WTT All Stars

[attyfan]

Please pick a country, and list who you think is that country's best in all four disciplines (i.e., what you think that country's "dream team" would be for a World Team Trophy-type event). Post links if possible For example, for the US, I think the "dream team" would be:

Pairs: Tai and Randy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63cmIfO-u6k

Men: While I think Dick Button is the greatest men's skater the US ever produced, I think Brian Boitano would probably do better at the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmPt90PnRf4

Dance: Blumberg and Seibert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyfosI-IcYY

Ladies: HRH (Her Royal Highness; what else do you call a Kween?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjRn9pjbOCc

[Olympia]

Ooh, what a great idea.

I support the Kween! I like your idea of Blumberg and Siebert as well, though I have such a soft spot for Davis and White. For men I always gravitate to Paul Wylie. His skating just does something for me. Boitano is marvelous, but I like Wylie's quickness and elegant lines, and his musicality.

For Canada, I would choose Kurt for men, Underhill/Martini for pairs, Virtue/Moir for ice, and...hmmm. Josee Chouinard for ladies. I like her style, though I realize that she's not always consistent. This is magic-land, and I decree that she will be at the top of her form.

Japan has become an agonizing choice! I'll choose Mao but am tempted to figure out a way to squeeze Shizuka in--disguised as a pairs skater or ice dancer, perhaps? For men, Takahashi, of course. Pairs and ice...I draw a blank, except to volunteer Shizuka as an ice dancer. Yuka Sato could be part of the pairs team, of course, being a pairs skater. Can Jason Dunjen skate for Japan? He's married into it, so to speak. (I know how hard it is to become a Japanese citizen, but again, this is magic-land.

France could be fun! Ice dance is for me Marina and Gwendal. Singles...ptui, I haven't kept up. I'll have to choose Surya as the lady, Brian Joubert as the man. Abitbol/Bernardis as the pair?

[Mathman]

...hmmm. Josee Chouinard for ladies. I like her style, though I realize that she's not always consistent. This is magic-land, and I decree that she will be at the top of her form.

Not Barbara Ann Scott?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUTTkM_pj0I

[Olympia]

I considered her, of course; she's their most accomplished lady. But Chouinard has such charm.

[Buttercup]

France could be fun! Ice dance is for me Marina and Gwendal. Singles...ptui, I haven't kept up. I'll have to choose Surya as the lady, Brian Joubert as the man. Abitbol/Bernardis as the pair?

I would go with A/B, too - France had a very successful pair in Joly/Brunet, but that was way back in the 1920s and 30s, so not really relevant... for ladies, I liked Vanessa Gusmeroli better than Surya. Definitely Joubert and A/P in the other disciplines.

Russia - an embarrassment of riches for sure:
Ladies: Slutskaya
Men: Yagudin and Plushenko can each skate a program, I left Plushenko linkless so that Seniorita can tell me which performance is best.
Pairs: G/G and the Protopopovs can each skate a program with B/S in reserve, or R/Z.
Dance: K/P and G/P can each skate a program with U/Z in reserve.
* I included skaters who competed for the Soviet Union, but it's easy enough to find alternatives if that's a problem

Great Britain
Ladies: Cecillia Colledge, if it were the young Colledge then with training she could get up to the current standard
Men: John Curry
Pairs: I don't know. The Nicks siblings, maybe? If only to watch Mr. Nicks skate. I refuse to pick Kemp and King.
Dance: Torvill and Dean, duh.

[dorispulaski]

What rules are we competing under? 1990's pro competitions I think, perhaps?

USA
Dance - I'm the reverse of Olympia; I love Blumberg & Siebert to pieces, but they tended to fall even in pro competitions Like Josee Choinard, they were wonderful but likely to cause a terrible case of stress in their fans. Consequently, it's fortunate that I also love Davis &White, so I pick them.
Men
Definitely Brian Boitano.
Pairs
Definitely Tai & Randy
Ladies
This is tricky. There are lots to choose from, but I'm old skool. Janet Lynn is great, and the Kween is awesome, but somehow Dorothy Hamill will always have my heart.

