CREDIT: MELANIE ANDERSON
Patrick Chan's world record performance at Budweiser Gardens.

Forget the last 12 months; Patrick Chan is back with a vengeance.

Chan showed no evidence of a shaky season with his stellar short program performance at the world championships on March 13. He not only dominated the competition, but set a program world record with a 98.37-point performance.

“It was so inspirational to be out there and my last spin, I got into my last spin and it was just like this rush of just tingling and this cold rush through my body, which was amazing. You can only feel that way once in a lifetime, or if you're going to jump off a building,” said Chan.

Chan's decision to drop the Four Continents Championships last month and take time to train in several states across the U.S. proved to be a key element in his comeback.

“If I haven't put in the work that I did in the past three weeks, I would've fell on the quad toe and the triple Axel,” he said.

It was the first time Chan delivered a quad-triple all season. His quadruple-triple toeloop combination was followed by a triple Axel and triple Lutz that were near perfection. Chan practiced his program every day, and said his success stemmed from hard work and commitment.

“Figure skating isn't arbitrary, and I think a lot of us believe that it is. I definitely thought that and I struggled with that yesterday and I talked to Kathy (Johnson, my coach) a lot yesterday, and today was just proof that it's not, and it's not a matter of luck; it's a matter of how much work you put in and how much confidence you have.”

Chan's performance created an ecstatic crowd at Budweiser Gardens, with a lengthy standing ovation, something Chan said only fueled his performance. “I love the Canadian fans; they are inspirational and create excitement. The Canadian fans help me to be more focused, concentrate more and they lift a lot of pressure.”

Chan wasn't the only Canadian that had fans cheering. Kevin Reynolds achieved a new personal best of 85.16 points, finishing third in the short program.

“It is a big surprise for me,” said Reynolds, who suffered a ruptured cyst in his knee just under two weeks ago. “So to have a skate like this in front of the home crowd feels great. I am really happy,” he said.

The Four Continents Champion hit a quadruple Salchow-triple toeloop combination, and a triple Axel in his program.

Reynolds finished behind Kazakhstan's Denis Ten, who finished with 91.56 points, improving his previous personal best by 13.51 points.

The stage is set for the long program to be held on Friday at 5:45 p.m. It's Chan's chance to use his momentum and retain his world championship title.