Patrick Chan is the leader after the men's short program, while Canadian teammate Kevin Reynolds is third at Skate Canada International in Mississauga.

Chan, who's on a comeback of his own, fell on his triple Axel but his beautiful quad toe loop to open the program was enough to secure him first place.

Skating to The Beatles' "Dear Prudence" and "Blackbird," the 25-year-old from Toronto scored 90.56 points.

Japanese skaters were second and third — Takahito Mura took second with 81.25, while Reynolds, from Coquitlam, B.C., landed two beautiful quad jumps to score 80.57.

Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu from Japan fell on his quad loop and is fourth.

"Comfortable," Chan said, summing up the night. "The jumps didn't turn out to be feeling the way they did in practice, but that's normal jitters and adrenaline from being in competition."

Chan waited for his marks sandwiched between two new coaches — Marina Zoueva and Oleg Epstein. His previous coach Kathy Johnson left him in August.

Zoueva, who described having Chan in her rink as having a Rembrandt in her home, said his biggest problem is self-belief.

"She's absolutely right, it comes in many forms," Chan said. "The one thing she always tells me is people are here to enjoy your skating, not to add any pressure or expectations. No-one forced them to buy the ticket, they're here to enjoy the skating.

"That's an advantage for me, because I can bring something so different to skating, a different kind of energy and quality of skating that people appreciate. So she's making really valid points that I just need to open my mind and accept."