Nucks 5 Edmonton 2
The Nucks did it! They captured the Northwest Division title! They played an excellent game against the Oilers: they weathered the storm that the desperate Oilers put on and played an offensivley and defensivley sound game, with a great performance by Dan Cloutier to seal the win. Mike Keane (clutch performer or what?) scored a pair, and Nazzy, Ohlie and Mo (a beauty of a shot) scored the other goals for the Canucks. I feel bad that Edmonton had to miss the playoffs, six Canadian teams would have been amazing, but the Oilers did this to us in 1999-2000, so, oh well.

I'm so proud the way the Canucks bounced back from all the controversy and turmoil to put together this six-game winning streak at the end of the regular season. And it was nice to see the crowd give a big ovation to Bert when he stepped out to give his sweater away. (I wish I could win one of those!)

So now, the Canucks have stuck it to stupid Colorado (who lost in OT to Nashville today, hahaha!), and have ended the Avs' 9-year streak of NW div titles. The Canucks won their first div title in 11 years. The Canucks now face Calgary in the first round of the playoffs (starting Wednesday), for the first time since 1994. Should be fun! Other Canadian teams: Leafs vs Sens (grr...damn it...oh well, go Sens!) and Habs vs Bruins (go Habs!). *Super excited*!

On a side note, Crawford's tie, shirt, and jacket all matched on Saturday, *gasp*. Lol. Anyway, the Giants lost game 2 of their series vs Everett 3-1. Dumb Constantine and his defensive systems. Oh well. Can't wait for the Canucks' playoffs to start...Go Canucks Go!

Nucks 4 San Jose 1
Woo-hoo, the Canucks won again last night! 4-1 vs San Jose. I couldn't see the game, because I was at the Giants game, but I listened to it on the radio, hehe. Matty Ohlund opened scoring about 1:30 into the 1st. SJ tied it, but Cookie scored on a 2-on-1 to take back the lead. Henrik scored at the beginning of the 2nd and Chubie scored an empty-netter. Cloutier was amazing! We're back in the division lead. Stupid Colorado won against Columbus though, grr. Tonight the Nucks play the Oilers and can clinch the division with a win. Super excited! I feel bad the Edmonton might have to miss the playoffs, but oh well. Yay Canucks!

The Giants game was fun, they beat Everett 2-1 in game 1. Ty Morris (a Canucks pick!) scored their 1st goal and Braden Appleby got the winner late in the 3rd. Haha it was fun to stick it to Jeff "Library" Harvey, lol. When Morris scored they flashed "Welcome to the Library!!" on the big screen. Hahaha! Anyway, good for the Giants. Hope they can keep it up against this Kevin Constantine (ugh)-coached team. Well, I'm pumped for the Nucks game tonight...Go Canucks Go!

Nucks 2 Anahiem 1
Oh yeah! Another great game! What a thriller. The Canucks dominated much of the game, outshooting the Ducks 43-23 and 22-4 in the 3rd. They were all over the place in the 3rd, it could have been 10-1. They worked so hard in the 3rd! But it was only 1-1 with 20 seconds left when Mo had a great faceoff in the Anahiem zone and Salo blasted it top shelf to win it! Woo-hoo! And in the 1st Nazzy scored a beauty from Mo and Cookie :D Another great game by Sanderson and the Sedins, Kinger played well too, as did the whole team pretty much. And haha, Colorado lost AGAIN, this time to Minnesota, althought it was in OT. And Dallas lost to Edmonton 3-1. The Nucks now have 97 points, the same as Colorado, but the Canucks have 2 more wins, to put the Nucks in 1st in the Northwest Division and 3rd in the Western Conference. Dallas has 95 points. I am so super pumped right now! But we can't get too ahead of ourselves, we all saw what happened last year. The Nucks just have to keep working. Now I really gotta go get that Asian Studies paper done...Go Canucks Go!

