Rejuvenated Czisny takes Skate Canada title

It was only 10 months ago that American Alissa Czisny delivered two disastrous programs en route to a 10th place finish at the U.S. Championships in Spokane, Wash.

Figure skating message boards were ablaze with posters recommending that Czisny, the 2009 national champion, hang up her skates and move on in life. After years of underperforming in the "big events," they suggested that she find another career path and skate in shows instead.

Well I, for one, am glad she's chosen to stick it out. This weekend in Kingston, Ontario, the 23-year old Czisny delivered an electric free skate to vault herself from fourth place after the short program to first place overall and win her second Skate Canada title (her first coming in 2005).

Armed with new coaches -- 1994 World Champion Yuka Sato of Japan and her husband, former U.S. pairs champ Jason Dungjen, new jump technique and a new competition mindset, Czisny's skating has never looked better. Yes, her free skate wasn't perfect, as she fell on her final triple toe loop, but the confidence she displayed throughout the event and the authority with which she delivered her performances were more than enough to distance her from the field of challengers.

It will be interesting to see if Czisny can carry this momentum to her second Grand Prix event next month, as well as to the 2011 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. She often falters when the biggest titles are on the line, but the form and poise she displayed this week in Canada were nothing short of magnificent.

Kudos, Alissa, on a job well done.

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In other Skate Canada news, home-country kid Patrick Chan took gold in the men's event, with Japan's Nobunari Oda winning silver and American Adam Rippon claiming the bronze. Canada was also golden in ice dance, with Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier clinching gold over the British team of Sinead Kerr/John Kerr, with young Americans Madison Chock/Greg Zuerlein winning a surprise bronze medal. The Russian duo of Lubov Iliushechkina/Nodari Maisuradze won the pairs title, while Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch and Paige Lawrence/Rudi Swiegers went 2-3, respectively.

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series continues this week with the third event, Cup of China. American star Mirai Nagasu makes her season debut after being sidelined by a stress fracture in her foot this summer. Japanese vet Miki Ando is the favorite to take the ladies title here, and teammate Akiko Suzuki should round out the podium.

World silver medalist Chan splits from coach

Canada's 2009 World silver medalist Patrick Chan's Olympic medal hopes may now be in jeopardy.

Chan and former coach Don Laws announced today that they have gone their separate ways, and their split seems anything but amicable.

"I will say that he did not run from me," Laws said. "I ran from him."

Ouch.

This is another bump in the road in what has been a shaky season so far for Chan. After placing 2nd at the World Championships last March, he sustained a leg injury over the summer and was forced to withdraw from his first Grand Prix event. He was well enough to compete at Skate Canada two months ago, but fell three times in his free skate and wound up a distant 6th overall.

Chan has been training in Colorado Springs since the conclusion of Skate Canada in November. He is now being coached by Christy Krall and his longtime choreographer Lori Nichol.

There is clearly more to this story. It's obvious that Chan, who has proven to be headstrong and very opinionated in the past (i.e., his comments regarding Brian Joubert at last year's Worlds), was not agreeing with Laws' decisions regarding either training or preparation for the Olympics, now just one month away.

It can be risky to change coaches at the start of an Olympic season, but doing so this close to the Games is downright scary. Chan will already have the expectations of the home nation on his shoulders next month, and this latest move could prove to be too much to deal with.

Plushenko's bid for second Olympic title begins in Moscow this weekend

After a three year hiatus from eligible competition, 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko of Russia is back this season hoping for a repeat victory come February.

The three-time World champion Plushenko was nearly unbeatable during the 2002-2006 quadrennium, losing only twice (once to France's Brian Joubert and once to Emmanuel Sandhu of Canada). Unfortunately for him, the competition isn't as easy this time around.

Since his absence, numerous men have staked their claim in the figure skating world, and the field is so deep now, it's hard to predict exactly just where he fits in. The top two men at last year's Worlds -- American Evan Lysacek and Canadian Patrick Chan -- have proven that you don't need a quadruple jump to win big anymore. Instead of relying on that one jump, today's group of male skaters seem to be focusing on refining the "overall package:" clean and consistent triple/triple combinations, high level spins and footwork sequences, and more difficult transitions to boost their Program Component Scores (PCS). While Plushenko's success rate with the quad is certainly the highest of the men that will be competing in Vancouver, his spins and choreography leave much to be desired.

While he has the potential to outclass the field jump-wise, Plushenko must pay attention to the other aspects of his skating if he hopes to be victorious at the Games. Skating has evolved quite a bit even in the past three years, and he cannot rest on his laurels and hope to win on his skating skills alone. His PCS were astronomically high in Torino in 2006, but there won't be that big of a gap between him and his competitors this time around. Skaters like Lysacek, Chan, Johnny Weir, Daisuke Takahashi, Nobunari Oda and '06 Olympic runner-up Stephane Lambiel will provide some incredibly tough competition.

I've never been Plushenko's biggest fan, but I do respect him as an athlete and competitor. It will be very interesting to see what happens this weekend in Moscow when he competes at the Rostelecom Cup, where his only other threats seem to be Weir and Japanese skater Takahiko Kozuka. A win in this field is certainly attainable, but a second Olympic win this winter will prove to be much more elusive if he enters the Games with the same mindset and types of programs he did four years ago.

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In other Rostelecom Cup news, Miki Ando reportedly had a great practice today, while Mao Asada struggled on the triple Axel, only achieving about a 50 percent success rate. Whether it's fatigue (this is her third competition this month) or the pressure of the Olympic season catching up with her, it will be interesting to see if she can improve upon her performances last week at the Trophee Eric Bompard, where she was defeated by rival Yu-Na Kim by more than 36 points.