for patience because the Olympics dominate the competitive horizon.

"It's a lengthy process that has to be taken step by step," Laws says. "You can't rush it, and that's something many skaters must learn."

Patience is especially difficult for a teen who has so much so soon. Chan has won two straight Canadian titles, with nationals coming up in two weeks. He went from second at junior worlds to ninth at seniors to second in three seasons. Chan also won Four Continents last year. With a calf injury shortening this season, he struggled to sixth place at Skate Canada in November, falling three times in his free skate.

Chan recognizes how much more progress he must make to push current world champ Evan Lysacek, returning Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko, former world winners Brian Joubert and Stephane Lambiel, and the top Japanese skaters.

"You know the Olympics are all about faster, higher, stronger, and that's exactly true," Chan says, smiling broadly, as if memories of Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Ilia Kulik, Alexei Yagudin and Plushenko brilliantly skating off with the gold are flooding his mind. "All of the other athletes, whether it's skaters or any of the athletes, will be at their best, at their peaks. You don't doubt you will be able to be at your best and that is what you prepare for.

"The difference between the champion and, say, the silver medalist will be who has the most challenging program and nails it. So it's a good thing the program is so difficult."

The free program will be to "Phantom of the Opera."

Sure, Phantom is among the most used skating music, from novices on up. When done well, though, it can be lyrical, powerful, happy, sad, inspirational or distressing - all in the same routine.

Chan has always wanted to skate competitively to Phantom. When renowned choreographer Lori Nichol suggested it, Chan took all of 2 seconds to reply "Yes."

Emphatically.

He immediately knew which character he would portray, but Chan attended the Broadway version to compare that interpretation of the musical to his.

"When Lori and I chose the program, we definitely saw it as me as the Phantom. It shows the suffering of the Phantom, his love for Christine, and his fighting the anger and the frustration he has.

"That (Broadway show) was the best of the best, and it gave me a new kind of motivation just watching it. It is a refreshment of the story. I so enjoyed the show, and I could picture myself doing it.

"I wish," he added with a sly chuckle, "we could use props."

That would be rhythmic gymnastics, Patrick, not figure skating.

Chan is hopeful of seeing other sports in Vancouver, especially hockey. Men's figure skating finishes Feb. 18, not even halfway into the overall schedule, and Chan plans to play fan/spectator/tourist as much as possible.

"I'm also looking forward to meeting Sidney Crosby in the Olympic Village. I hope I get the chance to," he says. "Being able to meet all of the other athletes, and especially the hockey players, and to watch a game, will be very special.

"Only a handful of people make it to the Olympics, and I want to remember it as something I never regret. So I want to do as much as possible. But first I have to focus on my event. After I am done, I can really enjoy it."

With a gold medal draped around his neck, of course.

[cekoni]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... 4#comments
December 30, 2009 by William Browning

2010 Winter Olympics Men's Figure Skating Preview

The Olympics are fast approaching and men's figure skating looks to be a wide open race between the top five. Here is a quick guide for the names to look for in Vancouver.

Evan Lysacek is the first World Champion in thirteen years for the United States as he won the 2009 competition in Los Angeles in March. Surely a favorite to win the gold in Vancouver, Lysacek also won the recent Grand Prix in Tokyo and looks to add another major international milestone in February.

Patrick Chan was the runner up at the worlds in March, but has been nursing a calf injury and hasn't done well since as he placed sixth in a recent competition. The Canadian will have home cooking and looks to please the home crowd. If his leg holds up, he could make a bronze but he'll have to work on rehabbing for now.

Brian Joubert from France finished third in March's World Championships and has also been nursing an injury. His coach says he will be ready for the European Championships in late January and still plans to compete in Vancouver. This next year will mark the 25-year old's third Olympics and will surely bank on his experience to help him try to medal.

Samuel Contesti of Italy finished in the top ten in the Worlds and is the reigning Italian champion and recently finished 7th at Skate Canada in November. If he can pull out all the stops for the Olympics, he may have a shot at the bronze.

Johnny Weir is the second American to make my list due to his strong finishes over the past couple of months, in addition to his three U.S. Championships.

My favorite has got to be current world champ Lysacek for the gold, Chan as the hometown favorite for silver, and sleeper Johnny Weir an unexpected bronze. A lot can happen between now and then. Until his recent arrest in Lake Placid, I would have placed Andrei Lutai as one of my favorites but he won't be a factor in Vancouver because he won't be able to get his personal problems sorted out by then. Still, Vancouver looks to be a possible changing of the guard from older veterans competing against new young stars who can make a big impression on the world stage in February.

