2020-21 U.S. Men's Figure Skating

[YuBluByMe]

This is really interesting - thanks for your insights. I was super-impressed by Emmanuel Savary at the Peggy Trophy - what do you think his prospects are?

I also enjoyed Savary; his skate was among my top three in that competition. He always listens to the music and he has great lines. He also has a commanding presence on the ice. The thing is, though, that was actually the best he’s ever skated and I’ve no doubt that’s because of the nature of the competition itself.

Unfortunately, I think his prospects of ever breaking into major international competition are very low. He’s too far behind technically as he’s without a 3A or 3Lz. He does have a nice 4S, but it’s not exactly consistent. I also don’t think he’s ever competed internationally as a senior - which is why a lot of people have never heard of him until the Peggy Fleming Trophy. This means he hasn’t had a chance to build a reputation (something that happens at the junior level) and he’s already over 20.

I could have hopes that he’s a “late bloomer,” but I have none. Javier Fernandez was a very notable exception , not the rule and he was coached by Orser. I’m content with just enjoying Savary’s Nationals performances every year.

 

[lariko]

Hi, guys, are there any performances and links to this season’s programs for Zhou, Hiwatashi, Naumov and Chen? Thank you in advance!

 

[snowflake]

Hi, guys, are there any performances and links to this season’s programs for Zhou, Hiwatashi, Naumov and Chen? Thank you in advance!

Here are some Youtube links from the men's Senior competition at the Cup of Colorado, which was held this past weekend. Quality is not great since the stream had issues.

Vincent Zhou SP
Vincent Zhou FS

Camden Pulkinen SP

Tomoki Hiwatashi SP

Hi, guys, are there any performances and links to this season’s programs for Zhou, Hiwatashi, Naumov and Chen? Thank you in advance!

 

[haribobo]

Check back here sometime after 11am Eastern tomorrow (Tuesday)-

2020 Virtual Challenge Skate - Junior Men FS

Video: 2020 Virtual Challenge Skate - Junior Men FS. Figure Skating

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

(and yes I'm aware the link currently says junior men, thats the most recent competition video)

and/or here:

International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge Competition Central

International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge Competition Central

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

The ISP first opportunity competition videos for seniors will be posted around then and I imagine some of those skaters will be there in the senior men SP and FS videos.

 

[el henry]

Jason has announced his programs. Snippets on his IG:

SP: Sinnerman performed by Nina Simone
LP: Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, performed by the NY Philharmonic

H/T to everyone in the FF who has already posted

 

[lariko]

T
thank you, much appreciated

 

[tosca]

I am kind of obsessed with Nathan's SP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eof7tcF-Bk8&feature=youtu.be

Music: Asturias + Canción del Mariachi

His FS is a slow burn for me but I am sure it will grow on me. I like that he is doing something different than last season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1WT_ofQi1Q&feature=youtu.be

Music: Selections from Philip Glass

 

[Impromptu]

At the end of Nathan's SP in the above video, it has the marks for all the senior men who sent in videos (seems like most of US senior mean except Zhou and Camden P), which should give a good idea where they stand at the moment.

 

[TontoK]

I am kind of obsessed with Nathan's SP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eof7tcF-Bk8&feature=youtu.be

Music: Asturias + Canción del Mariachi

His FS is a slow burn for me but I am sure it will grow on me. I like that he is doing something different than last season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1WT_ofQi1Q&feature=youtu.be

Music: Selections from Philip Glass

I love the SP. Not so sure about the FP... maybe when it has a little mileage and gets smoother. I'm a fan, but it doesn't seem very special at this point. Early days, of course. The three jump quad combo ending in 3F was good.

Both are departures from what we've seen from him before, and I admire that.

 

[ice coverage]

Start orders for this week's Boston Open have been posted.

Senior Men SP:

Ryan Dunk
Maxim Naumov
Lucas Altieri
Alexei Bychenko​

Jun Hong Chen is entered in Senior Men FS.
Plus all of the above with the exception of Bychenko.

For Lucas, a new club affiliation: Academy at MJM.
Makes sense, given that he has started college nearby.
Plus I think it will be the first-ever senior competition for Lucas? AFAIK.

 

[Jeanie19]

Start orders for this week's Boston Open have been posted.

Senior Men SP:

Ryan Dunk​

Maxim Naumov​

Lucas Altieri​

Alexei Bychenko​

Jun Hong Chen is entered in Senior Men FS.
Plus all of the above with the exception of Bychenko.

For Lucas, a new club affiliation: Academy at MJM.
Makes sense, given that he has started college nearby.
Plus I think it will be the first-ever senior competition for Lucas? AFAIK.

What time will the skate be? I'm excited about Bychenko.

 

[ice coverage]

What time will the skate be? I'm excited about Bychenko.

