Any contender like Max or Reynolds could win worlds gold if all the top skaters skate bad like they did here unfortunately. It's happened at the Olympics and worlds for the ladies so it can happen with the men.
At this point, I think there are too many variables involved and too many talented skaters with quads to believe that Max Aaron or Kevin Reynolds could actually win gold at Worlds this year. Sure Kevin as a known quantity with more Worlds experience, and coming off a 4CC victory and with Worlds taking place in Canada, he has a better shot than Max Aaron has in his senior Worlds debut. Judges aren't necessarily going to anoint Max first time at senior Worlds with top PCS for landing quads and skating clean -- although if Max manages to get good draw positions and skates with great command, as the U.S. champion, he might score some political PCS points, along with the quad credit.
Now if Max and Kevin were actually more complete all-around skaters armed with such solid quads, they could really rock the house at Worlds. At their best, they are both pleasing to watch with the definite improvements they are making in their presentation skills. But they know just like we do that landing quads is much more important than bringing transcendent artistry to the ice.
The intriguing, appetizing possibility of slam dunk artistry combined with athletic ability is IMO what the judges love so much about Hanyu and Chan (and to a lesser extent Dai, since his quads aren't as solid). Unfortunately, Jeremy Abbott, Dai Takahashi and to a lesser extent, Denis Ten are the only high-ranked guys with truly mesmerizing artistic skills, but without the solid quads (and in Jeremy's and Ten's case, without consistent technique on jumps under pressure). And, Jeremy, who didn't even make it to Worlds this year, has been suffering from physical instability. Dai unfortunately was dissed in favor of Chan last season, and has fallen off artistically and athletically this season. Chan with creditable success this season seems to have felt the necessity to redeem himself artistically, even though he never stunk in that aspect -- there was just room for improvement in comparison to what Abbott and Dai bring to the ice artistically. As I've said repeatedly, Hanyu is engaging to watch and his quads are spectacularly beautiful, but he still needs to mature and further develop his style and identity on the ice. So, bottom line I don't think it helps necessarily to over-reward Han and Hanyu at this stage, especially with record-breaking scores.
Fernandez has more potential to win gold, and I think Amodio has a better chance than Kevin to podium should Hanyu, Chan, or Dai stumble significantly. Although, I personally can't stand Amodio's style of skating under Morosov, and I don't think he should be that highly regarded PCS-wise. Fernandez has the potential to be a skating god IMHO, but he's not really there yet artistically. Fernandez' quads like Hanyu's are absolutely beautiful in the air and spectacular when cleanly landed, and he's usually consistent on them. Personally, I don't like the idea of trying to land three quads in a program because I actually think it detracts from the artistic focus and balance of a program. But there you have it, the sport has gone to the quads. ISU seems to feel artistry is welcome and appreciated, but guys are being given the message they don't really have to bother spending too much time on that. Many will probably be injured and out of the sport before they have the chance to significantly improve their artistic skills with further growth and development of a polished, mature style.
At U.S. Nationals, one of the best skates of the entire figure skating season was performed by a relatively unknown skater, Alexander Johnson. Now that was complete skating, even without a quad! But who really cares among ISU PTB? The mens' event in fs is all about the battle of the quads and if you add potential artistry or show some arm-fluttering or emotive improvement with a dollop of well chosen music and/ or thematic enhancing choreography, you're in the conversation for podium buzz.
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