2016-2017 State of Canadian Figure Skating

[Mango]

makes sense... because it didn't feel twice bigger at all.. but just relatively bigger... 10K is a good number.... we have to think about juniors too empty seat is tough for them lol... you will see ACI is tiny but it's fun too because you are see them so well

I was second row at SCI so I got to have a lot of fun. Saw some things most people would miss or won't be able to see without a camera zooming in close.

Now with all this excitement I am wondering how the Challenger Series assignments will shake out. I am not sure if anyone will be sent to Nebelhorn because it's happening the exact same time as ACI17. So Autumn Classic, Finlandia, Nepela, Lombardia, and US Classic will likely be the CS events to chose from (depending on the ISU's decision on North American CS events). Lowest teams/non-podium contenders should end up at US Classic. 'A' team should be at ACI (hopefully). 'B' team to Finlandia?? Anyone not covered by that should be at Nepela. I don't know if anyone will be sent to Lombardia.

 

[siberia82]

No commentary, 1080p :

Gabby's LP: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5gvfz3

Kaetlyn's LP: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5gvfcu



Ladies Post-LP Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksL4hEdPvkc

Kaetlyn Osmond, Gabrielle Daleman make history at figure skating worlds (CBC): http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figureskating/figure-skating-world-championships-women-1.4050174

 

[SnowWhite]

I was second row at SCI so I got to have a lot of fun. Saw some things most people would miss or won't be able to see without a camera zooming in close.

Now with all this excitement I am wondering how the Challenger Series assignments will shake out. I am not sure if anyone will be sent to Nebelhorn because it's happening the exact same time as ACI17. So Autumn Classic, Finlandia, Nepela, Lombardia, and US Classic will likely be the CS events to chose from (depending on the ISU's decision on North American CS events). Lowest teams/non-podium contenders should end up at US Classic. 'A' team should be at ACI (hopefully). 'B' team to Finlandia?? Anyone not covered by that should be at Nepela. I don't know if anyone will be sent to Lombardia.

Do we know where ACI will be? Will it be in Montreal again?

 

[Mango]

Do we know where ACI will be? Will it be in Montreal again?

Yup, exact same place as this season. Challenge too.

 

[4everchan]

i cannot watch the whole dance event today.... sigh... i may catch the final flight...

i am not really sad for patrick... i thought he would end up 4th ... that's what i was ready for... 5th is fine.... but his pcs were too low... and i never liked him doing half loop combo... and that cost him about 10 points today... so i hope he comes up with another plan next year LOL

on the positive side

for patrick : gorgeous opening quads, one of each... this guy can land the most beautiful jumps... <3

for kevin : despite the lowball pcs... like really low ball.... and a couple carrots kevin went from 12 to 9.... one more spot from him (or patrick) and we would have a full team at the olympics....

It will be a bloodbath at nationals next year for the second spot.... assuming everyone is healthy and that patrick is on top... kevin could have to fight with keegan, nic, nam, roman.... etc... it will be intense but they know ahead of time... and may the best guy goes to the games.

 

[TGee]

TGee they probably intend to do a release tomorrow after ice dance and men have finished. They're expecting a big story with Tessa & Scott who are even bigger than Kaetlyn and Gabby in the hierarchy due to the Olympic gold and silvers. They'll also mention Chan, who's also higher than these girls. I know we're excited, but the headlines need to be about V/M to catch people's attention.

They should've gone to Vancouver in 2017 and Ottawa in 2018! I know, it's the 150th anniversary and blah blah. Wikipedia tells me TD Place Arena has 10000 seats.

Mango...they do a release every morning....Yesterday's wrap up came out sometime after I signed off at midnight, and it was just the same old.

But it was too late to get the news cycle for the morning papers...which with a historic event is what they need to have done.

Gold again vs two women on the podium for the first time ever is not the top story. Not the hierarchy of the broader fan base as they look forward to an Olympic year.

And it shows the wrong attitude that getting profile in a news release is part of the recognition system, rather than a priority on getting the news out to build the fan base for Canadian skating. It's old thinking, and isn't oriented to getting a bigger revenue base that can fund this extraordinarily expensive sport.

Gosh, I know that Skate Canada has had to cut back expenditures, and it's been showing with the lack of promotion of their top stories on the banner on their page and the slowness in getting their releases out as compared to the past.

But they need to have the flexibility in their staffing or contracting to get things out to meet the news cycle with adequate content when it counts. Having a staffer retweet on their website or tweet out a canned picture isn't going to feed the sports pages of the morning newspapers...in print or on line.

 

[Mango]

TGee you're right that they should emphasize the ladies. They did and put them in the headline along with V/M. I am not sure what happened with the news release though. Maybe they wrote it when they woke up in Finland, which is why it was so late here? CBC for their part had this story on the front page and it's got a lot of comments too (compared to most figure skating articles they post). Everyone's happy for our ladies. As for Skate Canada, I think they're going through a change with this new CEO. They've tried to make athletes more competitive, ensure athletes have their minimums well in advance, improved livestreaming and even results delivery, provide commentary and background info, and are willing to get more athletes out to compete. Change is coming but I think it will take time.