-----------------------------------

Nowhere Plushy, Takahashi, Oda, Lambiel .... but there is Contesti, Weir...

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Stéphane Lambiel's Journal

http://www.stephanelambiel.ch/journal/?p=482
Lausanne, Switzerland | January 4, 2010

.... Even though it was holiday time over these last two weeks, I’ve still been training regularly and taking care of my physical health. I have to train a lot because…
I’ve prepared a new free program, so I have to repeat and repeat and repeat it! The music is from Verdi’s Opera La Traviata. I really love this music and I’m looking forward to performing to it in Tallinn…only two more weeks left till Europeans! I’m excited to compete again and hope that many of you will be watching...

[Kudryavka]

Lambiel changed LP? oh　La Traviata.. It is good choice.... I can imagine easily, it's perfect for him. Judges will give big pcs to him

----
2.1.2009
Takahashi got a positive response! "Plushenko method" quad
http://vancouver2010.nikkansports.com/figu...102-581808.html
I think they say about the Mishin method.

Figure skater Daisuke Takahashi (23, Kansai University Graduate School) trains Plushenko style quadruple jumps. He was advised by former Olympic team member Takeshi Honda and changed his jump from old one to the style of 2006 Olympic champion Plushenko, which draws an arc on ice and twist his body before take off.
In this season, Takahashi attempted to do a quad toeloop at every competitions, even if he fell many times. Takahashi feels a positive response. He says "Compered to before, now I can do a quad only half power," though he doesn't yet succeed in it......

Incidentally, this article says "Takahashi trains a quad flip" "Takahashi's jump coach Honda assumes that the flexibility of ankle and the hip joint is necessary to make Plushenko style's jump succeed. So, Takahashi prepares for it by Shiatsu (finger-pressure therapy) and stretching."

[cekoni]

Takahashi got a positive response! "Plushenko method" quad
http://vancouver2010.nikkansports.com/figu...102-581808.html
I think they say about the Mishin method.

... now I can do a quad only half power," though he doesn't yet succeed in it......

I hope that he not to wait for the Olympics to succeed

[cekoni]

http://www.lifeskate.com/skate/2010/01/jer...ympic-team.html
Jan 05, 2010

Jeremy Abbott and 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics: Goal is quad and Olympic team



Jeremy Abbott The United State’s Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Making Team USA Teleconference Series began yesterday with Ashley Wagner, Tanith Belbin, Ben Agosto, Jeremy Abbott, Keauna McLaughlin, Rockne Brubaker, Meryl Davis and Charlie White. The AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships begin next week (January 14-24) in Spokane, Washington.

Below are excerpts from Jeremy Abbott's teleconference. This season, Jeremy won Skate Canada, came in fifth at the NHK Trophy and came in fourth at the Grand Prix Final. He is also the defending U.S. national champion. He started the teleconference with an update on what he's been doing since the Grand Prix Final last month and leading up to Nationals.

Jeremy:
After each competition I've been coming back to Detroit with Yuka [Sato] and Jason [Dungjen] and we've been analyzing the outcome, how things went, what things need to improve. From the Grand Prix Final, I got a little bit of rest just to keep my body fresh and to keep my mind fresh this season because as most everyone knows, last season, I got burnt out towards the end and it didn't turn out quite as planned or expected. So we really wanna keep my body going and keep everything really strong and fresh through this season. So after a small break, we came back and really evaluated how the whole season's gone so far and what the goals are for the US Championships and hopefully Olympics and Worlds. And just really been working on the programs very hard and make sure that they're very solid and secure so that I'm very confident in them.

You put in the quad in the long program at the Grand Prix Final. Are you planning on doing that again for US Nationals?

The goal this season was to put the quad in all the competitions, just so that I'm very secure in it by the time Nationals, Olympics and Worlds rolls around. It's been very consistent in practice and I feel very confident in this jump. It may not be necessary because the past two World champions have won without a quad. But I feel very strongly in the need to do it this season. It's something that Yuka, Jason and I feel very strongly about. It's a solid jump for me and with everything else that I have in my program, I feel that it puts me up in the top echelon of skaters and that's really where I want to be. I'm feeling very good about it and I do plan to do it at Nationals.

Complete coverage of Jeremy Abbott Are you concentrating on the quad because Evgeni Plushenko, Brian Joubert and Stephane Lambiel will do it?