Nucks 6 Phoenix 1
Wow, amazing game! I'm glad I went to that one! (Was sure an improvement from the last game I went to: 9-2 Colorado, not so good.) The Canucks absolutely dominated the game, from start to finish. It was like the Canucks of old :D Great games by the Sedins, Nazzy (beauty goal top shlef while falling down), Salo, King (nice goal between the legs!), and Marty Rucinsky. #1 star was Geoff Sanderson: aboslutely incredible. He was eveywhere, zipping around, and he plays great with the Sedins. I'm exaggerating when I say he looked like Bure out there. I try not to get too attatched, because he can be such a floater, and they say he is a rental player, but damn he's exciting to watch! Only stupid thing was stupid Colorado winnging, blarg. Oh well. Tomorrow Nucks play Anahiem. Wow, I need to work on my Asian Studies essay...Go Canucks Go!

FS Worlds Day 7...Exhibition
Watched the gala last night, it was great! Let's see, whose program did I like...Sasha Cohen: incredible. I love the Romeo and Juliet music, love the costume, it perfectly suits the mood. It may not have had crazy jumps, but the spirals and spins and the Ina Bauer and all of it was just breathtaking. I love the program!!

Another great one was Shen and Zhao skating to Come What May from Moulin Rouge. Just from the music choice I could tell I was going to like it. Xue's costume was quite nice, and they perfromed with so much emotion. It was a great program.

Shizuka Arakawa had a really pretty dress! Her hair looked great, and really, it made me wonder why she doesn't look like this for competition. Good costumes can really make a skater, I think that's her next step, haha ;) Michelle's Fallin'was nice, with another nice Vera Wang, this time in white. I looove Tanith and Benjamin's Elvis routine. Tanith's dress is great and Ben does a great Elvis impression. They're a team to watch for sure! Albena and Maxim had a very creative and dramatic program, with the blindfolds and the crazy moves. Navka and Kostomarov had a fun Austin Powers number, and Plushenko, as always, entertained the crowd. His duet at the end with the violinist was really cool. I can't believe Petrova and Tikhonov...how can a pair that is so boring in competition be so fun in exhibition? Oh well...It was great to see the audience's reaction to Stefan Lindeman and to Winkler and Lohse...and I loved Stephane Lambiel's programs, despite his two falls :) Johnny Weir was nice too. Anyway, it was overall a really nice gala, and I'm sad that skating's over now! :( I can't wait till next season...I guess there is still pro, but I'm not going to SOI this year...sigh.

Nucks play Phoenix tonight, and I'm going! :D Go Canucks Go!

FS Worlds Day 6...Crazy Ladies Free...and YEAAAAAA BABY NUCKS WIN!!!!!
What a day, what a day. I'll start in order. Shizuka Arakawa became the first Japanese ladies' World Champion since 1994, when Yuka Sato won (I remember watching that!). Congratulations Shizuka, and yay Japan! :D But what a crazy turn of events...I have to say I was crushed when Sasha didn't nail her program, but I am thrilled for Shizuka. I'm just a little shocked about what's happened.

Shizuka was the first skater of the final flight. She skated Turandot the best I've ever seen her skate it. She's learning how to actually present a program and not just go through the motions mechanically. Her performance was dramatic and she nailed triples left and right, and even did a triple-triple-double combo. Technically she was amazing, and she did it all with an injured thigh. I was thrilled at her high marks but I didn't think that they would hold up till the end. Amazing!

Julia Sebestyen skated well, although she missed some jumps. She finished 6th. The next up was Sasha, wearing a stunning new all-white dress for Swan Lake (compare it to Shizuka's hideous Swan Lake SP dress!). Unfortunately, Sasha didn't come out with her usual attack and drive in the LP, unlike the SP. I think she was tentative and nervous, and I've seen her like that a few times skating Swan Lake this year. Maybe she just was never completely comfortable with the program? It's tough to say, she was brilliant at Skate Canada, so...anyway, she wobbled on her triple Lutz and opened up on her triple Salchow. The presentation, although lacking some of her usual magic, was still beautiful, and she ended up with the silver. Congratulations on your first medal at Worlds, Sasha!

Next up was Michelle Kwan...right after the moron in the tutu! I can't believe no one stopped that clown...anyway, Michelle, wearing a beautiful Vera Wang (with new sparkly embellishments since Nats!) went out and skated a passionate program to Tosca (LOVE that music). Her only miss was doubling a Lutz. It was a great performance, and she got six 6.0s for presentation. I did think that her skate at Nationals was better though. And like Cohen, she didn't have a triple-triple, which was part of her undoing. But still, she won the bronze, her ninth World medal in a row.

