Mr. Nicks retiring? | Golden Skate

Mr. Nicks retiring?

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
I knew Mr. Nicks was up there in age but had no idea he was 84. Good lord he deserves a rest. lol

Curious on what direction Ashley will take. I suppose it will depend on where her new coach is based.

It sounds like Mr. Nicks is willing to be an adviser to Ashley but like he said in the article, it is up to Ashley.

Thanks for sharing the article and tweet and best of luck to Ashley!
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
The good news is there are a lot of great coaches in S. California. Maybe she could join her BFF Adam Rippon and go to Arutyunyan? As far as I know his only high profile students are Nathan Chen and Adam. And he isn't really coaching any ladies at the moment....
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
This makes Phillip Mills leaving even bigger now because he would have most likely took over as her coach as well as choreographer. This is the last thing Ashley needs heading into the Olympic year.
 

FSGMT

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
I hope she will keep working with Nicks the USA, though: she can maybe train 1/2 of the time with him, and 1/2 with another coach who can go with her at the competitions...
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
I hope she will keep working with Nicks the USA, though: she can maybe train 1/2 of the time with him, and 1/2 with another coach who can go with her at the competitions...

This, but I don't envy her the decision. From what I get from the article he is willing to keep coaching her full time, but not willing to travel. Under those circumstances I'd probably stick with him if I were her.

I am actually surprised he's not going to stick out the Oly year. I feel him about travel stinking but he always seems to have so much spirit I'd have thought he's want to be in Sochi.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
On a RIDICULOUSLY SELFISH note I am going to SO miss him at the boards at competitions. He actually is one of my favorites to see there and has been for over 10 years now.
 

Trewyn

Medalist
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
I'm so so sad :cry: Not only did he really seem like the right coach for Ashley, I met him in Nice and he was awesome. At 84 he's definitely earned his retirement, but I'm going to miss him!
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Didn't he coach Tai and Randy? If so, he has been coaching Olympic-level athletes for 35+ years, which is pretty incredible. I wonder if Ashley were a serious medal contender would he stick around one more year.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Probably not. I think the Sochi trip for the GPF really took its toll reading between the lines
 

amc987

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Sorry to see Mr. Nicks is retiring. He's more than earned it, though.

So... who do we think would be good coaches to complement his influence on Ashley? I'm thinking that Rafael Arutunian could be excellent.
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
I hope she will keep working with Nicks the USA, though: she can maybe train 1/2 of the time with him, and 1/2 with another coach who can go with her at the competitions...


Even before now, Mills did the day to day coaching. Don't see Nicks doing half time now.
 

Nadia01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
This, but I don't envy her the decision. From what I get from the article he is willing to keep coaching her full time, but not willing to travel. Under those circumstances I'd probably stick with him if I were her.

I am actually surprised he's not going to stick out the Oly year. I feel him about travel stinking but he always seems to have so much spirit I'd have thought he's want to be in Sochi.

He may have other reasons (like health or family) that we may not know about. Traveling can be very hard on people, esp. people as old as him. And I'm not sure if he flies coach/economy or business, but that would also make a difference. (flying coach international can be brutal...not that business is that fabulous, depending on what airline you fly with)
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I cannot believe that the outright reason from Mr. Nicks that he prefers not to make the looooong trip to Sochi again seems insufficient to some. :confused2:
No reading between the lines necessary.

The GPF in Sochi was a test event for the Olympic skating competition as a whole.
In the case of Mr. Nicks, it also gave him a chance to experience exactly how demanding the travel would be. The total flight time plus 9-hour layover would be draining for anyone of any age -- whether in first, business or economy class.
If one of my relatives in their 80s decided to avoid repeating a marathon trip like that, I would totally understand.

It's not as if Mr. Nicks would be going on vacation, and upon arrival, he could relax and take his time recharging his batteries, so to speak.
Quite the contrary. Just like Wagner, he would have to be at the top of his game at the Olympics. They both would want to hit the ground running.

And if travel realistically has become a bit of a physical challenge for Mr. Nicks, I think that recusing himself well in advance is definitely the responsible thing to do.
Throughout Wagner's first (and only?) Olympics, she will have to keep her mental focus on the task at hand. Wondering out of natural concern whether someone so important to her on both professional and personal levels is overly fatigued, not feeling 100%, etc., could be a negative distraction. I am not saying that Mr. Nicks would ever intentionally say or do anything to make Wagner fret about him. But neither one of them is a robot. If he did not quite seem to be himself, chances are that her own radar would pick it up.
 
Top