Skate Canada: Events: 2007 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships

News

Buttle Makes It Three in a Row

By Laurie Nealin
Reporting for Skate Canada

HALIFAX -- The boys from Barrie did it again on Saturday and two of them are headed to Tokyo for the upcoming ISU World Championships. Emanuel Sandhu will be joining them.

In a hard-fought men's final, Jeff Buttle made it three Canadian titles in a row with a determined, if not flawless, performance which earned a roaring standing ovation from 4883 appreciative fans.

Christopher Mabee, his training mate in Barrie, Ont., held on for silver, although when he finished his Big Band program he wasn't so sure it would be enough, given his singling of the second triple Axel and doubling a planned triple salchow.

Sandhu, who recorded the most, high-difficulty jumps including a quad toe-loop and two triple Axels, settled for third after committing a series of minor errors on jump landings in his Asian- and East-Indian-themed program.

When the competition ended, Buttle had amassed a whopping 232.83 points to Mabee's 209.31 and Sandhu's 207.49.

Buttle, the 2006 Olympic bronze medallist, nailed seven triple jumps, but singled the second planned triple Axel in his program set to the soundtrack from the Armenian film Ararat.

Before coming here, Buttle had not competed for 10 months as he dealt with a spinal stress fracture that benched him for three months last fall. He began slowly working his way back into competition shape in November.

"I'm happy with the way it went. It obviously wasn't perfect. I'm happy with how strong I stayed even though I was a little bit tired," said Buttle, who finished a disappointing sixth at the Calgary Worlds last March.

"I think the recovery was good after the single Axel and I'm happy with that.

"It was such a loud crowd. It was awesome," added Buttle, crediting the audience with helping him through the performance.

Sandhu, who also has three Canadian titles to his credit (2001, 2002, 2004), came here hungry for a fourth. Two major errors in the short program thwarted his chances.

"If I had to comment on something about this week, the short program didn't help. In the end that's what hurt me. I have to work on it," he said.
"This is my first bronze medal I have at nationals. I can't change it now... It hurts a little bit.

"I was practising like a champion all week," concluded Sandhu, who was coming off a fifth-place and best-ever finish at the 2006 World Championships.

Mabee Mabee, who was fourth and just missed out on an Olympic and World Championship berth last season, pushed twice bronze medallist Shawn Sawyer off the podium. Sawyer's triple Axel failed to materialize in the final and he settled for 199.24 points overall, although he did outscore Mabee in the freeskate, as did Sandhu.

"I truly, honestly thought a medal was in question after that performance. I'm just going to take it and run with it. Two big errors and I really questioned if it was enough because I'm ready to go to Worlds," Mabee said.

"Did I feel nervous? Yeah, especially being in a room by myself," said Mabee, who was the last of 18 men out of the gate. "All the doubts started creeping in and I tried to keep them away."

Joey Russell, 18, the 2006 Canadian junior men's champion, concluded his impressive senior debut with another stellar performance. The Newfoundlander had the fans on their feet as the strains of Rhapsody in Blue rose to a crescendo in the final seconds. Russell's energetic fist pump signaled his satisfaction with his skate.

With 178.49 points, Russell took sixth spot, behind Patrick Chan's 187.54. Chan, seventh last year, also rose to the occasion, and earned himself membership on the senior national team.

When these two young men get their triple Axels under their belt, they will be contending for the podium and in the game for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Russell did not go to the 2006 World Junior Championships. Skate Canada gave national senior competitors Patrick Chan and Kevin Reynolds that assignment and they came back with three spots for this year's event next month in Germany. Russell is likely to get one of those spots when Skate Canada officially announces the senior and junior Worlds and Four Continents teams on Sunday.

Reynolds, ninth in this event in 2006 was 11th here. The B.C. skater who spins in the air like a human top, opened his finale with two quadruple jumps -- first a salchow and then a toe-loop.

He and Chan are also strong candidates for the World Junior team.