I hope Joannie Rochette wins this one

**Blade1** · 01-04-2004, 02:33 PM

I too see alot of greatness from Joannie. The first and only time I've seen her skate live is at Nationals in 2002 and she was enjoyable to watch. And watching her on TV from then on forward, she remindes me of a young Josee Chouinard.

With Nationals this week, I'd like to see a fresh new face on top of the podium, and like someone said, others like Bellemare, Currie etc... who have been out there , Joannie has probably improved and developed more so than the others. No disrespect to Jennifer either, just to me, I find her "slow" in her speed, and just doesn't have that same "spark" as to use to. So I'd be a happy Canadian if I saw Joannie on top this year at Nationals. I think she would do extreamly well at World's too. I mean you've got to give her a chance !!

**RealtorGal** · 01-05-2004, 08:07 PM

Originally posted by shine
She seriously is the most talented skater of her generation. Her skating and her arms absolutely mesmerize me. I doubt she doesn't play an instrument herself, because the kind of classical musical sophistication is so apparent in her skating. I think Secret Garden should be banned from skating after Joanie. I've never been a fan of skater skating to slow, pretty music, but Joannie does it like no other. I don't mean this to sound like a cliche, but she totally skates like a poet.
Gush gush gush. I hope she wins this one.

Wow, I guess you are REALLY a fan! :D I think "most talented skater of her generation" is going a bit too far, doncha think? The only performance I've seen is at Cup of Russia, and she came across as fairly ho hum--nothing to write home about. I see potential but not much else at this point. She reminded me a lot of Tonia Kwiatkowski, whose movements I always found a bit jerky.

**Lynn226** · 01-05-2004, 10:13 PM

I enjoyed watching Joannie at the SC practices and she did well in her short program which was shown during the CoR broadcast.

**shine** · 01-05-2004, 10:41 PM

Originally posted by RealtorGal
Wow, I guess you are REALLY a fan! :D I think "most talented skater of her generation" is going a bit too far, doncha think? The only performance I've seen is at Cup of Russia, and she came across as fairly ho hum--nothing to write home about. I see potential but not much else at this point. She reminded me a lot of Tonia Kwiatkowski, whose movements I always found a bit jerky.

Obviously you are not seeing what I am seeing. Not unusual :D And Kwiakowski has never been the most talented skater of any generation so Joannie doesn't remind me of her. :D Not sure how Joannie's movement could be called jerky. She is one of the most fluid skaters I've EVER seen. Edges to die for, arms and all.

**ice_mommy** · 01-05-2004, 11:53 PM

I agree with your assessment of Kwiatkowski, but I don't see how you can say that Joannie looks like this when she skates. I think one of her strong points is that she's able to connect her movements seemlessly with each other and her music. She's had jump consistency problems this season. I'm hoping that her 6 triple qualifying skate means she's dealt with these problems. Go Joannie...skate well

:D

**RealtorGal** · 01-06-2004, 07:19 PM

As I mentioned, I have only seen her skate ONCE, so I can hardly make a blanket assessment of her skating. All I am saying is that in that one performance, I was not impressed. I just didn't see that grace and elegance of the whole body that I have seen in skaters like Sasha or Baiul. Those types of skaters have a kind of fluidity that flows throughout their entire bodies. It's hard to explain beyond that. It's not a case of "nice arms" or "clean jumps". There's a kind of connection and flow throughout the body, and I just didn't see it in that one performance. Also, I like to reserve statements like "greatest skater of her generation" to those who have a few international medals under their belt. If you post statements like that on a message board, that's just fine--just expect someone to come along and say "I don't see it".

**shine** · 01-07-2004, 02:59 AM

I agree with you about Baiul, but I don't see what fluidity Sasha Cohen has in her movemet. Ultra extension, sure. Fluidity? That's what belongs to Rochette. Her movement just flows from the music and reaches its natural end as the music dictates, instead of the generic, vertical and rigid way in which Cohen moves.