Patrick Chan | Page 239 | Golden Skate

Patrick Chan

Great quotes from Patrick posted on International Figure Skating Magazine's Facebook Page today, along with an MTK pic:

Patrick Chan talked about the highs and lows of his season during a conference call today:

"It has been a challenging year, full of surprises good and bad. The GPF was a little disappointing and I had to regroup after that. I got more comfortable competing again at nationals.

Four Continents was not perfect. The short was rough because the ice was not ideal. After the short I went to see the person in charge of the ice and spoke to him and explained what the ice felt like to me. I was glad to have a day off so that the ice had time to settle for the free.

At the beginning of the season, I wanted more success at an early stage. Kathy kept me grounded so my expectations were blown out of proportion. I was looking at the others and seeing that I am so far behind.

But all I have to do is think about my job — I have the artistic and technical to keep me in the top three at any event.

The most difficult challenge this season?

It was tough to go back to like starting over — my ranking had dropped and I had to chip away at it. Not getting the marks I wanted made for some frustration, even though that was my responsibility. I had to be realistic.

The easiest part was getting back into training — going back to the routine.

After the Grand Prix Final it was the lowest low of the season. When I went to nationals it was a big reset. Nationals was a great stepping stone mentally for me.

Heading into Worlds I am a bit of an underdog so it is different to other years. But I am a little more wise and I know what to expect."
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https://www.facebook.com/figureskatingmag/
 
Thank you, Skatingfan4ever and Calica for posting those links! So nice that the two skating clubs were able to get Patrick to come skate in their ice show. This will be a great way for Patrick to promote the sport in Canada!

Four Continents was not perfect. The short was rough because the ice was not ideal. After the short I went to see the person in charge of the ice and spoke to him and explained what the ice felt like to me. I was glad to have a day off so that the ice had time to settle for the free.
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I had wondered if Patrick's comments that the "ice was terrible" had gotten back to the people in charge on the Taipei Arena, or whether he had gone to them directly to give them feedback. I'm so glad that he confirmed that he did indeed talk to them, and the result was a "magical" ice that produced so many brilliant mens' free skates at 4CC.

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To add to the links above, here is The Blade Boy's 4CC Recap that they just posted yesterday. Hear their wonderful commentary on Patrick's FS at 43:53:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufl-GIi1aFI

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Here's today's article on Patrick:

Patrick Chan says chances are good he'll skate until the 2018 Olympics

The 25-year-old will take aim at a record-fourth world title when he competes at the world championships next week in Boston, and then decide whether to continue with his comeback, or retire for good.

"I will be pretty honest with you, things are looking pretty good," Chan said on a conference call Monday. "I'm healthy, I didn't run into any major road blocks this season, and I've kind of got back into the rhythm of things and what it's like to compete again, and I enjoy it, especially when there's the success that comes with it. But even through the challenging times, I think Kathy (Johnson, his coach) and I have figured out how to get through them, and that I think is a good starting point for the next two years."

"This is a completely different world championships because I'm a much different skater, a much different individual in my life, my skating has improved a ton.
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When Liam Firus stepped down, I also wondered if Patrick shouldn't have issued a supportive comment on that, and I'm glad to see that he did in this article.

"(Firus) wasn't selfish and really thought about the men's team and the benefit and what he could do to make the team stronger for the Olympics, and the next world championships," Chan said. "It's just proof of how great Canadians are at being sportsmen and thinking not only about themselves but the rest of the team and the benefit of the country."
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Wonderful article about Patrick's Chopin LP and how it's a perfect match to the music!

A Perfect Program: Patrick Chan’s Chopin LP

Some excerpts:

Patrick is not playing a character in this Chopin LP, nor telling a story, as far as I can discern (or have read). In this program, he expresses the mood and tempo of the music very purely, with no plotline. This is in keeping with the composer’s own approach. Frederic Chopin did not title his compositions, classifying them only by number and type of work.
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And this Chopin music is no tinkly, lyrical, pretty piano piece. On the contrary, the pieces chosen for Patrick’s program are strong, powerful, even muscular in sound (especially the first and third sections). Again, what could be more evocative of Chan’s skating? When Patrick leans on an edge, it’s not ever a slight or gentle lean. He puts the whole weight of his body into every edge; and transfers that weight to the next deep edge without the slightest hesitation or loss of speed. Only an athlete with the greatest strength, power, security, and control can skate in this manner. So, this music represents the perfect choice for Patrick: Simple in presentation, yet strong in execution and effect.
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My own “concept” of this program? To me, it almost represents the story of Patrick Chan’s comeback. To me, the first turbulent section of the program almost represents the first difficult months of the comeback. The second, more elegiac section could represent the peace Patrick has found as his performances have improved, reaching a very high peak at Four Continents. And the last, stormy section might represent the growing pressures and unknown future of his comeback.
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Read the full article here.
 
The writer of the article mentioned above also discussed Patrick's costume and how it is "subtle and restrained, yet gorgeous, like the program itself. (Plus, it looks very comfortable to skate in– a bonus!)".

After watching the 4CC Chopin LP for the Nth time last night, I finally noticed that after his performance, not once did Patrick put on a jacket or anything else to keep himself warm, like skaters normally do. He just sat in the K&C and then stood for his interview in his costume the whole time!

I think not only is that costume comfortable to skate in, it probably keeps him warm as well through the use of materials like this shirt. Ingenious!
 
vivley said:
Wonderful article about Patrick's Chopin LP and how it's a perfect match to the music!
Click to expand...
Thanks Vivley for linking the article here. It's important to note that the writer is not a Patrick uber. She is a fair-minded knowledgeable figure skating fan. We here on this thread have felt this way about this Chopin program - skating perfection!

To quote Johnny Weir from his Skate Canada commentary - "beautiful skating to beautiful music".
 
Lol, 4everchan, care to enlighten us on Chopin's music and how you think it fits with Patrick's skating style?

Anyway, Patrick is being misquoted in the press already. Didn't he say that his chances of sticking with the sport and going to Pyeongchang are "pretty good"? (Canadian article)

However, in this article that's been duplicated in the Chinese media, he is quoted as saying "他征战平昌冬奥会的前景不是太好", or "his campaign is not very good prospects for Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games". :scratch: Google translate the 2nd paragraph of the article and you'll see.

And it's not just in the Chinese media, but even other English articles like this one focus on the question of his retirement while ignoring what he said about things looking pretty good that he will continue on.

I guess some people just really want him to retire... :noshake:
 
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