What do you want to see at Worlds for the Men?

[pangtongfan]

Sorry, lets be clear what I believe will happen. In 2008, two senior neophytes had their worlds debut - Stephen Carriere and Jeremy Abbott. They ranked tenth and eleventh. Wier came third so they got three spots, but on their own they would've been fine for two.

I think there are only a handful of skaters who are "guaranteed" to beat the American trio: Chan, the Japanese troika and the Frenchmen. Yes, yes, ice is slippery, but any of these six ranking behind the Americans would constitute a MAJOR shock to my system, frankly.

Then there are so many skaters that COULD potentially beat them. Could. Maybe. Possibly. In the realm of human experience. These include Verner, Brezina, Schlutheiss, Contesti, D. Ten, Fernandez, Majorov, van der Perren, Gachinsky etc.

I think that given the odds of everyone skating well (Fernandez, Brezina coming back from injury, D. Ten has fallen more than Patrick Chan this season etc) being what they are, the Americans should be able to get two spots. Three would require a massive fluke. But it'll be a fight, not a walk in the park.

Miner did compete in the 09/10 season - he came third in the JGPF. He missed Nationals because of that injury.

I agree with this assessment. Really the 3 American men could all finish from 7th to 17th depending on exactly how they skate and their competitors skate so 3 spots is not realistic at all. 2 spots they should manage but 2 guys will have to skate well to ensure that.

[ivy]

I'm a bit late to the party here but here's my wish list

1. Chan
2. Kozuka
3. Takahashi
4. Bradley
5. Oda
6. Miner
7. Dornbush
8. Gachinshki

Everyone else

Kozuka is really my favorite - but I think it would take mistakes from Chan for him to win - I don't want that! Oda I would expect to place higher - but I just don't really like his skating - or his program this year. The Europeans I'm finding boring and sort of empty - a little surprised to find myself liking Gachinski the most interesting of the lot.

Really though - I also want to see great skating- justly rewarded

[ImaginaryPogue]

Mrs. P, my thoughts on the rest

1. No, I know you never said three spots = stroll. But I think TWO spots will be a fight. Essentially, if one of the three American men skate their best, two spots should easily graspable. If all three have average skates, it's not.

2. Contesti tends to peak later in the season. 5th and 7th at two Worlds in a row. He's coming off a confidence booster @ Mt. Blanc breaking 80/150 in his programs.

3. D. Ten isn't someone I'm expecting to beat the Americans. He has the potential, but he's massively inconsistent.

4. I fully expect the Russian Fed to politick hard for Gachinski. Plushenko's heir apparent, with the rest of the field inconsistent (Tretiakov, Voronov), injured (Borodulin) or unlikely to make it to Sochi (Menshov). Plus he has a quad.

5. KVDP, Schlutheiss were top ten last year.

6. Doris, I'd argue that 4CC tends to be inflated in general. Duhamel/Radford got HIGHER PCS at 4CC than at Nationals. As did Lawrence/Sweigers.

[dorispulaski]

Different panel of judges for pairs than either the men or the ladies.

Or dance for that matter.

The dance panel for example was actually judging a hair on the low side. D&W got the same score for their FD as the GPF-at the 4CC's version was significantly better, I thought. Granted, I didn't see either live, though.


Usually the scores go up as the year goes along. Some of that is the improvement of the skaters. However, quite often the PCS of the non favorites stays stuck in one place; sometimes shockingly uniform as if they judges got together and agreed on a number at the beginning of the season. If you've ever had a favorite team and tracked their PCS through the year, only to discover they got exactly the same number whether they skated their best or their worst, you'll know what I'm talking about. Consequently Rachael making a 10 point leap in her SP overall, with essentially the same tech content she's had all year is startling. EoE hasn't yet had a 3/3 in it, for example, but it does have more esthetically pleasing spins and the Ina Bauer and spread eagles that are much better than her attempts at spirals.

[Serious Business]

I want to see my faves, Chan, Takahashi and Amodio skate clean and skate inspired. In which case, Chan should win and Takahashi takes second.

I'd like to see the judging and tech calls be fair.

I'd like to see the American team retain 3 spots, with Dornbush and Miner acquitting themselves well, just to put the whingers in their place.

[NMURA]

I want someone with a clean quad and no fall to win. Hopefully, Patrick Chan off the podium.

[SkateFiguring]

I want to see Ryan Bradley's beard.


RT @RyanSBradley: Decided to grow a playoff beard for Worlds with Patrick Chan. Not the best look

[BackStage Barbie]

I want Patrick Chan to skate his Canadian Nationals program and wipe the floor with the competition.
I want Takahashi and Kozuka to skate perfect programs and round out the podium.
I want to see Ryan Bradley skate clean....I don't really care about the placement.
I want Verner to skate two clean programs.
I want Amodio to get scores he deserves rather than those sky high scores he has been getting for that piece of crap free skate he has.
I want Joubert to retire.
I want Gachinski to do something that makes me believe he is more than just a Plushenko clone.

[Serious Business]

I want Gachinski to do something that makes me believe he is more than just a Plushenko clone.

Gachinski would have to win to be a Plushenko clone. At Gachinski's age Plushenko won every competition he entered except worlds, which he won the season after.

[BackStage Barbie]

Gachinski would have to win to be a Plushenko clone. At Gachinski's age Plushenko won every competition he entered except worlds, which he won the season after.

I meant in terms of performance quality. It seems that Mishin is grooming him to be exactly like Plushenko (though is is not there yet) and I want him to find his own identity as a skater.

[SkateFiguring]

I want Patrick Chan to skate his Canadian Nationals program and wipe the floor with the competition.
I want Takahashi and Kozuka to skate perfect programs and round out the podium.
I want to see Ryan Bradley skate clean....I don't really care about the placement.
I want Verner to skate two clean programs.
I want Amodio to get scores he deserves rather than those sky high scores he has been getting for that piece of crap free skate he has.
I want Joubert to retire.
I want Gachinski to do something that makes me believe he is more than just a Plushenko clone.

Ditto.

[Ravensque]

I want Patrick Chan to skate his Canadian Nationals program and wipe the floor with the competition.
I want Takahashi and Kozuka to skate perfect programs and round out the podium.
I want to see Ryan Bradley skate clean....I don't really care about the placement.
I want Verner to skate two clean programs.
I want Amodio to get scores he deserves rather than those sky high scores he has been getting for that piece of crap free skate he has.
I want Joubert to retire.
I want Gachinski to do something that makes me believe he is more than just a Plushenko clone.

Me 2 :D..........Where did you learn to read minds?

[Joesitz]

In no particular order, I would hope to see Joubert, Brezina and Nobunari on the podium.

also in no particular order, I expect to see Dai, Patrick, and Gachinsky on the podium.

[treeloving]

Regarding to the medal, Oda on podium will be lovely. He is overdue. And I have admit that the fact that he is new dad also make me root for him.

[wallylutz]

OTOH, I would like Patrick better if every time I've seen him, he wasn't skating through his music, something I really don't like. Perhaps his musicality improves by Canadian Nationals, but the only Canadian Nationals & 4CC's footage I've seen from him is badly synched streaming coverage-and everyone looks like they're skating through their music with that kind of media.

Here is HD clip of his LP, thanks to youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqukD...eature=related

Please tell us whether you see any improvement.