2017-2018 Grand Prix Selection

[matcha]

 

[Wilwarin]

NHK got all the 2017 world champions. I'm beginning to feel jealous lol

 

[QuadThrow]

The pairs and men field looks amazing. Hope the pairs stay healthy this year and we will see everyone perform.

I think S/H got back to back because their ranking is not the best. Skate Canada will be very exciting because we will see if D/R get enough points to be competitive and if S/M are already at the top.

 

[LRK]

The pairs and men field looks amazing. Hope the pairs stay healthy this year and we will see everyone perform.

I think S/H got back to back because their ranking is not the best. Skate Canada will be very exciting because we will see if D/R get enough points to be competitive and if S/M are already at the top.

But as World champions don't they get first pick? (after host picks, that is)

 

[el henry]

The men's lineup at NHK (I haven't even looked at the other disciplines)

Jason! Deniss V! :luv17: And Josh! And Adam! Not to mention Yuzu, Patrick et. al.

Now if SA had *this* line-up, Thanksgiving Day traffic on the Thruway might have been worth it. As it is, I will enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and no second thoughts, so I guess I can thank SA for that....

 

[Princessroja]

Wow, I'm surprised these are out already. But I'm pretty disappointed at the SA lineup... I'll be going and I was hoping to see a few different people, but I'm really excited to have Ashley and Nicole Rajicova there. Maybe I will get a chance to say hi!

 

[s_parks]

I think S/H's assignments are ideal; it's back to back, but there'll be minimum travelling.

 

[randomfan]

Last year I was annoyed that Daleman, Gold, Park, and Asada all got the exact same events...but this year is even worse:

Kostner, Park, Bell, Medvedeva, and Nagasu all at the same events?!?!?! :gaah:

Other interesting things I saw:
- COC has Wakaba, Mai, and Marin for team Japan...that should be interesting
- Marin didn't get NHK which is a big shock for me
- Ashley and Karen both got the exact same events as well (and even worse, they're both at SA)

 

[karne]

Pretty much all my good feelings after reading the men's assignments were wiped out when I opened the pairs.

*furious jumping up and down*

WHERE THE HECK ARE KATIA AND HARLEY?!!??!?! Are the big feds too CHICKEN to put their skaters against them?! Every other JWC got a spot!

 

[randomsplashes]

If I had $$$$, I'd head straight to NHK because damn....that lineup has all the Worlds 2017 champions
I'm quite excited to see how it's gonna go down for the ladies at CoC and pairs at Skate Canada, it's gonna be intense!!!! :eeking:

 

[cheerknithanson]

Pretty much all my good feelings after reading the men's assignments were wiped out when I opened the pairs.

*furious jumping up and down*

WHERE THE HECK ARE KATIA AND HARLEY?!!??!?! Are the big feds too CHICKEN to put their skaters against them?! Every other JWC got a spot!

I bet you're hoping and praying you can go to Japan to see the NHK Trophy for Josh. I mean, you live in Australia, which is geographically closer to Japan than North America or Europe. I think.....And also the time zone change won't be as harsh on you.

 

[skylark]

WHERE THE HECK ARE KATIA AND HARLEY?!!??!?! Are the big feds too CHICKEN to put their skaters against them?!

Haha. That is highly unlikely, at least from 5 of the host federations.

I'm disappointed too, though. They certainly deserve to compete. Maybe Japan would invite them for the TBD? I don't really know if that's realistic, but I think it'd be neat. There's a discussion on the earlier pages of this thread from people who're puzzled or offering ideas.

 

[SnowWhite]

Pretty much all my good feelings after reading the men's assignments were wiped out when I opened the pairs.

*furious jumping up and down*

WHERE THE HECK ARE KATIA AND HARLEY?!!??!?! Are the big feds too CHICKEN to put their skaters against them?! Every other JWC got a spot!