Miki Ando skated after Michelle, and she did a pretty good job. She didn't land that quad, but every other jump was great. She does need to work on her presentation though, her performance lacks the sparkle of some more senior skaters. That should come with experience though. Also I think her spins could be faster/nicer. Anyway, a great Worlds debut for Miki, and she finished 4th!

Carolina Kostner from Italy skated last, and it was kind of a disaster. But she's still young. She finished 5th. Fumie had a gutsy free skate and finished 7th. She was very emotional when she finished skating, she obviously had a lot of pressure on her. I feel really bad, and I still don't know what happened to her in qualifying! She is such an elegant skater, and she's my favourite Japanese skater. I'm glad she had a good LP.

Canadian content! The top Canadian was Joannie Rochette, who finished 8th (another Canadian 8th!). It was great for Joannie to get into the top 10 after a 17th place debut last year. Her expresssion improves every time I watch her, it's great to see. She fell on her first jump, a triple loop, but didn't let her program fall apart and was clean the rest of the way. The thing I like about her most is that she is obviously ambitious and wants to be at the top. She looks around and sees the American and Japanese girls on top of the world and wants to get there too. She said after that she wants to have a triple-triple next year, like the top girls did, and that's exactly the kind of committment we need to see in Canadian women skaters. I'm becoming an unabashed Joannie fan!

Finally, I have to say a few words about Jennier Robinson. She may have finished 14th, but make no mistake, this week has been the absolute best skating of her career. She was consistent, clean, and confident. I was so happy to see her skate so well. Her costume was gorgeous, as usual. Jen may not be the fastest or technically stongest skater out there, but she is elegant and graceful. She's held up Canadian womens' skating on her own now for years, and I commend her perseverance and constant desire to improve. She officially announced her retirement after her skate. It's a sad day, but it signals the beginning of a new era, with young skaters like Joannie and Cynthia Phaneuf ready to carry Canadian womens' skating after Jen did it so gracefully for so many years. Thank you, Jennifer!

As thrilled as I am about Shizuka winning, I'm still a bit jarred by what happened yesterday. I find it a little disconcerting when they say that both Sasha and Michelle DO NOT have the technical content, nor the ability (and I'm assuming that they don't have the content because they can't do it) to win a World Championship. To hear Paul Martini (not that he's the definitive word on all things skating, but still) say that Sasha NEEDS a triple-triple, needs a QUAD is amazing. We are witnessing a new era in womens' skating, for sure. The Japanese girls are pushing the envelope, and I think the world just realized that Michelle Kwan is not the be-all and and-all of ladies' skating. The fact that both Sasha and Michelle can be beaten on a lack of technical content shows just how far womens' skating has come. It's scary but also very exciting! Once these technically proficient skaters can also put together an exciting presentation, look out! And you know Sasha and Michelle (well, Sasha for sure anyway) will be back, bigger and better next year. So congrats to Shizuka for raising the bar!

Tonight's the gala, that should be good...and Alias tonight, woo-hoo!

On to the most thrilling part of the day, the Nucks beating Dallas 3-2 in OT!!!!! That breaks Dallas' 69-game unbeaten streak after leading after the 2nd. Amazing. The Nucks dominated in the 3rd. Danny Cloutier made a great save off Modano on a 3-on-1 and a few shifts later, Soaps bombed one up to Sanderson who just flew up the left wing and put it top shelf over Tugnutt! Gotta love Sandy. Then Mo capped off the comeback with the OT winner five-hole. Great game by Matt Cooke too, he was everywhere, especially in the third. (The only bad part of the game was that both Bryan Allen and Brad May got injured :( ) Ahh what madness. And Colorado lost AGAIN, hahaha, to Detroit again, and now the Nucks are only 1 point back of them! It's strange that they're 1 point out of 3rd but 2 points out of 4th. Anyway...Daniel Sedin scored the other Canucks goal. Yeah! And also, the Giants won game 5 vs the Blazers 5-4 in OT, after being down 4-1 going in the 3rd! Darren Lynch scored the winner to give the Giants their first-ever playoff series win! Such excitement. And I've got tix to game 1 vs Everett! ^^ The Nucks' next game is Monday vs Phoenix, and I've got tix to that one too...Go Canucks Go!

