- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
Yes, really obvious..Tarasova is a great player...
GP assigments 2013/2014
- Thread starter abfab
- Start date
Yes, really obvious..Tarasova is a great player...
Because S/S usually skate remarkably well in Russia (2011 Cup of Russia, 2011 Worlds - their best competition so far) while V/T had 2 disastrous skates in Russia last season
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
yes, will be very exciting
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2009
Korobeynikova did not skate well at either of her GPs last season, however. I tend to think if she had skated to her potential, her PCS would have been higher, to the level of Liza at least. Of course her PCS are not going to be high when she skates so poorly, but she has shown greatness in the past so it is possible she could show it again and if she does, I really do not think PCS will hold her back.
Josh got two! Jason got one!
Really cranky that Kovtun got two and Menshov only one.
It is by Season Best.
Farris is 20th, Kovtun is 21st.
21st and higher all have 2 Events.
Brown is 22nd, Menshov is 23rd.
They have 1 Event.
It means not so much. Substitutes and filling TBA spots almost always give 2nd Event for most of them who have one.
Miyahara with her "baby skating" too.
- Joined
- May 19, 2011
I share your enthusiasm Tulosai 
I'm happy Mirai won't have to wait like she did last year. I'm also happy Caroline will get to make a GP appearance this year...I didn't think she'd get a spot after her placements last year. She skated very well at her events; unfortunately, her best isn't nearly good enough anymore.
SA, SC, NHK and TEB are going to be the highlight events. It sucks that we never get to see the top skaters really go head-to-head until the Final. Mao, Yu-Na and Carolina are all at separate events. Yu-Na shouldn't have any trouble winning both of hers but there will be competition. At SC Gracie can match or beat Yu-Na's technical score but she is no competition when it comes to Yu-Na's PCS. Ashley isn't an easy skater to beat but it won't be an issue for Yu-Na to get past her.
Mao has it a little tougher. She'll be going against Ashley at SA...Ashley has beaten Mao several times before. At NHK she'll have a leg up but Akiko and Gracie should put a lot of pressure on her to perform. If Mao is still having UR problems next season she'll have a tough time winning her events.
Carolina probably has the easiest schedule. There are girls who can come close to her TES but she far outweighs everyone in PCS so as long as she skates decently, she should win with no problem.
The two newbies making the senior jump are Elena Radionova and Satoko Miyahara. Elena is a joy to watch for me. She's a tiny little firecracker who likes to perform so she should be fun to watch. She has tough jumps but she has yet to hit her growth spurt yet so we'll have to see if she retains them. Satoko is very tiny as well. She has wonderful skating skills and transitions but her jumps get only about 6 inches off of the ice. She has the difficulty but she gets hammered on URs and DGs...I don't see her being much of a factor if she can't coax any more height and power out of her jumps.
This should be an interesting season, that's for sure.
I'm happy Mirai won't have to wait like she did last year. I'm also happy Caroline will get to make a GP appearance this year...I didn't think she'd get a spot after her placements last year. She skated very well at her events; unfortunately, her best isn't nearly good enough anymore.SA, SC, NHK and TEB are going to be the highlight events. It sucks that we never get to see the top skaters really go head-to-head until the Final. Mao, Yu-Na and Carolina are all at separate events. Yu-Na shouldn't have any trouble winning both of hers but there will be competition. At SC Gracie can match or beat Yu-Na's technical score but she is no competition when it comes to Yu-Na's PCS. Ashley isn't an easy skater to beat but it won't be an issue for Yu-Na to get past her.
Mao has it a little tougher. She'll be going against Ashley at SA...Ashley has beaten Mao several times before. At NHK she'll have a leg up but Akiko and Gracie should put a lot of pressure on her to perform. If Mao is still having UR problems next season she'll have a tough time winning her events.
Carolina probably has the easiest schedule. There are girls who can come close to her TES but she far outweighs everyone in PCS so as long as she skates decently, she should win with no problem.
The two newbies making the senior jump are Elena Radionova and Satoko Miyahara. Elena is a joy to watch for me
. She's a tiny little firecracker who likes to perform so she should be fun to watch. She has tough jumps but she has yet to hit her growth spurt yet so we'll have to see if she retains them. Satoko is very tiny as well. She has wonderful skating skills and transitions but her jumps get only about 6 inches off of the ice. She has the difficulty but she gets hammered on URs and DGs...I don't see her being much of a factor if she can't coax any more height and power out of her jumps.This should be an interesting season, that's for sure.