I'm doing it because I wanna be competitive, but mainly I'm doing it because I can. It's in my arsenal and I don't want to water down my program just to skate cleanly. I really wanna put everything I have out there and have no regrets about it. I have the quad, I can do it, I've been able to do it for a few seasons now. Last year, we took it out because we really wanted to concentrate on my consistency and I feel that my consistency has grown so much. I feel so confident in my other jumps that I don't have to worry about them, and now that I feel strongly about that, I can confidently put the quad in my program. It's something that I wanna do for myself and it's something that I also wanna do so that I can be competitive.

What is the risk/reward factor in doing a quad cleanly?

There's a risk/reward to every jump. Unfortunately with a quad it's a little more because it's factored. It's not just like a -3 off the top, I think if you miss it, it's a -4 point something. The risk is a little more, but I do feel very confident in my ability to do it, so I feel that, I did it at Skate Canada and felt that that was a great step. I did get rewarded for it. I feel that in the judge's mind, obviously I don't know what they're thinking, but I think when they see someone put out a quad, they tend to, I think, give or push up some of the other scores because they feel that it's a harder jump and not everyone's trying it, and so there should be some reward to it. Unfortunately if you fall it's downgraded, you get 0 points, so that's very tough. But like I said, I do feel very confident in this jump and it is worth the risk to get the reward.

You've had some really great results on the world stage, but in the last two World championships, you've been 11th. How will you be a World and Olympic medal contender this year?

I think I started my season too early last year and I pushed really really really hard all the way through without ever giving myself time to rest and regroup. I think it was just too much to handle towards the end of the season. This year, kind of took a different approach and started a little bit later. I'm allowing my body and mind to get a little rest, so that I don't feel over-extended by the time the end of the season rolls around. I feel confident much more in myself now than I have in past seasons and I feel that it's certainly been a goal to be on an Olympic or World podium. It's listening to my coaches, trusting what they have to say, and really just taking it just one thing at a time and not wearing myself too thin.

Does the scoring system help you? It seemed that in the past, if you didn't prove yourself in the World Championships, you didn't have a chance. Has that changed, that if you start with a clean slate, and if you skate clean, you'll be rewarded?

I'm not sure to be honest. I certainly feel after Worlds last season I've had to kind of re-prove myself. The beginning of my season wasn't as strong as the beginning of last season so I don't feel like I've proved to myself to be there yet. But I do feel that if I skate to my potential and do what I have planned in my program and execute it well, that I should be rewarded for what I can do and I don't think I will be held down.

You said that you sat down with your coaches after the Grand Prix Final and took a look at your programs. Beyond the quad, were there any changes or refinements that you felt that you needed to make?

We didn't make any changes coming into US Championships. Everything's gonna be pretty much the same. I'm planning on doing the quad, in my programs the jump content will pretty much be the same. It's just taking the time to refine and continue to train and make sure that the programs are very strong and very secure and very comfortable. And make sure that everything is set up the way it should be so that I know how to get through the program, that there's no question, no doubt, no uncertainty, in terms of how the program is set up and how I execute it. It's just a matter of going out there and doing what I do every day.

You changed coaches last season and moved from Colorado to Detroit. How has working with Yuka and Jason helped your confidence?

They've been fantastic. They believe 100% in me and my abilities. Just having that amazing support behind me really gives me more confidence and I've certainly seen improved consistency in training and in competition. Just going through the daily routine and having more consistency every day and having that really amazing support system builds my confidence even more. I feel really really great.

You come in as the defending National champion but in some ways, you're still the underdog with Evan having won the World title. Is that a good or bad thing?

I really would like to defend my title this season, but that's not my goal. My goal is really the Olympics and being on that team and going there and just peaking at the right time and putting out my best when it's needed. So I do feel a bit like an underdog after Evan had won the Worlds. He won the Grand Prix Final this season, so coming into this competition, I do feel kind of like an underdog, again. But I don't feel like I have a lot of chasing to do, I'm right on par with Evan and Johnny and all the other skaters in the US. For me it's just about taking the steps and peaking at the right time. If that means I don't recapture my title, I don't recapture my title. My goal is really the Olympics this season.

Due to the way the Nationals schedule is this year, the men will be finished early. If you do make it onto the Olympic team, will you stay in Spokane for the rest of Nationals, or will you go back to Detroit and train?

I discussed it with my coaches and decided that I would come back home, and fly back to do the exhibition and everything that's required of the Olympic team if I make it. So we just felt that it would be better to come home, regroup and refocus and just have some quiet time before entering the craziness of the Games.

