Best Male Skater of the 90s | Golden Skate

Best Male Skater of the 90s

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BronzeisGolden02

Guest
Best Male Skater of the 90s

Its almost Oscar time and I think we should choose our Best Male Performer in a Skating Decade. I was going to put this on the voting thread, but there were only 5 choices and that is entirely not enough! Here's who I was thinking were the frontrunners:

Kurt Browning
Viktor Petrenko
Paul Wylie
Elvis Stojko
Alexei Urmanov
Philippe Candeloro
Todd Eldredge
Ilya Kulik
Alexei Yagudin

Wow, I didn't even realize this would be such a difficult decision. There are so many factors to take into consideration, but, I'd have to go with Paul Wylie. I'm a sucker for the senstive artist every time and I think he was the premier artist of the 90s. If only he could have had more confidence and was able to handle the pressure, he would have had way more than Olympic silver. So, I guess I'll rank them:

1. Paul Wylie
2. Kurt Browning
3. Todd Eldredge (So solid and reliable)
4. Elvis Stojko
5. Alexei Yagudin (Really came into his own in 2000s)
6. Ilya Kulik
7. Philippe Candeloro
8. Alexei Urmanov
9. Viktor Petrenko (I just never liked him!)
 
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rgirl181

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

Ooh, great topic! Great male skaters! I'm going to have to sleep on my choices though (I wish:smokin: ). I'll just have to settle for dreaming.

Back later with my decision. Except I will say now (since I might forget later) that I'd like to give Joe Sabovcik an honorary mention for being the only heavy metal skater and for doing jumps like the single tuck Axel. Not one of the greats in terms of your list, BG, but I think he did carve out a great niche for himself as Jumpin' Joe.
Rgirl
 
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heyang

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

With the exception of Kurt, all of these skaters have won wolrd or olympic medals in the 1990's. If you're including Kurt due to his 94 Oly appearance, you need to add Brian Boitano to this list since he also re-instated. If you also intended to include pro's of the 90's, then Scott H, Brian B and Brian O should be included as selections.
 
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Show 42

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

..........Great topic for discussion......Definitely Paul Wylie, a total package skater, even though he had a poor track record for delivering a clean skate when it counted the most,(except at the 1992 Olympics)..........42
 
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BronzeisGolden02

Guest
Heyang

Heyang,

Good point, I should have stated that I was thinking amateurs only. Also, I would put Boitano in the 80s category, even though he did compete at the 94 Nationals and Olympics. LOL, I thought this would be fun, and the list doesn't have to stand as is, thats who really stood out for me personally in the 90s as amateurs.
 
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ladybug

Guest
Re: Heyang

Show

Paul really came into his own as a professional. He became much more consistant.

My vote goes to Paul and Brian Boitano. Two of the very best and Rudy as Mr. Entertainment.
 
O

Ogre Mage

Guest
Kurt Browning

Didn't Kurt win World Gold in 1991 and 1993?
 
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Jaana

Guest
Re: Kurt Browning

LOL, this is difficult, as I value the Olympic and Worlds success very much, general skating abilities and also the versatility & expressiveness of the skaters. Based on what these skaters did in nineties, here is my list:

1. Ilia Kulik and Kurt Browning (Ilia because of e.g. Olympic gold, versatility & expressiveness & general skating abilities, and Kurt because of his versatility & expressiveness, skating abilities and his total of four World golds altogether)
3. Paul Wylie (versatility and expressiveness, skating abilities)
4. Viktor Petrenko
5. Alexei Urmanov
6. Alexei Yagudin
7. Todd Eldredge
8. Elvis Stojko
9. Philippe Candeloro

Marjaana
 
P

Patinaje

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

Thinking about overall acomplishments during the 90s only, I would give this order

Kurt Browning
Ilia Kulik
Paul Wylie
Todd Eldredge
Elvis Stojko
Viktor Petrenko
Philippe Candeloro
Alexei Urmanov
Alexei Yagudin

Before any Alexei fans, start to "scream" LOL, remember we are talking "overall" 90s, right?
 
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Show 42

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

I think that the lists compiled so far are solid. Easily, any of the skaters could make the top three or five and be right on the money........42
 
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Joesitz

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

Pros - Kurt Browning. (Ilia Kulik coming on strong.)

Amateurs - Best Jumps - Plushenko (he would be in worst spins)
Best Syle - Ilia Klimkin
Best Flow - Abt and Eldridge

Best all-round Skater - Stoyko and Yags

Joe
 
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Kara Bear

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

Elvis Stojko (the quad master)
Kurt Browning
Ilya Kulik
Todd Eldredge
Viktor Petrenko
Philippe Candeloro
Alexei Yagudin (he didn't really come into his own until the end of the decade)
Paul Wylie
Alexei Urmanov
 
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Kasey

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

Well, despite the no Olympic medals, I would have to think Kurt Browning....I am a huge Yagudin fan, but I agree that he more has come into his own since 2000. Also, Paul Wylie...wow, what a final 6-7 years of a career! Yay Paul!