Kovtun is the best Russian man on results of 2012/13 season.
He has highest Season Best of Russians.
He was 1st of Russians at all the Internationals of the season he took place.
I'm sure Asada will win NHK no matter what, just like she did last year. The judge panel actually turned a blind eye to her UR-ed 3F in SP.
Or maybe Ashley can bomb and still win Skate America like Czisny did in 2011 against a relatively clean Carolina
Or maybe we should stop making predictions about over-scoring before the actual event happens.
I am actually curious to see Ashley and Mao back to back and while it is true Ashley beat Mao several times last season, Mao prevailed in the most important competitions: GPF and Worlds. But since Skate America is the beginning of the season and usually Mao is getting better as the season goes by, I can see Ashley winning Skate America.
It is a solution of Volosozhar/Trankov - to not pretend to CoR.
They told it in interwiev.
So other medalist pair is at CoR.
Mao is a most "vulnerable" skater out of Top Three-if she skates like she did at WTT, she is definitely not winning gold-even if it's NHK Trophy(unless every other skater skates with huge mistakes all over the place, too).
I'm really excited to see many younger skaters making their senior debut, too. Good luck to all of the skaters who'll be competing at GP this fall! Too bad there are only 6 spots per discipline for GPF.
+I've just realized that JGP would be quite competitive, too, with(possibly) Sakhanovich, Edmunds, Sotskova, Karen Chen, and Medvedeva making their junior debut..
I'm really excited to see many younger skaters making their senior debut, too. Good luck to all of the skaters who'll be competing at GP this fall! Too bad there are only 6 spots per discipline for GPF.
+I've just realized that JGP would be quite competitive, too, with(possibly) Sakhanovich, Edmunds, Sotskova, Karen Chen, and Medvedeva making their junior debut..
It was rotated. Kinda barely, but still.
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2013
Looking at the assignments again. Josh might be able to scrape a top 5 at SC. He has a reasonable chance at medalling at CoR if he skates well.
Jason's assignment is just nasty. Unless he skates lights out, he could well be staring down the barrel of 9th!
Jason's assignment is just nasty. Unless he skates lights out, he could well be staring down the barrel of 9th!
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2003
Some thoughts, mostly about assignments for the Americans:
Exciting
Jason Brown--Can't wait to see him debut on the senior Grand Prix! I do wish he had a second assignment, though. Wonder if there's any chance of him getting the third Skate America slot.
Denis Ten--He's getting an early start to the season at Skate America. I really hope he comes out strong with some great programs. I'm a fan and want him to prove Worlds was no fluke!
Yu-na Kim--Very excited to see her new programs at Skate Canada.
New ladies--I'm looking forward to the new ladies debuting in seniors (Radionova, Pogorilaya, Miyahara).
Disappointing
Christina Gao--I'm a little discouraged that Christina got Skate Canada instead of Skate America. Doing Skate America last year, in a relatively weaker ladies' field, helped get her season off to a great start. But this year, Skate Canada looks like the toughest ladies' event of the GP. All 9 ladies entered are GP medalists. To me, strategically, it would have made a lot more sense for Christina to get the second Skate America spot again, giving her a better shot at a strong start to the season. Oh well. Hopefully, anticipating the level of competition at SC/TEB will help motivate Christina in her training (instead of intimidating her).
Hubbell/Donohue--I'm disappointed they have only one assignment. I really like this team, and I think the federation needs to stay behind them and keep giving them opportunities. The Shibs are vulnerable, and it's quite possible H/D could beat them and be our third team at the Olympics (assuming C/B get the second spot). I don't really understand why H/D got only 1 slot and meanwhile Aldridge/Eaton got a slot. To me it would make more sense for A/E to get the third SA slot and give H/D another assignment. A/E is possibly one of our teams for the future, but H/D are here & now: remember, they were a strong 10th at Worlds in 2012. I'm now hoping H/D can get the third SA slot or, failing that, at least a good senior B such as Finlandia Trophy.
Zhang/Bartholomay. I'm a little disappointed they only got 1 assignment. Most of the U.S. pairs assignments look okay, but I do question Simpson/Blackmer and Z/B both getting 1 slot instead of Z/B getting 2 slots. What is the rationale for giving Simpson/Blackmer a slot? They've been 10th the last 2 years at Junior Worlds, hardly an auspicious indication of senior success. I think it would have been better to give Z/B more exposure, just my 2 cents though.
