Canadian Nationals Predictions | Page 6 | Golden Skate

Canadian Nationals Predictions

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
herios..As Pogue says, the I/K boosters were there , and still are to some degree ( not so much on GS as on some other boards ), though they've pulled their horns in quite a bit. Now, they suggest that Russia still might send I/K to world's if they do really well at Euros..Implying, and hoping that I/K will win the political contest...

I pretty much agree with you on the merits of I/K vs. R/T ,and have no more clue than any other complete outsider as to what's going on in Russian skating politics. :unsure: So I should have used the word possibility instead of likelihood.. and perhaps made it more clear that I wasn't stating my opinion, but stating what was being bandied about.

If, by chance, I/K should get to World's, I'll feel bad for P/I if they have to wait for the next "batch" to get there ( I'd also feel bad for the Shibs.,if the same should happen to them in the US )..This is because, although I think things have improved in the ice dance world as far as politics go , I think perception still does play some part in placements , so it would be a shame if those teams that are competitive now, get delayed a year or two and are thus viewed as being not quite ready for prime time... Of course, that doesn't mean that I want anyone to be elevated in their national ranks undeservedly.
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
BTW, I apologze for my dumb question about P/I's junior world eligeability. I guess I was still thinking of the OD, because I completely forgot that the juniors and seniors use different CD's in the SD. There's no chance of P/I, or Ralph/Hill for that matter, going back to junior worlds, so I guess it'll be up to the junior medallists to carry the torch. Canada has, after all, won five junior world ice dance medals in the past six years. :)


Well realistically , I don't think that Canada will medal in ice dance at JW this year unless a Paul/Islam thing happens again. The Russians have dominated the JW dance this year and are likely to sweep the medals at JW.

The key thing though is having our top team finish among the top 3 countries ( this gives us the maximum 14 JGP slots next season). The key to doing that is beating the top Ukranian team.

I think it is possible ( but by no means guaranteed ) that we can beat the Ukranians with our top junior teams..

Let's just hope that next season that Skate Canada actually uses all its JGP dance slots next season unlike this season where they left 4 slots blank. One team who finished 4th in a JGP did not even get a second one. Denying skaters the chance to build up the ISU ranking ( which is needed for senior GP slots later on ) is sheer stupidity. It also hurts our position at JW as the SD skate order is determined by ISU ranking.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
It's a shame about Ten, hope this recent surgery allows him to get back on track. He's been struggling with injury for a while.

I do love Shawn, but unfortunately the axel and lutz seem to fail him when he needs them. I think Rogozine has a shot at a medal.

Yeah, well Rogozine def has a good shot. However, if Shawn skates well, I see the judges rewarding him with big scores, esp PCS.
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
Yes, thrilling as our depth in ice dance is right now , the Russian depth is simply mind boggling...

I must guiltily admit that while I can see his strengths, I find Rogozine's skating pretty boring at this stage of the game ,( though that could be unfair,as it might partly be that his programs don't thrill me ). I'll really miss Jeremy this year, and really hope for Elladj to make a breakthrough ( does he need a coaching change..full , or some shared arrangement ?) I can't quite remember..hadn't he seemed to have hit a plateau before his injury ? I didn't get to see him as often as I might have liked 2 yrs. ago , so others might have a better idea of this than I do. I seem to remember thinking at the time that he needed a more disciplined approach , or maybe better choreo, or something ,to balance ( and take full advantage of ) his larger-than-life presence.
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
Yes, thrilling as our depth in ice dance is right now , the Russian depth is simply mind boggling...

I must guiltily admit that while I can see his strengths, I find Rogozine's skating pretty boring at this stage of the game ,( though that could be unfair,as it might partly be that his programs don't thrill me ). I'll really miss Jeremy this year, and really hope for Elladj to make a breakthrough ( does he need a coaching change..full , or some shared arrangement ?) I can't quite remember..hadn't he seemed to have hit a plateau before his injury ? I didn't get to see him as often as I might have liked 2 yrs. ago , so others might have a better idea of this than I do. I seem to remember thinking at the time that he needed a more disciplined approach , or maybe better choreo, or something ,to balance ( and take full advantage of ) his larger-than-life presence.


Balde beat Reynolds at JW before his injury so I would hardly say that he had plateaued before the injury. That was Balde's last competition before the injury. It was about 16 months before he ever competed again at the Quebec summer competition.

Personally I don't think Balde is ready yet to be a factor at Canadians this year mainly because you have to take into account he lost a whole year due to the injury. If he can skate well enough to get consideration for Nebelhorn next season ( I know the summer comps are used as well) that will be great.

