TORONTO - For Elvis Stojko, its the perfect marriage of two of his passions — the stage and the ice.Performing is performing, Stojko said. Whatever skill it is, there is still a certain aspect of being able to connect with the live audience.The three-time world figure skating champion will team up with former ice dancer Shae-Lynn Bourne and other skating stars for Blades on Stage, a skating show with the intimacy of a stage production that opens Christmas Eve at the Princess of Wales Theatre.Stojko is no stranger to the stage. He played slick defence lawyer Billy Flynn in the hit musical Chicago earlier this year. Its neat because doing Chicago, and feeling the stage, I saw the similarities between performing on the ice and that, Stojko said. At first I felt like a fish out of water, performing without my skates and using my voice and that type of thing.Now with this, being on stage with skates, its really cool to be up close and personal with the people.The show is being held on real ice — there is such a thing as synthetic ice — on a surface measuring 40 by 56 feet. Skaters are accustomed to competing on NHL rinks that measure 85 by 200 feet.So the 42-year-old Stojko and his castmates, including Bourne, Violetta Afanasieva and Pete Dack, among others, have been laying down pylons to practise, marking out the smaller size of ice surface they have to work with.Its intimate, (audience members) are close, Bourne said. Were so used to having to present to all four sides. But now, you just have the audience, and thats very new when youre designing your program to fit the stage.Its that intimate setting, because were used to having to project to way up there, to 15,000 people. But everyone has a good seat in this, and we can really look into the audience, and theyll really see much more than theyd ever see in any competition or big show that youd see in an ice rink.Stojko and Bourne, who won gold with partner Victor Kraatz at the 2003 world championships with a memorable Riverdance program, said it wasnt difficult to train for the show.Both still skate on the professional circuit.We never stopped training so it just bleeds into the next show, Stojko said. The two numbers Im using here are numbers that Ive had before, one I just did in Brazil. The other one is a Christmas number I did a few years ago. Were skating almost all year round. . . Were always trying to stay in shape, and when we get here, we have a couple of days to put together the group numbers, strategically laid out.Bourne is a skating coach and choreographer. He clients include ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., who recently won the Grand Prix Final.Shes choreographed dozens of programs for skaters this season, from all around the world.Constantly being on the ice has kept the 38-year-old lean and strong.With choreography, youre on the ice with the skater, it helps them to see, and I think you exaggerate as a choreographer or as a coach, to really make somebody understand. . . . I think that keeps me in shape, she said. As a choreographer, Im not training all the time but Im moving all the time, and dancing all the time.Bourne and Stojko said their professional skating careers take them around the world, but rarely to cities in Canada. Theyre thrilled for the opportunity to skate at home in the Mirvish Productions show. I havent performed much in Canada. A lot of my work has been in Asia. Ive been doing a lot of shows in the States, Japan, Korea, China, Bourne said. This is kind of great for Canada too.Canada has been known to be one of the best countries producing wonderful skaters but there hasnt been a lot out there as far as shows go, in Canada. So its kind of nice to be able to actually perform here where family is. Its a nice change. Brian Dawkins Eagles Jersey . 1 Pete Sampras. Speaking ahead of an exhibition match against Andre Agassi in London on March 3, Sampras said on a conference call Wednesday that he is impressed by Federers longevity. Custom Eagles Jerseys . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. http://www.theeaglesfootballauthentic.co...m-black-jersey/. You can watch coverage on TSN, TSN2 and CTV beginning today at 3pm et/Noon pt. 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Crawford hit seven 3s on his way to 24 points, and the Clippers beat the Pelicans 123-110 on Monday night. "We understand what we do well. If we all do what we do well, well make our team stronger," Crawford said. "My teammates did a good job finding me, Coach was drawing up great plays and I got the easy part, just knocking down the shots." Crawford picked up where he left off in Oklahoma City a day earlier, when he hit five three-pointers and scored 36 points in the Clippers victory over the Thunder. He even converted a four-point play when he hit a three while being fouled by Eric Gordon. Paul, who had 19 points and 13 assists in his latest return to New Orleans, raved about the Clippers recent success shooting from outside. "Its been great and its just our ball movement," Paul said. "Were getting great looks and at times where playing at the right tempo, but we got to figure out how to keep putting it together." Anthony Davis had 26 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans. Alexis Ajinca set career highs with 19 points and 12 rebounds. "We played hard, but we just got to do a better job on defence," Davis said. Griffin added 22 points, while DeAndre Jordan had 14 points to go along with 16 rebounds. Paul cited the play of Griffin and Jordan as "the reason why we get those open 3s." All five Clippers starters and two reserves scored in double figures. Matt Barnes, Darren Collison and Hedo Turkoglu each scored 12. "The ball movement on our team is terrific," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "When you play that unselfish with that many good players, a lot of good things are going to happen." Los Angeles hit 16 threes on 28 attempts (57.1 per cent). New Orleans made only 7 of 18 (38.9 per cent) from long range. "There were a lot of shots that we had a hand up and they threw it up in the sky and it came down and went in the bucket," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said of the Clippers 51.dddddddddddd8 per cent shooting overall. "What I didnt like was there were times when they made shots and I thought that we allowed our spirit to get down. ... We just allowed their offence to dictate our spirit." Anthony Morrow scored 13 points and Al-Farouq Aminu 12 for New Orleans, which has lost four straight. Gordon and Austin Rivers each scored 10. The Clippers were in control from the outset against a Pelicans team that has been struggling all season defensively. Los Angeles opened a nine-point lead in the first quarter on Jordans alley-oop dunk of Turkoglus lob. The lead grew to 15 in the second quarter, when Griffins dunk, set up by a feed from Paul, made it 54-39. "At the start, I thought the execution was close to flawless," Rivers said. The Pelicans clawed back within single digits by halftime after Ajincas dunk made it 61-53. The Clippers dominated the third quarter, however, breaking the game open with a 15-2 run that started with Crawfords three and featured nine points by Griffin, including a layup as he was fouled and an alley-oop dunk reminiscent of the dunk fest he brought to the Big Easy during the All-Star game. Los Angeles took its largest lead when Pauls 11-foot jumper made it 88-69. New Orleans showed only one more sign of threatening after that, pulling to 10 points on Jeff Witheys putback with 7:39 left. But Rivers called timeout, during which he instructed Paul to set up Crawford for a 3. It worked, and New Orleans never got closer than 13 again. NOTES: The Clippers are 25-0 when they make at least nine 3-pointers and 19-1 when shooting 50 per cent or better. ... Morrow entered the game making an NBA-leading 48.1 per cent of his 3-pointers. He improved that slightly by hitting 2 of 4 against the Clippers. ... Pelicans G Tyreke Evans made only 4 of his 13 attempts and is 9 of 34 (26.5 per cent) from the field in his last three games. ... The Clippers have scored 120 or more points 11 times this season, including two games in a row. ' ' '