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. 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The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating.NEW ORLEANS -- Between Jamal Crawfords long-range shooting, Chris Pauls timely playmaking and Blake Griffins presence in the paint, the Los Angeles Clippers have been too much for most teams to handle the past couple days. The struggling New Orleans Pelicans were simply overmatched. Crawford hit seven 3s on his way to 24 points, and the Clippers beat the Pelicans 123-110 on Monday night. "We understand what we do well. If we all do what we do well, well make our team stronger," Crawford said. "My teammates did a good job finding me, Coach was drawing up great plays and I got the easy part, just knocking down the shots." Crawford picked up where he left off in Oklahoma City a day earlier, when he hit five three-pointers and scored 36 points in the Clippers victory over the Thunder. He even converted a four-point play when he hit a three while being fouled by Eric Gordon. Paul, who had 19 points and 13 assists in his latest return to New Orleans, raved about the Clippers recent success shooting from outside. "Its been great and its just our ball movement," Paul said. "Were getting great looks and at times where playing at the right tempo, but we got to figure out how to keep putting it together." Anthony Davis had 26 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans. Alexis Ajinca set career highs with 19 points and 12 rebounds. "We played hard, but we just got to do a better job on defence," Davis said. Griffin added 22 points, while DeAndre Jordan had 14 points to go along with 16 rebounds. Paul cited the play of Griffin and Jordan as "the reason why we get those open 3s." All five Clippers starters and two reserves scored in double figures. Matt Barnes, Darren Collison and Hedo Turkoglu each scored 12. "The ball movement on our team is terrific," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "When you play that unselfish with that many good players, a lot of good things are going to happen." Los Angeles hit 16 threes on 28 attempts (57.1 per cent). New Orleans made only 7 of 18 (38.9 per cent) from long range. "There were a lot of shots that we had a hand up and they threw it up in the sky and it came down and went in the bucket," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said of the Clippers 51.dddddddddddd8 per cent shooting overall. "What I didnt like was there were times when they made shots and I thought that we allowed our spirit to get down. ... We just allowed their offence to dictate our spirit." Anthony Morrow scored 13 points and Al-Farouq Aminu 12 for New Orleans, which has lost four straight. Gordon and Austin Rivers each scored 10. The Clippers were in control from the outset against a Pelicans team that has been struggling all season defensively. Los Angeles opened a nine-point lead in the first quarter on Jordans alley-oop dunk of Turkoglus lob. The lead grew to 15 in the second quarter, when Griffins dunk, set up by a feed from Paul, made it 54-39. "At the start, I thought the execution was close to flawless," Rivers said. The Pelicans clawed back within single digits by halftime after Ajincas dunk made it 61-53. The Clippers dominated the third quarter, however, breaking the game open with a 15-2 run that started with Crawfords three and featured nine points by Griffin, including a layup as he was fouled and an alley-oop dunk reminiscent of the dunk fest he brought to the Big Easy during the All-Star game. Los Angeles took its largest lead when Pauls 11-foot jumper made it 88-69. New Orleans showed only one more sign of threatening after that, pulling to 10 points on Jeff Witheys putback with 7:39 left. But Rivers called timeout, during which he instructed Paul to set up Crawford for a 3. It worked, and New Orleans never got closer than 13 again. NOTES: The Clippers are 25-0 when they make at least nine 3-pointers and 19-1 when shooting 50 per cent or better. ... Morrow entered the game making an NBA-leading 48.1 per cent of his 3-pointers. He improved that slightly by hitting 2 of 4 against the Clippers. ... Pelicans G Tyreke Evans made only 4 of his 13 attempts and is 9 of 34 (26.5 per cent) from the field in his last three games. ... The Clippers have scored 120 or more points 11 times this season, including two games in a row. 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