Okay, so I'm a little behind here, but...yeterday the men's free went, and boy was it ever thrilling! Outstanding performances left and right! Evgeni Plushenko defended his title with a magnificent free skate. He was truly the class of the field. It was breathtaking to watch. Although his fall at the end was pretty shocking, even that couldn't take the win away from him. He showed why he's the champion...although he his no Alexei Yagudin!
Silver went to France's Brian Joubert. I loved this program, I like the choreogrpahy, it's very Yagudin. He jumped very well and performed it at the best of his ability. I still think his overall expression needs work, but he's a rising star. Bronze went to the story of the night, the crowd favourite, Stefan Lindemann of Germany. He came out of nowhere and skated fantastically, what an awesome story! Fourth was Stephan Lambiel, who I was really impressed with. Great choreogrpahy and great performance. He really doesn't look 18...5th was Johnny Weir. Another amazing performance! Talk about your rising stars. He really interperates the music well. This whole free skate was so great.
Awesome for Ben Ferreira who skated very well for a 13th place finish. It was good to see Sandhu bounce back, although he did fall on the quad. Once again he performs well when the pressure is gone. I guess I was harsh on him before, but it's so frustrating to see such talent go to waste! I another disappointment for me was Ilia Klimkin, who had to withdraw because of a torn hamstring. I was really looking forward to seeing him, too. Tough year him, poor guy. Andrei Griazev ended up 12th, and Daisuke Takahashi of Japan finished 11th.
As for the OD, Dubreil and Lauzon were 7th, they skated very well (honestly, I don't get ice dance judging, it's far too idiosynchratic for me, so I can't even comment). Good for Piche and Denis for a great Worlds debut, and Wing and Lowe were delightful as usual. Denkova and Staviyski were 2nd behind Navka and Kostomarov.
Meanwhile, Colorado lost again, this time to Detroit, hahaha! And we find out that Nazzy hyper-extended his elbow when he was hit by Moore. Damn Avalanche, milking Moore's injuries for all they're worth, while Nazzy quietly struggles to play through pain. I think it's clear who's taking the high road here. Well, whatever. Go Canucks Go!