ISU Grand Prix announced | Page 4 | Golden Skate

ISU Grand Prix announced

TtonyV7

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Love the Finnish Ladies. Great technicians with very classic skating.

Well, it's gonna be a big year for them. Expect them to dominate European's and attempt to get Finland 3 spots for Olympics.

All 4 Ladies from the Finnish team are equally talented with certain strengths and weakness (They sure do have the most exciting nationals behind US and Japan!) But if one can emerge consistently strong technically this season, they might have an outside shot at the GPF. If not, I expect plenty of Top 5 finish from these ladies on the GP Series.

Right now, Lepisto is my favorite. Whether she has master the Lutz and Flip over this summer is key, she has already proven how high in the standings she can rank without those jumps. That proves the great quality and edging from her skating.

Korpi has her ups and downs, but perhaps she has mature from this recent WC, and can get her consistency back together.

And like I said about Good Ole Poykio, Skate America is just a matter of whose been preparing the best over the summer and can come the cleanest that night, so Poykio has an outside shot to play spoiler there.

Finlandia Trophy is no doubt the best early season event, so we'll get a better picture there.
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Poykio was guaranteed one spot because she is top 24 in the ISU World Standings. I'm thrilled that she was chosen for Skate America, but I wouldn't necessarily chalk this up to generosity.

By selecting Flatt and Nagasu, they already knew that these two would be up against the required 1-3 (Kim) and 4-6 (Nakano) selections, and then the selection rules dictated that Miki Ando be given two spots after the 4-6 selections, due to having the 5th highest PB score. Since Sarah Meier's PB was 9th on the list, that meant that Zhang (7) and Flatt (8) had higher scores than a skater in the top 6 at Worlds, and they were chosen after 4-6 as well.

If there was a specific order in which the selections had to be made (Ando, Zhang, Flatt) this suggests that USFS and CoC were either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the Federation selection order (3rd if the Japanese Federation, whose roster of Japanese Ladies was filled by host selections, was 1st or 2nd). If there was not a specific order, USFS had no choice but to select Ando, since Flatt was already a host choice and the USFS couldn't choose a 4th US Lady.

Meissner was in the 7-9 group. It was either she, Lepisto, or Korpi.
 
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Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Only one more thing to mention for me: Is Jenni Vahamaa going to make a statement?

Joe

I hope so! Anyway, I have a feeling that in season 2007-2008 she had some kind of injury that prevented her from jumping the lutz? If she will be healthy in coming season, she will have all her jumps and be really awesome, in my opinion.
 

fumie_fumie

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
Let the prediction begin

skate america

ladies

1. Yu-na kim: too obvious, she starts a season like a race horse.
2. Nakano: super consistent
3. Flatt: super consistent

men: just random thoughts.
1. weir
2. lysacek
3. KVDP: I want to see the revival of the "Lawrence of Arabia"

Pairs
1. savchenko/szolkowy
2. Keauna McLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER
3. Meagan DUHAMEL / Craig BUNTIN: big question mark on whether Buntin can regain his form after the surgery.

dance
1. Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER: respect for the champs.
2. Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO
3. Sinead KERR / John KERR

the dance entries are amazing

Skate Canada: overall very good entry

ladies
1. Kostener: respect for the champ as well
2. Zhang: zhang probably surpasses Rochette by next season in terms of technical content.
3. Rochette

men - what was Skate Canada smoking?
1. Lambiel: my prediction is he will be the the comeback kid of the year.
2. Lysacek: super motivated, rejuvenated, more arm-flailing.
3. Buttle: He is usually off in early season.
4. Chan: depends on whether he has 2nd 3A and a quad under his belt.

pairs.
1. Yuko KAWAGUCHI / Alexander SMIRNOV:
2. Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON
3. Anabelle LANGLOIS / Cody HAY: the eternal underdog team.

dance - again, what was Skate Canada smoking?
1. Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR
2. Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE
3. Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT
4. Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER
 

sillylionlove

Medalist
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
The lineup at Skate America is crazy this year. I sure wish I was going, especially Evan and Johnny at the same event!!

So happy to see that Emily has an assignment. Hopefully she won't withdraw.

It was nice to see Amanda and Mark get an assignment. I also see that John and Rena are competing in the grand prix this year.

Hopefully Adam and Brandon will have a great senior debut like Stephen did last year.

Well only a few more months to go before everything kicks off....although I am sure that there will be withdrawals, additions and changes before then.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Poykio was guaranteed one spot ...
Thank you for this post, Hockeyfan. There seems to be a lot of discussion about what "strategies" are available to Federations for trying to nurse their skaters into the finals. Taking the time to read the selection rules puts the process in a different light.
 

decker

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Any word on television or web-casting in the US? I know NBC has Skate America. I was hoping icenetwork might try to get a contract for the GP series.

Susan
 

fumie_fumie

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
Thank you for this post, Hockeyfan. There seems to be a lot of discussion about what "strategies" are available to Federations for trying to nurse their skaters into the finals. Taking the time to read the selection rules puts the process in a different light.

