Jeffrey Buttle (NO) won his first senior national title in the men’s event, upsetting reigning and three-time champ, Emanuel Sandhu (BC), who placed second. Shawn Sawyer (NB) claimed the bronze, while Ben Ferreira (AB) placed fourth.
The men’s event began with the Qualifying Round (QR) – 25% of the QR score was added to the total score for the skater.
Short Program
Skating to Prelude in C Minor by Rachmaninov for his short, Buttle opened with a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, followed by a double Axel. Despite putting his hands down on the landing of the triple Lutz, two-time and reigning Canadian bronze medalist displayed good footwork and spins to earn a score of 70.93 for a first place finish in the short and overall (105.28).
Sawyer also opened with a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but double-footed the landing on the triple Axel and triple Lutz in his routine to Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango. The 20-year-old earned a score of 66.61, placing second in the short and third overall (95.23).
Marc-Andre Craig (QC) landed a nice triple Axel in the opening of his short to music from the soundtrack The Story of “O”. The 22-year-old followed up with a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but displayed a “flutzy” landing on a triple Lutz out of diagonal footwork. Craig placed third in the short (64.26) and stood in fifth overall (91.22).
Sandhu fell out of landing of his quad in what was supposed to be a quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, and then opened up big, popping a triple Axel. The three-time and reigning Canadian champ went on to land a triple Lutz from footwork and displayed excellent footwork and good spins in his routine to Rise and Xotica, placing fourth in the short (63.53) but second overall (99.32).
Ferreira executed a triple flip-double toeloop combination, but then stepped out of the landing on the triple Axel in his performance to the Planet’s Grassland Theme. The current Canadian silver medalist landed a nice triple flip from footwork, placing fifth in the short with a score of 62.22, and was subsequently fourth overall (93.49).
Hugh Yik (NB) landed a triple Axel, a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, and a triple flip, displaying a fast circular footwork sequence, as well as a centered combination spin to finish sixth in the short (60.30) and seventh overall (85.41).
Christopher Mabee (WO) opened with a triple Axel, followed by a good triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, but doubled his flip out footwork in an otherwise clean skate. The 2002 Canadian junior bronze medalist, placed seventh in the short (57.75) and was sixth overall (87.39) going into the freeskate.
Long Program
Performing to Nagoygatsi by Phillip Glass, Buttle opened with a solid triple flip-triple toeloop combination, followed by a nice triple Axel-triple toeloop combination. Despite a turnout on the landing on an over-rotated triple Lutz (supposed to be in combination with a double toeloop), the 22-year-old landed three more good triples and two double Axels, exhibiting good spins throughout. The two-time and reigning Four Continents champion earned a score of 156.95 to win the freeskate and overall (262.23).
While not flawless, Sandhu had a better skate in his long program to Emil von Sauer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-minor. Though he popped a quadruple toeloop to a double in the beginning, the 24-year-old came back to land a triple Axel-triple toeloop-double loop combination, followed by a solid triple Lutz. Despite doubling a Salchow, the 2004 Four Continents silver medalist landed five more triples (one in combination), placing second in the long (143.34) and overall (242.66).
Skating to music from Cirque du Soleil, Sawyer landed a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but had problems on the landings of his triple Axel and triple Lutz. Despite these and other errors, the 2002 Canadian junior champ received credit for a double Lutz-double toeloop-double loop combination, as well as three more triples (one in combination with a double) to finish third in the long (125.37) and third overall (220.60).
Ferreira opened his routine with a triple Axel-double toeloop-double loop combination, followed by a triple toeloop-double toeloop combination, and a triple loop. After doubling a flip, the 25-year-old landed a triple Axel from a spread-eagle position, but then fell on a triple Lutz. After landing a triple Salchow, he went for the Lutz again from a spread eagle position, only to land on two feet. With a score of 121.46, the 2004 Skate Canada silver medalist placed fourth in the long and overall (214.95).
Performing to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius , Mabee opened his routine with a triple loop followed by a good triple Axel-double toeloop, but pitched forward on the landing of the triple Lutz. The 19-year-old landed four more triples to place fifth in the long (121.46) and overall (208.85).
Fedor Andreev (EO), who stood in eighth after the short, barely managed to hang onto the landing of his opening triple Axel-triple toeloop combination, following up with a triple Lutz, a triple Salchow-triple toeloop combination, a triple flip, a triple loop, a triple Salchow (stepping out of the landing), and a double Axel. The 24-year-old earned a score of 112.36 for a sixth place finish in the long and moving up to sixth place overall (194.88).
Yik opened with a triple flip-double toeloop combination in his Kill Bill routine, but pitched forward and double-footed the landing of his triple Axel. The 22-year-old went on to land a triple Salchow, but had a bad landing on the Axel of a triple Axel-double toeloop combination (which was counted as a sequence). Despite landing two more triples, Yik placed seventh in the long (109.17), maintaining his seventh place position overall (194.58).
Craig, who stood in fifth after the short, slipped to eighth overall after placing 11th in the long.
Buttle and Sandhu have been named to the World team, while Mabee and Patrick Chan (CO) were named to the World Junior team.