FS Worlds Day 5...Sasha is smokin'! Japan is rockin'! And a new era in ice dance.
Yes! Sasha is continuing her great performance so far at Worlds! Amazing, passionate, and determined performance in the ladies' short program. That's one of the best performances of Malaguena I've seen by Sasha. Just by the look on her face you could tell how confident she was. Her intensity on the ice is something to behold, I tell ya. I really like the spins in this program. And the yellow dress is great! She may not have had the triple-triple that some others had, but as they said on CBC, skating is not always about jumps (thank you, finally someone that recognizes this and takes advantage!). She got four 6.0s for presentation! So Sasha stays in 1st place after the short.

What can you say about Michelle Kwan. You just knew she would come back after struggling in qualifying, and what a way to do it. In terms of overall "chills-down-the-spine" factor, I thought Michelle's program resonated with even more passionate expression than Sasha's, particularly in the latter part of the program. Michelle's face after the double axel told us all abouy the focus and intensity of passion that she was feeling as she skated that. Just amazing. However, she had a glitch where her music ran too long, which seemed to cost her a bit...I don't understand how someone could possibly be so incompetent as to screw up Michelle's music! I can't comprehend this situation...So anyway, Michelle's in fourth right now. This sucks because I wanted to see a major Sasha-Michelle duke-out. But you know Michelle will go down swinging: never count her out. Her free skate will be breathtaking! Beautiful costume by the way! Wow.

This was my forst time seeing Miki Ando, and she really is quite good! Great jumper for sure. She doesn't have the performance level of a Cohen or a Kwan though. But an impressive debut for a 16 year old, she sits in 3rd. And Shizuka Arakawa skated very well too, but she had some cheated landings on her jumps. The judges put her ahead of Miki though, into 2nd. I have to say, that Shizuka's Swan Lake costume is terrible! The feathers, the sleeves, ahh...very gaudy. Kind of distracting too. But otherwise, good job by Shizuka-chan!

As for Canadian content, the ubiquitous Jennifer Robinson keeps plugging along. She may not be explosive like Cohen or have the performance level and speed of some other skaters, but she's improved every year at her own pace and has kept working hard, and I admire that. She skates with elegance and grace, and she pretty much nailed down her short program today, besides some minor flaws. As always, her costume is gorgeous. Right now she's in 13th...I think the judges were a tad bit harsh on her :(. And Joannie Rochette skated very well for Canada as well! She also skated clean, and her performance level increases every time I see her. She's a rising star, right now in 9th. Pretty nice dress too. And who else...Julia Sebestyen skated the best I've ever seen her, she's currently 5th. Irina Slutskaya's 7th in her comeback. Ahh, I still don't know what on earth happened to Fumie! She's moved up, now she's 8th, but they haven't shown her or talked about her all week. What a disappointment. I hope they at least show her or mention what happened, tomorrow. And so, I'm pumped for tomorrow's free skate!

As for the free dance...I have to say, I was a little disappointed by this free dance, both in the lack of depth in the field and the lack of coverage (okay, I really just wanted to see Belbin and Agosto). But really, pretty much all the heavyweights from years past have retired, leaving only 2 really good teams and a lot of up and comers and mediocre teams. There's no dance team that really blows me away right now, like Bourne and Kraatz did for so many years. That being said...

Navka and Kostomorov won the gold, they deserved it I guess. Their Pink Panther program was fun and bubbly, even though it wasn't as intricate as D&S or even Dubreil and Lauzon. But really, I am no judge of the technical side of ice dance...Maxim and Albena won silver. They skated great I thought, lots of passion and intensity. Although I wasn't a fan of Maxim's fabric-flying-everywhere costume...But anyway, I always enjoy this team, and I admire their athleticism and technique. They may not be as statuesque and striking and N&K, but they make up for that with amazing programs.