The way the judging system is set up, they seem bent on knocking people down, finding faults rather than rewarding performance and the demands put on skaters -- we have rarely seen a flawless-type of perforamnce in the last few seasons. Is that frustraing, the amount of stuff you have to do in a program, that you can't really hold a position for very long, that a winning performance is now rarely the one that will seem to be remembered forever?

I think the demand on the sport has grown exponentially. They keep changing and refining the rules and sometimes I don't always agree with the changes they make. I don't always think they're the smartest, but it's not my decision and not my choice, I just have to follow them. I really try to take what's thrown at me and do the best with it that I can and I try to create something that's unique to me -- Hopefully memorable that the audience and judges can all appreciate. I think because the demands are so high, it is very difficult to create a flawless performance, but it's certainly not unreasonable and it's definitely attainable. The Olympics are always a surprise and something memorable always comes out of it. So this year we'll definitely have some good stories to tell.

Is it good to have this many great skaters to go up against at Nationals where we're really not sure what will happen?

I think it is good, the US has a very very strong team this year and especially in the men's event. It's gonna be hard but I think that our best skaters will be on the team and we'll have a very strong showing at the Olympics. I think it's hard when you're going to compete internationally to have so many good men, and to have, like, three represented because when you compete internationally, it's always a little bit of a chess game, and to have so many good men, unfortunately we can't all be at the top and we can't sweep the podium even though we're all so good. Regardless, I think the rest of the world should look out for us because we're a very very strong team and we have a lot to offer.

Can you talk about your relationship with your agent Tara Modlin, who also represents Johnny Weir?

Tara's been a fantastic agent. She talked to me after I went to Worlds in 2008, my first Worlds and I didn't do very well. It was really exciting to have someone who believed in my potential and who still believes in my potential and truly wants the best for my career. I haven't worked with any other agents but I really feel she's been very genuine in wanting the best for me and wanting the best for my career. As far as what plans are coming up, I really have no idea. I know that she works very hard for me, she tries to get me as much as possible and I can't always do everything. I think there's probably some shows planned after this season and I'm really excited for what's coming up and for what's she's done for me so far.

After the Olympics, will you go back home to Colorado and if not, where will you settle?

After the Olympics, I plan on coming back to Detroit. Depending on how I do there, I may or may not go to Worlds. I'm planning on doing both at the moment, but I guess if I win, I'll have to discuss that with my coaches. I plan on coming back to Detroit. I do plan on competing another season at least, so I will probably continue training here.

How did you come to choose Day in the Life by the Beatles for your short program?

I was watching the movie Across the Universe and there was a quick snippet of it and I thought, "I love this piece of music so much" and so I went online to try and find it. I ended up finding the piece by Jeff Beck and I was really really excited about it and I wanted to skate to it last season but we instead decided on the Adagio piece. So this year when I went to Shae Lynn [Bourne], I brought the piece of music with me, and she absolutely was in love with it, Yuka was in love with it, and it's been a piece that I've loved for 2-3 years now, and Shae started to move to it and everything just fell into place. And I was really excited about that and just everything about it felt right.

Do you think it's possible that judging at Russian Nationals will affect the scores at US Nationals? Evgeni Plushenko will be heading to the Olympics with a world's best score, almost 272 points for five clean triples and a quad. Do you think we're reaching the danger zone when scores seem to be propped up?

Scores at National championships across the world are always inflated. I felt that my scores last year at US Championships were very high, deserved or undeserved I don't know. It's always kind of that way, and it's always been that way, but when you come onto the international scene, the nationals scores don't have any affect. So what happens at US Championships this year, whatever happened at Russian championships this year, really won't have any affect on the scoring when it comes to the Olympics or Worlds. Everyone has to perform on those given days, and it's a whole different panel. When you go to these championships, the judges are all from your country and they all want to push you up and help you but when you go internationally, there are judges from other countries who wanna help their skaters, so it's kind of a whole different ballgame. I don't what the scoring will be like at Nationals this year, maybe we'll see 100 points in the short program like in the Russian Championships, or maybe we won't. Either way, my goal is really just to be on the team and what happens from there, I have to perform.

What are your thoughts about Plushenko's comeback?

