Who will skate in the team event | Page 9 | Golden Skate

Who will skate in the team event

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I respectfully disagree. I don't think people are demanding that the USFSA hand him anything but rather a give him a fair & deserving shot at a medal at the team event. Yes, he may not have the quad to compete with the top contenders in the individual event. But he has shown in his first senior season to be one of the most promising & talented skaters to come out in the US men's field in a while. Why shouldn't he be deemed "worthy" of representing them as part of Team USA? Are the USFS seriously going to hedge all their bets on Jeremy who hasn't exactly established himself as a consistent top skater in the past?

There's been speculations about countries like Canada, France & Japan splitting their men for the team event. And guess what - now there's reports of Chan/Reynolds, Joubert/Amodio, Hanyu/Machida practicing in Sochi while Jason's apparently still in Munich and won't leave till tomorrow. So yeah, I'm nervous to say the least. I just can't make sense of what the USFSA plans are for him.

ETA: Given Jason's penchant for long practices maybe he and Kori thought it best to stay in Munich where there's less distractions & have extra time on the ice? It's my understanding that the skaters in Sochi are limited to 2 40 minute sessions a day at the official rink, no? Where's Gracie Gold at? If Jason is still not a lock for the team event I'm 99.99% sure that Gracie IS so I'm curious to know if she is in Sochi already.

Ahh, I'm definitely stressing out about all this more than I should!! Darn you Jason for making me give a hoot about US figure skating again! :laugh:

Don't be nervous. Jason will win gold in 2018 and he still will probably be named to the team event and if he isn't he is young and he can focus on winning an individual medal. Remember at least he is at the games skaters like Mirai aren't.
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
I think with all the changes in rules and addition of the team event, despite how bad I felt about all the negativity thrown her way, this is actually shaping up to be a very lucky year for Ashley.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Groan indeed? Maybe they're waiting to see how each lady is practicing on Olympic ice? Or maybe they're holding them somewhere in the village making them duke it out in a card game tournament? :laugh: Who knows...

YES CARD GAME! I vote for Settlers of Catan! Okay that's more of a board game...but perfect game to detrmine DOMINATION!

Not to worry, Mrs. P ... I would say that Settlers also is a card game in that it involve a lot of cards as well as the board. :yes:

I'm as interested in all the news of the team event as anyone, but maybe we ourselves could use a lengthy round of Settlers as a therapeutic distraction for some members of GS who are sounding too intense for their own good. ;) (I don't mean you or desertskates.)

[Digression: I'm reminding myself of that old funny/cute video in which Scott Moir laughs :laugh: at himself for using the word "intense!" when it didn't really suit his meaning, and Tessa laughs along with (not at) him. One of the many examples of Scott's self-deprecating humor.]

I'm not a gamer, but I remember that Charlie White and Evan Bates took one of the full-sized contraptions (XBox or something like that?) to Vancouver to keep them relaxed. Wonder if they did the same for Sochi. Maybe Wagner and Gold could duke it out with a video game ... except then Edmunds might jump in and dominate them both, LOL. (Don't remember the name of the game that Edmunds was playing earlier.)
(Super-random thought from someone who likes braids :): Edmunds already is giving Gold a run for her money in the braided hairstyles department.)
 

samson

Medalist
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
I for one totally get it if Patrick doesn't want to do the free. I'm sure he's trained well enough that if he needs to he can skate the free and still deliver in the rest of the event, but for what it's worth a good deal of Patrick's skating seems to be a mental game.

Sometimes it's about allowing yourself the space to "no" to something so you can take care of what really matters to you. With his short program, he's already struck lightning twice with it and I can see why he'd be more comfortable throwing it down twice in Sochi. But he spends a lot of time talking about "saving" his good skates for the Olympics and while I'm sure if he was able to mentally decide to deliver 4 amazing skates here he could... it doesn't always work like that.

The mind is an elusive thing to understand, and some stuff even a sport psychologist can't just help you through. Not to mention, I can only imagine what sorts of things can play at his mind with the whole Canadian Mens legacy at the Olympics. By not skating the free, it probably does make it a lot harder for Canada to win the team gold, but I understand it.
 

samson

Medalist
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
^but then again he could show up and skate 4 times and I wouldn't be surprised by that either!

UGH all this speculation makes my head spin!
 

M&R

Rinkside
Joined
May 7, 2013
If Canada lets Kevin skate the long they will not win Gold or maybe even silver. Please no Kevin!
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
If Canada lets Kevin skate the long they will not win Gold or maybe even silver. Please no Kevin!

