Passing The Torch

Almost from the day they were paired, the whispers began.
Junior Grand Prix champs, world junior silver medallists, Canadian junior champions ... it all happened so quickly. And every big leap Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison began to suggest that it just might be true.
That they would be the next ones.
Maybe even (gasp) the next Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.
Isn't it ironic then, don't you think, that the 2002 Olympic gold medallists played a hand in Dube and Davison finally seizing something that had at one time seemed so inevitable: Their first Canadian senior pairs crown.
“We’re almost speechless. This is a real surprise for us,” said Davison, 20, of Cambridge, Ont.
About a month ago, it seemed a real longshot to them. They missed a month of training when Dube had suffered a right knee injury that needed surgery on Sept. 25.
As Christmas approached, the clock was ticking against them. Dube and Davison were wondering if it would run out before they reached Halifax.
But a three-day session they spent with Sale and Pelletier in Edmonton just before Christmas turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.
“It opened our eyes to how ready we really were,” said Davison. “We were kind of running around, I guess you could say like chickens with our heads cut off. They screwed our heads back on, and helped us get ready for nationals.”
Sale and Pelletier also added a bit of flair to their programs, flair that veteran skating observers surely noticed in today's free skate final.
“They added detail, basically,” said Davison. “It’s more the way we present to each other, and the chemistry they display on the ice that we’re trying to take from them. The little things, like the way I present my hands to Jessica, those are the little things we’ve learned from Jamie and David.”
When it was over, when they had dethroned three-time champions Valerie Marcoux of Gatineau, Que., and Craig Buntin of Kelowna, B.C., the Dube and Davison camp knew it had one important phone call to make right away.
“I think Annie (Barabe, their coach with Sophie Richard and Yvan Desjardins) already called them to tell them the news,” said Dube, 19, of St. Cyrille de Wendover. Que. “I think (Sale and Pelletier) are very happy for us.”