My post in the Summer Competitions thread (which is linked in my post above) has links to Boston Open schedule, results page, etc.

Caveat: As mentioned there, the live stream will have no audio (because of copyright restrictions).

(Will take the liberty of quickly mentioning here that other disciplines also have entries of high interest, such as:
Chan/Howe for pairs, and Lindsay Thorngren.
Also, notable skaters representing other feds, such as: Ashley Lin, Emmy Ma, Vernikov/Krasnopolski.
BTW, except for Chan/Howe and Lin, I don't see other senior entries who are coached by Ganicheva/Letov.)

 

[haribobo]

ISP Virtual Comp- SENIOR MEN SP
Nathan Chen 105.53
Jason Brown 94.51
Tomoki Hiwatashi 82.80
Ilia Malinin 80.87
Jimmy Ma 79.69
Maxim Naumov 66.24
Joseph Kang 64.67
Sean Rabbitt 62.91
Dinh Tran 60.70
Alexei Krasnozhon 60.44

 

[w4300]

I am kind of obsessed with Nathan's SP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eof7tcF-Bk8&feature=youtu.be

Music: Asturias + Canción del Mariachi

His FS is a slow burn for me but I am sure it will grow on me. I like that he is doing something different than last season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1WT_ofQi1Q&feature=youtu.be

Music: Selections from Philip Glass

Looks like USFSA has had them removed already

 

[mrrice]

Looks like USFSA has had them removed already

Where is Jason training? Did he stay in Canada for the Quarantine?

 

[fzztsimmons]

Where is Jason training? Did he stay in Canada for the Quarantine?

Jason went back to his family home in the US at the beginning of quarantine, but crossed the border to Canada back in June I think, and has been training at the Cricket Club since then.

 

[apgold]

Yana's Instagram has snippets of Nathan's programs. (Why did USFS take them down? There's no NBC Gold pass available for them to monetize, as far as I know.) I'm loving the Phillip Glass music - very different and avant-garde. Let's hope Nathan has some good costumes for these and no pajama tops from Vera!

SP - https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcDj-ZJSSP/
FS - https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcXW2SpbxR/

 

[elbkup]

I am kind of obsessed with Nathan's SP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eof7tcF-Bk8&feature=youtu.be

Music: Asturias + Canción del Mariachi

His FS is a slow burn for me but I am sure it will grow on me. I like that he is doing something different than last season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1WT_ofQi1Q&feature=youtu.be

Music: Selections from Philip Glass

Love both of Nathan’s choices this year..

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I also enjoyed Savary; his skate was among my top three in that competition. He always listens to the music and he has great lines. He also has a commanding presence on the ice...
he hasn’t had a chance to build a reputation (something that happens at the junior level) and he’s already over 20.

I could have hopes that he’s a “late bloomer,” but I have none. Javier Fernandez was a very notable exception , not the rule and he was coached by Orser. I’m content with just enjoying Savary’s Nationals performances every year.

I'm not content at just that. I'd like to see increased diversity in figure skating on a larger scale at the top. I'd also like to see all skaters given more opportunities to compete. That's the only way to improve and grow in experience.

I believe Emmanuel Savary's injury setbacks are the main thing that slowed his competitive development and opportunities to build career momentum. And then add in the fact that it's just tougher altogether to break through in figure skating for anyone, but especially so for black skaters. No lie.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Alexei Krasnozohn was a beast in the FS, contrasted with him looking completely out of it in the sp where he came in last. Maybe Alexei's poor sp spurred him on to great heights in the FS, which was fab-u-lous! Alexei had it last season, and it's beautifully choreographed by former skater, Alexander Johnson. There were lots of coach and rink viewer reactions for Alexei, which was cool to hear. Alexei definitely deserved his overall third place finish. Jimmy Ma flubbed his two opening FS jumps but made up for it, while Tomoki was very flat and didn't seem to have the energy to make his rotations in the FS, which was surprising. Malinin was simply not as strong in his FS.

The fact that replays and endless time waiting in the kiss-n-cry have been removed in this virtual format, may give the sport's handlers ideas about cutting down endless competition time when things return to some semblance of normal. At this point, I have doubts that most things will ever return to what we were used to though.

Nathan Chen, once again is an unbelievable force of nature! Two great programs once again. He's amazing. And so is Jason Brown! I love the program Jason used at the Peggy Fleming Trophy. I believe Rohene Ward had choreographed two programs for Jason, so Jason has both to choose from. David Wilson must have choreographed Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. I was hoping someone in skating would use this music, but I didn't expect it to be Jason. Of course, it works beautifully for him. Maybe the gorgeous program Jason performed at PFT is considered more suitable for an artistic competitive program or exhibition, but it surely could be reworked for regular competition. Jason looks very fit and confident.