When I first heard he was coming back, I have to admit, I certainly was intimidated. Here was this great champion, amazing technician, come back and say he wanted to compete. It's always a little intimidating. Of course I was skeptical at first if he was going to be in shape, be healthy, and he went to Cup of Russia and proved that he was still strong. But you know, I'm not the same skater that I have been in previous seasons. I feel much more confident in myself and in my abilities. I feel that, not only is my artistry up there, but I also feel that my technical aspect of skating has improved greatly. You know, now he's just become another competitor. In my mind, I don't hold him on a pedestal. I don't view him any differently than I would anyone else. He's just another skater that I have to contend with. At the end of the day, I have to go out there and focus on myself and I have to do what I can do, it doesn't matter what anyone else does. So for me, when I go out to compete, whatever anyone else does doesn't matter, I just have to go out and I have to do what I can do. And I just hope that the judges like what I have to offer.

[cekoni]

http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure-Ska...son-so-far-Mens
December 31, Figure Skating Examiner, Jackie Wong

Top five programs of the season (so far): Men

There is nothing that shouts "end of the year" like a best-of list. As we look toward the upcoming major championships in the new year, we take a look back at the best programs of the 2009-2010 season so far. The men's field this year is full of great programs and fine skating, so it was not easy to narrow them down to five. Here is the best of the men in no particular order.

Nobunari Oda FS (Trophee Eric Bompard) - 163.33
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvTg7Sj4bio
Oda is one of the breakthrough skaters in the men's field this season. He is no stranger to international medals, but it was with this Charlie Chaplin free skate that he announced himself as a legitimate Olympic favorite. For the first time in his career, he has brought together his technical prowess with a program that is seamlessly interwoven. This free skate is one of the most well-constructed of the season.

Daisuke Takahashi SP (Grand Prix Final) - 89.95
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcSTVa9Unqs
It's dynamic, it's fun, and it's skated by a guy who knows exactly what to do with the music. Remember, Takahashi was the guy who brought us techno Swan Lake a few seasons ago.

Adam Rippon FS (Trophee Eric Bompard) - 144.14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryLpMHsl8XU
What a great start to his season, winning the bronze at Trophee Eric Bompard in only his third appearance on the senior Grand Prix. Rippon, the two-time World junior champion, has all the skating capabilities to be one of the greats in the next few years. Now if only he can get his triple axel under control.

Brian Joubert FS (NHK Trophy) - 85.35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZFUIe0NOvs
Now, I know there will be plenty who will be asking why I picked Joubert over a Lysacek or a Plushenko. But this short program is quintessential Joubert, hitting his quad and not trying too hard to be something that he's not. That's when he is at his best, and apparently that's when he's out in a club. And when he is this good, the 2007 World champion is still one of the best in the world. Besides, there is no mesh in his costume for this program.

Jeremy Abbott SP (NHK Trophy) - 83.00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWyzS2svzMA
I have made it no secret that this is one of my favorite short programs of the season. It is well-constructed and the music and choreography suit Abbott's skating style perfectly. Everything flows effortlessly from one to the next. Let's hope he can keep his head together and deliver a few more of these in the next three months.

[cekoni]

http://www.icenetwork.com/news/article. ... y=ice_news
(01/08/2010) - By Amy Rosewater, special to icenetwork.com

Laws ran, not walked, away from coaching Chan
Coach out of picture days before Canadian nationals

Just three days before the 2010 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships begin in London, Ontario, and just about a month before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games begin in Vancouver, Don Laws said he will not be coaching world silver medalist Patrick Chan.

According to Laws, who was reached by telephone at his rink, Palm Beach Ice Works, in West Palm Beach, Fla., he contacted Skate Canada yesterday to inform the skating organization that he was no longer working with the Canadian star skater. Chan has been training in Colorado Springs, Colo., recently.

"I will say that he did not run from me,'' Laws said. "I ran from him.
I just sent a letter to Skate Canada that I have withdrawn as his coach,'' Laws added. "I can't imagine you want to have a coach who lives 2,000 miles away from you.''

The move is striking because of its timing and because Chan has become one of Canada's biggest stars leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. His likeness has been seen throughout Canadian chains of McDonald's and fans there are hoping he could become the first Canadian male skater to claim an Olympic gold medal. Several others have tried but fallen short, including Elvis Stojko, Kurt Browning and Brian Orser.

Chan decided to train in Colorado Springs shortly after competing in HomeSense Skate Canada, where he placed sixth. According to Laws, Chan originally went to Colorado to work with Dartfish video training techniques. (to study Plushy technique of quads ) Laws did travel to Colorado Springs but said he was there more as "a spectator'' than as a coach.

Chan returned to Florida to perform in a rink holiday show in December and told Laws he wanted to return to Colorado for altitude training. "That was interesting because most of Vancouver is at sea level,'' Laws said.

