Canadian figure skating star Patrick Chan comfortable working alone

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Two months before competing in his first international event of the season, Canadian figure skater Patrick Chan still isn’t ready to name a new coach.

That suits him just fine.

Chan, a three-time World Champion who’s been without a coach since Kathy Johnson announced her resignation last week, said Wednesday at a Skate Canada high performance camp that he’s comfortable working alone — at least for now.

“I think it’s refreshing,” the Toronto skater said following a practice session at the Hershey Centre. 

“I’ve spent a lot of time working with a coach and it’s nice to just step back and skate on my own and be in a good environment.”

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Chan had moved his training base from Colorado to Michigan during the summer of 2013 to work with Johnson at the Detroit Skating Club.

The two had planned to relocate to Vancouver this summer but plans fell through and Chan ended up in Canton, Mich., instead, working with Johnson at the same rink as renowned ice dancing coach and choreographer Marina Zueva.

“With this current situation with Kathy I think (moving to Vancouver) is on the back-burner altogether,” Chan said. “Right now I just really need to be in one place and have my mind in singular focus. I can’t be thinking about Vancouver and my coaching situation.”

The 25-year-old Chan said there are “ongoing discussions” with Skate Canada’s high performance director Mike Slipchuk about who his next coach will be.

He didn’t bring a coach to the Mississauga camp because he wasn’t “100 per cent sure on anybody.”

“Right now the priority is to get these programs out and see what people think of them,” Chan said.

The reigning Olympic silver medallist spent his off-season working on his triple Axel, primarily with Johnson but also with Oleg Epstein, a former coach of American skater Gracie Gold, in Canton.

Chan said he benefited from Epstein’s quick, informal pointers in between coaching his own ice dancing clients.

“He would give his two cents, ‘my shoulders were high, my step on my Axel wasn’t as forward as it could have been,’” Chan said. “Off of those pointers my Axel went up another level of consistency and confidence.”

Chan, who placed fifth at the world championships in Boston in 2016, starts his season at the Finlandia Trophy in Finland from Oct. 6-9, a senior B event before the Grand Prixes.

He usually begins his year with the Japan Open but chose Finlandia to help him competitively as he prepares for his final Olympic Games in 2018.

“Worlds is in Finland, not the same rink but same time zone, and Kathy and I thought it would be beneficial, especially the two years leading up to Olympics,” Chan said. “(I can) focus on getting out there and more for my competitive side than my professional side, getting a short program and long program out, getting used to the jet leg this early in the season.”

Chan took a year off from competing after claiming silver at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

While Chan said he feels more prepared for the upcoming season than he did at this point last year, he also admitted that his place in men’s figure skating has changed since his last world championship gold in 2011.

Up-and-comers like 18-year-old Japanese star Shoma Uno have had a lot to do with that.

“I feel like I’m much more of a hunter in this men’s figure skating world at the moment,” Chan said. “I did a tour in Japan with Shoma, and he’s doing quad flips like it’s none of his business. It’s just jaw-dropping to see the level of skating and what these young guys are doing.

“But it’s also nice to get away from that. I can remove myself and think about what I can do and what I can bring to the table. I’m still able to do two quad toes and I’m hoping to do quad sow in Finlandia. I have my own challenges and they have theirs but their level of jumps is a little higher.”

Melissa Couto, The Canadian Press