Off-season update please! | Golden Skate

Off-season update please!

eliza88

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
(my apologies if this has already been asked...)

I haven't checked out any skating site since the end of last season...I log on today and WHOA Yu-na has a new coach!! Huh? Belbin and Agusto retired (okay, that I was prepared for but when did she split with Evan and get together with Charlie?)...what else has happened that I should be aware of? Any other big coaching changes, retirement announcements, etc?

eliza88

PS. I didn't even know Michelle skated again but I gladly spent the first part of my day "working" while catching up on her skates via youtube! :)
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Short form:

Dance: The Kerrs, and Samuelson&Bates are all out with injuries. Tessa Virtue had her legs operated on for compartment syndrome, and V&M are also not competing on the GP.

K&N, DomShabs, Belbin and Agosto and Navarro & Bommentre and Rubleva & Shefer and and Hann McCurdy and Coreno retired.

Ilinykh and Katsapalov decided to compete as seniors. Monko & Khaliavin and Pushkash and Guerreiro decided to stay in juniors.

Charlie and Tanith were an item all last season, but it was not that public until after the skating season, when Tanith moved in with Charlie in Detroit.

Maia Shibutani grew 3 inches! The Shibutanis decided to compete as seniors.

Samuelson/Bates are now being coached by Shpilband & Zueva.

The Compulsories were eliminated. The OD was replaced with a Short Dance, consisting of normal OD stuff, plus one circuit of the Golden Waltz. It was made harder to get level 4 for twizzles, causing many teams to start their twizzles with a little jump or add a third twizzle to the twizzle sequence. Short lifts get a point less. Spins get a little higher number of points. Step sequences are still darn hard to get level 4 in.

V&M had an unprecedented all Ice Dance television show.

Ladies: The big news was YuNa Kim's move to Los Angeles, and choosing Peter Oppegard rather than Brian Orser as a coach. There was much public drama about this. The second biggest news was Yu Na Kim's All That Skate Skating show, in which V&M and Michelle Kwan participated. Yu Na is not competing on the GP this year.

Men: Neither Evan, Ryan nor Johnny is competing on the GP. Jeremy is, but is having boot problems.

Pairs: Denney & Barrett changed coaches. The Chinese Zhangs are out for the GP season.
 
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eliza88

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
Wow! I missed a lot!!! Thank you so much for this update I really appreciate it! I can't believe the Compulsories were eliminated...
 

Sylvia

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
I'll try and summarize all the major coaching changes (focusing on the skaters/teams competing on the Senior Grand Prix this fall):

Mao Asada to the venerable Nobuo Sato
Brian Joubert back to Veronique Guyon
Carolina Kostner back to Michael Huth in Oberstdorf, Germany
Nobunari Oda back to Lee Barkell in Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Tomas Verner to Robert Emerson in Toronto
Fumie Suguri to Igor Pashkevich and Noriko Sato (wife of Nobuo Sato)
Florent Amodio and Sergei Voronov to Nikolai Morozov
Denis Ten to Frank Carroll
Alissa Czisny to Yuka Sato/Jason Dungjen
Caydee Denney/Jeremy Barrett to John Zimmerman/Silvia Fontana
Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates to Shpilband/Zueva (he recently had surgery to repair his Achilles tendon and it looks like he'll be out for the season, unfortunately)
Caroline Zhang to Tammy Gambill in Riverside, CA (Zhang's former coach, Li Mingzhu, has returned to China to oversee the Chinese national ladies program)
Min-Jeong Kwak is no longer training in Toronto with Brian Orser (related to Yu-Na Kim's split with Orser) and reportedly is back in Korea.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
More updates:

Ladies -

Mirai Nagasu: was out with a stress fracture for a lot of the summer and pulled out of Japan Open. She is back skating again now and is still scheduled to compete in both her GP events.

Caroline Zhang: switched from Min-Zhu Li to Tammy Gambill, moved from Brea to Corona, and is now training mostly in Riverside. She didn't compete at any summer competitions but is skating her SP at NHK tomorrow morning!