Laws said he asked Skate Canada to credential choreographer Lori Nichol, who once was coached by Laws, as Chan's coach. According to officials at Skate Canada, Nichol will be credentialed as will American coach Christy Krall, who is based in Colorado Springs. Nichol was with Chan at Skate Canada earlier this season.

"I would like to sincerely thank Mr. Laws for everything he has done over the past few years with me and I wish him nothing but the best at the Palm Beach Ice Works." Chan told Skate Canada in a statement to be released later today. "I respect his decision to move into his role full-time and I know he will build a successful program at the new rink.''

Oddly enough, Chan and Laws first met at a funeral. Both were pallbearers for Osborne Colson, who died in July 2006, at the age of 90. Colson coached both Laws and Chan, and Chan said at the time that it seemed natural to work with Laws. Under Laws's guidance, Chan won two Canadian titles, in 2008 and 2009 and earned the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships.

"He has been a real mentor to me and I know that my former coach Mr. Colson would have greatly appreciated the work that Mr. Laws did,'' Chan also stated.

Chan struggled this season with a leg injury and that forced him to withdraw from the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow in October. He returned to competition in November at the Skate Canada.

According to skaters and coaches in Colorado Springs, Chan has been skating at a high level. U.S. skater Ryan Bradley said Chan's presence at the rink has "been awesome'' and called his skating "motivating.''

------------------------------------------------

http://www.skatebuzz.com/ViewNewsArticl ... 701496e04a
Jan 8, 2010 By Skate Canada

Patrick Chan’s Coach Takes on Full-Time Coaching Role at West Palm Beach Training Facility

OTTAWA, ON: Patrick Chan’s coach, Don Laws, informed Skate Canada this week that he will not be attending the 2010 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships or the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Laws plans to take on a full-time role at a new skating facility in West Palm Beach called Palm Beach Ice Works.

“I would like to sincerely thank Mr. Laws for everything he has done over the past few years with me and I wish him nothing but the best at the Palm Beach Ice Works.” said Chan from his training base in Colorado Springs. “I respect his decision to move into his role full-time and I know he will build a successful program at the new rink. He has been a real mentor to me and I know that my former coach Mr. Colson would have greatly appreciated the work that Mr. Laws did.”

Patrick Chan will be coached by his long time choreographer Lori Nichol with assistance from technical expert Christy Krall. “I am extremely comfortable with where I am at in my preparation and training for both the BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships and the Olympics.” said Chan. “Lori Nichol will take on the responsibility of leading my final preparation and competition strategy through the Olympics. I am very fortunate to have had such a long and close relationship with Lori and I respect her talents immensely. Lori, along with Christy Krall, provides me with a team that I have full confidence in and I am looking forward to continuing my journey with them.”

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada's High Performance Director, said “Don Laws’ knowledge and guidance has been a valued asset to Patrick's skating over the past few seasons. Moving forward, Skate Canada fully supports the team of Lori Nichol and Christy Krall and the technical expertise and competitive preparation they will bring to Patrick leading to the Olympic Games”.

[cekoni]

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_141 ... .xanga.com
The Denver Post 01/10/2010, By John Henderson

Abbott changes tactics for Games
A real mover and shaker

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — This suburb sits in the middle of a mosaic that has become an escape from Detroit since the 1960s.

Bordering 16 Mile Road, Bloomfield Hills straddles the strip mall chasm between tiny Birmingham to the south and gritty Pontiac to the north. Still blighting Pontiac is the closed GM plant, a gargantuan mustard-and-brick collection of smokehouses straight out of the industrialized science-fiction flick "Metropolis."

Four miles from GM Pontiac and 8 from the Silverdome, which looks like a concrete landfill behind a cyclone fence, Jeremy Abbott sits on the edge of his couch. For the defending U.S. figure skating champion from Aspen, suburban Detroit has become central Shangri-La.

At 24, he is on his own for the first time. Amid a humongous Target, several chain restaurants and Carl's Golfland in this white-collar town, Abbott has launched his campaign to make the Olympic team. From the outside, his move here eight months ago seemed as risky as trying a triple axel on Lake Erie. In March. How thin is the ice when you're the defending national and Grand Prix final champion, then suddenly drop your coach and leave home for the first time to join two coaches who never coached an international elite skater?

The U.S. nationals in Spokane, Wash., are four days away. The top three skaters go to next month's Vancouver Olympics. Every practice jump, every competition, even every meal, is calculated toward making the team.