On the other hand, you would think strong entries may better prepare the skaters for non-GP events, notably two most important events of the season - Europeans and Worlds.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
1. I just don't think all individual GPs are equal in strength. Compare SA to CoC.
Host Countries have a lot more to say than how the prior stats turn out.

And, there are duplicates as well, e.g., skaters, two in one event are the same in another event, e.g. Flatt/Meissner and another is Wagner/Hacker. Not easy to believe the rules brought that out.

2. In prior years, if Sasha wanted France, she got it; if Johnny wanted Russia, he got it. If Kwan didn't want to travel beyond Canada, she didn't.

just can't believe that the Host Countries do not have a say in all this. Kostner has an easy trip to the Finals.
 

dwiggin3

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
I was surprised that both Hughes and Czisny had slots...hopefully neither will WD....but I almost expect Hughes to.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Hughes has said that she wants to make it to Nationals this year. She has to do Regionals, but the TEB assignment will keep her out of Sectionals. If she withdraws from TEB, then she has to do Sectionals if she wants to make it to Nationals.

Maybe she'll wait to find out who she'd have to face at Sectionals once Regionals is over. She won't have to face Kimmie or Katrina Hacker, because both skaters will have byes due to their GP assignments. Wagner is exempt from Regionals/Nationals due to her 3rd place finish. So it looks as if Emily wouldn't have much of a problem at Sectionals if she were to skip TEB.
 

alekzu

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
I'm really glad to see that our two boys from Sweden, Berntsson and Schultheiss, got two assignements each. I'm really going to try to follow the GP competitions this year. Hopefully I'll be able to watch it over the internet. And the line-up for SA is insane! I almost choked when I realized that Evan and Johnny were both on that event. I hope KVDP will be able to make it to SA. My hihghlight however will be NHK. Gotta love the Japanese. Takahashi is my absolute favourite, Weir is going to be there, as well as our very own Adrian. Awesome. No Plushenko in sight though. Just have to wait and see what happens there. I really do love the summer. But please, let it be autumn soon.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
skate america

ladies

1. Yu-na kim: too obvious, she starts a season like a race horse.
2. Nakano: super consistent
3. Flatt: super consistent

men: just random thoughts.
1. weir
2. lysacek
3. KVDP: I want to see the revival of the "Lawrence of Arabia"

Pairs
1. savchenko/szolkowy
2. Keauna McLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER
3. Meagan DUHAMEL / Craig BUNTIN: big question mark on whether Buntin can regain his form after the surgery.

dance
1. Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER: respect for the champs.
2. Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO
3. Sinead KERR / John KERR

the dance entries are amazing

Skate Canada: overall very good entry

ladies
1. Kostener: respect for the champ as well
2. Zhang: zhang probably surpasses Rochette by next season in terms of technical content.
3. Rochette

men - what was Skate Canada smoking?
1. Lambiel: my prediction is he will be the the comeback kid of the year.
2. Lysacek: super motivated, rejuvenated, more arm-flailing.
3. Buttle: He is usually off in early season.
4. Chan: depends on whether he has 2nd 3A and a quad under his belt.

pairs.
1. Yuko KAWAGUCHI / Alexander SMIRNOV:
2. Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON
3. Anabelle LANGLOIS / Cody HAY: the eternal underdog team.

dance - again, what was Skate Canada smoking?
1. Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR
2. Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE
3. Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT
4. Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER

I'm puzzled. You have McLaughlin/Brubaker beating Duhamel/Buntin at Skate America and winning silver, but you have them off the podium at Skate Canada. If McL/B can beat D/B, then they can also beat L/H. Remember, they beat both D/D and L/H at NHK last season.

I also think Kostner, like Buttle, is not so good in the early season, so I'm not sure she automatically goes to the top of the podium at SC. Zhang may be having growth issues, which may contribute to her URs. If she has her URs under control and if she can hold her spiral and spin positions the requisite number of seconds/turns, she could generate some pretty high scores. But those are a lot of ifs. OTOH, Joannie must control her nerves and skate a clean SP.
 

fumie_fumie

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
I was doing it just for the heck of it. What else can you do during the off season other than making outrageous predictions or following up on the gossip boards? I wanted to do for all the 6 events, and then I got tired of it.

As for McLaughlin/Brubaker, I just miss them in Skate Canada entries. Otherwise, I would have placed them ahead of L/H, possibly D/D. ITA. I think they can duke out with L/H and D/D at any given day, especially considering their latest improvements.

As for Kostner, you are right. However, I honestly didn't see anyone else who can beat Kostner.

Speaking of growth issues, ladies of Asian descent don't seem to have as much of a growth issue as other skaters.
 
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Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Much too early for predicting placements in these GPs, imo. Just read who in what event will be on the podium. Then check out, will that be enough to make it to the Finals. How many skaters won an individual GP and took a dive elsewhere. I can think of one who wasn't even close in Worlds.
 

