Liam
hard fall on the quad... then nearly take down the camera guy... he does have speed and ice coverage... but dude, that could severely hurt you ... please stay away from the boards... we saw already comments about guys hitting the boards and picking up each other early this week... so if the others, including Patrick adapted, he should have by now as well... I believe that Liam is in an unclear path in his mind...like he is not thinking properly... he is not all there... he could be indeed going through a rough rough time and not have his ideas all clear.... in previous years, I admired the quality of his skating and would be okay with the scores... but after seeing the 3 first groups of men, Liam is not unique.... and many guys have better jumps... so i hope he doesn't get held up...
the score comes up... we are surprised of how high it is... ladies beside me "damn... where did they find that much to give him... "
Nic shows up... Elvis is clearly in the house... OMG... this guy is NUTS... LOVING him... gorgeous triple axel... and then... BANG... quad loop WTH???? i turn to my neighbour who is a coach and i was like... "quad loop????? what???" she nods and says "quad loop!!! WHAT!!!!??!!!" too bad he then tripled what I think was going to be a quad toe... he unfortunately left too many points with not going for all his jumps... and i start thinking about his SP which also had 3A, 4T and some sort of popped loop combo.. OMG... is he doing the 4Loop in the SP too??? I am shocked as I saw a video of him doing the 4Lutz... but yeah... well... Elvis is not only still alive but he does 4Loops. I want his score to be big.. but i know it will be a it lower than we would like it to be because of some of the double jumps he did.... nice to see he was rewarded in PCS... the standing ovation here is bigger than keegan's... huge huge huge fun... everyone is having a blast.... and i am at peace with men now... already two great skates went down and I saw another quad loop
Nam shows up... skates through his program... only mishap on the second quad salchow... huge improvement... he is elated... gives a huge hug to his new coach... however, his SP was much faster in both the skating and the spins.... there is not much of a program also... skates to one end jump... skates to the other end.. jumps... etc
everyone in the house is a bit disappointed that he is overall above Nic but you know... Nic was injured earlier and that probably has had a factor in the jumps he opened up instead of going for... thus losing by a small margin a place on the podium... Do we feel Nic is better than Nam.. YES... but the scores were fair in my opinion. Nam has had his struggles and he shouldn't be penalized and held down for other skaters to get on the podium, if those skaters didn't offer more content.... I think this will be a huge learning experience not only for Nicolas but for Nam himself as well... I think everyone will look at Nic and think... OMG... this is what musical interpretation can be??? WOW!!!... yeah... that is it guys... however, I have to be honest... is Nic too wild??? is he able to keep his focus when going crazy like that??? can he nail all the content and go crazy??? if yes, then we have someone here in Canada who can be a world superstar...
Sorry I was talking about Nam... but really... who would blame me for going back to Nic???? BTW I saw him when I left the building... super tall boy!!!! i don't know what his ISU bio says but he looked a couple inches taller than me so about 6'1 or 6'2.
Elladj... great start with 3a-3t... then what I call a HOW??? WOW!!!! no idea how he managed to land his 1/2 loop combo...
Unfortunately... he didn't repeat his performance from last night... missing even some easier jumps... people want to stand up... they slowly do but it's not really a global feeling.. i think we are just sad... we know he won't be on the podium, not even the national team... sigh... i hope he does get GP assignments next year but we will see... he is such a nice guy and a great performer but not tonight...
Kevin shows up... ladies say.. he should have some quads... i answer... 4 planned... everyone fastens their seat belts... we hope for a great skate... one quad looks UR (the 4S...) and then... 2a... he is a bit slower than yesterday as well... less ice coverage... the quads are impressive but he seems a bit tired too... i think the 3F-2L is a planned 3F-3L as he has done that before but I don't really think it makes a difference really... this is the kind of skating that was great for kevin before his injury... top 5 in the world value... but with so many guys now going for more than 2 quads, even Patrick with 3... it's hard to imagine that he will be able to reach the podium... I was thinking he could before his injury... and he was close one year....but now, all i hope is that he and Patrick go to worlds and do well enough for a 3rd guy to go to the olympics... i think that next year, Nic and Nam will be even better and now that Keegan is on the National team, perhaps that will be a boost for him.. he is another exciting skater for Canada...
Ok ... breather...
Patrick...
I write in my booklet, GO PATRICK.... I show it to the ladies to show them that I believe in Patrick... and also, he tends to do very well when a quadster skates right before him and has a good performance... I'd like Patrick to skate after Kevin or Boyang all the time
music starts... OMG.... seeing the journey live is amazing... I wish i had seen the chopin or elegy live ... and yes, i have seen blackbird live but in this kind of music, Patrick shines even more... just a few movements in and I feel it... Patrick, despite looking nervous, will reach his inner powers... he is in there....
4t-3t.. WOW... 3A ... WOW.... 4S OMG!!! he did it!!!!! i saw it!!!! OMG.... tonight, i got to see 3 specimens of quad...

yay!!!! sequence is in and i am hoping he doesn't lose focus like at gpf after the 4salchow..... I don't know why he tripled the quad toe... he was perfectly fine in the air but Patrick knows what he can do and yes, he lost about 6-7 points there... but i couldn't care less... this is going to be a 2 quad 2 3A beautiful program... at least that's what I think...
then the 3A comes in...oh... this is interesting... 3A-2t-2l... never seen patrick do this combo before... he usually tags those jumps after the lutz... actually, it's quite a nice jumping pass so i hope he keeps it like this... it allows for some room later... i will discuss that...
patrick's skating is so amazing... everything is flowing, integrated... there are no signs of restraint.. just a pure marriage of movement, emotion and music... the journey is so special seen live... and i was already a fan of it, from seeing it on tv... 3loop.... 3lz-2t.... 3f... all the jumps are down... step sequence
final spin is coming... the crowd is up already... it is the performance of Canadian Nationals... it's over 200... without his 3rd quad... his PCS are well deserved and if you don't think so... fine.. take off a mark or two... still over 200... the reality is that if he skates like this, anywhere in the world, he will get those marks... it was patrick chan at his best, sort of like he was at 4CC last year.
a few thoughts : I saw Patrick do different combos in the warm up... i think that he is getting more open to remain competitive here... as there are more risks than before in his programs, i think he is indeed going to play with the combos.. if he cannot tag the 3t after the 4t, he has done it after the 3A... he does it after the 3Lz as well.. so he is keeping his options open...
i also think that removing the 3 jump combo from the very end of the program is a great idea... the end is much nicer with less jumps as he focuses on the music, choreography, steps and spins... we don't need a 3 jump combo there... and with the lutz being sometimes iffy, sometimes the 2loop at the end was a bit tilted... i prefer it the way he did it tonight...
i think Patrick has fixed many things since GPF... he constantly tries to better himself and to improve his marks. that's the sign of a true champion.. just like D/R keep doing as well.
I am impressed with how quickly he included the 4S into his programs and landed 2 in a row ... wow...
As I said, it was a special moment for me. I wanted to see Patrick compete once in my life... and if my life may be ongoing for a little or long while, Patrick's competitive career will mostly end after PC.. whether or not he wins... if he skates like tonight, I will be satisfied. I feel inspired and motivated like I haven't been to accomplish myself further. He is a true inspiration... Ladies next to me jumped just as high as I did when he finished... there was so much love for Patrick in that arena ... so much that it would wash down anything negative said about him/ his skating... a true model.. a true hero.
Ladies tell stories about when their kids were at Granite club and Patrick would skate with Mr. Colson... how Patrick was mesmerized by him and in awe with his teaching... and how he would better himself everyday..... and i hope that Patrick will do just the same, mesmerize a generation of talent, when he is done what he needs to do with his own skating career....
At the end of the night I think to myself as the medal ceremonies go on... WOW... look at the Canadian national team... this is probably the strongest team we will send at worlds in a very long time... may it generate 3 spots in every discipline for the Olympics.. .may it keep healthy and performing well... may it keep strong and united in the team event
I hope you do not mind the Canadian enthusiasm here... it was our Nationals after all...
ETA : i thought nic tripled a 4t in the far corner... it was just a big triple flip... sorry