I hope that Chan and Rogozine don't get tickets to 4CC. We need Rogozine to concentrate on JW ( JGP slots will be determined by his placement and not by Firus or Morais) and some other skaters desperately need ISU ranking points.

I also hope that Skate Canada leaves 2 TBA spots for Skate Canada. Reynolds and Rogozine will get 2 spots each anyway and we have many skaters ready to build their ISU rankings.

The competition for the Nebelhorn ( and other senior B ) spots will be intense that is for sure.
 

callalily

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 11, 2005
I must guiltily admit that while I can see his strengths, I find Rogozine's skating pretty boring at this stage of the game ,( though that could be unfair,as it might partly be that his programs don't thrill me ).

I know what you mean...he's not very expressive at this point, but it often seems that the skaters who get the technical elements first can develop their artistry as they mature (e.g. Browning), so I hope that's the case with Rogozine.

BTW, it's great to see the excellent contributions in this thread. Thanks everyone!
 
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skatingfan04

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 1, 2007
Well realistically , I don't think that Canada will medal in ice dance at JW this year unless a Paul/Islam thing happens again. The Russians have dominated the JW dance this year and are likely to sweep the medals at JW.

The key thing though is having our top team finish among the top 3 countries ( this gives us the maximum 14 JGP slots next season). The key to doing that is beating the top Ukranian team.

I think it is possible ( but by no means guaranteed ) that we can beat the Ukranians with our top junior teams..

Let's just hope that next season that Skate Canada actually uses all its JGP dance slots next season unlike this season where they left 4 slots blank. One team who finished 4th in a JGP did not even get a second one. Denying skaters the chance to build up the ISU ranking ( which is needed for senior GP slots later on ) is sheer stupidity. It also hurts our position at JW as the SD skate order is determined by ISU ranking.

I know our chances of grabbing a medal at Jr worlds in dance are pretty much nonexistent, but a girl can dream:biggrin: Besides, you never know, the Paul/Islam thing could happen again.:) I think that Skate Canada made a big mistake by not filling all of the JGP spots this season. For example, there is a jr team ive been really impressed with, Andreanne Poulin & Marc-Andre Servant. These two finished fourth at their jgp, but never got the chance to go to a second event. In fact, I'm pretty hopeful of those two making it to jr worlds and doing well. Their programs are lovely this season.
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
I know our chances of grabbing a medal at Jr worlds in dance are pretty much nonexistent, but a girl can dream:biggrin: Besides, you never know, the Paul/Islam thing could happen again.:) I think that Skate Canada made a big mistake by not filling all of the JGP spots this season. For example, there is a jr team ive been really impressed with, Andreanne Poulin & Marc-Andre Servant. These two finished fourth at their jgp, but never got the chance to go to a second event. In fact, I'm pretty hopeful of those two making it to jr worlds and doing well. Their programs are lovely this season.

Thanks for dropping the names I was referring to in my last post.(Poulin/Servant)

Paul/Islam did have the advantage though of having previous good results with their old partners before though. Islam even made the JGPF with Lenko. So it is not exactly the same thing.

I don't see a dance medal happening at JW. Top 3 countries ( more important right now for those JGP slots IF Skate Canada will use them ) is entirely doable.
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
:) Thanks, nadster . Re: Balde..I didn't get to see much skating 2 yrs ago..between TV scheduling and chaos in real life. I wasn't really thinking Balde would be in medal contention this year , but hope to see him make strides on a fresh start and get some good int'l assignments.
 

valentine

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Yes, thrilling as our depth in ice dance is right now , the Russian depth is simply mind boggling...

I must guiltily admit that while I can see his strengths, I find Rogozine's skating pretty boring at this stage of the game ,( though that could be unfair,as it might partly be that his programs don't thrill me ). I'll really miss Jeremy this year, and really hope for Elladj to make a breakthrough ( does he need a coaching change..full , or some shared arrangement ?) I can't quite remember..hadn't he seemed to have hit a plateau before his injury ? I didn't get to see him as often as I might have liked 2 yrs. ago , so others might have a better idea of this than I do. I seem to remember thinking at the time that he needed a more disciplined approach , or maybe better choreo, or something ,to balance ( and take full advantage of ) his larger-than-life presence.

You can see Elladj on skatebuzz at western challenge senior men.
 

ajjcanada

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Senior Men contenders?

Hi there,

Don't post much, but I have a question for those who are more 'in the know' - re the Senior men competition, I don't think many if any of you have mentioned Marc-André Craig or Ian Martinez as contenders, at least for the bronze medal or even in top 5. Considering they were top 2 at Challenge curious as to why not? :think:
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
I am so looking forward to going to this competition. I think that there could be some really interesting results in all disciplines. Was noticing in the junior dance that Carswell/Doleman and Maccuish/Morris are missing. Are they injured or have they pulled out because of poor showing this season?
 

npa

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 17, 2006
And why Kongs will not compete at Nationals? I thought they look good at JGP
 

callalily

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 11, 2005
And why Kongs will not compete at Nationals? I thought they look good at JGP

I don't believe that they participated at Challenge, so they can't go to Nationals. I'm not sure why they skipped Challenge, does anyone know?
 

skatingfan04

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 1, 2007
Hi there,

Don't post much, but I have a question for those who are more 'in the know' - re the Senior men competition, I don't think many if any of you have mentioned Marc-André Craig or Ian Martinez as contenders, at least for the bronze medal or even in top 5. Considering they were top 2 at Challenge curious as to why not? :think:

They may have been the top two at Challenge, but they won in a depleated feild. As far as I understand it, any competitor who skated in a senior grand prix is exempted from competing at Challenge and automatically qualifies for nationals, meaning that the best men in the country (Chan, Sawyer, Ten, Reynolds) were not there. Also, Andrei Rogozine, who has been competing with senior level jumps - including two triple axels in his free skate - and great consistency all season was exempt due to his qualification for the JGP final. Now, based on consistency, jumping ability and past results, it is likely IMO that everyone listed above will beat both Craig and Martinez. Now, with Ten pulling out, that could very well put one of them into fifth, but there are also others with more experience who finished behind them at Challenge (Russell, for example) who could very well end up ahead of them. Of course, nationals is a competition like any other and anything can happen, but neither Craig nor Martinez have been particularly consistent in the past, so I would be surprised to see either of them on the podium.
 

Ravensque

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
And why Kongs will not compete at Nationals? I thought they look good at JGP

I read somewhere? that their parents pulled them out because their school grades were not up to par.....don't know if it's true or not, but it does make some sense I suppose. Too bad anyway. I hope to see them back competing again....a very promising young team.
 

dcr

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I am so looking forward to going to this competition. I think that there could be some really interesting results in all disciplines. Was noticing in the junior dance that Carswell/Doleman and Maccuish/Morris are missing. Are they injured or have they pulled out because of poor showing this season?

Not sure about Maccuish but Abby Carswell is listed in partner search. They must have split.
 

herios

Medalist
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
herios..As Pogue says, the I/K boosters were there , and still are to some degree ( not so much on GS as on some other boards ), though they've pulled their horns in quite a bit. Now, they suggest that Russia still might send I/K to world's if they do really well at Euros..Implying, and hoping that I/K will win the political contest...

I pretty much agree with you on the merits of I/K vs. R/T ,and have no more clue than any other complete outsider as to what's going on in Russian skating politics. :unsure: So I should have used the word possibility instead of likelihood.. and perhaps made it more clear that I wasn't stating my opinion, but stating what was being bandied about.

If, by chance, I/K should get to World's, I'll feel bad for P/I if they have to wait for the next "batch" to get there ( I'd also feel bad for the Shibs.,if the same should happen to them in the US )..This is because, although I think things have improved in the ice dance world as far as politics go , I think perception still does play some part in placements , so it would be a shame if those teams that are competitive now, get delayed a year or two and are thus viewed as being not quite ready for prime time... Of course, that doesn't mean that I want anyone to be elevated in their national ranks undeservedly.


Colleen and Pogue, I will revisit this subject, but not here, rather on the Europeans thread, as I have my conviction that R/T could ans should defeat I/K convincingly...
Back to the Candian ice dancers, are there any updates on the golden couple? Will they show up? As soon as i heard they are entered in the warm-up groups for the SD, I couldn't help it and relistened to the 3 pieces of their FD and it blows my mind even to think about how will be able Tessa to dance 3 months after her surgery to that superfast rythm of Mujer Latina?? What kind aof choreo could be done on that music to be gentle on her feet????:think:
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
I dont see why the concept if I/K beat R/T at Europeans they would get sent to Worlds over them is some revelation or surprise. European nationals general use Europeans as the final qualifier for Worlds. If they have more spots available for Europeans than Worlds or someone missing from Europeans they will be sending to Worlds, then who places higher at Europeans is pretty much always what determines who will go. It certainly doesnt mean anything political either. If I/K were to beat R/T at Europeans they would deserve to go to Worlds, and it would go against usual European policy if they didnt.
 
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