The Road To Torino - Who's Hot and Who's Not | Golden Skate

The Road To Torino - Who's Hot and Who's Not

SailorGalaxia518

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
For those of you who have not seen my list on FSU, then here it is:

Pairs

Who's Hot List:
1. Totmianina/Marinin: They are just as cool as they can be
2. Shen/Zhao: If they recover in time they can be just as cool or better than T/M
3. Petrova/Tikhonov: Much improvement should make arun at a bronze; possibly silver
4. Pang/Tong: Needs to make improvements after what happened last season; could make run for bronze
5. Zhang/Zhang: So far in this olympic season they have made the most improvements with a quad throw jump; if S/Z are unable to make it, they have a chance to win silver; possibly even gold
6. Obertas/Slavnov: Tamara Moskvina....need I say more ; They have a possibility to win a bronze
7. Savchenko/Szolkowy: With a win at the Nebelhorn Trophy, this rising German Pair team could stand on podium; one problem, she needs her citizenship

Who's not
1. U.S Pairs: I doubt any of the U.S. Pairs are going to make a run at the podium but could finish within the top 10
2. Canadian Pairs: I love them to death but they still need to work on consistency; if anyone has a chance it's Marcoux/Buntin

Spoiler
1. Zagorska/Siudek: This Polish pair suprises me with there unique lifts, they could be the spoiler here as they are the ones I think are going to break the Russian/Chinese sweep of the top 5 spots

Men

Who's Hot
1. Evgeny Plushenko: His name says it all I just hope that he is 100 percent healed; Definitely a gold medal contender
2. Johnny Weir: he has such an amazing artistry and jump technique; should contend for gold
3. Jeffrey Buttle: again the same except Buttle needs work on a little bit of consistency; should contend for silver, possibly gold
4. Stephane Lambiel: The newly crowned World Champion has amazing spinning skill and the difficulty is there, he is sure to put pressure on Plushenko and the others; definite gold medal contender
5. Brian Joubert: Such a darling, Brian hopes to improve on what was a disastrous performance in Moscow. Should he do better, the results should be good; contend for silver, possibly gold

Who's Not
1. Emanuel Sandhu: He has the difficulty and the style but I just don't see that spark in his programs

Spoilers
1. Evan Lysacek: He may suprise you.....after that bronze medal win at worlds, Evan's confidence really shot up. He could be one of the spoilers to contend for a medal
2. Chengjiang Li: He has the jump difficulty but not the artistic difficulty. If he improves this season on artistry he could definitely be a medal contender
3. Timothy Goebel: This guy could the most difficulty out of the entire field. If he could get two quads, possibly three and improve on artistry, he could definitely contend for a medal

Ice Dancing

Who's Hot
1. Navka/Kostomarov: They have been dominating the past two seasons...they should win the gold medal with ease.
2. Denkova/Staviski: One of the teams that could challenge N/K. However, they need to improve their performances when it matters the most. Should contend for silver; possibly gold
3. Grushina/Goncharov: I have seen great improvements from them. Definitely contend for silver
4. Chait/Sakhonovsky: Could improve on difficulty; possible bronze

Who's Not
1. Dubreuil/Lauzon: I see the difficulty but not the fire and the passion

Spoilers
1. Delobel/Schoenfelder: They actually have the highest technical difficulty in competition, even better than N/K. I f they can improve their difficulty they can definitely contend for gold
2. Belbin/Agosto: A long shot I know but if by some miracle they make it to the olympics; they could definitely contend for gold
3. Drobiazko/Vanagas: Out of retirement these guys made a splash at the Nebel horn Trophy with HIGH technical scores. They should be the ones to watch out for when the olympics come around
Ladies

Who's Hot
1. Irina Slutskaya: If she hits with the same difficulty that won her worlds, she should win the gold medal
2. Michelle Kwan: If she improves under the new code of points she could challenge for gold; possibly silver
3. Sasha Cohen: If she can go 2 for 2; she could possibly win gold
4. Shizuka Arakawa: If she can greatly improve she could win bronze; possibly silver
5. Miki Ando: Could contend for a medal, most likely bronze if she is consistent
6. Carolina Kostner: If she is consistent like she was at worlds in Moscow she could definitely win a medal. That is if she can overcome the pressure of the home crowd

Who's Not
1. Elena Sokolova: I don't think she has the difficulty nor the consistency one needs to win a medal
2. Julia Sebestyen: Again difficulty not there and has consistency problems

Spoilers
1. Joannie Rochette: She may suprise you. If she is consistent, then she could possibly factor in the medals
2. Susanna Poykio: Again could factor in the medals if consistent

Well that is my looooooooooooooong list of Who's Hot and Who's Not
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Nothing wrong with your list which is solely based on last few seasons. I believe skaters improve - some in a shorter time than others. I'll wait to see the GPs.

Joe
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
I think at this stage, Michelle is more of a "spoiler" rather than "hot" or "not". If she shows that she is serious about getting experience (CoC, if possible, and 4CCs, definitely), has a promising program, then IMO, she will be "hot". Otherwise, much as I hate to say this, she's probably "not"
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I'll simply wait and see how the GPs go before deciding who's "hot" and who's not. Way too early for this IMO.

I think at this point we can discuss who's likely to be "hot" based on last year, but that's the best we can do. Things can change really quickly. Outside of the Japanese event, there's really been no competition yet.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
You forgot Fusar-Poli/Margalio (Italy) as possible spoilers in Ice Dance. They're a big unknown right now but, hey, the Olympics will be in their home-country & remember who is president of the ISU! They will be ready & able.
 

antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
SailorGalaxia518 said:
For those of you who have not seen my list on FSU, then here it is:

Pairs

[snip]
Spoiler
1. Zagorska/Siudek: This Polish pair suprises me with there unique lifts, they could be the spoiler here as they are the ones I think are going to break the Russian/Chinese sweep of the top 5 spots

I think they have worked hard to add elements to their programs including the two SBS triple toes, however, the new rule change in jumps means they can no longer gor this so unless they get another triple jump, and let's face it Dorota has always struggled with the SBS jumps i'm not sure they can hold off the might of the russian and chinese pairs skaters.

Ant
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I think that anyone who is reporting an injury and withdrawing from competitions needs to move immediately to the "Not" list or at the very least to the "Spoiler" list. That includes Michelle and Cynthia Phaneuf.
 
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