The move to Michigan wasn't Abbott's escape as much as his strategy. He jettisoned one aspect of his life in order to become an Olympian. The change, to him, was as obvious as the GM plant down the street.

"It was time to grow up," he said.

Falling on deaf ears

Abbott's upstairs apartment is in a modern brick-and-wood structure at the end of a narrow, windy access road lined with tasteful lampposts. The ugly netting of Golfland's driving range is more obvious
"It was time to move on. ... For me, it wasn't a risk. This is something I have to do." - Jeremy Abbott, on switching coaches (Getty Images)
with the surrounding trees barren from a wicked winter.

Above his couch he points to a giant black-and-white print of a canal scene in Amsterdam.

"It was the first country I'd ever been to," he said.

No, he didn't bring back the print from Holland. He bought it at a nearby Ikea. Furnishing an apartment was one of the simple pleasures he discovered after his arrival. While most 18-year-olds go off to college, Abbott stayed with his mom and stepfather in their modest bungalow in Colorado Springs' Lower Skyway neighborhood near the Broadmoor.

Sure, they turned his space into an apartment and he could come and go as he pleased. But hey, you're 24. You don't want to hang with your mom forever. In Michigan, he only occasionally calls her, such as when he has an emergency question about cooking chicken. He even found joy in writing his first rental check.

"I said, 'This is all me.' "

What does the proper temp for chicken Marsala and interior decorating have to do with landing a quad at nationals? Abbott calls it "peace of mind." It's hard to land jumps while looking over your shoulder thinking you could have had something better.

"Like having to be responsible for every aspect of my life, it definitely carries over into my skating," he said. "Just getting myself organized off the ice gets me organized on the ice.

"I'm really happy here."

The timing, however, could not have been more curious. Abbott started pursuing a new home and coach in April, one month after finishing 11th at the world championships. Soon, he had dropped his coach of 10 years, Tom Zakrajsek, hooked up with coaches Yuka Sato and her husband, Jason Dungjen, and moved 1,300 miles away.

"This was not a sudden decision," said his mother, Allison Scott, the Broadmoor's director of communications. "This had been contemplated for almost three years. It's hard to leave something that's comfortable even when you know a change needs to be made."

Even Mom knew.

"He's been restless at home for years," she said. "We didn't want him to stay. Was it difficult for him to leave? It's always difficult when your youngest leaves. Was it necessary? Absolutely."

Abbott said his move had to do with his failure at worlds "as much as my performance at nationals." He had heard Zakrajsek give the same instructions so many times, the words started losing their meaning.

Also, in figure skating's odd multiplayer-coach relationships, Zakrajsek coached Brandon Mroz and Ryan Bradley, who will challenge for Olympic berths. Abbott is Sato and Dungjen's only elite client.

"It was time to move on," Abbott said. "It's a huge risk, because you never know what the outcome's going to be — but I really took the time to think it out and I looked at all sides of it. For me, it wasn't a risk.

"This is something I have to do."

Change is good

Not only is Abbott's apartment a few double salchows away from Panera and K-Mart, it's also less than a mile from the Detroit Skating Club. One of only two privately owned skating clubs in the country, its focus is on shaping elite athletes, not making money.

The old brick façade has seen its share of glory in its 51 years. Tara Lipinski, the 1998 Olympic champion, and Todd Eldredge, the 1996 world champ, trained here. So did defending Olympic silver medalist ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. National champion Alissa Czisny trains here now.

So did Dungjen. He grew up in Troy, just east of Bloomfield Hills, and knows a little bit about changing coaches. In 1993, he switched pairs partners, fired his coach and moved to New York to train under Peter Burrows with partner Kyoko Ina.

The next year they made the Olympic team. Four years later, they finished fourth at the Nagano Olympics. Japan's Shizuka Arakawa switched coaches the year she won the 2006 Olympics. Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek, Abbott's biggest competition in Spokane, have both changed coaches.

To Dungjen, the risk of change is outweighed by an athlete's burning desire to prove the decision was the right one.

"Listen to what the coaches say," Dungjen said. "Sometimes, after a while, you work with the same person for so long, sometimes you're not hearing what they're saying."

Abbott heard enough from Zakrajsek to learn a quad and shock the world at nationals last year. After worlds, it was clear Abbott wasn't happy. He psychoanalyzed each performance to the point where he tried to repeat the past rather than grasp the future.

"I needed to shake things up, get a new perspective, an outside opinion, someone who's impartial, someone who hasn't worked with you or had a vested interest in your career before," he said.

