Back Where He Belongs

Fedor Andreev clasped his hands together and smiled widely as he thanked the adoring crowd at Pacific Coliseum.
Three years away, it's mighty clear, has been much too long an absence from the BMO Canadian figure skating championships.
"It's great," an enthused Andreev said of his welcome back moment to the biggest show in Canadian skating on Friday afternoon. "I got a standing O in the short, my first one ever, I think. It felt amazing. I didn't even know what to do with myself after I finished."
What's the old saying about not really knowing what you've missed until it's gone? Or absence making the heart grow fonder? It's been a little bit of both for the 25-year-old from Ottawa, who was in Hong Kong a year ago at this time, devoting almost all of his energy to a couple of his other interests (modelling and auto racing).
But figure skating has won his heart back. And in a big, big way.
"Right now, there's nothing I can picture myself doing other than this," Andreev said after a short program that landed him in fifth place in the senior men's competition. "I'm teaching and skating, that's it. I don't have the time or the desire to do anything else right now."
It might be said, too, that he's never enjoyed skating as much as he does right now. He credits rising Canadian ice dance stars Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir — who are coached by Andreev's mother, Marina Zoueva, and Igor Shpilband at the Arctic Edge Arena in Canton, Mich. — with rejuvenating his love for the sport.
"I felt that I was done (as a skater). Blame Tessa and Scott for this," he said. "They're the biggest part of it, but there are other teams and skaters at the Arctic Edge that give me inspiration.
"It's a great, great atmosphere (at the rink) and hard to resist."
Virtue even played a big hand in revamping the free program that Andreev will present on Saturday afternoon. He'll be in the final group with all the big guns, but he'll likely be the most relaxed of the bunch. And it might not even be close.
"I wasn't even an ounce nervous, not at all," Andreev said after Friday's short program. "Just really excited, really exhilarated. I really wanted to be out there. For the past two days, I've been raring to go
"I absolutely love skating. I'm enjoying every moment that I'm on the ice. The ups and the downs, I can take them. I've got a little bit more maturity now. It's just a lot more enjoyable for me."
Gone are the days when he came to see skating as a job. And gone is the sore back which, perhaps more than anything, was in need of a break from competitive skating.
No longer, too, is he the hotshot kid, fresh off winning a Canadian junior title in 1999 and being looked upon as the next big thing. Andreev is genuinely enthused when it's pointed out to him that, at 25, he's now the grand old man of this event.
But he's never felt so good, both mentally and physically.
"I'm just in my prime," he said. "I feel younger than I've ever felt. This is good. You can teach an old dog new tricks."
One thing hasn't changed, though. The performer that eagerly wants to leap onto the stage every chance he gets.
"It's part of why I'm here," said Andreev. "I love to perform, it's what's inside me. I absolutely love to perform in front of an audience. It makes me feel good and if I'm making the audience enjoy it, then my goal is accomplished."