Just when it looked like the field was reeling him in, Patrick Chan has raised

his game and distanced himself from the pack. Jack Lambert Steelers Jersey .  Breaking

three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the

critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Of course with

the Olympics still over two months away, the questions are being asked; Is he

ready too soon? Has he peaked too early?  I personally believe there is nothing

better for building confidence than knowing what perfect feels like, especially

in back-to-back skates. This is something that has eluded Chan in the past.  He

has had a history of building a lead in the short and hanging on in the long,

and of moments of brilliance followed by untimely baubles and stumbles.  Now he

knows what clean feels like and that he has the mind for it. What we saw in

Paris from Chan was consistency and that, combined with his explosive power, was

in a word - impressive. Impressive to watch. Intimidating for his competition,

who now know that the game has just changed and they need to step up.  In this

seasons scores, Chans total in Paris has out-pointed the field by almost 30. 

Heading into the Grand Prix Final next week in Japan, all eyes are on Chan.  He

takes on the seasons top finishers and the phenomenal Japanese men; three of

whom have qualified in the spots behind Chan and are hoping to gain some help

with some home field advantage. A similar situation is unfolding in the pairs

this season with the Russian team of Tatiana Volososhar and Maxim Trankov.  What

Chan did in Paris, they did in both of their competitions. They literally did

not put a foot wrong in any program in either competition.  The nine judges give

a score for each element in the program (jumps, spins, steps, lifts) based on

the quality of the element. The scores they give range from minus- 3 to plus- 3.

Ninteen elements in two programs and they did not receive one minus, on any

element, from any judge. All plus- 2 and plus- 3 with a sprinkling of ones. 

That just doesnt happen early in the season in the pairs event, where the

programs are filled with high risk elements, the margin of error is great, and

it takes a season for the teams to fully meld with the nuances of the

choreography, the hidden technical difficulties and with each other.  This

season the Russians set and now own the three world records for highest short,

free and total scores. This is a team with a clear focus.  Until the Vancouver

Olympics, Russia held the longest unbroken gold medal streak in the Winter

Games.  Russia had won every Pairs gold medal since 1964, until 2010 when

Russian pairs not only didnt win gold, they failed to reach the podium.  We did

an interview with Tatiana and Max on TSN following those Vancouver games when

they were a newly formed pair. Max spoke about Vancouver, but not about plans of

redemption in the pairs event. He talked about how inspired and emotional he was

watching Canadians Virtue and Moir in the ice dance event.  He spoke about being

in the Olympic arena when Scott and Tessa won gold and the whole country

celebrated with them and he said "we want the same." It is a mission that seems

inevitable.  The chance of competing at a home games has also brought out

inspired performances from the Russian women, and so the Grand Prix final will

look a lot like the Russian nationals in the ladies event. Four teenagers aged

17, two 15 year olds and a 14 year old have qualified for the final.  We have

watched Russia produce a series of young talented superstars but they tend to

come and go and have not been able to translate early season success into

success at the big events.  In the ladies qualifying, the competition entered

and the depth of the field, played into who made the final.  Olympic silver

medalist Mao Asada and American champion Ashley Wagner have qualified, while

great skaters like Akiko Suzuki and Carolina Kostner are left out of the final. 

I believe that the podium in Sochi will look very different from the one at the

final, as a number of the worlds best and brightest will not be at the ladies

event in Japan. As always at this time of year, the rivalry  intensifies in the

dance event where we will see this seasons first head-to-head match-up of

Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and World Champions Meryl Davis

and Charlie White.  Meryl and Charlie have the advantage in the points early in

the season, but it is a game of inches with both teams capable on any given

day.  Unique this season in the ice dance event is the hotly contested battle

for bronze.  Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje are among the four teams

in the hunt. What is intriguing is how much these teams have improved, and while

ice dance has been sensational at the top for a number of years, the teams

chasing the champions are bringing the sport of Ice Dance to a new level as a

whole. Marcus Gilbert Womens Jersey . LOUIS -

Reliever Jordan Walden and the St. Jack Butler Steelers Jersey . Though the

26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out

as a precaution. ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- Corban Knight snapped out of his scoring