I wasn't particulraly impressed by Grushin and Goncharov, the bronze medallists; I felt like I'd seen that movie before. It was cool to see Winkler and Lohse make it back-to-back medals for Germany. Their program was more fun that Grushin and Goncharov's, despite...interesting costumes. Wing and Lowe are so cute, I love them! I think the judges shaft them because they are lighthearted and carefree instead of moody and dramatic. They finished 11th and Piche and Denis 23rd. Congrats to both! Ahh I think Dubreil and Lauzon were great! They have great choreography, I have annoyed to see them only in 8th. Once again I don't understand ice dance judging. And boy was I ever disappointed when CBC didn't show Belbin and Agosto! I will have to try and catch that on ABC tomorrow...In the meantime, I'm gearing up for an exciting ladies' free! Go Sasha!

In hockey...The Giants are up 3-1 in the series over the Blazers, wow. They can close it out on home ice tomorrow. And the Nucks take on Dallas tomorrow in a fourth place showdown. Luckily the ladies' free is in the morning. Big day tomorrow, should be good! (ahh I hope! *knock on wood!*) Okay, gonna go enter the Sasha wallpaper contest...Go Canucks Go!

FS Worlds Day 4...The Men Light It Up!
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!

FS Worlds Day 3...Amazing outgoing champs and Sasha gets a good start...and Nucks win!
Yesterday was the pairs' free and ladies' qualifying. Tatmianina and Marinin of Russia took gold in pairs. Well, to start, I'd like to say congrats to Valerie Marcoux and Craig Buntin for a solid Worlds debut. Their free skate was quite strong, they had some glitches and the jumps and the twist, etc. but they skated with good energy and it was good to see. Great Spanish-inspired costume for Valerie, by the way. They finished in 9th.

I'm so proud of Langlois and Archetto. Patrice had ligament damage in his finger, and Anabelle was using brnad-new boots, but you couldn't tell. They skated their long program very well, hardly any mistakes. I love their Lawrence of Arabia music and choreography, I always love their programs. Great footwork towards the end. They were clearly robbed by the judges, I don't know what they were thinking, they got one 4.9 for presentation, ridiculous! I can't fathom how anyone sane could put Obertas and Slavnov ahead of L&A. O&S had bad choreogrpahy, no chemistry, bad music and costumes and there was no polish. I think even M&B should have been ahead of them. Oh well. What can you do. Next year hopefully we will have the code of points and this won't happen.

As for the other skates...Zagorska and Siudek were okay, not particularly inspiring, for a 6th place finish. Zhang and Zhang, who were 5th of China were quite good, I like them better than Pang and Tong, who won bronze. Petrova and Tikhonov never fail to put me to sleep with their lack of pizzaz, and I can't stand that ugly slouchy lift they do! But they got 4th. As I mentioned, Pang and Tong were 3rd, they are quite nice and musical, but again interesting judging...the 6.0 was too much. T&M won gold with a solid free skate. This is another team that I don't find particularly exciting, although I like them much better than P&T. Their music was nice, I believe it's the same as Plushenko's this year. It was a nice skate, but I don't think it was worthy of the 6.0 they got. But speaking of 6.0's, Shen and Zhao were the story of night. The came from 4th place in the short, to lay down a stunning free and rise up to take the silver. This team has completely transformed from the technically perfect but artistically challenged pair they once were. They are a true pair on the ice, and magical to watch. They showed what a real 6.0 is like, and got 10 for presentation. They deserved it. It's too bad they couldn't win, because that was the real gold medal skate. Oh well, congrats to T&M for gold.

Ladies qualifying...Sasha won her group, woo-hoo! Super pumped about that. Great to see her stepping it up. Shizuka Arakawa won the other group, which was also great to see. I love her Turandot music. Two surprises for me: Michelle Kwan stumbled in her skate, she popped one jump and fell on another. I guess it was because she hadn't skated much this year...but she was so incredible at US Nats! Oh well. She was 3rd in her group. But the shocker of the day for me was Grand Prix Champ Fumie Suguri...she is now tied for 15th! How did that happen??? I have no idea, they didn't show her...yikes. That's too bad, I had high hopes for her :(. For Canada, Joannie's tied for 9th and Jennifer tied for 11th. Overall a good start for Canada's ladies. And also, 16-year-old Miki Ando of Japan (who did a quad at Japanese Nats!) was 2nd in her group and is now tied for 3rd. Good stuff! Ladies' short is on Friday...*excited*... Men's free and OD goes today. Finally some ice dancing!