Sato was the 1994 world champion and two-time Olympian who is the daughter of two of the most famous skating coaches in Japanese history. In April, she met Abbott at a skating show in South Korea. He picked her brain about coaching and training.

The two connected, and Abbott went to Japan in May for a four-day tryout. He wound up staying 10 days. He returned home, packed up and moved to Bloomfield Hills, where Sato and Dungjen live and work.

Her skating sold Abbott as much as her coaching.

"She has this amazing quality about her that you can't help but watch," he said. "But at the same time she's very grounded and very contained over her skates. I feel like that's definitely something I've been getting from her. I feel much more stable, and when I compete I don't feel quite so frantic and off balance as I used to."

Lysacek switched to Frank Carroll, who has coached countless Olympians. Weir went to Galina Zmievskaya, who coached Oksana Baiul, Ukraine's 1994 Olympic champion. Abbott is the first elite skater for Sato and Dungjen.

"Maybe on paper we look a little bit more inexperienced," Dungjen said. "On the flip side of it, we skated 10 years pro."

They also know what it's like to stand in front of a packed arena with the next six minutes determining whether you make the Olympic team, or win an Olympic medal. They've prepared four years for a few minutes of white-hot pressure.

They've already made their presence felt. Abbott has consistently landed a quad he didn't even try at worlds. Although he fell on it at last month's Grand Prix final, his flawless performance at Skate Canada had qualified him for the Grand Prix.

The pressure in Spokane will be mind-numbing. Win or lose, Abbott will return to suburban Detroit to train. And he'll happily pay another month's rent.

"I really truly believe I'll be on the Olympic team this season," he said. "But if for some reason the results don't turn out in my favor, I have no regrets."


Abbott facts

A closer look at Jeremy Abbott, one of Team USA's top hopefuls in men's figure skating, who was born and raised in Aspen.
Age: 24.
Height: 5-feet-9.
Career highlights: 2009 U.S. champion, 2008 Grand Prix Final gold medalist, 2007 Four Continents bronze medalist; 11th place at 2008 and 2009 World Championships; 2005 U.S. Junior champion.
Personal: Began skating at age 4, inspired by watching British 1980 Olympic men's gold medalist Robin Cousins skate in a show in Aspen. . . . A fractured vertebra sidelined him for 15 weeks in 2003. . . . Abbott started the Jeremy Abbott Training Fund with the Aspen Skating Club, his first club, to support competitive local male figure skaters.

[cekoni]

http://loopaxles.blogspot.com/2010/01/c ... split.html
January 08, 2010

Chan and Laws Split



It's Splitsville for Patrick Chan and coach Don Laws.

At first it seemed it was a regular split as Laws has taken a job as head coach at the West Palm Beach Facility where he has been based. As the story unfolds, it may have been a dicier parting than originally believed.

Amy Rosewater reports in a special to Ice Network that perhaps things got dicey after HomeSense Skate Canada when Patrick went to train in Colorado Springs. When Laws joined Patrick there it wasn't so much in a role as a coach but as a "spectator" Laws says.

Chan made a quick trip back to Florida to do a show and then went back to Colorado Springs for 'altitude' training. Laws was quite surprised at this since Vancouver is at Sea Level. That's when Laws contacted Skate Canada and had them credential Toronto based choreographer Lori Nichol as well as Colorado Springs based coach Christy Krall as Patrick's coaches. "I will say that he did not run from me," Laws said. "I ran from him." Eeeeeeeek!

The rest, as they say, is history.

I'm sure an unwanted hiccup literally days from the BMO Canadian National Championships but Patrick, I'm sure, will do fine with Lori and Christy.

I'm sure there will be more on this story as the media digs into it in London during Canadian Nationals.

UPDATE: Don Laws has said his main reason behind resigning as Patrick's Coach was the disatnce issue with Chan training in Colorado Springs and himself based in Florida.

"They said the reason they went to Colorado Springs was for altitude training," Laws told Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star. (http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/articl ... ith-mentor)
"He wasn't supposed to be there for as long as he's been, but that's their choice, not mine. I can't coach anyone 2,000 miles away. That just doesn't work."

He went on to say, "There was no disagreement like some people might imagine, no fight going on. I'm certainly going to miss Patrick. He's a great individual...It's not that I did it with a smile on my face, but I felt that it was necessary."

-------------------------------------------

In some forums write, that his coach realized that Chan will not have success at the Olympics, and withdrew before defeat