The problem is that Patrick skating 4 competitive programs in the span of a week could put him at a serious disadvantage against the Japanese men and other top contenders. I think Canada would accept a lower medal in team to give Patrick the best chance at individual gold.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I'm not a gamer, but I remember that Charlie White and Evan Bates took one of the full-sized contraptions (XBox or something like that?) to Vancouver to keep them relaxed. Wonder if they did the same for Sochi. Maybe Wagner and Gold could duke it out in a video game ... except then Edmunds might jump in and dominate them both, LOL. (Don't remember the name of the game that Edmunds was playing earlier.)
(Super-random thought from someone who likes braids :): Edmunds already is giving Gold a run for her money in the braided hairstyles department.)

Ah, you're thinking "Call of Duty," golden411. :)
 

kresslia

Medalist
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
It's too bad, because the Kevin of last year would probably end up second or third in the LP, meaning barely any lost points.

Actually, screw second or third, he could have even been first if he was clean.
 

hyperinflation

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
i'm seriously starting to think chan should just suck it the hell up and skate both. three days recovery is a buttload of time
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Due to the very real terrorists threats in Russia, the U.S. State Department advised it's athletes not to venture out of the Olympic village but if they did, they are advised not to wear 'USA' clothing. I think it wouldn't be wise for skaters to be in Germany or elsewhere while the Games are going on. It's a safety issue. Jmo.

My understanding is that the concern re terrorism and the recommendation against wearing USA clothing pertain specifically to the vicinity of Sochi surrounding the Olympic security zone.

Flying to Germany and wearing USA clothing there would be a completely unrelated scenario, AFAIK.
 

hyperinflation

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
I wouldnt be surprised if we see Chan skate the long program unexpectedly and Weaver & Poje skate instead of Reynolds. However I am not sure that is wise. Canada has faint to no chance of the gold at this point anyway, and I could see Chan trying too hard and falling apart in the team long, damaging his confidence further for the individual event.

v/m are very strangely set and enthusiastic about skating both programs, so i doubt we'll see weapo. i hope chan changes his mind, but i doubt it. it's clear what his priorities are. which is a mistake, imo he's more likely to get team gold than individual gold at the moment

My understanding is that the concern re terrorism and the recommendation against wearing USA clothing pertain specifically to the vicinity of Sochi surrounding the Olympic security zone.

the usa uniform this year is hideous anyway, i wouldn't wear it even without the threat of a terrorist attack. it looks like the american flag up and got explosive diarrhea all over someone's jacket
 

hyperinflation

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
I suspect if V&M lose the SD to D&W in the team event (which I predict they will) their enthusiasm for skating both rounds of the team event will suddenly evaporate. The last thing they will want is to lose 2 programs to D&W before the individual event even begins. I think if V&M win the SD we see Reynolds, and if they dont we see W&P.

i see your point and this may very well happen, but they were really gung ho about skating both so who knows. will canada even medal if weapo skate the long? i haven't done the math
 

hyperinflation

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Canada will easily win silver even if they use both weapo and reynolds. U.S is no threat at this point. They would actually probably lose alot more points using Reynolds than they would using weapo. There is a good chance France wont even make the Team Final, and if that is the case Wepo arguably would be likely to finish in exactly the same position as V&M in the 2nd round- 2nd. Yeah V&M could finish 1st over D&W, or W&P could finish 3rd or even 4th with I&K and C&L, but the most likely outcome for both teams in the 2nd round would in fact be 2nd place for either. Chan meanwhile would be likely to win the 2nd round (Plushenko is far less likely to get through a really strong long, and Machida will lose to Chan on PCS unless Chan really struggles) and Reynolds would be extremely likely to come 4th behind all of Japan, Russia, U.S.

is hanyu skating the long? if he isn't, it would be an easy win for chan even if he doesn't skate clean (which he won't), because i too doubt grandpa plushy will do as well in the long as he did in the short, even with inflated scores

weapo ain't beating i/k on home ice
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
is hanyu skating the long? if he isn't, it would be an easy win for chan even if he doesn't skate clean (which he won't), because i too doubt grandpa plushy will do as well in the long as he did in the short, even with inflated scores

weapo ain't beating i/k on home ice

If I&K skate a FD like they did at Europeans, Russian Nationals, or any of their outings this year minus one (where they beat P&B), W&P will have no problem beating I&K even in Russia. There is only so much home ice will do for you. Basically most of their FD performances this year were disaesters, which makes it all the more laughable Russia is including them at the expense of Sotnikova just to do the FD instead of B&S.

Machida is skating the LP for Japan.
 
Top