Caroline Zhang--I question her getting the second slot at Skate America. I know a lot of people love her, but the truth is, she had a pretty terrible season last year, and it's highly unlikely she'll be a factor in any way this year. As I said, I'd have much preferred to see Christina in this slot, or really anyone else.
Other
Ashley Wagner--I think her assignments look good. She's well positioned to start the season with another win at Skate America. The only real competition there is Mao, but Mao tends to be more of a late-season skater. I expect Ashley to win, unless Mao comes out much stronger than usual. TEB is a tougher field, but Ashley should still get silver there, if everyone skates to their usual level.
Gracie Gold--She is facing tough fields in both her assignments. But I think this might actually help motivate her. With that 6th-place finish at Worlds, she knows she can compete with the best (even when not at her best). Hopefully that will help her self-confidence and consistency.
Ross Miner--Glad he got two assignments. After the Worlds disaster, not making WTT, and only getting a B envelope (unlike all the other gold/silver Nationals medalists), I was a little worried he'd get 1 assignment. Now hoping he can regroup from last year, get that quad stronger, and regain consistency. He really needs a consistent, strong season throughout to challenge for the Olympic team.
Savchenko/Szolkowy--I think it's good their assignments are later in the season. Last year at Skate America, they clearly weren't ready. Hopefully the later start will help them. OTOH, they'll have less time to recover from any injuries potentially incurred during competition. Fingers crossed; I really want to see one great final season from this team.
The ice dance field in general--The move to only 8 dance entries per event is a mistake. The 8-entry field works in pairs right now because the pairs field worldwide is (sadly) shrinking; there really aren't enough high-quality teams to fill out more slots. But that is not the case in ice dance. In general, dance is getting stronger and more popular, especially in the the major countries such as Canada, the U.S., and Russia. Those countries could easily field 3 high-quality dance teams for each event. But with the 8-entry limit, that means some great teams from these countries are getting one or no slots, and meanwhile second-rate teams from China, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Germany are getting slots. It makes no sense in terms of athlete development in the stronger countries. And also, on a more basic level, the ISU could be putting on a better show for its audience by including more teams.
American junior ladies--None of our international junior ladies from last year received a senior GP slot. Anyone surprised by this? I'd been under the impression that a lot of people were expecting Wang, Miller, Edmunds, Hicks, Cesario, and/or others to move up to seniors. Maybe they will get senior Bs instead? At any rate, I think this shifts the odds of any of them making the Olympic team from unlikely to near-impossible.
Skate America TBA slots--Anyone care to speculate on the contenders for these slots?? I know who I'd like to see: Brown, Zhang/Barholomay or Denney/Frazier, Hubbell/Donohue, and maybe Hicks. But I have no idea who will actually get them.
Johnny Weir--Not on the GP list. I assume this means his comeback is officially dead. Has there been any announcement?
Exciting
Jason Brown--Can't wait to see him debut on the senior Grand Prix! I do wish he had a second assignment, though. Wonder if there's any chance of him getting the third Skate America slot.
Denis Ten--He's getting an early start to the season at Skate America. I really hope he comes out strong with some great programs. I'm a fan and want him to prove Worlds was no fluke!
Yu-na Kim--Very excited to see her new programs at Skate Canada.
New ladies--I'm looking forward to the new ladies debuting in seniors (Radionova, Pogorilaya, Miyahara).
Disappointing
Christina Gao--I'm a little discouraged that Christina got Skate Canada instead of Skate America. Doing Skate America last year, in a relatively weaker ladies' field, helped get her season off to a great start. But this year, Skate Canada looks like the toughest ladies' event of the GP. All 9 ladies entered are GP medalists. To me, strategically, it would have made a lot more sense for Christina to get the second Skate America spot again, giving her a better shot at a strong start to the season. Oh well. Hopefully, anticipating the level of competition at SC/TEB will help motivate Christina in her training (instead of intimidating her).
Hubbell/Donohue--I'm disappointed they have only one assignment. I really like this team, and I think the federation needs to stay behind them and keep giving them opportunities. The Shibs are vulnerable, and it's quite possible H/D could beat them and be our third team at the Olympics (assuming C/B get the second spot). I don't really understand why H/D got only 1 slot and meanwhile Aldridge/Eaton got a slot. To me it would make more sense for A/E to get the third SA slot and give H/D another assignment. A/E is possibly one of our teams for the future, but H/D are here & now: remember, they were a strong 10th at Worlds in 2012. I'm now hoping H/D can get the third SA slot or, failing that, at least a good senior B such as Finlandia Trophy.
