Better To Be Lucky And Good

Sometimes, you just know the gods are smiling down upon you.
Patrick Chan used a couple of different analogies to describe it, but that's essentially the way the young man from Toronto (via Ottawa) put it after he squeaked out a HomeSense Skate Canada International triumph with nary a clean triple Axel on his scorecard.
But add up the final numbers, and they read this way: Chan, 215.45 points, followed by Americans Ryan Bradley (212.75) and Evan Lysacek (209.27). Short program winner Yannick Ponsero of France just missed the podium at 208.97.
Though Chan's victory was a tribute to his overall skating skills, you got the sense afterward that he knew he got away with one. And that he might not be so fortunate the next time given the same set of circumstances.
Let's the say it wasn't the same joyous, elated feeling Chan had last January, when his brilliant free skate catapulted him past Jeffrey Buttle for his first Canadian title.
"I'm really lucky," he said after winning Canada's first gold medal of this competition. "I was telling Don (Laws, his coach) in the kiss 'n cry (area) that cats have nine lives and I just used one of them. Or I just used up one of my lifelines.
"I'm happy but at the same time, I'm really disappointed because I didn't want it to come down like this. I wanted it to be a good ending like nationals (in Vancouver), especially on the home turf. But it's still early in the season and that's what I keep reminding myself."
Chan's victory was a tribute to his superior skating skills — that "in-between" stuff beyond the jumps — and presentation. His program component score of 77.40 was vastly better than anyone else in the field and won him the day.
That's a thought that Chan will happily take with him to Paris in two weeks, where he'll defend his crown at the Trophee Eric Bompard.
"Now I know I don't have to worry about the component (score)," the 17-year-old rising star said. "I can just focus on the technical. Do the program the same way artistic-wise that I did it here but land the jumps. I think I can really focus now on the elements."