London, ON- Jeffrey Buttle of Smooth Rock Falls, ON won the Canadian Men’s figure skating title Saturday night in true champion style, electrifying the sell-out crowd at John Labatt Arena in his first senior national championship.

Main rival Emanuel Sandhu had a lacklustre performance, but was good enough to win silver. New Brunswick’s Shawn Sawyer took bronze.

Buttle, who studies chemical engineering at U of T, but is taking time off in order to focus on the upcoming Olympics, was in first place after the short program. However, he was unhappy with what he called his “worst short program of the season.”

He took some time to regroup, talking to friend and newly crowned women’s champion Joannie Rochette. Both skaters have battled shakey nerves in the past, especially when it came to competing on home turf.

Inspired by Rochette’s mesmerizing win the previous night, Buttle resolved to use his anger in a positive manner.

Skating second in the final group to Phillip Glass’ Naqoyqatsi, Buttle nailed his opening triple-flip-triple-toe combination. He then followed it up with a textbook triple-axel-triple-toe combination.

Feeding off the audience’s support, Buttle soared through the rest of his program, showing off his artistry in his complicated footwork sequences and spin combinations. The crowd was on its feet before he finished.

Immensely talented, Buttle had been waiting for a skate like this in Canada for years. His score in the free program easily kept him in first place. But more importantly, his overall score was the second highest recorded in the world so far, under the new scoring system. That fact is proof enough that if he continues to skate like this, he will be standing on his fair share of world championship podiums.

Buttle has had excellent international results this season, winning the Cup of China and placing third at Skate Canada. Most recently Buttle finished second at the Grand Prix Final, a competition that pits the top six point getters in the Grand Prix series against each other.

Having secured the top spot on the National team, Buttle will now travel to Moscow for the upcoming World Championships in March.