Miki Ando: is training in Latvia this season, Morozov is still her coach

Mao Asada: is now coached by Sato, and is working hard on fixing her flutz. At Japan Open, she attempted 3lz, 3s, and 2a-3t along with the jumps she normally does.

Joannie Rochette: is not competing on the GP this season, but has not decided about Worlds and Canadians yet. She delivered the highest scoring FS among the ladies at Japan Open though and seems to be in good form.

Ashley Wagner: reportedly fixed her flutz, but no videos of this are out yet. She also skated in ATS LA.

Rachael Flatt: reworked her flip technique and has added a 3lz-3lo to her arsenal. Summer competition results haven't been the best but she seems to be getting better. Also, she got a super cute short haircut!

Alissa Czisny - left Julie Berlin and is now coached by Yuka Sato and Jason Dunjen. Her choreographer this season is Carlemango. She didn't compete at any summer competitions.

Laura Lepisto - is injured and pulled out of her 1st GP event but is presently still listed for her 2nd.

Carolina Kostner - moved back to Obertsdorf to train with Huth. Her new programs are beautiful but we'll see how she fairs in competition this season.

Min-Jung Kwak - moved back to Korea to get treatment for her injured back and is now being coached by Hyun-Jung Chi, who used to coach Yuna. She was given a 2nd GP assignment, Cup of China, when Yuna withdrew. Recently she passed her level 8 test, the highest level in Korea requiring the skater to land 3 different types of triple jumps, so her back injury seems to be under control, at least for now.

Kanako Murakami - grew from 153 cm to 158 cm and makes her senior GP debut tomorrow!

Christina Gao - is still training with Orser and chose to compete on the JGP again, winning 2 silvers and posting impressive scores at both competitions. She has qualified for the JGPF in December. She has worked a lot on her expression and PCS and looks much more grown up this season.

Anna Ovcharova - is injured and pulled out of both her JGP events. She was recently out of the country seeking treatment for her ligament injury. It is unknown when she will next compete.

Polina Shelepen - was injured but is better now and placed 1st and 3rd at her JGP events, qualifying her for the final. She has grown a lot from last year and her lack of artistry is still apparent. She is not one of the frontrunners going into the final, as Adelina, Liza, Christina, Risa, Yasmin have all put up better scores than she has this season.

Polina Agafonova - did not have a great JGP season and did not qualify for the JGPF. She is still really tiny and cute with amazing spins but her Caroline Zhang 2axel is still there.

Sofia Birukova - moved up to seniors, and competed at Finlandia Trophy and Coupe De Nice. Results have not been great so far but she is scheduled to compete at Rostelecom Cup and she has been improving.

Tuk and Sot - teared up the JGP, and each girl won both her events and have qualified for the JGPF.

Vanessa Lam - was the only US lady to win gold at a JGP event this season. She was only given one assignment so we won't see her at the final.

Kiri Baga - had a stress fracture over the summer but is better now. Her new LP is kind of boring, but she added 3lz and 3lo to her jump arsenal :) and qualified for the JGPF.

Kristiene Gong - beat Rachael Flatt at Glacier Falls summer competition and qualified for the JGPF.

Musademba - has been assigned to Cup of China, but skated poorly at regionals last week. She is now training with Frank Carroll.
 
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silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Men:

Tomas Verner - left Huth and moved to Toronto to train with Emerson. He skated pretty well last week at a small Canadian competition and seems to have bounced back since last season.

Jeremy Abbott - has a new SP that's totally different from his usual style. It will be interesting to see what the judges think of it.

Michal Brezina - had poor results at Nebelhorn and Japan Open and recently pulled out of his first GP event due to having a vericose vein removed from his stomach.

Nobunari Oda - got married and his wife had a kid! He says he will put the quad in his FS this year.
 

eliza88

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
Thank you Sylvia and Silverlake for taking the time and updating me!! I very much appreciate it.

So many changes but the biggest OMG has to go to Oda getting married and becoming a father!!!! He still looks 12 to me so that was quite a shocker!

eliza88
 
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