Figure skatingCanada’s young skaters put on a show in Ottawa

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You could see the scramble in her eyes as she tried to figure out how to make up for the jump. Kostner attempted it in the closing moments of the program only to fall again resulting in a costly two-point deduction overall putting her well behind the leaders. The world silver medallist’s confidence seemed to be rattled and she didn’t fully recover in the free, ending up in fourth place.

Canada’s Joannie Rochette was masterful and became this year’s Skate Canada champion with two solid programs. She exceeded her former personal best scores in the short and free programs as well as in the combined total.

Russian pair barely hang on

For the second week in a row, a Russian pairs team had a very strong showing in the short program only to fall into mediocrity in the free.

Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov skated a beautiful swan-inspired short program, intricate in detail and difficulty and with enough points to hold onto the lead for the title despite a lacklustre free program peppered with errors.

Canada’s Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison won the free program but didn’t have enough points to bridge the gap created by the short and had to settle for the silver. The American team of Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker picked up the bronze and continued to amaze with their speed and boundless energy.

With two Grand Prix medals in as many weeks, McLaughlin and Brubaker will have to wait until the end of the Grand Prix series to see if they will become one of the top six teams to qualify for the Grand Prix final in Seoul in December.

American skater Evan Lysacek looked as determined as I have ever seen anyone in practice. The world bronze medallist came into the season as one of the favourites for the Grand Prix crown. After a disappointing third-place finish at Skate America you could feel his renewed sense of commitment to get to the top of the podium here. It was not to be, however. Lysacek settled for bronze again, failing to take into account some heavy duty competition coming from his own backyard.

American Ryan Bradley exceeded his own personal best scores in the short program, free program and overall combined total to capture the silver just behind Canada’s Patrick Chan, who won the title. Chan’s Canadian teammate Shawn Sawyer skated perhaps the program of his career to win the free program to finish fifth overall.

Depth of Canadian ice dance

Out of nowhere, the Canadian ice dance team of Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier snuck onto the podium with silver medal in their very first senior Grand Prix event. The result is only out of nowhere if you haven’t seen them before.

This young team has such promise, talent and poise that we could feel spoiled for choice in ice dance in Canada when you take into account teammates and world silver medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

Although Crone and Poirier were not yet a match for the much more experienced American team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who won all three segments of the competition and captured the gold, you can see it won’t take long. For their part, the Americans looked beautifully prepared and not ready to back away from a fight with anyone.

Skaters don’t need to talk or think about the “new” judging system any longer. To this current crop of skaters it is simply the judging system. For them, every chance to compete is the chance to push the boundaries a little further, surprising us - and them - at just how far they can go.

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