Mabee It's His Turn

Christopher Mabee, Canadian champion?
Hey, it could happen. And maybe sooner than some might think.
The Tillsonburg, Ont., native took another step in that direction at HomeSense Skate Canada, posting a fourth-place finish that matches his previous best in a Grand Prix event (NHK Trophy in 2005). And, as Mabee points out, it's a heck a lot better than his showing on the GP circuit a year ago.
"Last year on the Grand Prix, I was ninth and 10th, which are not very good results," said Mabee, 22, who trains at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie, Ont. "So to come out of this with a top-five finish is a much better result for me. Not only the placement, but the (performances) as well.”
Mabee might have deserved a better fate than the 125.70 points he got for his free skate on Sunday, which was a winner with the loud crowd at Pepsi Colisee. But here's the real encouraging part: He finished just 6.57 points behind bronze-medal winner Jeffrey Buttle, his sometimes training mate. They were almost dead even after the short program.
So what's it going to take to possibly put Mabee, who made his first world team last season, over the top at the 2008 Canadian championships in Vancouver in January?
"Just having a consistent season all around," he said. "Going out and making sure you take advantage of every opportunity that you have. Getting yourself in front of international judges, and performing well on top of that. The (judges) are going to rely on you to have those good performances and give you the marks that you maybe deserve."
In other words, he needs a better pedigree in the minds of the folks who decide who wins titles and who doesn't.
Mabee has no such worries with Canadian fans. They loved him in Halifax back in January, and his high-energy style was a hit at Le Colisee this weekend. And Mabee, showman that he is, knows a winning hand when he's got one.
"This whole (free) program is high energy from start to finish," he said. "There’s no down time, so I think that’s a huge thing for me. It’s the same style, but it’s definitely a step up component wise."
A Canadian championship program? We'll see soon enough.