A sold out Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre crowd of 6,889 was emotionally invested Tuesday night in paying tribute to what has been described as Canada’s greatest generation of skaters.
The applause for the Stars on Ice show began even before the skaters took the ice, as their names were flashed on the arena screens. No further description was required. This crowd knew who every one of them was.
The Canadian figure skating exploits from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics — accounting for two gold medals and four overall — are still fresh in the mind three months later.
“We just looked at each other before the opening ceremony. What an honour to lead in [the entire Canadian team],” said Scott Moir, who with Tessa Virtue, were the Canadian flagbearers.
The two later delivered a performance for the ages at Pyeongchang in winning gold in ice dance and leading Canada to gold in the team event.
Virtue and Moir laid down near flawless performances Tuesday, skating to Michael Jackson and the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, receiving rousing standing ovations.
All seven Canadian figure skating gold medallists from the Pyeongchang Olympics team event, which showed Canada’s strength across the board, skated on Blanshard Street: Virtue, Moir, Kaetyln Osmond, Meagan Duhamel, Eric Radford, Patrick Chan and Gabrielle Daleman.
The seven received a standing ovation after skating eloquently, and rather appropriately, to Fields of Gold by Sting. After the segment, the seven gathered for what was clearly a heartfelt group hug at centre ice — forever united by their golden Olympic moment.
Each skater’s routine was introduced with a taped vignette. Daleman said she remembers feeling almost sick to her stomach when told just 15 hours before that she would skate in the Olympic team event at Pyeongchang. She didn’t let the side down and came through like a champion as Canadians from Victoria to St. John’s sat transfixed in front of their TVs. Those fans clearly haven’t forgotten as this year’s Stars on Ice tour, which concludes Thursday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, has sold out across the country.
“The fan reaction [this year during Stars on Ice] has been incredible and heart-warming and really touching,” said Virtue.
“It’s been such a special part of our post-Olympic story.”
Some of the biggest Island cheers, however, were reserved for a golden oldie. Elvis Stojko showed, even at 46, he retains ample remnants of the muscular brand of skating that made him famous, and which laid much of the groundwork for this current “greatest generation” of Canadian skaters.
“The Olympics revealed who I was,” said three-time men’s world champion and 1994 Lillehammer and 1998 Nagano Olympics silver medallist.
Also skating were 2006 Turin Olympic bronze-medallist Jeffrey Buttle, world championship silver medallists Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje and two-time men’s world champion and 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic bronze-medallist Javier Fernandez of Spain.
