Patrick Chan Bearing Hockey Scar – And Proud Of It

MICHAEL STUPARYK/TORONTO STAR

Patrick Chan working on another part of his game Saturday.

You don’t have to ask Canadian figure skating hopeful Patrick Chan twice about the scar he picked up recently playing hockey.

When queried about it Saturday at a clinic with former great Don Jackson for the Forest Hill Figure Skating Club, Chan skated right over and pointed proudly at the now fading scar at the bottom of his chin, just under a small blemish.

“I’m officially Canadian,” said the 18-year-old with a grin.

Chan is still pretty new to hockey, having only started about a year ago. The kid has definitely got the wheels, but learned the hard way about keeping his head up while he’s stickhandling. The accident happened during some recreational hockey at his training base in Florida, where he works under coach Don Laws.

“I was playing around, doing my own stickhandling and stuff and I look up and this boy’s coming towards me,” said Chan. “We tried to dodge each other, but we just ended running into each other. He was wearing a cage and ran into my chin. I thought I knocked my teeth out.

“He was like ‘Oh-my-god, you need ice, you need ice!” I was like ‘What are you doing? Why are you freaking out? I feel fine.' I touched it and it was bleeding and I can feel like a little split in my chin. I ran into the bathroom and right away I knew I needed stitches.”

While Chan proved he can take a hit, he also took four stitches and wound up missing a day of training.

“It was crappy, but that’s life, things happen, you can’t always live in a bubble,” said Chan.

True, but he’s smart enough that he’ll avoid any pickup hockey until after the Olympics next February.