Zhang/Bartholomay. I'm a little disappointed they only got 1 assignment. Most of the U.S. pairs assignments look okay, but I do question Simpson/Blackmer and Z/B both getting 1 slot instead of Z/B getting 2 slots. What is the rationale for giving Simpson/Blackmer a slot? They've been 10th the last 2 years at Junior Worlds, hardly an auspicious indication of senior success. I think it would have been better to give Z/B more exposure, just my 2 cents though.
Caroline Zhang--I question her getting the second slot at Skate America. I know a lot of people love her, but the truth is, she had a pretty terrible season last year, and it's highly unlikely she'll be a factor in any way this year. As I said, I'd have much preferred to see Christina in this slot, or really anyone else.
Other
Ashley Wagner--I think her assignments look good. She's well positioned to start the season with another win at Skate America. The only real competition there is Mao, but Mao tends to be more of a late-season skater. I expect Ashley to win, unless Mao comes out much stronger than usual. TEB is a tougher field, but Ashley should still get silver there, if everyone skates to their usual level.
Gracie Gold--She is facing tough fields in both her assignments. But I think this might actually help motivate her. With that 6th-place finish at Worlds, she knows she can compete with the best (even when not at her best). Hopefully that will help her self-confidence and consistency.
Ross Miner--Glad he got two assignments. After the Worlds disaster, not making WTT, and only getting a B envelope (unlike all the other gold/silver Nationals medalists), I was a little worried he'd get 1 assignment. Now hoping he can regroup from last year, get that quad stronger, and regain consistency. He really needs a consistent, strong season throughout to challenge for the Olympic team.
Savchenko/Szolkowy--I think it's good their assignments are later in the season. Last year at Skate America, they clearly weren't ready. Hopefully the later start will help them. OTOH, they'll have less time to recover from any injuries potentially incurred during competition. Fingers crossed; I really want to see one great final season from this team.
The ice dance field in general--The move to only 8 dance entries per event is a mistake. The 8-entry field works in pairs right now because the pairs field worldwide is (sadly) shrinking; there really aren't enough high-quality teams to fill out more slots. But that is not the case in ice dance. In general, dance is getting stronger and more popular, especially in the the major countries such as Canada, the U.S., and Russia. Those countries could easily field 3 high-quality dance teams for each event. But with the 8-entry limit, that means some great teams from these countries are getting one or no slots, and meanwhile second-rate teams from China, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Germany are getting slots. It makes no sense in terms of athlete development in the stronger countries. And also, on a more basic level, the ISU could be putting on a better show for its audience by including more teams.
American junior ladies--None of our international junior ladies from last year received a senior GP slot. Anyone surprised by this? I'd been under the impression that a lot of people were expecting Wang, Miller, Edmunds, Hicks, Cesario, and/or others to move up to seniors. Maybe they will get senior Bs instead? At any rate, I think this shifts the odds of any of them making the Olympic team from unlikely to near-impossible.
Skate America TBA slots--Anyone care to speculate on the contenders for these slots?? I know who I'd like to see: Brown, Zhang/Barholomay or Denney/Frazier, Hubbell/Donohue, and maybe Hicks. But I have no idea who will actually get them.
Johnny Weir--Not on the GP list. I assume this means his comeback is officially dead. Has there been any announcement?
