Elvis Sighting

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Elvis Stojko and Kurt Browning, both in the hunt for top honours at a figure skating event in Canada.

Okay, so it's cold, hard cash, not gold medals, on the line this weekend at the Sears Figure Skating Open at the Civic Centre. And a lot has changed since two of the country's biggest skating names duelled for national and world titles in the early 1990s.

But one thing remains delightfully the same: Stojko and Browning are still as different on the ice as, well, Emanuel Sandhu, who finds himself sitting in second place between the two legends following last night's men's short programs in front of about 4,000 spectators.

Stojko, who nailed a quad toe-double toe combo but stumbled on a triple Axel, holds the lead. It was another run-through for Stojko's kodo drums program on the trail to his final Winter Olympics in February in Salt Lake City.

Browning? He was in a whole other world.

GOOD TIME

Skating to music from A Charlie Brown Christmas, the four-time world champ had about as much fun as the Peanuts gang as he bounded around the ice. The hilarious routine ended with Browning flat on his back on the ice, pretending to do snow angels.

It was all in great fun. And hardly your typical short program.

"He must have broken every rule in the ISU book for short programs," an incredulous Sandhu joked afterward.

Well, at least one for sure. Lying on the ice isn't allowed, though nobody told Browning about that ahead of time. But in third place, he's well-placed for a run at the $40,000 top prize in the $400,000 event. Second and third get $30,000 and $20,000, respectively.

All that will be decided following tonight's interpretive programs, worth two-thirds of the final mark.

Browning was most enthused about seeing the Canadian flag beside the top four finishers last night (1987 world champ Brian Orser is fourth), ahead of Todd Eldredge of the U.S. and Great Britain's Steven Cousins.

"It was the first time in awhile that it felt like the good old days," said Browning, 35.

"Prague, 1993," added Stojko, recalling the year Browning won his fourth world title and Stojko stood beside him on the podium in the silver-medal position.

Sandhu was just thrilled to be in the middle of such company.

"It is weird a little bit," said the 21-year-old reigning Canadian champ. "I don't know how to really describe it, but it is a nice feeling."

In the pairs event, Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman seized the lead with a victory in the short program. Kris and Kristy Wirtz of Canada are second, followed by Russians Oxana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev.