- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
Nathan Chen
SP: Asturias/Cancion del Mariachi
FS: TBD
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 4; SB 1
2019-2020 SB: TSS 335.30, FS 224.92 (WR), SP 110.38
Jason Brown
SP: Sinnerman by Nina Simone
FS: Slaughter on 10th Avenue
GP Assignment: Skate Canada
WR 6; SB 6
2019-2020 SB: TSS 274.82, FS 180.11, SP 94.71
Camden Pulkinen
SP: Caruso
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 17; SB 32
2019-2020 SB: TSS 244.78, FS 155.73, SP 89.05
Tomoki Hiwatashi
SP: Standards by Leslie Odom Jr.
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 21; SB 34
2019-2020 SB: TSS 240.78, FS 152.69, SP 88.09
Vincent Zhou
SP: Algorithm by Muse; choreo: Misha Ge
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 23; SB 3
2019-2020 SB: TSS 231.95, FS 142.92, SP 89.03
Alexei Krasnozhon
SP: Heart Upon My Sleeve by Avicii and Imagine Dragons; choreo: Alex Johnson
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 48, SB 41
2019-2020 SB: TSS 230.11, FS 153.19, SP 76.92
Maxim Naumov
SP:
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 88, SB 48
2019-2020 SB: TSS 225.10 FS 149.90 SP 75.20
Andrew Torgashev
SP:
FS: Imagine Dragons Medley (Dream, Battlecry, and Radioactive)
GP Assignments:
WR 28, SB 60
2019-2020 SB: TSS 217.54, FS 144.63, SP 81.50
Thoughts:
Chen: He's very obviously the top American and I think we’ll see the 4Lo from him next season. He doesn’t really need it as he has both a 4Lz and 4F, and I expect for his dominance to continue as his technical abilities are far beyond anyone else in the field.
Brown: He had a rough start with two wishy-washy competitions (barely missing the Grand Prix Final), but finished strong with silver medals at both USNats and 4CC. Brown is still going for the 4T in the free skate, but I would argue that he doesn’t even need it. Brown scored in the mid-270s at 4CC and very few skaters are scoring that high with quads. (Don’t believe me? Check out the SB list and the top ten scores for Worlds for the past five years). People are merely talking about hypothetical maximums and ignoring actual ability and what the quadsters consistently put out on the ice when they say that he must rely on mistakes from others for the podium. The dudes with quads are the ones that need to be clean, not the other way around. I consider Brown to be the US’s solid #2.
Pulkinen: He’s inconsistent but his 4T is solid enough. But when things go wrong, things go very wrong. He also gives up way too many points on spins and steps.
Hiwatashi: I really don’t know what to make of him. His Grand Prix season was mediocre, but he had a bronze medal turn at USNats and he wasn’t bad at 4CC. Maybe he’s a second-half skater? He doesn’t strike me as nervy and of his peers (Pulkinen, Krasnozhon, and Torgashev), he’s looking to be the one most likely to play spoiler for an Olympic spot.
Zhou: Zhou only had one international competition this season and it didn’t bode too well. He was expected to win easily, but then almost lost the bronze medal to Krasnozhon. He withdraw from his Grand Prix assignments and the next time we see him was at USNats. He placed fourth with watered down but clean programs. If there’s a time for him to fix his URs, it’s NOW because the new rules aren’t going to be his friend (or will they?) and he can be beaten by a US man other than Chen. The good news is that he’s already made a welcome coaching change and he doesn’t meltdown on the ice.
Krasnozhon: To be honest, I’m worried about him. He originally only had one GP spot last season and USFed passed him up for a 4CC nod. He’s already been surpassed by Hiwatashi. Pulkinen and Torgashev will surpass him too once they get their nerves together as they’re improving yet Krasnozhon seems to be regressing. His spins need a doctor and his jumps need a psychiatrist. He doesn’t jump his jumps; the jumps jump him. He also doesn’t have a solid quad – that 4Lo is << or < most of the time – and it’s the only quad he’s ever landed in international competition. His triples are solid (the 3A is even his best jump) but he’s too much of an acquired taste. His biggest strength is that, like Zhou, he doesn’t have meltdowns on the ice. In fact, he has his best skates when he’s pissed off and the pressure’s on. But that will only take him so far. The US men is getting kind of crowded and if improvements aren’t made, he’s in danger of never leaving US ice. I mean, he was already ignored for…okay, I’m done. Yup, I’m still salty about that. Moving on.
Naumov: Yo, this cat turns 19 on August 1. He’s probably going to stay Junior another season (something I strongly disagree with, but that’s another thread) and it will be to his benefit that he does. He doesn’t have a quad yet, but hey, his heroic free skate at Junior Worlds shows that skating clean speaks volumes. I can’t really say much about him as the first and only time I saw him was at Junior Worlds.
Torgashev: I already said enough about him already so I’ll make it brief. He missed the cut-off by 2 days, but he probably would have moved up to Seniors anyway. I think he’s the most talented of his peers and judges (both domestic and international) like him. For this reason, I’m not worried about GP spots for him. He’ll get at least one. And if there’s a second spot left over, he’ll probably get it over Krasnozhon. All the goods are there; he just needs to work on his head game.
*Special thanks to tosca as I used his or her format from the 2019-2020 US Men's thread.
SP: Asturias/Cancion del Mariachi
FS: TBD
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 4; SB 1
2019-2020 SB: TSS 335.30, FS 224.92 (WR), SP 110.38
Jason Brown
SP: Sinnerman by Nina Simone
FS: Slaughter on 10th Avenue
GP Assignment: Skate Canada
WR 6; SB 6
2019-2020 SB: TSS 274.82, FS 180.11, SP 94.71
Camden Pulkinen
SP: Caruso
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 17; SB 32
2019-2020 SB: TSS 244.78, FS 155.73, SP 89.05
Tomoki Hiwatashi
SP: Standards by Leslie Odom Jr.
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 21; SB 34
2019-2020 SB: TSS 240.78, FS 152.69, SP 88.09
Vincent Zhou
SP: Algorithm by Muse; choreo: Misha Ge
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 23; SB 3
2019-2020 SB: TSS 231.95, FS 142.92, SP 89.03
Alexei Krasnozhon
SP: Heart Upon My Sleeve by Avicii and Imagine Dragons; choreo: Alex Johnson
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 48, SB 41
2019-2020 SB: TSS 230.11, FS 153.19, SP 76.92
Maxim Naumov
SP:
FS:
GP Assignment: Skate America
WR 88, SB 48
2019-2020 SB: TSS 225.10 FS 149.90 SP 75.20
Andrew Torgashev
SP:
FS: Imagine Dragons Medley (Dream, Battlecry, and Radioactive)
GP Assignments:
WR 28, SB 60
2019-2020 SB: TSS 217.54, FS 144.63, SP 81.50
Thoughts:
Chen: He's very obviously the top American and I think we’ll see the 4Lo from him next season. He doesn’t really need it as he has both a 4Lz and 4F, and I expect for his dominance to continue as his technical abilities are far beyond anyone else in the field.
Brown: He had a rough start with two wishy-washy competitions (barely missing the Grand Prix Final), but finished strong with silver medals at both USNats and 4CC. Brown is still going for the 4T in the free skate, but I would argue that he doesn’t even need it. Brown scored in the mid-270s at 4CC and very few skaters are scoring that high with quads. (Don’t believe me? Check out the SB list and the top ten scores for Worlds for the past five years). People are merely talking about hypothetical maximums and ignoring actual ability and what the quadsters consistently put out on the ice when they say that he must rely on mistakes from others for the podium. The dudes with quads are the ones that need to be clean, not the other way around. I consider Brown to be the US’s solid #2.
Pulkinen: He’s inconsistent but his 4T is solid enough. But when things go wrong, things go very wrong. He also gives up way too many points on spins and steps.
Hiwatashi: I really don’t know what to make of him. His Grand Prix season was mediocre, but he had a bronze medal turn at USNats and he wasn’t bad at 4CC. Maybe he’s a second-half skater? He doesn’t strike me as nervy and of his peers (Pulkinen, Krasnozhon, and Torgashev), he’s looking to be the one most likely to play spoiler for an Olympic spot.
Zhou: Zhou only had one international competition this season and it didn’t bode too well. He was expected to win easily, but then almost lost the bronze medal to Krasnozhon. He withdraw from his Grand Prix assignments and the next time we see him was at USNats. He placed fourth with watered down but clean programs. If there’s a time for him to fix his URs, it’s NOW because the new rules aren’t going to be his friend (or will they?) and he can be beaten by a US man other than Chen. The good news is that he’s already made a welcome coaching change and he doesn’t meltdown on the ice.
Krasnozhon: To be honest, I’m worried about him. He originally only had one GP spot last season and USFed passed him up for a 4CC nod. He’s already been surpassed by Hiwatashi. Pulkinen and Torgashev will surpass him too once they get their nerves together as they’re improving yet Krasnozhon seems to be regressing. His spins need a doctor and his jumps need a psychiatrist. He doesn’t jump his jumps; the jumps jump him. He also doesn’t have a solid quad – that 4Lo is << or < most of the time – and it’s the only quad he’s ever landed in international competition. His triples are solid (the 3A is even his best jump) but he’s too much of an acquired taste. His biggest strength is that, like Zhou, he doesn’t have meltdowns on the ice. In fact, he has his best skates when he’s pissed off and the pressure’s on. But that will only take him so far. The US men is getting kind of crowded and if improvements aren’t made, he’s in danger of never leaving US ice. I mean, he was already ignored for…okay, I’m done. Yup, I’m still salty about that. Moving on.
Naumov: Yo, this cat turns 19 on August 1. He’s probably going to stay Junior another season (something I strongly disagree with, but that’s another thread) and it will be to his benefit that he does. He doesn’t have a quad yet, but hey, his heroic free skate at Junior Worlds shows that skating clean speaks volumes. I can’t really say much about him as the first and only time I saw him was at Junior Worlds.
Torgashev: I already said enough about him already so I’ll make it brief. He missed the cut-off by 2 days, but he probably would have moved up to Seniors anyway. I think he’s the most talented of his peers and judges (both domestic and international) like him. For this reason, I’m not worried about GP spots for him. He’ll get at least one. And if there’s a second spot left over, he’ll probably get it over Krasnozhon. All the goods are there; he just needs to work on his head game.
*Special thanks to tosca as I used his or her format from the 2019-2020 US Men's thread.
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