And another "honorable mention" to Jumpin Joe Sabovcik....one of the most talented jumpers ever, and a great attraction as a pro skater throughout the last decade...

Kasey
 
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rgirl181

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

It's rainin' men, hallelujah! Sorry, got excited again. Okay, same situation as with the ladies, eligible best vs. pro best, and combination.

My No. 1 guy: Kurt Browning
Even though Kurt didn't medal at the Olympics, his situation reminds me of Michelle's in that his Olympic record doesn't reflect his true abilities. He was injured in '92 and in '94, had a nightmare of a SP, though with his LP, "Casablanca" he would have easily won the gold with a top three finish in the short, even a top five. Didn't he go from something like 12th after the SP to 4th after the LP? I don't know, but I know he moved up a lot. Kurt had a rough start to his competitive pro career, but he was always da bomb with SOI. IMO, Kurt is the best all around skater in the world today.

The rest:
Paul Wylie
Ilia Kulik
Elvis Stojko
Todd Eldredge
Alexei Yagudin
Viktor Petrenko
Philippe Candeloro
Alexei Urmanov

Rgirl
 
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HamiltonBrowningFan

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

Kurt Browning, hands down even without the Olympic medal... he's a 4 time world champion... and brought mens skating to a whole new level of artistry


Alexei came on top after the 98 olys... so he'd be more of the "best skater of the early 2000s" ;)
 
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BronzeisGolden02

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

HamiltonBrowningFan,

I was just considering the decade as 90-99 and who was the best in that time frame. Alexei wasn't what he'd be in the 00s, but he did make an impressive mark before the decade's end. He won two World titles, a bronze in 97 and many other titles. So, I'd say he should definitely be recognized as a force of the 90s that also extended his career into another decade.
 
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rgirl181

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90s

I agree about Yags. In '96, Yags and Ilia Kulik went head-to-head in a several great competitions. One in particular, the 100 Year Anniversary of Figure Skating competition, held in Russia. It was an "anything you can do I can do better" competition with both Ilia and Yags in the zone. No quads at that time, but 3Axel/3toes and other 3/3s right and left. Kulik won World silver in 96, but Yags won World bronze in '97 at age 16 or 17. At the '98 Olympics, he caught the flu just before the LP and skated with a fever of about 102. I think he was fourth after the SP (not sure about this) but dropped to fifth after the LP. Had he not been sick, I think he would have had a good chance for a medal. He also won Europeans that year, substituting for an injured Kulik. Then of course he went on to win '98 Worlds. '98 was when Yags started his domination, but he was definitely making an impact and winning some important competitions starting in '95/96.
Rgirl
 
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ballerinagrl

Guest
Best Male Skater of the 90's

Another very personal list, based on what they did for me ....

1. Ilia Kulik - technique AND artistry
2. Paul Wylie - as above
3. Elvis Stoyko - for lifting the game to quads and his unique artistry ...
4. Kurt Browning - the consumate performer, with jumps to match ...
5. Alexie Yagudin (one of my all time favourite skaters, inducted in to my own personal hall of fame ;) I could have put him higher than the other guys on those grounds, but he made his impression mid to late 90's, while the others made an impression either at the start of the decade, which influenced the directions men's skating has gone in, and some of them made an impression straight through the decade ...
 
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Jaana

Guest
Re: Best Male Skater of the 90's

>Rgirl,
I agree about Yags. In '96, Yags and Ilia Kulik went head-to-head in a several great competitions. One in particular, the 100 Year Anniversary of Figure Skating competition, held in Russia. It was an "anything you can do I can do better" competition with both Ilia and Yags in the zone.>

I don´t think that in ´96 Ilia and Yagudin went head-to-head in any competitions? Actually in Centennial On Ice the big and interesting competition was between Ilia Kulik and Igor Pashkevich, not Yagudin at all. It was of no importance how Yagudin may place there. It was about which of these two (Ilia and Igor) will be able to travel to Worlds 1996. There were only two slots for the Russians and Urmanov had been given one of them. Ilia was third at Europeans and Pashkevich second, so this was a very deciding competition for them. Urmanov already had a place as the Russian champion (he did not participate at Europeans because of some eye injury). Such a pity that Ilia gave his best performance of the season (and career with the exception of Olympics) in Centennial, he would have needed that performance in Edmonton, where he skated almost as well but not quite. It was sooo close that he could have won the World Championships... Three judges thought that he was the best.

I think that Urmanov was the one expected to win the Centennial on Ice, because there was an interview and also they showed some material as he was practicing in his home rink.

About the Nagano Olympics, I remember from the US broadcast that Yagudin did catch cold (=got fever) because after the short programme he took a shower and stayed with wet hair in the cold arena watching others to compete.

Marjaana
 
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