2019-20 Canadian Figure Skating

[4everchan]

Soucisse and Firus

i see this as a chance for them to redeem themselves and save their career...they placed twice behind LALA and they used to be flirting with top 12 in the world

3d spot may be gone... but well.. that's life.. it sucks for LALA though as they most likely will be the ones being cut from Beijing.. when the Canes are healthy...


plus it sucks for me as I love seeing Nik live

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Not at all!! Which Edea brand does Stephen use?

It looks like he uses the Piano model, from the looks of them (same as Evgenia Medvedeva, Yuzuru Hanyu and loads of other singles skaters). From a quick look through the comments on the instagram post on Raf, skaters who have had their boots break on them this season during or just before competition include Evgenia, Stephen, Alexander Samarin and Serafima Sakhanovich... Wonder if Edea made a faulty batch.

I also wonder how exactly the boots broke down in these cases - my hunch is sudden mechanical failure of some sort. Maybe boots styled like Edea have a different breakdown pattern (feeling alright right until the end of their lifetime, versus slowly and steadily getting softer)? Would be great to hear from anybody with relevant experience.

 

[Seven Sisters]

i see this as a chance for them to redeem themselves and save their career

I so agree...I really enjoy them and they are so, so overdue to have the skate of their lives. May they absolutely slay at Worlds, riding on the delightfully retro power of Mr. Tom Jones!

 

[Osmond4gold]

they regressed in their ability to nail good skates...

conrad improved technically and on spins..

they both got better choreography..

but yes... the big pond is not always good for the small fishies

Agree 4EC, I just feel there is much more talent than recent results would indicate. Time for smaller pond skating me thinks, or as Joni would sing, I Wish I Had a River.

 

[Andrea82]

3d spot may be gone... but well.. that's life.. it sucks for LALA though as they most likely will be the ones being cut from Beijing.. when the Canes are healthy...

Canadian couples can fight for the third spot at 2021 Worlds. In that case with the new qualifiction rules, L/L (or whoever is the third Canadian couple) can go to Nebelhorn 2021 to confirm the final Olympic spot.

 

[4everchan]

Canadian couples can fight for the third spot at 2021 Worlds. In that case with the new qualifiction rules, L/L (or whoever is the third Canadian couple) can go to Nebelhorn 2021 to confirm the final Olympic spot.

yes... but as we know... it's easier to keep spots than regain them

 

[Ziotic]

yes... but as we know... it's easier to keep spots than regain them

I think for 3 it’s just as easy/hard to retain or regain. It’s with two spots that it’s much easier to keep then achieve.

Speaking of which, good luck to Alison trying to get Canada two spots for a second year in a row! I was so sad to see the skate Kaiya had, but if it was going to happen it was a good time in her development.

 

[rain]

Laurence and Nik WD from worlds
I think the 3rd dance spot is a goner unfortunately.

I'm super disappointed that Fournier-Beaudry and Sorenson won't be at world. I just wanted to watch their programs again. And also it seemed pretty sure that Canada could retain three spots if they went. But in the long term, this is clearly better for them, I think.

I just have my fingers crossed every day that they'd don't cancel worlds outright over the coronavirus.

 

[Colonel Green]

yes... but as we know... it's easier to keep spots than regain them

In this instance, I don't think the math will be much different in 2021 versus 2020. In both cases, Laurence & Nikolaj will have to be the best team outside the Big 7, and then Piper & Paul will have to be at least fifth. Both of those things are achievable, but require things to go our way. We'll know after Piper & Paul's placement in Montreal whether Lolo & Nik's presence would have mattered.

However, in the event that we are down to two spots in an Olympic year, I'm less certain that it will be Marjorie & Zach on the outside looking in. They've closed the gap with Laurence & Nikolaj quite a bit this season, and essentially being able to rent the #2 position from them for 2020 nationals through 2020 Worlds has definitely helped them there. I expect that Laurence & Nikolaj will return to the #2 spot at the start of next season, but there's still a season and a half to go before the Olympic team assignments, and at L/L's current rate of improvement, I think the space between will continue narrowing.

In other news, Andrew Evans posted another awesome clip of McIntosh & Mimar's triple twist in practice.

 

[4everchan]

In this instance, I don't think the math will be much different in 2021 versus 2020. In both cases, Laurence & Nikolaj will have to be the best team outside the Big 7, and then Piper & Paul will have to be at least fifth. Both of those things are achievable, but require things to go our way. We'll know after Piper & Paul's placement in Montreal whether Lolo & Nik's presence would have mattered.

However, in the event that we are down to two spots in an Olympic year, I'm less certain that it will be Marjorie & Zach on the outside looking in. They've closed the gap with Laurence & Nikolaj quite a bit this season, and essentially being able to rent the #2 position from them for 2020 nationals through 2020 Worlds has definitely helped them there. I expect that Laurence & Nikolaj will return to the #2 spot at the start of next season, but there's still a season and a half to go before the Olympic team assignments, and at L/L's current rate of improvement, I think the space between will continue narrowing.

