Liam Firus, a 21-year-old Vancouverite with an enviable slip across the ice, can see an opportunity: one of those three Olympic spots that Canada has earned for men. DJ LeMahieu Jersey . He wants to seize that opportunity. The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps on the road to Sochi than most. Last year, Firus had the skate of a lifetime in the short program at the Canadian championships when he landed his first triple Axel in competition and finished third in a stacked field. He surprised himself, because he had been battling a groin injury in the weeks leading up to the event. The skate of a lifetime doesnt usually happen after such impediments. And it was a painful injury, too. He had endured six tortuous injections of a sugar solution into his injury, meant to inflame the site, bring blood to a bloodless area and help the healing. He and coach Lorna Bauer had considered withdrawing from the Canadian championships, but only the Sunday before the event, they decided to go. And because Firus really wasnt trained, the long program slipped out of his control and he dipped to fifth overall. It was still his best finish at the senior national level. His problems werent over, by any means, when he went home. He immediately set to work with choreographer Mark Pillay to design two new programs for the Olympic season and then he didnt set foot on an ice surface for months. He got six more injections, a week apart. He went to physiotherapy three to four times a week. His life revolved around rehabilitation. He didnt get back onto the ice again until June. "It was tough," he said. With the Olympics coming, he wanted to train like a fiend, but he knew that wasnt smart. "I knew that if my groin was bothering me while I was training for the Olympics, I dont think I would have a shot," he said. "It was just so painful and so mentally hard, too." So restrain himself, he did. He didnt start jumping again until late July, and that didnt mean full-out triple Axels. It meant doing doubles, half a year before the Sochi Olympics. By the middle of August, he slowly introduced triples back into the mix. By the beginning of September, he was finally doing full programs. With five months to the Olympics, his training finally began in earnest. He decided to step things up, by leaving Vancouver to train full time in Colorado Springs with Christy Krall, Damon Allen and Eric Shultz, coaches hed visited sporadically for four or five years. It meant leaving his first and only coach, Lorna Bauer, behind. Visit Skate Canada to read the rest of this story. DJ LeMahieu Rockies Jersey . -- LeBron James warned the Orlando Magic to stop double-teaming him and ignoring James Jones. Todd Helton Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald Sterling before they faced the Golden State Warriors for Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday.The spotlight will be on figure skating in Ottawa as the Canadian Tire Centre hosts the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. You can watch coverage on TSN, TSN2 and CTV beginning today at 3pm et/Noon pt. The championships will feature approximately 250 of Canadas best figure skaters in senior, junior and novice as they vie for spots on the national team, international assignments and will act as the final step in the 2014 Olympic qualification process. On Sunday, Jan. 12 at the conclusion of the senior events, Skate Canada will nominate the 17-member Olympic figure skating team to the Canadian Olympic Committee for selection to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Defending Olympic gold mmedalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir return as the defending ice dance champions but Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje will look to challenge them for the national title and lock up one of the three ice dance spots for Sochi. Charlie Blackmon Rockies Jersey. . Three-time world champion Patrick Chan, who finished second at last months ISU Grand Prix Final, will look to clinch one of three Olympic berths in the mens competition. Kaetlyn Osmond is back to defend the crown she won last year with hopes of breaking through on the Olympic stage with Canada having two spots in the ladies competition. Defending pairs champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford look to fine tune their program and wrap up an Olympic berth, one of three in the competition. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '