Which Skaters (or Team) are you most eager to see in the coming season?

Rusalka, how far away do you live from Torino?

Dee

ladies:
Mok - I thought she had so much potential after '03 Nats, and I wanted to see how she'd do in '04. I hope she's injury free this year.

Ota - Saw her for the first time at 4CC. LOVED her skating. Would like to see more of her.

Meissner/Taylor/Asada sisters - I'd like to see a glimpse of the future of the US and Japanese ladies

men:
Weir - how will he respond after a successful 04?

Buttle - love his style. Can he be consistent?

Lambiel - I get to see him once a year - max. That boy needs to be shown on US TV!!

Silvio Smalun - Yes, please come back and make Worlds!!!)
Stephane Lambiel - like I need a reason
Ryan Jahnke - can't wait to see his new programs, and I hope he makes the world team this year!
Matt Savoie - I always look forward to seeing him skate just like always and I hope Tom Dickson will give him another a kick ass LP!!
Gheorge Chiper - I love his originality and wonderful presentataion, and his programs are always something to look forward to!
Ilia Klimkin - also for his programs
Emanuel Sandhu - to see if he can finally come up with a long program that will do him justice
Bertsson and Verner - forgot their first names, but I was pretty impressed by their skating at Worlds and Euros!


Yukina Ota - 'nuff said
Joannie Rochette - I'm dying to see what David Wilson has in store for her!
Galina Maniachenko - I missed her so much at Worlds
Ye Bin Mok - I really, really hope that she'll have a big come back
Kimmie Meissner - I'm already seeing flashes of brilliance
Bebe Liang - she always has cool programs and I love her energy
Carolina Kostner - to see if her gifted choreographer can finally come up with something that actually shows some sign of his extraordinary talent

Galler-Rabinowitz & Mitchell - can't wait to see their new programs under Dubova; I think Dubova's more traditional style will work very well with them, and hopefully she'll help them with their speed and power ... I love this team
Kerrs - they are skating to N'Sync afterall...
Domnina & Shabalin - I really look forward to seeing them build on the huge leap they had this past season and I love this team
Mikhairova & Sergeev - they have such rhythm and charisma, and she's a totally fab dancer!
Virtue & Moir - I hope Shpilband doesn't ruin their classical style...
Denkova & Staviyski - their programs are always a thrill

And I'm going to go out on a limb to say that I'm also looking forward to see Tiffany Stiegler and her partner (as I've always been), if she has finalized her decision to go into dance, tho she is not likely to make the tv coverage this year.

I've never been a big pairs fan, and especially now that no couple on the scene particularly interests me, I really can't say whom I look forward to. I do like Obertas & Slavnov and it'd be nice to see them move up in the rankings. I also look forward to Berankova & Dlabola's always original programs.

I'm already tired of the off season!!!

Joe:

I am looking forward to seeing the new Canadian team this coming season. I heard they added six new skaters to the roster. This will really help boost the team.

Here is an article on it:

Six added to Canada's national team


Canadian Press



4/21/2004

GLOUCESTER, Ont. (CP) - Lesley Hawker, Christopher Mabee, the pairs team of Pascale Bergeron and Rob Davison, and the ice dance team of Judith Longpre and Shae Zukiwsky are the beneficiaries of a Skate Canada decision to expand the national senior team for the 2004-2005 figure skating season.



The team usually is comprised of athletes who place in the top five at nationals. For next season, the sixth-place finisher in each discipline will be added to the pool of skaters from which assignments are made for the top international meets.



``We are less than two years from the Olympic Games so Skate Canada would like to have a full roster of national team skaters this season,'' explained national teams director Gayle McClelland. ``Our 2004-2005 season has a direct impact on our Olympic berths.''



The national senior team:



Women
Cynthia Phaneuf, 16, Sorel-Tracy, Que.; Joannie Rochette, 18, Ile Dupas, Que.; Annie Bellemare, 24, St-Eustache, Que.; Mira Leung, 15, Vancouver; and Hawker, 22, Barrie, Ont.



Men
Emanuel Sandhu, 23, Richmond Hill, Ont.; Ben Ferreira, 25, Edmonton; Jeff Buttle, 21, Sudbury, Ont.; Fedor Andreev, 22, Ottawa; Nicholas Young, 21, Pembroke, Ont.; and Mabee, 18, Tillsonburg, Ont.



