Canadian figure skating championships abuzz about return of Patrick Chan

HALIFAX – Patrick Chan had just wheeled his suitcase into the lobby of a downtown Halifax hotel Wednesday night, when fans approached, one after another, asking him to pose for pictures.

This week’s Canadian figure skating championships are abuzz with talk of Chan’s return. Canada’s three-time world champion is back after taking last season off to ponder his competitive future, and is gunning for his eighth title.

“Just skating around today, you hear ‘It’s nice to see you. Good to have you back,’” Chan said, after the second of two practices at the Scotiabank Centre. “It’s great to hear that. Send the message out: it’s really appreciated.

“It feels great to come back to nationals, I step on practice with my friends, and it really does feel like home.”

But his return from an 18-month competitive hiatus has been a roller-coaster of emotions — either joy or rage, depending on the day.

“Coming back is not an easy feat. Kathy (Johnston, his coach) and I have spent many, many, many hours ripping each other’s hair out, and just yelling,” he said. “Not mad at each other necessarily, but mad at the situation and mad at ourselves.

“There’s times where we get into really heated conversations and I’m like ‘Wow, I’ve never been this mad ever in my life,’” he added. Johnston, standing nearby, laughed.

“It’s a blast, though, because with that huge low, there’s a lot of highs in my life competing. It’s scary, though. I’m telling you, competing is scary.”

Chan began his comeback by winning Skate Canada International in the fall. But he faltered badly at the Grand Prix Final in December, the event where his Japanese rival Yuzuru Hanyu won gold in spectacular fashion. A disappointing short program left Chan in his sixth — and last — place. He managed to climb back up to fourth after the long program.

It was a humbling couple of days, and back at his training base in Detroit afterward, Chan thought about quitting.

“I definitely had a week where I didn’t want to be at the rink, didn’t want to be there. Skated a session and said ‘Screw it, I just want to get off. I’m just not there mentally, I’m just checked out,’” Chan said.

He and Johnston went to dinner that night and talked it out. But even now, he said he can see the virtual exit door and is tempted to walk through it — he motioned walking away during a chat with reporters Thursday night.

“I’ve come very close to just calling it quits and moving on because I have so many things that I’m looking forward to,” he said. But there are little reminders (about why I want to stay), even today in practice. I have moments where I think ‘Wow, I love this, I love this feeling of being on the ice and landing a quad and really feeling great and just skating and being healthy.’”

Chan has added a second triple Axel to his long program to make his score more competitive. He figures on a perfect day, his score would be within 10 points of Hanyu’s best.

He’ll consider adding a quad Salchow to his jumps arsenal next season. He’s trying to take a patient approach, but it’s not easy.

“That’s why when I’m ripping my hair out and Kathy’s like ‘It’s only been less than six months, remember that.’ But it’s so hard when you’re in it and you’re against guys like Javi (Spain’s Javier Fernandez) and Yuzu, you’re like ‘God, I need to be there at their level. I need to be right behind them.’ So when I’m not, it’s extremely frustrating.

“We’re just competitive, we’re so competitive and hungry to be at the very top that rational thoughts do not exist.”

Nam Nguyen, a 17-year-old from Toronto and a former world junior champion, won the Canadian title last season. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., runner-up to Chan at three Canadian championships, is also back. Reynolds pulled out after the short program at last year’s nationals, and underwent hip surgery several weeks later.