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Will Elvis be king of the long road?
And that is good, given he will have to be a magician to get through the season in one piece.
The three-time world figure skating champion opened his 1998-99 competitive campaign last night at Joe Louis Arena, about eight months after fighting for a silver medal at the Nagano Olympics with a severe groin injury and a brutal case of influenza.
At media conference to announce his intentions to remain an eligible, or amateur, skater last month, skating's Terminator said his groin injury had not healed fully and he hoped his condition would improve as the season progressed.
And yet, given the shaky state of his physical well-being, Stojko and his advisers -- coach Doug Leigh, manager Ed Futerman and choreographer Uschi Keszler -- have loaded up on competitions with gusto this season. It is a bit like guy with an ulcer ordering double onions and Tabasco sauce on a banquet burger.
This week it's Detroit for Skate America. Next week Stojko is in Kamloops, B.C., for Skate Canada. Then, after less than one week off, he will start the gruelling 15-day, nine-stop, cross-country Tour of Champions.
After that, he gets a break until late January. But a break for Stojko means more training, time spent working for various charitable organizations and a week-long trip to Los Angeles to film a Disney on Ice special with U.S. star Michelle Kwan.
Then the grind begins again with the Canadian championships Jan. 27-31 in Ottawa, the Grand Prix final in St. Petersburg March 4-7 and the world championships, March 17-28, in Helsinki. There also is a good chance he will take part in the inaugural Four Continents championships, Feb. 23-28 in Halifax.
"His intentions are probably to go (to Halifax)," Futerman said yesterday. "I know he is under a lot of pressure to do that meet because it is in Canada."
Pressure to compete at home always has been a consideration for Stojko.
When the Richmond Hill skater formally acknowledged that he would remain eligible this season, tickets for the men's long program at Skate Canada sold out in about a day.
But there are concerns that Stojko, one of the old guard in the amateur ranks at 26, is spreading himself thin.
The Internet is full of skating fanatics pleading for someone to bring "our Elvis" to his senses and slow the skate-aholic down.