It's too bad they didn't get one, though they'll have a shot at an alternate place, especially since there seem to be a lot of injuries in pairs (unfortunately). But, all the other JWC were guaranteed at least one by being in the top 24 on the SB list. Zhou was 12th, Zagitova was 10th, and the Parsons were 18th. The two who were higher up got two, the Parsons got one (though they might get the SA TBD). They all had feds with host picks to help, but none of them got them, and Zagitova is more of a threat to the top seniors in her discipline for this season than A/W, of course she got CoC and IdF, and neither of those feds are strong in ladies. But Zhou got CoC with Boyang. And the Parsons probably aren't as much of a threat as the other two for this season (though I really like them), and they got CoR.

Anyways, since A/W are only 32nd on the SB list, they weren't guaranteed anything and the pairs fields are smaller than the others.

The top ten from Worlds were guaranteed 2 spots, which meant 20 of the 48 were gone. Everyone else in the top 24 on SB or WS was guaranteed 1 spot.
2 from Worlds: S/H, S/M, T/M, Y/Z, S/K, I/M, D/R, J/C, M/H, and SK/K
1 from SB: S/B, P/J, Z/E, MT/M, D/F, DM/G, D/B, A/R, W/W, C/T, and K/O
1 from WS: Z/K, S/BA
Which left fifteen spots. Every event left a host pick TBD, so there were 9 spots which weren't guaranteed or left as open host picks. Those were filled by S/B, P/J, Z/E, MT/M, D/F, DM/G, D/B, W/W, and S/BA getting second spots. So no team which wasn't guaranteed a spot got one (though some might with the last of the host picks). S/B, P/J and Z/E all made the GPF and were fairly high on the SB list, so no surprise they got two. So that leaves six spots, one of which could have gone to A/W in theory. D/F and S/BA both might have been host picks for their second, so that's about giving your skaters chances, not about who else it might have been. So that leaves four - the second spots of MT/M, DM/G, D/B and W/W. All but W/W are in the top 24 WS and all in the top 24 SB, so it isn't shocking that they'd get two. Especially since Canada and China have some leverage as hosts, so MT/M and W/W probably would have gotten two either way. And D/B are also JWC who placed ahead of A/W at Worlds by 15 points and beat them at JGPF.

Not that I didn't want A/W to get a spot, because I did, but it doesn't surprise me when I break it down, and I don't think it has to do with feds being afraid of them - they didn't pick a single team with a lower SB as of now.

And as for the TBD picks, SC's will probably go to Ruest/Wolfe, who are 28th on the SB and don't have a spot yet. The US one is probably going to be Cain/Leduc, or maybe a second spot for K/O (probably not C/T considering how they didn't even want to give them assignments in the pre-Olympic year, but them too in theory). I don't know enough about the other countries' pairs to guess.

ETA:

Haha. That is highly unlikely, at least from 5 of the host federations.

I'm disappointed too, though. They certainly deserve to compete. Maybe Japan would invite them for the TBD? I don't really know if that's realistic, but I think it'd be neat. There's a discussion on the earlier pages of this thread from people who're puzzled or offering ideas.

Isn't Japan hoping S/BA can qualify them an Olympic spot to be used for another pair that has citizenship? If so I would imagine they might want whoever that would be to get that spot. Otherwise they would be great though.

 

[4everchan]

^^ very good analysis snowwhite... it's not fair in this case to just accuse the big feds..

 

[ice coverage]

Pretty much all my good feelings after reading the men's assignments were wiped out when I opened the pairs.

*furious jumping up and down*

WHERE THE HECK ARE KATIA AND HARLEY?!!??!?! ... Every other JWC got a spot!

It's too bad they didn't get one, though they'll have a shot at an alternate place, especially since there seem to be a lot of injuries in pairs (unfortunately). But, all the other JWC were guaranteed at least one by being in the top 24 on the SB list. ...

But as noted above: In 2016-17 and preceding seasons, the ISU publicized its guarantee of one GP spot for all Junior World medalists (not only champions).

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...18-Grand-Prix-Selection&p=1736192#post1736192​

If a new change to the ISU's documented policy is taking effect in 2017-18, it is unfortunate indeed for Katia and Harley.
And their fans are entitled to be unpleasantly surprised and disappointed, if you ask me.