In other news, Andrew Evans posted another awesome clip of McIntosh & Mimar's triple twist in practice.

fair enough but as a lover of both teams i want the 3 spots for olympics...

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

It looks like he uses the Piano model, from the looks of them (same as Evgenia Medvedeva, Yuzuru Hanyu and loads of other singles skaters). From a quick look through the comments on the instagram post on Raf, skaters who have had their boots break on them this season during or just before competition include Evgenia, Stephen, Alexander Samarin and Serafima Sakhanovich... Wonder if Edea made a faulty batch.

I also wonder how exactly the boots broke down in these cases - my hunch is sudden mechanical failure of some sort. Maybe boots styled like Edea have a different breakdown pattern (feeling alright right until the end of their lifetime, versus slowly and steadily getting softer)? Would be great to hear from anybody with relevant experience.

Stephen wears the Piano model Edea boot. Edea's break down differently than traditional leather boots. They are actually "pre broken in" to describe it simply and easily and their synthetic materials lead to different break in over time. Any boot questions, come over to the Lutz Corner and ask.

Nevertheless, Stephen may have a defective boot and this does happen all the time with boots, they aren't always perfect.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Stephen wears the Piano model Edea boot. Edea's break down differently than traditional leather boots. They are actually "pre broken in" to describe it simply and easily and their synthetic materials lead to different break in over time. Any boot questions, come over to the Lutz Corner and ask.

Nevertheless, Stephen may have a defective boot and this does happen all the time with boots, they aren't always perfect.

Thanks for the info Ic3Rabbit!

If boots are found to be defective, do you know if manufacturers have any responsibility to compensate high-level skaters with whom they have a sponsoring contract? After all, it can be pretty costly in terms of competition placement/physical health.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Thanks for the info Ic3Rabbit!

If boots are found to be defective, do you know if manufacturers have any responsibility to compensate high-level skaters with whom they have a sponsoring contract? After all, it can be pretty costly in terms of competition placement/physical health.

They'd more than likely just replace the boots. I mean, if the skater has a sponsoring contract he's more than likely not buying the boots anyway.

 

[Balloon]

Stephans boot broke in practice this week, he skated the short and long with taped boots to try and help the issue. I’m sure it was on his mind with each jump and maybe gave in a little too much after the first few jumps.

 

[uandmfan]

Can someone please explain the new qualification rules for the Olympics? If we go down to 2 spots at 2021 worlds, but earn a 3rd berth for 2022, why would a team need to qualify a 3rd spot at the Olympics? TIA.

 

[Colonel Green]

Can someone please explain the new qualification rules for the Olympics? If we go down to 2 spots at 2021 worlds, but earn a 3rd berth for 2022, why would a team need to qualify a 3rd spot at the Olympics? TIA.

Under the old rules you automatically get as many Olympic spots as you qualify at the previous year's Worlds (except if that hits the cutoff, as happened to the US last time).

Now, you only get automatic spots for people who make the free segment at Worlds, and you get the opportunity to send a third competitor/team to Nebelhorn to qualify a third spot.

 

[Osmond4gold]

A-l-i-s-o-n!!!

 

[Colonel Green]

My biggest fear going into the ladies' free was that Alison would place well enough to have kept two spots if Kaiya had made the free, but not well enough to keep two since she didn't; I'm sure that would have been a crushing disappointment for both of them. This was her best event ever, I would say (she also had help getting in the top ten from Tomoe, just like last year, and Mana, who both just disintegrated).

Okay, re: dance. TCC dance team...why have you not fixed Natalie & Bruce's combination spin? That thing has getting called at a level 2 numerous times all season, so whatever is going on you should have been on top of this long ago. Those 1.5 points have repeatedly made huge differences for them; here, if they had just gotten a level 4 they would have been eighth, and the top Canadian team, instead of eleventh.

Addressing our actual top Canadian team (and the highest-placing Canadians in any discipline), nice job for Miku & Tyler, though conversely it's maybe a big discouraging for them that they skated essentially without mistakes in both programs but are only fractionally ahead of the other two teams who had multiple errors and deductions across the two programs.

 

[Seven Sisters]

Addressing our actual top Canadian team (and the highest-placing Canadians in any discipline), nice job for Miku & Tyler, though conversely it's maybe a big discouraging for them that they skated essentially without mistakes in both programs but are only fractionally ahead of the other two teams who had multiple errors and deductions across the two programs.

Might that be because they’ve never been perceived as the top Canadian junior team? That might change now.

 

[4everchan]

Might that be because they’ve never been perceived as the top Canadian junior team? That might change now.

i don't think it will change some people think it's Bruce and Nathalie... some others it's Emmy and Aissa... the difference at worlds was just a few hundreds of a point... so i am not sure it will make any difference.