 

[Osmond4gold]

In the 'what's with that?' category, Skate Canada still hasn't managed to post a new release for the day with the Ladies and Short Dance results.....

Uhm, know we were all riveted and awed today...but one hopes that options for the bones of a release were roughed up in advance....]

Ya think? I believe Skate Canada missed an opportunity and heads have to shake, as this for me is the story of the Worlds...2 Canadians ladies on the Podium. unheard of. As I have mentioned here many times as TGee will attest , the Press has largely ignored this category of skating, until today. Ignore no more, should you wish to remain relevant press gang, which you missed doing this season.

PS PJ Kwong, please remove Pooh from your vocabulary, and Rosie DeManno,...no more talk of "street sense"! :yawn:

 

[4everchan]

Ya think? I believe Skate Canada missed an opportunity and heads have to shake, as this for me is the story of the Worlds...2 Canadians ladies on the Podium. unheard of. As I have mentioned here many times as TGee will attest , the Press has largely ignored this category of skating, until today. Ignore no more, should you wish to remain relevant press gang, which you missed doing this season.

PS PJ Kwong, please remove Pooh from your vocabulary, and Rosie DeManno,...no more talk of "street sense"? :yawn:

you always crack me up

 

[Sackie]

people have been talking about the team event... i thought i would bring my thoughts here..

usually,

the order is pairs, men, dance, ladies.... that's been the tradition for a long time...

it was very convenient for canada in sochi because our two pair teams were top5-6 and equivalent back then... and our two men as well... we only had kaetlyn (gabby was very young) for ladies who could compete with the elite (and even then she was undermarked) and for dance, it was clear that it was virtue and moir...

this time around :

i still think that no matter what, canada should save their pairs... we have 3 teams and with this format, it would probably be best that 2 teams split the event...

depending on how things go next year : if for instance team number 2 has a very strong SP, i would send them there..... I believe that Meagan and Eric usually have way more potential in the LPs because of their strength in SBS and the quad throw (when landed) so that's how i would split things... of course, granted that the SP team has solid SBS.

men : normally, I wouldn't recommend it but if it's like this year : Patrick would need to skate it all... none of our other guys have PCS potential (kevin lost his positioning being out two seasons and struggling to get back 100%)... but of course, if things change slightly, i would recommend Patrick for the SP to fight with the top guns... after the first round, Japan and China most likely would be out, and our 2nd boy could do like kevin did in sochi and compete against the others... We could assume that USA with Nathan Chen would be 1st anyways...

I'd leave tessa and scott do it all... if they are healthy... but would the french even make the second round???? it will be between usa and canada here... so if weapo for instance were splitting it, it would be alright..

ladies : easy said now : kaetlyn does SP, Gabby does LP...


so in general, I think Canada is in a good position.. but a lot can happen in a year...

I would wonder about the ladies and wait and see how they all do next year. If Alaine can come back strong and the 3 of them all end up close in SBs next year I might app to suggest they leave Kaetlyn to go for a medal in ladies and let Gabby and Alaine do the team event. They way they all may come out of the Olympics with a medal! Cause no matter how both Gabby and Kaetlyn skate next year I do not see them letting CAN have two Olympic medals in one event. That is partly why I think W/P have been dropping in PCS.

 

[siberia82]

Kudos to Tessa & Scott for winning their third world championship title!!! Kaitlyn & Andrew moved up two spots in the over-all standings, and Piper & Paul moved up one.

From Radio-Canada Sports:

Piper & Paul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml9KYu4AADA

Kaitlyn & Andrew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iukKILtfUpg

Tessa & Scott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP2ECDmWN-c



Post-Free Dance Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4VmtdhH3bI

Piper & Paul Post-FD Interview (Skating ISU): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKx5DMPXR6k

Kaitlyn & Andrew Post-FD Interivew (Skating ISU): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bdQK2RrRTI

 

[4everchan]

I would wonder about the ladies and wait and see how they all do next year. If Alaine can come back strong and the 3 of them all end up close in SBs next year I might app to suggest they leave Kaetlyn to go for a medal in ladies and let Gabby and Alaine do the team event. They way they all may come out of the Olympics with a medal! Cause no matter how both Gabby and Kaetlyn skate next year I do not see them letting CAN have two Olympic medals in one event. That is partly why I think W/P have been dropping in PCS.

i don't know... the other side of the medal here is this : if indeed Canada plotted like that, and ended up winning a medal while the other lady who was the priority for singles doesn't win, then you end up with the number 2 and 3 girls with a medal and not number 1

Also, i think it's wisest to try to have the BEST possible team this coming year because Canada is definitely in the hunt for GOLD... I would prefer a team GOLD to anything else honestly but I know most fans value each discipline more that the team event.

