Keegan Messing tops men’s short program at Skate Canada

LAVAL, Quebec — Newly engaged and with his first Grand Prix figure skating title within reach, Girdwood's Keegan Messing couldn't find words to describe his elation Friday night.

"Cloud 9" didn't quite cut it.

"I'm above the clouds," Messing said.

Messing, competing for Team Canada, leads Skate Canada after skating a clean short program. The long program is Sunday.

Skating to "You've Got a Friend in Me" from the movie "Toy Story," the 26-year-old showman scored 95.05 points, opening with a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, then landing a triple Axel. He executed a triple Lutz near the end of the program, which also included a giant, crowd-pleasing Russian split jump.

"I'm pretty dang excited," Messing said.

Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno of Japan was second with 88.87 points after crashing on his triple Axel and sliding back-first into the boards at Place Bell. Cha Jun-Hwan, the South Korean teen who trains in Toronto with Canadian coach Brian Orser, was third at 88.86.

Messing, who has never medaled at a Grand Prix event, earned a standing ovation for his performance, which came a week after he proposed to girlfriend Lane Hodson at McHugh Peak.

He's an avid outdoorsman, so a proposal in the Chugach Mountains seemed like a perfect idea. It didn't go quite according to plan.

"We had to pitch a wind block because it was blowing about 30-40 miles an hour up there," Messing said. "Everything went wrong. I made her favorite soup but then forgot the matches for the stove. So no soup. No hot chocolate.

"But if she says 'yes' when everything goes wrong …"

Messing was 12th in his Olympic debut earlier this year in Pyeongchang, just four spots behind Canada's three-time world champion Patrick Chan. With Chan's retirement, Messing is a likely heir to the top spot on Canada's skating team.

"It's one step at a time right now," he said. "Right now, just focus on skating and see where it takes me, and if it takes me to the top then I'm going to grasp it with two hands and smile while doing it."