No longer rolling dice on ice
Figures future looks very bright after a tremendous national championship
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
The greatest thing there is to sell in sport is hope. And when you distil everything after arguably the greatest Canadian Figure Skating Championships ever held, that's the cocktail which has been concocted.
"We're leaving here celebrating some of the most outstanding performances in Canadian history. This has to be hailed as the best Canadian championships ever," said Skate Canada CEO Pam Coburn when it was over. "The depth of talent, level of performance was unprecedented."
Two things for sure.
There has never been a figure- skating competition I've covered here at home or anywhere in the world which has been judged so honestly. And never in the history of Canadian women's skating has there been a free-skate final at the level as the one held here this year.
After the Jamie Sale and David Pelletier judging scandal in Salt Lake City, Canada is leading the way not only in developing the new judging system which will likely be adopted for 2005, but showed the world they've stopped playing their own judging games at their own nationals in men's, women's and pairs events. Dance is beyond salvation here, there or anywhere.
"This competition showed the best judging in the world is here in Canada," said Coburn.
"Can I say we'll get this kind of judging at Worlds? No, I can't say that."
ELVIS WAS IMPRESSED
Elvis Stojko, who was inducted into the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame here yesterday, said he believes this year featured the most impressive free-skate finals in the history of Canadians, not just in the normally shabby women's event but across the board.
"It was amazing. It was much higher than ever, not because there were one or two incredible performances but because there were so many," said Stojko.
"I don't think there's ever been as high a calibre of skating, not just in the seniors events but in the juniors as well. Everything is there.
"This year we were introduced to the new generation and it was solid all the way through.
"Canadian skating has been going through a lull. But so much young talent for the future was identified here this year."
Indeed. Canadian podium potential for the 2006 Winter Olympics and 2010 home Games in Vancouver absolutely soared here.
But hope also rose dramatically of extending the streak of 22 consecutive years of putting a Canadian on the podium at Worlds this spring in Dortmund, Germany.
"I think it's really important that Emanuel Sandhu laid it down at the Grand Prix Final in Colorado Springs and then came back and laid it down again here in Edmonton," said Stojko. "He's now thinking like a champion and is going to Dortmund to take on the world champion."
It didn't hurt that the top two American skaters - Timothy Goebel and Michael Weiss - crashed and burned at U.S. Nationals and won't be going to Worlds. There's also the fact that champion Evgeni Plushenko of Russia and top-flight contender Takeski Honda of Japan are currently dealing with injuries.
Edmonton's Ben Ferreira also showed the world something here and will be going to Dortmund projected as a top-10 skater for the first time in his career.
The Edmonton Royal Glenora pair team of Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto, despite settling for silver here, were fifth in the world last year and fourth in the Grand Prix Final, and have to be considered to have a chance at the podium.
Now that Skate Canada looks like it is going to have something to sell again, the other thing which became obvious here is they have to go back to the drawing board on how to sell it.
OFF THE MARK ON MARKETING
I can't remember the last time a semi-major sports event was so poorly promoted in this city. And while Skate Canada said it was happy with the announced attendance of 67,958 for the week and that it exceeded expectations projected from the last few Canadian championships, this city wasn't given the chance to do what Edmonton does better than any city in the country as the sports host with the most.
Edmonton gave Skate Canada a sold-out Canadians in 1994 and a sold-out Worlds in 1996 and for that the tall foreheads of this sport decided to stay away for the next eight years. They also decided to eliminate local organizing committees (and local legacies) after the money made at the '96 Worlds here.
Those events featured well-connected organizers who made use of all the tentacles through this town and offered a real sense of ownership which didn't exist here this year.
Skate Canada did little more than announce the event was going to be held here and expect Edmontonians to show up like trained pigs to watch events with business day start times of 3:15 p.m., 12:30 p.m., 11:50 a.m., 4 p.m., 10:30 a.m. and 4:05 p.m. It was almost criminal.
Canada may now have something to sell when Worlds come to Calgary in 2006. But when it comes to selling it, somebody in Cowtown better take a long, hard look at what happened here.
