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Chinese first, Sargeant and Wirtz fourth
Top-seeded Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China, No. 4 in the world, were first in the short program at Skate Canada as expected, and Sale of Edmonton and Pelletier of Boucherville, Que., were second, which was entirely unexpected.
Second-seeded Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz, Canadian champions and No. 7 in the world, were placed fourth, and Marie-Claude Savard-Gagnon and Luc Bradet of Baie-St-Paul, Que., No. 9 in the world, were placed fifth.
Sale, 21, and Pelletier, 23, competed in world championships with previous partners and had little success.
Pelletier and Sale, pronounced Sal-eh, are working together now in St-Leonard, Que., with coach Richard Gauthier, and they appear to have the potential to go a long way.
"When David came to me and said he wanted me to help him find a new partner, I said, 'David, there is only one girl I think you should skate with -- Jamie,' " said Gauthier. "I knew the chemistry would be there right away."
They had an immediate setback when Sale needed surgery last spring for tendinitis. She was sidelined for 2 1/2 months.
"We've been working really, really hard to skate our best here and make Canada proud," she said.
They were surprised to be second.
"Kristy and Kris are seventh in the world, which means they are pretty good -- better than me," said Pelletier. "And I still think they are better than me."
At last year's nationals, Sale was sixth in senior women's singles, while Pelletier was sixth with Caroline Roy in senior pairs.
Sargeant, 24, and Wirtz, 28, are coming off a second-place finish at Skate America last week, were unsure why the Skate Canada judges cut them down to size.
"The marks seem to be all over the place," said Wirtz. "We were really happy with the way we skated, but when the marks came up we were a little disappointed."
There was little difference in what they showed here and in what they did last week in Detroit, Sargeant said.
"It was quite equal," said Sargeant. "Maybe it was a little tighter there."
For Bradet, being fit enough to compete is a relief.
In a practice fall the day before departure to the worlds last March, Bradet wrenched his back and suffered a 12-stitch gash to the back of his head, and Savard-Gagnon suffered a seven-stitch leg cut. Finishing ninth while skating hurt in Minneapolis was an impressive accomplishment.
"During worlds, my back turned blue," Bradet said.
Back and ankle injuries grounded him for four months.
"I showed up every day at the rink and people were helping me put my skates on," said Bradet, who was restricted to gliding around the ice watching his partner practice jumps. "I felt so guilty and so scared."
A doctor told him it might be unwise to continue competitive skating since it might aggravate the back problem and cause him grief later in life.
"I went to my car and I was crying," Bradet recalled. "I didn't talk to anybody for a week."
Then Dr. Andre Brossard, a Montreal chiropractor, put Bradet's body in order.
"We call him God," said Bradet.
Savard-Gagnon, 26, and Bradet, 29, resumed working on lifts and throws two months ago.
"We're very pleased with what we did," Bradet said after their short program.
With no world medallists in the field, marks were pegged low. Even at that, Savard-Gagnon and Bradet got five marks under 5.0 of the possible 6.0, which was harsh considering they had not fallen or badly botched anything. Skating first had cost them.
"Without a top-five world pair here, the marks were not going to get sucked up," said coach Paul Martini. "And there were certain things that need to be a little better.
"The side-by-side jumps could spin a little faster. I know there's room for improvement. Now we'll get down to brass tacks and fine-tune it. We're in good shape. Our long program (tonight) is a well-oiled program."
Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek of Poland withdrew after Zagorska twisted an ankle in the morning practice.