Russia
Pairs
The Protopopovs (said I was old skool didn't I? They are my favorite pair of all time.)
Dance
Now this is hard. There are so many wonderful Russian dance teams that it is hard to pick...but again, I'm going with my first loves, Pakhomova & Gorshkov, who basically reinvented and repackaged the entire sport. But I also have a soft spot for Moiseeva & Minenkov and Usova & Zhulin.
Men
It always seems to come down between Yagudin and Plushenko; great taste/less filling , less filling/great taste. I pick Plush
Ladies
No contest. Irina Slutskaya for her guts, her 1000 watt smile, her utter ability to charm an audience, her eye blazing speed, and her one foot the whole length of the ice footwork.

Japan
Men
Dai; there is no other choice for a Pro 1990's rules show
Ladies
I think Shizuka. Who can resist the power of her Ina Bauer?
Pairs
Takahashi & Tran, I think. The last pair the Japanese had was Rena Inoue when she skated with Tomoaki Koyama! Beside I love T&T, and it would be too cruel to include Rena without John.
Dance
This is tricky, but although they didn't have much success, I still like Watanabe & Kido. For one thing, we have some wonderful photos we took of them

Great Britain
Dance
Torvill & Dean, but there were other great British dancers before them who created most of the compulsory dances. Just no one as great.
Men
John Curry or Robin Cousins. Well, I love John Curry
Pairs
Here I'm stuck. There have not been many British pairs in modern times, and none that I remember. I'm going back a long way to Madge Syers & Edgar Syers, her husband
Ladies
Cecilia Colledge! A real pioneer and a gorgeous skater, who invented the spiral and the several spins. Here she is in a montage, created by floskate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDLVM-Hjzwc

Canada
Pairs
Has to be Underhill & Martini, for me. Preferably skating to Unchained Melody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHPQTlOOH9o
Men
Now this is hard. I love Kurt, but I loved Toller Cranston first And Patrick is great too, but sorry y'all, if I'm doing 1990's shows rules, I want the inimitable Gary Beacom...nope it's Toller. Here he is seen giving 3 exhibition skates at one Evening with Champions performance in 1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QrhjR1iVvc
Ladies
Elizabeth Manley; there's a girl with competitive fire, who could also knock out a great show program.
Dance
I'd love to have two choices here, Virtue & Moir and Wilson & McCall. Tessa and Scott are better skaters, so like with Davis & White, I have to go with them for the team, but just for the memories, here's Wilson & McCall's Elite Syncopations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWO4eG_EwG8


France
Men
Absolutely, has to be Brian Joubert
Ladies
Surya Bonaly! A winner in the show format; who cared about what edges she jumped off! She can still wow a crowd.
Dance
Anissina & Peizerat or the Duchesnays? For me, the Duchesnays, again for the pro format. Anissina & Peizerat for the 6.0 format.
Pairs
Abitbol & Bernadis! Skating to the Addams Family!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKh4CTUxrKE

China
Ladies
No Contest! The ever fabulous Lu Chen
Pairs
Again, who but Shen & Zhao!!
Men
I have a soft spot for Chenjiang Li, but I think I have to go with Han Yan, the current Chinese champion and reigning world Junior Champion!
Dance
Here's where it's difficult. I would think that a country that produces a limitless number seemingly, of wonderful pairs, would have great dancers, but somehow dance has never taken off in China.
I have to go with the current Chinese dance champions
Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun

Italy
Dance
Fusar-poli & Margaglio for the fireworks alone!
Ladies
Carolina Kostner
Men
I think I have to go back to Carlo Fassi
Pairs
There haven't been that many Italian pairs, and fewer that were special, but Stefania Berton / Ondřej Hotárek and developing really well!

Germany
Women
Katerina Witt, of course!
Pairs
Savchenko & Szolkowy, also of course
Men
I have a very soft sport for Norbert Schramm, but I suppose it should go to Jan Hoffman. Schramm would be better for pro competitions
Dance
Again, although they didn't have amazing success, I always loved the elegant look of Winkler & Lohse

[Olympia]

Switzerland!

Just for the joy of seeing Lambiel. (Though honestly, I was trying to cook up a two-country alliance so he and Shizuka could be the Japanese pair, and then Asada could be the singles. They do such great pro skates together.)

Women is Kostner.

I can't think of any dance or pairs folk from Switzerland, but if there are any, we know they do great spins and/or twizzles. As they've told us for years, it's the chocolate.

I was thinking of Toller too, Doris. Like you, I loved him first: he and Curry brought me into skating.