Sylvia

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
Hughes has said that she wants to make it to Nationals this year.
Just wanted to point out that this is not a direct quote from Emily Hughes but hearsay/secondhand info that was posted at FSU: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1810284&postcount=167

Maybe she'll wait to find out who she'd have to face at Sectionals once Regionals is over. She won't have to face Kimmie or Katrina Hacker, because both skaters will have byes due to their GP assignments. Wagner is exempt from Regionals/Nationals due to her 3rd place finish. So it looks as if Emily wouldn't have much of a problem at Sectionals if she were to skip TEB.
We'll have to wait and see how deep the senior ladies field will be at Easterns this fall because there are 3 skaters with JGP assignments (Bulanhagui, Rizo-planning to test up, Musademba-has tested up) plus 3 other international skaters from last season who did not qualify for Nationals (Cannarozzo, B. Rosenthal, Firth).
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
As for Kostner, you are right. However, I honestly didn't see anyone else who can beat Kostner.

Yu-Na Kim and Caroline Zhang beat Kostner at her first GP event (CoC). If Zhang can beat Kostner, so can Rochette.

Speaking of growth issues, ladies of Asian descent don't seem to have as much of a growth issue as other skaters.

Sure they do. Miki Ando is a prime example. She had LOTS of problems after moving up from Juniors. Mao Asada lost some of her consistency after the 2005-2006 season, and that seemed to be because she suddenly grew to be quite tall (5'5"). Even Michelle Kwan had a rough year (in 1997) and that could be attributible to growth. Last season, both Zhang and Nagasu grew about 3 inches each, and each struggled with underrotated jumps. The suddenly longer legs don't work quite the way they used to.

Zhang, Nagasu and Flatt were all the exact same height (5'0") on the podium at JW. Flatt (who turns 16 next month) seems to have stabilized, if temporarily, while Zhang and Nagasu are in the midst of a growth spurt.
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Yu-Na Kim and Caroline Zhang beat Kostner at her first GP event (CoC). If Zhang can beat Kostner, so can Rochette.
I agree. When Kostner is on, she can be terrific, and very hard to beat (well, by someone other than Kim & Asada). But she has never been known for her consistency and I really can't remember the last time I saw her skate two really strong performances at the same event. That having been said, I doubt she'll have too much trouble qualifying for the GPF, barring injuries.
 

museksk8r

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
Yu-Na Kim and Caroline Zhang beat Kostner at her first GP event (CoC). If Zhang can beat Kostner, so can Rochette.

I totally agree. At their bests, Joannie is capable of much more speed and much better jumps than Caroline Zhang. Carolina Kostner typically has struggled during the Grand Prix Series. Even last year, during her best season ever, she was 3rd at Cup of China with a very disappointing LP and at NHK Trophy, she was defeated in the LP by Sarah Meier but still took gold due to the strength of her SP. Meier very nearly beat her overall.

This season I can see Kostner finishing 2nd to Joannie Rochette at Skate Canada, which has historically been Joannie's strongest event of the year. Joannie is historically stronger during the Grand Prix than Carolina, who typically hits her stride later in the year. I think Carolina will also see stiff competition from Rachael Flatt at Cup of Russia. I don't see Carolina being able to coast to the GPF this season as she did last season.

My early predictions for the Ladies' Grand Prix Finalists are: Yu-Na Kim, Mao Asada, Carolina Kostner, Joannie Rochette, Yukari Nakano, and Miki Ando. I'll have my eyes glued on Rachael Flatt too. I believe she very likely could break through if one of my 6 picks has a meltdown, similar to Miki Ando last season at NHK, which allowed Caroline Zhang to advance.
 
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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
If there was a specific order in which the selections had to be made (Ando, Zhang, Flatt) this suggests that USFS and CoC were either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the Federation selection order (3rd if the Japanese Federation, whose roster of Japanese Ladies was filled by host selections, was 1st or 2nd). If there was not a specific order, USFS had no choice but to select Ando, since Flatt was already a host choice and the USFS couldn't choose a 4th US Lady.
From studying these selections for a couple of years now, I think that there is not a specific order in which invitations have to be made from each category. (Not 100% sure, though.)
On the other hand, you would think strong entries may better prepare the skaters for non-GP events, notably two most important events of the season - Europeans and Worlds.
I agree. As far as the U.S. ladies are concerned, it looks to me like USFS is most interested in giving as many skaters as possible a chance to gain international experience (Katrina Hacker, for instance), rather than pre-selecting one or two and trying to push them into the GP finals.
2. In prior years, if Sasha wanted France, she got it; if Johnny wanted Russia, he got it. If Kwan didn't want to travel beyond Canada, she didn't.

I just can't believe that the Host Countries do not have a say in all this. Kostner has an easy trip to the Finals.
Good point. I would love to be a fly on the wall and listen in on all the conversations between federations.

In the case of Carolina Kostner, I don't know. It seems far-fetched that the National Skating Federations of the U.S., Canada, France, China, Russia and Japan would all join in a grand plot to make sure that the skater from Italy had a clear path to the finals. What's in it for the U.S., Canada, France, China, Russia and Japan? (Maybe that's something only Ottavio Cinquanta knows, and he's not telling. ;) )

No matter what, Kostner's silver medal at worlds guarenteed that she would not have to skate against either Asada or Kim, and that she must skate against two of the three {Nakano, Rochette and Meier}.
 
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