Pairs
Valerie Marcoux, 24, Gatineau, Que., and Craig Buntin, 23, Kelowna, B.C.; Anabelle Langlois, 22, Grand Mere Que., and Patrice Archetto, 31, Montreal; Elizabeth Putnam, 19, Richmond Hill and Sean Wirtz, 24, Marathon, Ont.; Utako Wakamatsu, 22, St-Leonard, Que., and Jean Sebastien Fecteau, 28, Thetford Mines, Que.; Jessica Miller, 23, Vancouver and Ian Moram, 24, Montreal; Bergeron, 22, Magog, Que., and Davison, 26, Calgary.



Dance
Marie-France Dubreuil, 29, Montreal, and Patrice Lauzon, 28, Boisbriand, Que.; Megan Wing, 28, and Aaron Lowe, 29, Vancouver; Chantal Lefebvre, 26, and Arseniy Markov, 22, Lasalle, Que.; Josee Piche, 29, Le Gardeur, Que., and Pacal Denis, 28, Repentigny, Que.; Longpre, 22, Montreal and Zukiwsky, 29, Pincher Creek, Alta.

Dee4707 said:

Rusalka, how far away do you live from Torino?

Dee

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From Genova to Torino I think it takes more or less 3 hours by train. I don't remember exactly because the last time I went there I was about 10. anyway, I'll check and tomorrow I'll tell you

Eurosport will show (almost) all skaters competing in Europeans and Worlds, especially I´m looking forward to see how these will fare (in no particular order):

- Lambiel
- Lysacek
- Weir
- Buttle
- Zelenka
- Verner

- Pavuk
- Poykio
- Ota
- Fang

- Faella & Scali
- Huot & Valkama

From Genova to Torino I think it takes more or less 3 hours by train.

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That must be one slow local train!

Torino is only 100 miles from Genova, but it takes about 2 hours by car because of the mountains.

I think that I went by bus between the 2, but that was also over a dacade ago, so my memeory may be faulty.

Edited to add: Ok I looked it up. The train takes anywhere from 1.5 hours to 3 hours depending on which one you take. 1.5 hours to go 100 miles is pretty slow, but then again, it's that damn mountains (beautiful scenery though! ).

Ladies

Victoria Pavuk
Carolina Kostner
Sasha Cohen

Men

Klimkin
Weir
Plushenko

Pairs

Obertas/Slavnov

Dance

D/Stav
Kerrs
Domnina/Shabalin
Faiella/Scali
Kulikova/Novikov

Well I'm very intrigued about Canadian men also.
I only get to see skaters through rinkside or trades so.....

Jeff Buttle - hopefully with some consistent jumps and his usual stunning programs stunning everyone again in GP but sustaining it through Nationals and getting to Worlds again!!

Shawn Sawyer - hope the coaching change = jumps come back. He skated a fab LP at Jnr Worlds. Hope he works hard through the summer and kicks ass at Nationals, at least getting the odd assignment for Olympic Year. He's too talented to mire away on the domestic scene

Lambiel - no schoo land extra training time - what will the results be like?

Weir - according to his site he's skating to Saint Seans for sp and "powerful piano music" for the LP. Can't wait!!!!

If they can hold it together jumpwise, these four guys will battle it out for the 4 years through to 2010. How exciting?????

Ladies:

Ye Bin Mok - Just awesome skating in 2003. If she can put it together she could just get that 3rd spot!

Yukina Ota - if she sorts her jumps out Japanese Nationals will be VERY interesting

Miki Ando - hope to see better programs and a more consistent quad and - dare I ask- a triple axel?

Mao Asada - to see how she fares on the JGP circuit. Seriously the girl has superstar written all over her. Since when did a Novice skater get so famous???

Skating looks to be in pretty good shape - not just for next season but in years to come!!

The ladies I'm most interested in seeing in the upcoming season:
AP McDonough, Jenny Kirk, Kimmie Meisner, Katy Taylor.
Men:
Johnny Weir, Evan Lysacek, Parker Pennington, Ryan Bradley, Jordan Brauninger, Ben Ferreira, Fedor Andreev.
Pairs:Shen & Zhao, Pang & Tong.
Dance:Belbin & Agosto, Gregory & Petukhov.