 

[4everchan]

i like them and i am disappointed they didn't get a GP. I am also surprised. However, I dislike the same banter about big fed did this big fed did that....

I LOVE Wolfe and Ruest... they also don't get an assignment and they are higher on the SB list. What shed the light for me in SnowWhite's report is that NO team ranked LOWER than the aussies got an assignment.

Now, like everyone knows, injuries happen and thought I don't wish it to anyone, I HOPE that if anyone has to withdraw they do it early enough to include other teams.

 

[SnowWhite]

But as noted above: In 2016-17 and preceding seasons, the ISU publicized its guarantee of one GP spot for all Junior World medalists (not only champions).

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...18-Grand-Prix-Selection&p=1736192#post1736192​

If a new change to the ISU's documented policy is taking effect in 2017-18, it is unfortunate indeed for Katia and Harley.
And their fans are entitled to be unpleasantly surprised and disappointed, if you ask me.

But as Mrs. P said, in the actual full announcement with all the rules in detail, it doesn't say they are guaranteed anything, while the one you linked to is more like a news article. IU'd say the full release is more likely to be correct than a news article, since they don't say the same thing. That article says dancers and pairs in the top 12 at Worlds are guaranteed two like in singles, but somewhere else in the forum someone posted something saying for dance and pairs it was only top ten IIRC.

Besides, my point was that it's not about big feds being mean or scared in this case, since clearly the JW medalists aren't guaranteed spots, otherwise they would have gotten one. I certainly think it's fair to be disappointed, since I was hoping they'd get one myself.

 

[SnowWhite]

i like them and i am disappointed they didn't get a GP. I am also surprised. However, I dislike the same banter about big fed did this big fed dd that....

I LOVE Wolfe and Ruest... they also don't get an assignment and they are higher on the SB list. What shed the light for me in SnowWhite's report is that NO team ranked LOWER than the aussies got an assignment.

Now, like everyone knows, injuries happen and thought I don't wish it to anyone, I HOPE that if anyone has to withdraw they do it early enough to include other teams.

I'm really hoping they'll get the host spot at SC. I like them a lot too.

 

[4everchan]

I'm really hoping they'll get the host spot at SC. I like them a lot too.

they have star power. i saw them live at ACI, had never heard of them and was wow.... he was a former ice dancer so he is smooth as butter.

they need to improve their tricks, especially the twist to get a good triple... but wow...

and she is fierce... it's the perfect match. no wonder they were invited to go to CoR last year... they are the current new team most reminiscent of the traditional pair skating strong in Russia... they even were at the Gala.


I really hope they get Canada's host pick.

 

[ice coverage]

But as Mrs. P said, in the actual full announcement with all the rules in detail, it doesn't say they are guaranteed anything, while the one you linked to is more like a news article. IU'd say the full release is more likely to be correct than a news article, since they don't say the same thing. That article says dancers and pairs in the top 12 at Worlds are guaranteed two like in singles, but somewhere else in the forum someone posted something saying for dance and pairs it was only top ten IIRC.

Besides, my point was that it's not about big feds being mean or scared in this case, since clearly the JW medalists aren't guaranteed spots, otherwise they would have gotten one. I certainly think it's fair to be disappointed, since I was hoping they'd get one myself.

What I linked to is an official news release from the ISU. (As opposed to a news "article" from a third party, which would be a different kettle of fish.)

I find it quite implausible that the ISU officially has publicized the guarantee for at least the past three seasons -- if such a guarantee were (supposedly) not really in effect.
YMMV.

(In this thread, I linked to only the 2016-17 ISU news release, but in previous GS posts, I had linked to the corresponding ISU news releases from 2015-16 and 2014-15.
And yes, I am well aware that the announcements in those same years did not mention the guarantee. Nor did the announcements say that there was no guarantee.)

As I alluded to above, it is possible that 2017-18 is the first year of a change in ISU policy -- discontinuing the guarantee.