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HomeSense Skate Canada International begins Thursday

(October 29, 2007 - OTTAWA, ON.) - Québec City is getting ready to welcome international competitors to the 2007 HomeSense Skate Canada International. A total of 18 Canadian skaters will compete in this second of six International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix events. HomeSense Skate Canada International will take place Nov. 1-4, 2007 at Colisée Pepsi.

In the men’s event the three-time Canadian Champion, 25-year-old Jeff Buttle, of Sudbury, Ont., will battle the current World Champion, Frenchman Brian Joubert, for the 2007 HomeSense Skate Canada International title. The 2007 European Bronze Medalist, Kevin Van der Perren, from Belgium, will also be competing for a place on the podium. Buttle was sixth at the 2007 World Championships after winning the silver medal at the 2007 Four Continents Championships. The 2006 Olympic bronze medalist finished second in 2005, third in 2004 and second in 2003. Lee Barkell coaches Buttle at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie, Ont. Buttle also trains with Rafael Arutunian at Lake Arrowhead in California.

Current Canadian Silver Medalist Chris Mabee, 22, will also be in Québec City competing at his first HomeSense Skate Canada International. Mabee from Tillsonburg, Ont., was 13th at the 2007 World Championships and fifth at the 2007 Four Continents. Doug Leigh and Lee Barkell coach Mabee at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie, Ont.

Joining Buttle and Mabee in Québec City in the men’s event is 22-year-old Vaughn Chipeur, of Edmonton, Alta. Chipeur is coming off a sixth place finish at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy. The 2004 Canadian Junior Bronze Medalist was a last minute addition to the event last year and finished an impressive seventh. He is currently ranked seventh in Canada. Scott Davis coaches Chipeur at Calalta Community Figure Skating Club in Calgary.

In the ladies’ event, three-time Canadian Champion Joannie Rochette, 21, from Île-Dupas is the defending champion. Rochette will be in a fierce battle with the 2007 World Silver Medalist and Japanese Champion Mao Asada. American Emily Hughes, 2007 Four Continents Silver Medalist, will also be a contender for the podium. . Rochette was tenth at the 2007 World Championships and third at the 2007 Four Continents Championships. Manon Perron, Nathalie Martin and Danièle Robillard coach Rochette at the CPA Saint-Léonard, Qué.

Also competing in the ladies’ event is current Canadian Bronze Medalist Lesley Hawker of Barrie, Ont. The 26-year-old skater was ninth at this event last year. Earlier this year she finished seventh at the 2007 Four Championships. Richard Callaghan coaches Hawker at the Onyx Skating Academy in Rochester, Michigan.

Joining Rochette and Hawker in Québec City is 19-year-old Cynthia Phaneuf, of Contrecoeur, Qué. The 2004 Canadian champion and 2004 Skate Canada International Champion will be making her international comeback in her home province. Cynthia made a remarkable return to Canada’s national senior team this season by finishing fourth at the national championships, after missing a year of competition due to injury. Annie Barabé, Sophie Richard and Yvan Desjardins coach Phaneuf at the CPA Sainte-Julie, Qué.

Canadian Pair Champions, Jessica Dubé, 19 and Bryce Davison, 21 will represent Canada in the pair event in Québec City after competing at Skate America this past weekend where they won the gold medal. They will face the current German Pair Champions, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, who are also the reigning European Pair Champions and are ranked third in the world. Dubé, from Drummondville, Qué., and Davison, of Cambridge, Ont., finished in seventh place at the 2007 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Japan. After a 10th place finish at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, the pair was forced to sit out the 2006 ISU Grand Prix circuit due to injury. The couple is coached by Annie Barabé, Sophie Richard and Yvan Desjardins at the CPA Sainte-Julie.

Also competing in the pair event are Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay who are ranked third in Canada. This is the second season on Canada’s national team for Langlois, 26, of Grand-Mère, Qué., and Hay, 24, of Grand Prairie, Alta. Langlois and Hay placed an impressive 10th in their first trip to the 2007 World Championships where they also obtained their personal best score in the free skating and overall. Lee Barkell coaches Langlois and Hay at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie, Ont.

Rounding out the Canadian pair entries are the new team of Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin. Duhamel, 21, of Lively, Ont., and Buntin, 27, of Kelowna, B.C., who joined forces in June, competed in their first senior international event together at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy in September where they won the silver medal. Duhamel and Buntin train with Richard Gauthier, Manon Perron and Bruno Marcotte at the CPA Saint-Léonard.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who are the top ranked ice dance team in Canada this season, will lead the Canadian entries in the dance event. They can expect a strong opposition from the current World and Russian Junior Champions Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, and from the American ice dancers Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov. Virtue, 18, of London, Ont., and Moir, 20, of Ilderton, Ont., the 2006 World Junior Dance Champions, had a successful debut at their first senior world championships (2007), placing sixth and achieving a personal best score for their free dance. Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva coach Virtue and Moir at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

Also representing Canada in the ice dance event are the 2007 World Junior and Canadian Bronze Medalists Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. Weaver, 18, and Poje, 20, both of Waterloo, Ont., burst onto both the national and international skating scene during the 2006-2007 season after teaming up in August 2006. They placed in the top-20 at the 2007 World Championships. Paul MacIntosh coaches Weaver and Poje at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club.

Rounding out the Canadian entries in the ice dance event are the 2006 Canadian Junior Champions Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno. Hann-McCurdy, 20, of Nanaimo, B.C., and Coreno, 23, of Delhi, Ont., were fourth at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy competition where they presented their new free dance program, which was the third best of the event. They are currently ranked eighth in Canada. 2003 World Ice Dance Champion Victor Kraatz and Maikki Uotila Kraatz coach Hann-McCurdy and Coreno out of the BC Centre of Excellence in Vancouver.

Jodi Abbott, of Edmonton, Alta., Cynthia Benson, of Quispamsis, N.B., and Janice Hunter, West Vancouver, B.C., will be the Canadian officials at the 2007 HomeSense Skate Canada International. Dr. Julia Alleyne of Toronto will accompany the team.

ISU assigned officials from Canada at the event are Marie Bowness, of Bedford, N.S., as technical specialist; Susan Heffernan, of Roberts Creek, B.C., as technical controller; Sue Blatz, of Troy, Ont., as referee; Ted Barton, of Burnaby, B.C., and Richard Ostiguy, of Brossard, Qué., as data replay operators; and Ann Shaw, of Toronto, Ont., as representative of the ISU Officials Assessment Commission.

Former Canadian and World Champion Petra Burka, of Toronto, and Skate Canada Skating Development Advisor Louis Stong, of Toronto, will be the Canadian team managers.

Results will be posted at www.isu.org as soon as they become available.

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Skate Canada, the national governing body responsible for the development and administration of figure skating in Canada, is the largest figure skating association in the world. With skating programs for athletes of all ages, offered at 1326 clubs across the country, Skate Canada is an association dedicated to providing every Canadian the opportunity to experience the passion, spirit and triumph of skating.