Ladies:
Irina!
Alima Gerchkovic (because I've never seen her)
Carolina Kostner
Susanna Pöykiö
Lina Johansson (never seen)
all the Japanese girls, especially Shizuka and Miki and Mai Asada (the last one never seen)
Sasha Cohen
Cynthia Phaneuf (never seen)

Men:
Evgeny!
Johnny Weir
Ilia Klimkin
Vakhtang Murvanidze
Stephane Lambiel
Jeff Buttle

Pairs:
Shen & Zhao
Obertas & Slavnov

Dance:
Denkova & Stavisky

Ladies:

Jennifer Don
Viktoria Pavuk
Galina Maniachenko

Men:

Jeff Buttle
Emannuel Sandhu
Ilia Klimkin
Miguel Angel Moyron
Johnny Weir

Pairs:

Marcoux & Buntin
Don & Hunt
Orscher & Lucash

Dance:

Kerr & Kerr
Faiella & Scali
Beier & Beier
Grushina/Goncharov
Gregory/Petukov

yes, berthes ghost,yesterday I had a look at the trains time table. usually it takes 2 hours. but from the place where I live I have to take a bus and another train to get to the station from where the train to Torino leaves, so it takes at least half an hour more. where are you from?

Men
Tim Goebel
Ryan Jahnke
Matt Savoie
Jeff Buttle
Kevin Van Der Perrin

Ladies
Jenny Kirk
Angela Nikodinov
Amber Corwin
Bebe Liang
Cynthia Phaneuf

Pairs
Anabelle Langlois & Patrice Archetto
Katie Orscher & Garrett Lucash
Mark Ladwig & Amanda Evora
Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao

Dance
Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto
Megan Wing & Aaron Lowe
Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukov

I will also be attending US Nats this year and am looking foward to seeing all the US skaters there again. Atlanta was SO much fun and I think Portland is going to be even better.

Men: Plushy (of course), Eman, Weir, Buttle, Honda
Ladies: Sasha, Michelle, Shizuka, Joannie, Cynthia, Irina!
Dance: D/L and L/M
Pairs: Chinese and Canadian teams

This is what I'm looking forward to finding out next season:

Will Klimkin, Murvanidze, and Goebel come back strong from injury? Plushenko from surgery? Slutskaya from illness?

Will Weir add a bit more variety to his tempi and land some quads? Will Rochette add a bit more variety to her music and tempi and land some more combinations? Will Joubert expand upon his range of expression?

Will Poykio continue to be compared negatively to Kwan for their similarities and given little credit for their differences? Or will she be recognized and rewarded for her strengths?

Will training under Kudriatsev help Klimkin and Volchkova to be more consistent and Sokolova to fulfill her potential as an all-around skater, which she showed during Worlds qualis this year? Will training for a full year under Wagner help Cohen to land three great programs at Nationals and Worlds? Will training full time help Lambiel to clean up the rough edges in his technique and realize his vast potential?

Will getting a Moskvina program cause Obertas/Slavnov to break through next year? What will Team Tarasova and Arakawa do as an encore?

Will Sebestyen, Weir, and Lindemann surpass their breakout seasons? Will Cohen and Joubert be able to win gold?

Will Buttle, Verner, Wilson, Berntsson, Nurmenkari, and Takahashi land those jumps and become more consistent?

Will Sweden let Lina Johansson skate seniors?

How will the match-up between Shen/Zhao and Totmianina/Marinin play out next year? Will Pang/Tong really be in the mix, or will Zhang/Zhang close in on Pang/Tong?

Will the Kerrs and/or Hoffmann/Elek continue to rise next year?

How will the competition between the 3rd-6th dance teams go?

Hockeyfan - So many questions! So many GOOD questions. I'd like to add:

Will Jenny Kirk hold on to her 3rd best USA skater status?

Will we see Yukina Ota on the Japanese World Team?

Joe

Takeshi, Jeff Buttle, Johnny Weir, Matt Savoie, Ryan Jahnke, Kevin Van Der Perren, Stephane Lambiel, Brian Joubert

Fumie, Jenny Kirk, Alisa Drei

Langlois & Archetto, Inoue & Baldwin, Orscher & Lucash

Tanith & Ben, Gregory & Petukhov

hockeyfan228 said:

This is what I'm looking forward to finding out next season:

Will Sweden let Lina Johansson skate seniors?

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Johansson is already planning to compete in her first Europeans in 2005 now that she is old enough. It will be interesting to see if she is invited to skate in the Senior Grand Prix this fall.

Sylvia said:

Johansson is already planning to compete in her first Europeans in 2005 now that she is old enough. It will be interesting to see if she is invited to skate in the Senior Grand Prix this fall.

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Many thanks for your reply.


Wooo hooo!!!