Fragen und Antworten » Duhammel and Eric

The 2014 World Figure Skating Championships begin this week in Tokyo. With Olympic champions in three of the four disciplines on the sidelines for various reasons, it is as though the page has been turned to the next Olympic quadrennial. We will get a glimpse of the future of the sport and meet some of skatings up-and-coming talent like the new world junior champion, 15-year-old Nam Nguyen of Canada while at the same time celebrating some of the sports stars. The setting for this years Worlds is perfect in that Japan is a country that is passionate about its skaters and skating. It is the quintessential skating audience; enthusiastic, appreciative and massive. The Saitama Super Arena just outside of Tokyo holds 18,000 spectators and is predicting sell-out crowds and record-breaking attendances. The only Olympic champion from Sochi that is here is the one that matters most to these fans, hometown hero Yuzuru Hanyu. He, alongside the immensely popular Mao Asada, leads a strong Japanese contingent which could dominate in the mens and ladies competitions. While Yuzuru is the favorite in the mens, his competition is expected to come from his training mate, Javier Fernandez of Spain and his teammate Tatsuki Machida. Asada will face Olympic bronze medalist Carolina Kostner of Italy, Russian teenager and the star of the team event in Sochi, Julia Lipnitskaya, and American Gracie Gold. While there is a lot to get excited about here in Tokyo, Canadian superstars Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir as well as Patrick Chan will sit this one out and be much missed. Even without Tessa, Scott and Patrick, Canada is still in the hunt for three medals. With the Canadian champions out of the dance and mens, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje along with Kevin Reynolds will get their turn to move from the shadows into the spotlight and, they hope, onto the podium. Kaitlyn and Andrew have a clear shot at a medal. In typical Weaver and Poje fashion, they have not let up after the Games and have continued to push themselves and refine their routines. I find their improvement since the Games impressive. With the top two dance teams from Olympics out, Kaitlyn and Andrew are squarely in the mix of five teams for the podium. The race is tight, but a podium finish is in their sights and well within their capabilities. Kevin Reynolds finished fifth at last years Worlds but with injuries and boot problems, he has struggled this year. He did not have his best skates in the individual event in Sochi and finished 15th. We saw what he was capable of during the team competition where he laid down a stellar free skate, playing an integral role in Canadas silver medal win. He has had another month of training under his belt since the Games and he loves to skate in Japan where he has an adoring fan base. I expect that these circumstances will combine to give Kevin an outside shot at a medal. After a frustrating year, Kevin has a chance for redemption and he just may have timed it perfectly to finish on a high. Another Canadian team member who is looking for redemption after a frustrating season is Canadas ladies champion Kaetlyn Osmond, who was plagued by injuries this season. Her break-out year last season culminated in an eighth place finish at her first ever World Championships, a remarkable debut. Her lack of training time has unsettled her this season but I have watched her handle it well with the help of her coach, Ravi Walia. She has a sparkle and exuberance that needs to be strategically disciplined in order to give her the consistency she is looking for without losing the fire. This is something that can only come with time as well as trial and error. When Kaetlyn finds her groove, she can compete with the best of them. A medal may be out of her grasp in Tokyo but there is no doubt in my mind that Kaetlyn can establish herself as one of the contenders in this new Olympic cycle. Canada has two pairs going for the podium. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moskvitch were fifth at the Games while Megan Duhammel and Eric Radford were eighth. They were third and fourth in the world last year and will look for similar results here. Kirsten and Dylan are known to charm their audiences and if they are to get the results they are looking for, they will have to deliver the technical details while winning over the fans. They can go clean and will need to if they are to medal. Meagan and Eric will try to bring home the hardware by capitalizing on their strengths as individuals, the ability to do difficult side-by-side triples, to give them the edge. They take big risks to maximize points and while it didnt pay off in the individual event in Sochi, it often does and you can expect it will here, too. The Olympic pairs champions are not here but competition will still be fierce with teams from Russia, Germany and China battling the Canadians for the top spots. Cheap New Balance Shoes . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Discount New Balance Shoes . -- D.A. Points was disqualified Friday from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for using a training device while waiting to play the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. http://www.cheapnewbalance.us/ . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Cheap New Balance Sneakers . The Nuggets leading scorer, Lawson is characterized as day to day by the team. Hes averaging 17.9 points and 8.9 assists. Lawson suffered the injury late in Denvers win Sunday at Sacramento. Wholesale New Balance Shoes .com) - His team lost in the round of 16 of the FCS playoffs, yet Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says his team has made a strong case to be voted to the top 5 in the final rankings. CEDAR PARK, Texas -- With a two-goal lead early in the second period, Toronto Marlies coach Steve Spott knew the Texas Stars would make a surge in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately for Toronto, that surge was too much to handle as the Stars scored six straight goals and ended the Marlies season with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Toronto had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Frazer McLaren and Peter Holland, but Texas charged back with a wild rally late in the second period to spark its trip to the Calder Cup final. "Two mistakes, first we made a bad line change then we took a bad penalty 200-feet from Drew (MacIntyre), and all of sudden its 2-2," Spott said. "Theyre a good team, give them credit, but we made some bad mistakes." After killing off a hooking penalty by Patrik Nemeth, Texas scored on its 26th shot of the game when Mike Hedden tipped home a pass from Ritchie with 2:38 left in the period. Less than a minute later Texas tied the game when Jeffrey scored on the power play. It gave Texas goals on back-to-back shots after Drew MacIntyre had stopped the first 25. Tied 2-2 after the second period, Brett Ritchie and Matej Stransky scored 17 seconds apart to give the Stars a 4-2 lead. Justin Dowling gave the Stars another insurance goal with 5:28 remaining, while Dustin Jeffrey scored his second goal of the night into an empty net. It was Dowlings first game of the series after suffering an arm injury against the Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 5 of the second round.dddddddddddd. Reunited on a line with Hedden and Ritchie, he was on the ice for four of the Stars goals. "I wasnt expecting to play tonight," Dowling said. "Things kind of just unfolded how they did. I benefited a lot from going to Dallas and getting their treatment from their guys up there a Im very grateful to be back." MacIntyre stopped 44-of-49 shots for Toronto and was under siege for most of the night. Cristopher Nilstorp stopped 24-of-26 shots for Texas. His biggest stop came midway through the second period when he stopped Brandon Kozun with the left pad, turning away a flurry by the Marlies and allowed Texas to tie the game later in the frame. "Oh, that was a big save," Stars coach Willie Desjardins. "I thought that was going (in). He made some real good saves a Nilstorp was real solid throughout the series and there were a couple games where he stopped it from getting away on us." Before jostling with the Stars for seven games, the Marlies had rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs. After the loss on Tuesday, Spott took a moment to look at the future for his young team. 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