Patrick Chan competes his new free skate to The Phantom of the Opera at Liberty on Saturday, but according to his coach, Don Laws, it almost didn't happen."They forgot to put him in the draw," he said. "Finally, they just said, 'We'll plug him in last,' so that's where he is."
Chan and Laws would have hated to miss the opportunity; they've come to Liberty for three seasons running.
"This is where we do new material," Laws, who coached Scott Hamilton to Olympic gold in 1984, said. "It's a classic version. I call it 'Phantom of the Olympics.'"
With the Vancouver Games just seven months away, Chan fever has hit Canada. As one of the country's gold-medal hopes, the 18-year-old is featured in promotions and is heavily covered by the press. He has even filmed commercials, including a recent spot for Cheerios.
"Back in Toronto, at least a few times a day, someone will come up to me and say, 'Aren't you Patrick?' Sometimes it gets to be a distraction," the skater said. "That's why I like training [with Laws] in Florida, because I'm away from all that stuff. The distance helps me focus."
The spotlight on the two-time Canadian champion intensified after worlds this March, where the teen won a silver medal. Since then, apart from a week-long break and performances in "Festa on Ice" in South Korea in April, he's focused on his new program, choreographed by Lori Nichol in May.
"It's definitely a program I'm excited about, and I think everyone else is, too," he said. "It's got kind of an Olympic theme.
"It doesn't matter if it's perfect here at Liberty; the important thing is getting it out. That's the plan."
As Chan tells it, selecting the soundtrack for his Olympic quest took all of 10 minutes.
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