Canadian ice dancers Virtue, Moir gunning for their first Grand Prix Final title

It’s been two seasons since Canada’s Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir have competed on the world ice at full strength.

The dance duo completed just one full competition last year — the world championships — where they still managed to claim silver behind Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White after being sidelined for months while Virtue recovered from a second round of surgery on her troublesome legs.

The Canadians’ return will make for plenty of ice dance drama this week when they battle Davis and White at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Quebec City.

“They’ve had a good solid season of training this summer,” said Skate Canada’s high performance director Mike Slipchuk. “They’ve had a very good Grand Prix season, both programs they have are just tremendous, and they just keep getting better each time they skate.

“It will be good to have all the top ice dance teams together and get a chance to see where everyone stands.”

The Final, which runs Thursday through Sunday at Pavillon de la Jeunesse, features the top six entries in the four skating disciplines based on points scored on the Grand Prix circuit.

Boasting a strong field that includes three of the four reigning world champions and numerous Olympic medallists, the Final is traditionally a preview of what’s to come at the 2012 world championships in Nice, France.

“This is the one event of the season I really enjoy,” Slipchuk said. “It’s the first time that everyone is against each other and you really get an idea how everyone is doing and then you chart it from there.

“But this by far won’t determine who’s going to be on the top of the podium at worlds. It’s just Step 1 along the way.”

It also marks the first time Virtue and Moir will battle their American friends and rivals Davis and White head-to-head this season.

The 22-year-old Virtue, from London, Ont., and 24-year-old Moir, from Ilderton, Ont., won both their Grand Prix events this season — Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard.

Davis and White, who train with the Canadians in Canton, Mich., also won both their Grand Prix assignments, and have the season’s best score, less than a point better than Virtue and Moir.

Virtue and Moir have never won the Grand Prix Final. They’ve been forced to skip the circuit entirely twice in the last four seasons — both years while Virtue was recovering from surgery to alleviate compartment syndrome in her lower legs.

The Canadian stars have two new programs this season — their rhumba for their short program is a compilation of some of their free dance components from last season, while their new free dance is to selections from the movie “Funny Face.”

Canada has a second strong entry in ice dance as Kaitlyn Weaver of Waterloo, Ont., and Andrew Poje of Toronto have claimed three silver medals on the Grand Prix circuit this season.

Canada’s Patrick Chan is the defending men’s champion, and the 20-year-old from Toronto will be the favourite again in Quebec. Chan, who set three world scoring records en route to winning the world championships last spring, has the season’s highest score.

He is the only man to win both his Grand Prix events — Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris. Still, there’s room for improvement.

“Some of (Chan’s) skates haven’t been perfect, but there’s been a lot of positives to take out of each one,” Slipchuk said. “It’s just the little things along the way that kind of help build that confidence and keep you feeling positive and good about your programs.

“He hasn’t had a competition where he’s laid out both programs to the best of his ability yet and last year it was the Grand Prix Final that really was the catalyst to his moving forward.”

Chan’s stiffest competition should come from 2010 world champion Daisuke Takahashi of Japan, while Javier Fernandez of Spain is the first men’s skater from his country to earn a spot in the Final.

Former two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan is on the rebound after failing to win an event last season, but could face a tough battle in women’s singles against 14-year-old Russian Elizaveta Tuktamisheva, winner of the Skate Canada and Trophee Bompard. The young Russian boasts the highest women’s score of the season.

Olympic champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea and the reigning world champion Miki Ando of Japan are taking the season off. Canada doesn’t have an entry in women’s singles.

Three-time and defending world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany are the favourites in a pairs field that includes Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., earned bronze in both their Grand Prix assignments in only their second season competing together.

Katherine Bobak and Ian Beharry of Guelph, Ont., are the only Canadians to qualify for the junior Final, in pairs.

A total of 72 skaters from 11 countries will compete for US$272,000 in prize money.

The men’s and women’s winners collect US$25,000, while ice dance and pairs gold medallists split that amount.