Chan, Osmond on pace to reclaim their Canadian championship crowns

HALIFAX – There have been plenty of days Patrick Chan has questioned his decision to return to skating.

Friday wasn’t one of them.

The 25-year-old from Toronto, who took 18 months off following the Sochi Olympics, looked like he’d never left in winning the short program at the Canadian figure skating championships.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Chan said. “When I can skate that way, it’s a blast, and I want to be here.”

Earlier Monday, Kaetlyn Osmond won the women’s short program, while Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje won the short dance and Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won the pairs short program.

Skating to Michael Buble’s “Mack the Knife,” Chan opened with a huge quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, then followed it up with a triple Axel — and then a victorious fist pump. His score of 103.58 points gives the three-time world champion a massive lead going into Saturday’s long program.

“This is one step forward in the right direction finally, and the rest is just cruising,” he said. “This was my only really stressful point of nationals, (Saturday’s) a new day, but I know what I need to think about.”

Liam Firus of North Vancouver, B.C., was second with 78.87, while Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., took third with 77.65.

Last year’s winner Nam Nguyen, a 17-year-old from Toronto, fell on his quad and finished back in fifth.

Chan has had trouble with his short program this season, but Friday, he said, was as comfortable as he’s felt during this comeback.

His coach Kathy Johnson said he’d broken through a big mental barrier.

“Thrilled thrilled thrilled for him,” Johnson said. “There’s something about being away from competition, it’s like learning to be battle-ready again, dealing with the nerves and the pacing.”

Chan has talked openly about the difficult days in his comeback, and Johnson echoed those sentiments.

“Patrick is incredibly mentally tough, he really is. He is a fierce competitor. And he is the hardest worker,” she said. “Most days, he’s on the ice by himself, there is no one on the ice with him.”

Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu set a world record score of 110.95 for the short program in December. And while Chan’s points Friday aren’t recognized in international scoring, they are an indication that he is making up some ground on the world leaders.

Johnson pointed out that Chan still has some tricks in his back pocket — he regularly lands quad Salchows, for example, but hasn’t yet added it to his program. Instead, they’re taking a patient approach.

“He’s been able to do that quad Salchow for awhile. . . but he brings a lot to skating that no other skater does, and he doesn’t want to sacrifice (his superior skating) just to put elements in,” Johnson said. “We have a plan and we’re not going to panic and rush that plan.”

Osmond, meanwhile, took the first step toward reclaiming her Canadian crown, laying down the strongest program since a gruesome broken leg sidelined her for all of last season.

“It’s been a long time,” Osmond said.

The 20-year-old from Marystown, N.L., scored 70.63 points for her performance to Cyndi Lauper’s lyrical “La Vie en Rose.”

The two-time Canadian champion, who broke her right fibula in two places in the fall of 2014 — an injury that required two surgeries to repair — had one misstep, doubling a planned triple toe-loop. but by the time she turned her final spin, the Scotiabank Centre crowd was off its seats in a standing ovation.

“It felt really good, it gave me the feeling that I am back,” she said. “And no matter how many other competitions I’ve done this year, this is the first competition that I’ve truly felt back.

“And having that standing ovation was even better.”

Alain Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., was second with a score of 68.81. Defending champion Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., fell on her triple Lutz and finished third (64.44).

“For me, it’s just more important that I make the world team, whether it’s first or second, I’m not really focused on winning exactly,” Chartrand said. “Of course, winning would be amazing.”

The Canadian championships determine the team for the world championships in Boston in March. Canada can send two skaters each in men’s and women’s singles, plus three ice dance teams and three pairs teams.

Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., scored 73.03 for their skate to Ewan McGregor’s “Your Song,” from “Moulin Rouge.” The performance was below what the world champions are capable of, and Duhamel fought back tears talking to reporters afterward.

“Frustrating,” she said. “There’s no other way to sum it up. It makes me extremely angry, it makes me sad in a way that I can’t figure it out.”

“Sometimes in skating and in sport in general, it’s this invisible thing that is there,” Radford added. “I don’t think Usain Bolt runs a world record every day.”

Julianne Seguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Montreal are second (69.73), while Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto are third (69.50).

Weaver and Poje, world silver and bronze medallists, take a sizeable lead into Saturday’s long program. The Waterloo, Ont., skaters scored 76.20 for their elegant skate to “The Blue Danube.”

Piper Gilles of Toronto and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., were second with 70.63 points, while Alexandra Paul of Midhurst, Ont., and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., were third with 68.30.