slump in a big way Friday night, with some help from an old friend. Knight

scored twice and assisted on another as the Abbotsford Heat blanked the visiting

Hamilton Bulldogs 6-0 in American Hockey League action. After recording five

points in the final three games of December, Knight had no goals and just two

assists in nine games through the month of January. "Id definitely say I was a

little snake-bit the last little while here, and things werent coming my way,"

said Knight. "It was nice to get a couple nice set-ups from the guys, and I was

able to put them in. Hopefully Ill kind of put that behind me and move forward

here." Knight was matched up with former linemate at the University of North

Dakota Evan Trupp. Trupp responded with his first multi-point game since being

called up from the ECHLs Alaska Aces. "We played two years together, and were

really good friends, too," said Knight. "The fact we were put together, I think

we were both pretty excited about it, and we were able to get some chemistry

going tonight." Besides recording two second-period goals, Knight picked up the

second assist on Markus Granlunds opening goal and was also in the crease for a

Heat goal that was waved off in the first period. "Hes going through a learning

curve like a lot of our guys," said Heat head coach Troy Ward. "Theyre kind of

over that hump of, Im tired now. Some of our college guys that come out, thats

really hard for them. Hes got a little bit more energy to his game, and Trupp

made a difference." Blair Jones had two goals in his first game since being put

on waivers by the Calgary Flames on Wednesday. With the addition of Jones and

Shane OBrien, who was also sent down by the Flames, along with Heats signing of

Trevor Gillies, the Abbotsford dressing room is beginning to get quite crowded.

Derek Smith and Sven Baertschi are also recent Flames demotions. "Our team is at

probably one of the most competitive points for ice time," said Ward. "Thats

based on health and depth. It might get worse next week when the NHL shuts down

and they assign players, creating more of a log jam. Its a heaalthy situation. Rod Woodson Jersey. It makes coaching

decisions a little bit harder but thats part of our job." Josh Jooris also

scored, while Max Reinhart had two assists as Abbotsford (27-14-4) got back in

the win column after consecutive overtime losses last weekend. Joni Ortio

stopped 34 shots for his second shutout of the season, and was a factor despite

the lopsided win. "Hes one of the unsung heroes," said Ward. "He made some huge

saves at critical times. We gave them a couple good looks and he was there and

made it look pretty easy." Dustin Tokarski made 22 saves for Hamilton (20-19-4),

which has won just once in its past five outings. After a scoreless opening 20

minutes, Ortio woke up his club with a huge save midway through the second

period. "Joni made some big saves in the second period when they had a couple

cross-ice plays," said Jones. "Its kind of what Ive been seeing from him all

season." Hamilton got a three-on-two rush while at the tail end of a penalty

kill, but Ortio made a great save, sliding across to deny Martin St. Pierres

one-timer at the side of the net. During a post-whistle scuffle the Heat came

away with another power play and this time made it count. Max Reinhart fed

Granlund and the Swede beat defender Darren Dietz at the blue-line and skated in

on Tokarski, scoring blocker side for his team-high 18th of the season at 10:26.

Then, just 1:27 second later the Heat built on their momentum. Brett Olson put a

perfect backhanded saucer pass on the tape of Knight in the slot and the High

River, Alta. native made no mistake, beating Tokarski glove side. Knight picked

up his second with less than a minute to go in the period. Trupp came off the

side boards and shovelled the puck to Knight in the high slot. This time he went

top corner, blocker side for his 11th of the season. Jooris made it 4-0 with his

fifth of the season at 7:20 of the third. He took a feed from Baertschi, cut to

the front of the net and swept the puck around Tokarski. Jones completed the

onslaught, scoring twice in less than two minutes. First he redirected Reinharts

perfect feed at 9:52, then wired a one-timer between Tokarskis pads for his 10th

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