I think it would be a pity if Canada didn't send their best team and ended up missing the podium or missing the gold by a few points.

Finally, I think Skate Canada should consult the top athletes as well.. They cannot force Patrick or D/R to skate the entire team event when their own events are not too far after, to have two dance teams and two ladies win medals..... I am pretty sure 2 pairs will be on the team.... and probably 2 men, unless Patrick decides otherwise.

 

[Sackie]

I know what you are saying but in the big picture there are posters on here that even disregard Kaetlyn as an Olympic medalist. Yet she is!

 

[Daniel1998]

At the moment, if we had to split up each of the segments for the team event, I'd probably say:
Men: SP Kevin Reynolds, FP Patrick Chan
Women: SP Kaetlyn Osmond, FP Gabby Daleman
Pairs: SP I/M, FP D/R
Dance: SD W/P, FD V/M

That's still a really strong contingent.

For men we will likely win the long regardless of who Russia sends.
For women, as long as Russia saves Medvedeva for the long, we likely win the short.
Pairs is the real tossup here, and whoever Russia sends out for either program, the result is unpredictable.
We win both dance programs regardless.

Dance puts us in a really good spot when we're comparing ourselves to the Russians- pairs may be the deciding factor.

 

[Violet Bliss]

3 Olympic entries for each discipline of Ladies, Pairs, and Ice Dance, and 2 entries for Men, this is the state of Canadian figure skating - great! So great we are discussing how to, not if we could, snatch the Team gold medal with choices of top skaters to make.

 

[Mango]

I know Tessa & Scott won but I'm feeling gutted for Scott. He wouldn't make a mistake like that in his sleep. They haven't made an error like that all season...most of their mistakes came on spins or twizzles. I was relieved that it did not cost them a level but the GOE hit was huge...nearly 2.5 points.

The only thing that will put me at ease is if they re-perform this at World Team Trophy and go clean. Like Weaver/Poje's excellent FD at Team Challenge Cup (they got $$$$ for winning the FD too). Though Scott did retrace his steps while going to the podium.

Also feeling for Weaver/Poje. They were 0.39 points out of the bronze medal position. They had the same BV as S/S and B/S but it came down to GOEs and PCS.

Overall our ice dancers ranked well. None of them were perfect, but they all didn't mess up disastrously.

I am going to have to find my medal counter and update it sometime soon.

 

[4everchan]

I know what you are saying but in the big picture there are posters on here that even disregard Kaetlyn as an Olympic medalist. Yet she is!

i think this may change...more and more sports are doing team events at world events and /or olympics (team luge, ski racing... mixed synchro diving etc) and figure skating will get there too.... an olympic medal is an olympic medal... i am pretty sure plushenko and Russians are not seeing the team medal as worthless... it just happened that a couple athletes on the canadian teams were less known, so perfect targets to be dismissed in forums for instance

 

[Mango]

Patrick is considering adding a second quad to his SP as early as World Team Trophy: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/w...ure-skating-world-championships-men-1.4051204

 

[TGee]

Patrick is considering adding a second quad to his SP as early as World Team Trophy: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/w...ure-skating-world-championships-men-1.4051204

Given how much adding a new quad has unsettled his FS, it makes total sense to start the process of integrating it into the SP asap.

That's assuming that he's doing the SP....Skate Canada hasn't yet posted the assignments for the World Team Trophy.

I'm wondering if they will want to give as many skaters as possible a chance. I

t would be great for Kevin to get another outing. And surely, but Kaetlyn and Gabby should skate....But with both Dumahel/Radford and Séguin/Bilodeau struggling with injuries, it looks like Ilyushechkina/Moscovitch may need to carry it for pairs. And Virtue/Moir may wish to take it on as a redo, as suggested...

 

[cheerknithanson]

Is it weird how I'm thinking of what the participants of the team event of the Olympics will be like if the Worlds Team (Plus Alaine since Canada qualified (For the first time in over 40 years) 3 spots for ladies for Worlds and Olympics) from this year is the Olympic team?

So if it stays the same, then I believe it would go as follow for the team event:
Men: Chan and Reynolds
Ladies: Osmond and Daleman (Last Olympics Kaetlyn was definitely the stronger of the 2, but Gabby has improved a lot and given she won bronze at 2017 Worlds, she definitely can contribute very well along with Kaetlyn).
Pairs: Duhamel/Radford (I know last Olympics Kirsten and Dylan competed in the Team Event, but they formed new partnerships and aren't as close to Duhamel and Radford in terms of points. Yes, Eric had an injury during Worlds, but WTT left and he can rest it and be good as new once the new season starts. When they're in top form, they're no question Canada's #1).
Dance: Virtue/Moir

Sorry, just wanted to share what I'm thinking.