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
Interesting points for me:
Men:
- very glad to see Hanyu and Chan facing off against each other... each can push the other -- both are strong SP skaters, so we might see a very close competition that's sorted out in the FS
- Ten and Kozuka have a good chance to make the GPF with their assignments, particularly CoC
- sucks that Kovtun got 2 GP events but understandable; I wish one of them was head to head against Menshov though (and of course I wish Menshov got two spots)... Kovtun has a chance to medal at CoC, though, and has an opportunity at CoR to go head to head against Plushenko
- Javier has an excellent chance to make the GPF
- Rostelcom will be pretty exciting... I don't know if Plushenko will be able to defeat the technical content of Fernandez/Reynolds, but if his back is better and he attempts 2 quads, he has a shot... it will also be very interesting to see where Kovtun places relative to Plushenko, and to see if Menshov is given the 3rd Russian spot (probably depends on his NHK performance)
Ladies:
- most interested to see Radionova face off against Mao twice... NHK should be especially interesting with a rematch of Suzuki/Asada, and with Gold and Li thrown in the mix
- indeed Mao has the most challenging GP events
- CoC is the easiest event with Kostner likely winning even with an okay skate
- CoR should be interesting... rematch of Euros 2013... Sotnikova and Tuktamysheva square off, and a technically superior skate might actually defeat Kostner if she makes mistakes
- Wish I could go to Skate Canada... would love to see Kim, Osmond, Suzuki, Lipnitskaia and Gold... it will likely be Kim's win (no matter where she is, lol), but Gold and Lipnitskaia can push her technically, and Osmond does well on home ice... also wondering if Daleman or Chartrand will get a GP slot
- Leonova gets 2 spots?!?! Wow, the Russian fed is really holding out on her
Pairs
- Duhamel/Radford have a fairly easy street to the GPF
- quite a variety of US teams... I guess the fed is testing everyone out
- interested in how Takahashi and Tran will do with their respective partners, and wondering if Takahashi/Kihara will get a 2nd GP spot in Japan for more experience
Dance
- D/W have an easy street to the GPF (slightly more than V/M who have to deal with P/B on their home ice at TEB)
- CoC will be an interesting battle between B/S and P/B... who are both trying to make their case for Sochi bronze
- W/P have a decent shot to win CoR (although B/S will likely do so)... but silver is pretty much clear (with C/B as their only threat); a silver at SC should put them in the GPF... so their season is looking prospective
- C/B have good opportunities to medal at both of their GP events like last year, but have a shot at silver at CoR if W/P falter
Men:
- very glad to see Hanyu and Chan facing off against each other... each can push the other -- both are strong SP skaters, so we might see a very close competition that's sorted out in the FS
- Ten and Kozuka have a good chance to make the GPF with their assignments, particularly CoC
- sucks that Kovtun got 2 GP events but understandable; I wish one of them was head to head against Menshov though (and of course I wish Menshov got two spots)... Kovtun has a chance to medal at CoC, though, and has an opportunity at CoR to go head to head against Plushenko
- Javier has an excellent chance to make the GPF
- Rostelcom will be pretty exciting... I don't know if Plushenko will be able to defeat the technical content of Fernandez/Reynolds, but if his back is better and he attempts 2 quads, he has a shot... it will also be very interesting to see where Kovtun places relative to Plushenko, and to see if Menshov is given the 3rd Russian spot (probably depends on his NHK performance)
Ladies:
- most interested to see Radionova face off against Mao twice... NHK should be especially interesting with a rematch of Suzuki/Asada, and with Gold and Li thrown in the mix
- indeed Mao has the most challenging GP events
- CoC is the easiest event with Kostner likely winning even with an okay skate
- CoR should be interesting... rematch of Euros 2013... Sotnikova and Tuktamysheva square off, and a technically superior skate might actually defeat Kostner if she makes mistakes
- Wish I could go to Skate Canada... would love to see Kim, Osmond, Suzuki, Lipnitskaia and Gold... it will likely be Kim's win (no matter where she is, lol), but Gold and Lipnitskaia can push her technically, and Osmond does well on home ice... also wondering if Daleman or Chartrand will get a GP slot
- Leonova gets 2 spots?!?! Wow, the Russian fed is really holding out on her
Pairs
- Duhamel/Radford have a fairly easy street to the GPF
- quite a variety of US teams... I guess the fed is testing everyone out
- interested in how Takahashi and Tran will do with their respective partners, and wondering if Takahashi/Kihara will get a 2nd GP spot in Japan for more experience
Dance
- D/W have an easy street to the GPF (slightly more than V/M who have to deal with P/B on their home ice at TEB)
- CoC will be an interesting battle between B/S and P/B... who are both trying to make their case for Sochi bronze
- W/P have a decent shot to win CoR (although B/S will likely do so)... but silver is pretty much clear (with C/B as their only threat); a silver at SC should put them in the GPF... so their season is looking prospective
- C/B have good opportunities to medal at both of their GP events like last year, but have a shot at silver at CoR if W/P falter
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2012
I think USFSA will give their host pick to Cesario: she can't skate junior anymore, and all the other Ladies already have 2 GP... Hicks, Wang, Miller and Keiser should stay Junior...
And Gedevanishvili got two spots, I frankly didn't expect this after her Euros and worlds results... :think: it's because of the SB list, right (she's 24)?
And Gedevanishvili got two spots, I frankly didn't expect this after her Euros and worlds results... :think: it's because of the SB list, right (she's 24)?