Meanwhile, in the BIG GAME (aren't they all big games now?) the Nuckers came out absolutely smokin' and hung on to beat LA 1-0. Great to see Cookie score in his first game on the BIg Line, and nice to see Malik jump up and get an assist. Dan Cloutier had a big effort in his first game back since injury, especially in the 3rd period. Kudos to May Day and Keaner for setting the physical tone in the 1st. It was an overall gritty and workmanlike effort by the boys, great to see! And Calgary beat Phoenix, and Dallas beat Edmonton in OT, grr....So the Nucks are still in 5th...and 3 points behind Colorado with 5 games left! Go Canucks Go!

FS Worlds Day2...Spectacular highlights and crushing disappointment
The men's short program went yesterday, and there were some surprises for sure. Let's start with the bad stuff...Emanuel Sandhu bombed out yet again. Popped his quad and fell on his triple axel. Complete disaster. I've come to the conclusion that he is not a competitor, he is an artist. Just listening to the way he speaks about his skating, (Lethargic because he slept in??? This is the Worlds!!!) and the way he can't seem to perform when the pressure's on seems to prove this point. He will make an exquisite professional skater, but I don't think amateur comptetion is in his nature. What I am most worried about is, could this prevent Canada from sending two men next year? I think Sandhu will have to improve tenfold in the free skate to move up...By the way, he is currently in 11th.

Another disappointment for me was Ilia Klimkin. He just didn't have it today; he fell on his quad and over-rotated his triple. His presentation was pretty good though, which sort of saved him. But I don't think this program did justice to his eccentric skating style. His long program, to the crazy Dr. Diesel music is far better suited to quirkiness. Alas, he's in 8th, but I'm looking forward to his free skate.

On to the better stuff. I have to say I was mighty impressed by some of the young guys. Johnny Weir of the US surprised me, he's quite a nice elegant skater (he's currently 6th). And I was even more impressed by Russia's 18-year-old Andrei Griazev. Although his technical work isn't very high right now, I loved his presentation. I love it when skaters "sell" their programs and he sure did. The commentators were bang on when they likened his footwork to Yagudin. I think this guy's a rising star. He's in 9th. Another delight was Germany's hometown hero, Stefan Lindemann. He nailed everything, and had great energy, it was awesome to see. He's in 3rd! Stephane Lambiel of Swizterland is in 4th, he didn't impress me very much till the very end of his program when suddenly he pulled out these amazing spin combinations! That was pretty cool.

As for the top two...Well, of course Plushenko is brilliant, but I am just not a fan. I'm a Yagudin gal after all. He is breathtaking to watch at times but I can't say I am excited when he wins. He is currently first though. He's head and shoulders above everyone in the field, no one will touch him (only Sandhu has the artistic sophitication to match Plushenko, too bad his head's not in it!). Oh, why did you have to retire Alexei? Speaking of Yagudin...19-year-old Brian Joubert of France put in a solid, clean skate and is currently 2nd. Brian works with Yagudin and you can totally tell that from his super-cool footwork sequences. I love a good footwork sequence. I think great footwork makes a program come alive and sparkle. Brian channels Yagudin pretty well, but he doesn't skate with enough emotion. He's a tad on the robotic side. I thought Griazev did a better job of selling his footwork, despite not being as technically proficient. But Brian's still young, I think he's still maturing as a skater, and he has the potential to be great. Oh, and by the way, Canada's Ben Ferreira put in a pretty solid effort, couldn't quite get that quad to work, but he did his best and is currently 15th. Good on ya, Ben! Should be an interesting men's free!

Today is the pairs' free, that's gonna be a crazy show. It's wide open for sure. And it's the ladies qualifying, I'm super pumped for that, I hope they show some highlights, of Sasha at least...

In other news, Colorado tied Chicago, hahaha! (And Pittsburgh beat the rangers (haha!), that's 8 wins in 10, hilarious!) Colorado's still only 5 points up on us. There' still time...The Nucks play LA tomorrow, gonna have to tape the figure skating...Go Canucks Go!