Usually the hunted, Canada’s Patrick Chan will hunt from 2nd after men’s short program

So much of the gravitas and glamour in the men's figure-skating event vanished before the second of five flights in the short program had even begun, when Russian legend Evgeni Plushenko made a brief appearance on the ice, pulled out of the men's event, and promptly retired from the sport.

But there are still medals at stake, and plenty of skaters who both want and deserve them.

And by the time all 30 aspirants got through the short program, Canada's Patrick Chan was, as expected, one of them.

Chan earned 97.52 points for a less-than-perfect program with a stumble on the triple axel, and sits in second place. Leader Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan became the first skater ever to break 100 in the short program, with a well-deserved 101.52.

The rest of the Canadian story isn't quite as pretty. No. 2 Kevin Reynolds had problems with two of his jump elements and sits 17th. And 21-year-old Vancouver native Liam Firus, who skated first out of all them, had a rough skate; only one poor Australian (and Plushenko), finished behind him.

Even Canadian Paul Bonifacio Parkinson, who skates for Italy, struggled. He finished 27th, just ahead of Firus; neither will make the final skate as only the top 24 advance.

Many on-site observers and other skating cognoscenti thought Chan, the three-time world champion trying to break the Kurse of Kurt (Canadian Kurt Browning, who had three worlds golds but couldn't get it done at the Olympics) was marked generously.

But at least there will be some sort of competitive battle for the gold. Third-place skater Javier Fernandez of Spain (like Hanyu, coached by Canadian Brian Orser) is 15 points back of Hanyu.

As with the pairs, the battle royale would seem to be on for the bronze medal, with spots No. 3 through No. 8 all within an infinitesimal 1.32 points.

The point scores on two of the jump elements by Hanyu and Chan cancelled each other out. Ultimately, the difference between the two of them was that triple axel. Chan got credit for completing it, was deducted one mark in the grade of execution column for the stumble, and earned 7.50 points.

Hanyu not only earned extra in his base mark, he added another two points in the execution for a total of 11.49 points.

But few would argue that he was a far superior skater on the night.

So what Weiss, an American and former world champion, is intimating in his Tweet may not be far from the truth.

But as the hunter and not the hunted, for once, Chan not only has to skate it clean, he also has to find a way to make up that four-point differential somewhere. He caught a bit of a break in that he will skate right after Hanyu in Friday's long program.

The only shame of it is that the lead Russian won't be in the house. There's no doubt it will have an effect on the atmosphere in the arena, especially with no Russians at all competing. Plushenko still thought he could give it a go, as the deadline came and passed Wednesday for a substitute Russian to be allowed to replace him.

Even in the final two flights Thursday, the home crowd had emptied out of the place at an alarming rate.

Maybe Plushenko should show up again, just to do another wave. Or start one. Something.