Skating star Patrick Chan will train with coaching staff including Marina Zoueva

OTTAWA — World champion figure skater Patrick Chan has a new coaching team.

Renowned coach and choreographer Marina Zoueva, who mentored Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to Olympic and world titles, will work with Oleg Epstein and Johnny Johns on Chan’s team this season. Chan will train in Canton, Mich., at the Arctic Edge Arena.

“I am excited to be working with Marina, Oleg and Johnny. They each bring so much to the table and have such a rich history of coaching world and Olympic competitors in all the disciplines,” Chan said in a statement. “I am looking forward to the season ahead and my first event the Finlandia Trophy in just a couple weeks.”

Chan, a 25-year-old Toronto native, and former coach Kathy Johnson ended their partnership last month after four years working together.

The two had planned to relocate to Vancouver this summer, but plans fell through and Chan and Johnson ended up in Canton instead.

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Chan had already been working with Epstein while still in his partnership with Johnson. Chan said he benefited from the quick, informal pointers Epstein gave in between coaching his ice dancing clients.

“He would give his two cents, ‘my shoulders were high, my step on my Axel wasn’t as forward as it could have been,’” Chan said last month. “Off of those pointers my Axel went up another level of consistency and confidence.”

Chan, who placed fifth at the world championships in Boston in 2016, starts his season at the Finlandia Trophy in Finland from Oct. 6-9, a senior B event before the Grand Prixes.

He usually begins his year with the Japan Open but chose Finlandia to help him competitively as he prepares for his final Olympic Games in 2018.

The Canadian Press