Maybe we ought to have a Hall of Fame team with a wild card entry for each position. That would solve everything. The lady could be Michelle, and the man could be Kurt. That would free up those spots in their respective countries. Pairs could be G and G, allowing either the Protopopovs or B and S to be the Russian pair. As for ice dance, it ought to be Torvill and Dean, but Britain needs them, so I'd choose Klimova and Ponomarenko to give the Russians a bit of room for another of their many, many splendid ice dance couples.

[janetfan]

^Great list Doris!

I would pick the following for USA based on who I enjoyed the most with a nod to wow factor.

Nobody ever mesmerized a crowd the way Janet did whether it was on home ice or abroad.

John Misha Petkovich was the most dynamic and exciting of the American Men that I ever saw skate.

Randy and Tai brought something fresh and new to Pairs skating, a distinct American style that delighted audiences.

No one picked Tanith and Ben but at their best crowds loved this team. I think they also did alot to get Americans interested in Ice Dancing and set the bar much higher for American teams that followed.



ETA: For Canada I would pick Toller and let's not forget Karen Magnuson. She was a terrific all around skater - very good at figures and freeskating.
After Barbara Ann Scott she is the best Canada has produced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIH9SUftXSg

Check out the "Magnuson spiral"

[mskater93]

Why not for Japanese lady Midori Ito? No one captured hearts like Midori and those jumps!!

[Kitt]

People who brought me into skating:

Pairs: G&G
Ladies: Sasha
Men: Alexei or Johnny
Dance: Tanith & Ben

[Buttercup]

Switzerland!

Just for the joy of seeing Lambiel. (Though honestly, I was trying to cook up a two-country alliance so he and Shizuka could be the Japanese pair, and then Asada could be the singles. They do such great pro skates together.)

Women is Kostner.

I can't think of any dance or pairs folk from Switzerland, but if there are any, we know they do great spins and/or twizzles. As they've told us for years, it's the chocolate.

Carolina's not Swiss; I'd go with Sarah Meier For pairs, there's Morand/Dorsaz, who skated in Vancouver but then he quit. She's partnerless at the moment, but still quite young. There have definitely been dance teams, but none come to mind at the moment.

Ukraine
Ladies: Oksana Baiul
Men: Viktor Petrenko
Pairs: Volosozhar/Morozov
Dance: Probably Grushina and Goncharov, right?

Spain
Ladies: Sonia Lafuente
Men: Javier Fernandez
Pairs: Is there a junior pair at the moment? I'm curious because the top ten countries will qualify for the Olympic event, and Spain was in the top ten last year.
Dance: Hurtado/Diaz

[fairly4]

i don't know for all countries to put them down
but for russia,
i would pick irina slutskayia for ladies
alexi yagudin for men
pairs the irina rodina and one of her partner or G & G
dance not sure
britian of course
torvill & dean for dance
john curry for men
unsure of ladies and pairs,

canada,
tricky
joannie, barbara ann scott for ladies
men--tough, kurt or brian orser
pairs, ithink the won who won in 1960 , 1956
dance right i think viture and moir

japan so hard to choose ladies, right now shizuka, yuka, midori
men daisurke
pairs and dance don't know

USA ladies--Michelle Kwan 2nd peggy fleming, 3rd--tenley albright, janet
men --Dick button 1st choice-then either scott hamilton, brian boitano or hayes jenkins
pairs--carol and peter kennedy
dance, judy --- james sladky

other coutries, dianne del leuww for one
i am not sure of other

china--zhen zhao
lu chen
dance men not sure

good question

[Tonichelle]

USA
Ladies: Kristi Yamaguchi
Men: Brian Boitano
Pairs: Tai & randy
Dance: Tanith & Ben

Japan
Ladies: Yuka Sato
Men: Daisuke Takahashi
Pairs: T&T
Dance: I dunno, the reeds?

russia (sorry my r key doesn't work so I have to copy and paste the "r" can't capitolize without finding one to copy)
Ladies: Irina
Men: Alexei Yagudin
Pairs: Katia & Sergei
Dance: Usova & Platov

Canada
Ladies: Joannie
Men: Kurt
Pairs: Sale & Pelletier
Dance: Virtue & Moir

[Mathman]

R

This is a cool thread. One thing that stands out is how few countries can field a full competitive team at all!

[Olympia]

Indeed, Math. Pretty much just Canada, the U.S., Russia, and France. Not even Japan, currently.

And Buttercup, I blush with embarrassment. How did I get my Alpine countries turned around and make Carolina Swiss? I apologize to all skaters and countries concerned and agree that Sarah Meier is a much better selection.