Prediction for your favorite skaters next season | Page 9 | Golden Skate

Prediction for your favorite skaters next season

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
Here's a wonky predicition. Gracie's hairstylist tells her that the bleach is doing irreparable damage to her hair and she returns to her natural brown. She looks beautiful, proving that beauty comes in many different packages.
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
The problem with Zhang/Bartholomay is that at least once or twice during the season, Nate will have a problem with an aborted lift, which is extremely costly. And it happened again at Worlds. The scores were so tightly packed after the SP that Z/B had a real chance to move up a couple of places with a clean FS. The Wendes, who were ahead of Z/B after the SP had basically bombed their FS, so the opportunity was there to gain on them. Z/B had scored 110 and change in Sochi--a similar clean performance could have boosted their final standing. Things were going well until the aborted lift, and then there was NO chance of a move up.

Every time Z/B take the ice from now on I will be gritting my teeth. I just hope for a huge improvement in Scimeca/Knierim and a different team at Worlds 2015.

I think both US pairs had a good chance to improve their World stature post Sochi. The Olympic judges gave C&S solid scores for skates with a few mistakes and indicated they would be willing to give them big scores for good skates. But they failed to capitalize and walk through that door at Worlds. It was like all the life went out of them for the FS after the death spiral was invalidated in the short. Still I think they are a known entity for international judges after putting down 4 respectable Olympic performances and the judges will be more generous with them than any of the other uS pairs. And I expect them to have a 1-2 mistake cushion at Nats over the other teams as 2 time champs. Whether that's wise or fair, I'm not sure but I do think they're significantly ahead of all the other US teams PCS wise so I guess it is.

With Z/B, it's not that I think they have more potential than the other pairs, I just expect they'll deliver at Nationals next season and I don't think we have any reason to assume that of the other teams yet. Even when Z/B have errors, I never feel like they're skating scared. And that's huge for nationals which seems to be one big head game.

S&K had a disaster in one of the two programs at every comp this year. Chris is almost 27 which isn't ancient but isn't young when you've had no international success to speak of yet. If we're looking to the future, Im looking more to D/F and K/O.
 

pamela

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 27, 2014
What is that. I like it; the lyrics are good, but the video is very strange.

hahaha yes very strange, a friend sent it to me and i immediately though of elena and ruslan. its austria's entry for eurovision 2014.
the lyrics are good, but im not a fan of the song. i wish someone does a cover of it and change the beat.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Here's a wonky predicition. Gracie's hairstylist tells her that the bleach is doing irreparable damage to her hair and she returns to her natural brown. She looks beautiful, proving that beauty comes in many different packages.

And sky_fly laments her doomed Hollywood career, and starts going on a bashing spree of her.
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
I predict Yulia avenges all the various spellings of her name by going by her middle name next year. Vyacheslavovna Lipnitskaya. Good luck rink announcers and GS faithful :)
Just to let you know, ESP called Yuzuru Hanyu: Yazunori Hanyu, Yazura Hanyu... Or Hanya several times already. :laugh:
I expect more variations for her name from ESP in the future. Poor Yulia. :popcorn:
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
I hope Radionova will win a GP gold, she will be in the GPF and she will be medalled on ECH and WCH. And Pogorilaya will have a great season too..
 

MaoAsadaFan

Spectator
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
I really hope Mao doesn't retire, this was a great season (other than the olympics) for her despite the inconsistency with the triple axel. This really was a season of rebirth for her, especially with the choreography. I can't decide whether I like nocturne in e flat major better or I got rhythm better as her short program but Piano Concerto no 2 really did it for me (Maybe a bit more choreography here and there, better transitions would do it good, but my fav FS of all time no doubt). There aren't other skaters who will be able to match her, Asada, Koster and Kim are like the holy trinity of figure skating (this season at least) and they reached a level with each other and their performances were sights to behold, truly. She reworked her technique, and I think she'll be able to quad as world champion easily if she returns next year, but a year off makes sense. i hope she carolina kostners her career, besides she said and I quote "I will work as hard as I can to break this record", so she's the only one of the three not to retire (probs) after this season. I hope to see her next year, but who knows

Kostner : Wise decision to retire if she does. She's losing stamina, strength and power fast but her maturity holds strong. If she returns, it will be iffy, that's for sure, but I do not expect to see her for the 2016 olympics for sure. Thing is that she's had a major breakthrough since vancouver, absolutely amazing, and I hope she'll be able to keep it up if she doesnt retire. Maybe the next evgeni plushenko except a bit less narcissistic (he has a right to, and it works for him tbh)?

Tbh lipinitskaya is a bit iffy, her jumps deteriorate in height really quickly, but I will admit she manages to connect with the music well and her arm movements are choreography are amazing (a bit emotionally constipated at times, I dislike the way she uses spirals). She will grow in power, and her jumps will probably get a lot higher, no doubt. I think she can win any GP competition with luck and maybe the GPF too. I'm predicting 1st or 2nd at worlds depending on the choreography of her programs

I think Javier fernandez is one to watch out for. He's being trained by brian orser atm and there's no knowing what he'll be able to do. I predict at least one Grand prix circuit win and maybe 2-3 at GPF and same with worlds. (Plus he's hella cute but that's besides the point >u<) His quad salchow is a sight to behold, that's for sure. Decent GOEs for the quad, and his choreography is very playful to say the least. I believe he can look forward to 2nd at worlds or 1st maybe. he is a fair match for yuzuru ON A GOOD DAY

Kanako Murakami: I don't know about kanako in all honesty. It depends on her attitude cuz after 4cc it was disastrous for her. If she rebounds her game, then she could be fair game for anna pogorilaya or elena radionova, but who knows tbh. She's a dark horse, but not too great in terms of technical ability. Nothing that will propel her to the top imo

Yuzuru is growing on me, great jumping technique (sometimes messy quads, but a wonder to watch, component wise almost as good as chan on an average day, but who knows what'll happen). I think he can outperform patrick chan easily (probably peaked, but then again, who knows. Maybe retired? loved his vivaldi program at least). I think he will have a good season, maybe one or two flops but overall very successful, though I doubt he'll set any new WRs anytime soon.

Adelina: Well, again she's a dark horse. At sochi, she got VERY VERY lucky with a near clean program. I think she might take a season off or retire altogether, but odds are she'll have a less successful return to competition but tbh i dont know

Chan: Dark horse, not a big fan cuz of the lack of consistency. This season probably dealt a good deal of psych trauma.

Gracie gold: Now that the olympics are over, I don't really know. It depends on her attitude since her jumps are definitely beautiful, not as beautiful as say radionova's, but beautiful nonetheless. She has style, (even though she looked like a giant popsicle at sochi skating to tchaikovsky). If she works hard enough, anything could happen, but another dark horse it seems.

Wagner: She's having so much trouble with skating technique, she messes up the triple triple often. I see success cuz she has consistent and great components, but I don't really know

Nagasu: Something tells me she'll come back with a vengeance, something tells me she'll retire, but nowhere near the top skaters, that's for sure
 

alebi

Medalist
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I don't think we'll see Chan next GP season, maybe he can do nationals and size up his condition and competitiveness but I doubt he will do Worlds. But this doesn't mean he'll retire, I'm pretty sure he needs a break to relax and come back with new fire. Same for Mao. They still have an unfinished job
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
I don't think we'll see Chan next GP season, maybe he can do nationals and size up his condition and competitiveness but I doubt he will do Worlds. But this doesn't mean he'll retire, I'm pretty sure he needs a break to relax and come back with new fire. Same for Mao. They still have an unfinished job

I could see Chan returning at some point. Honestly I dont think he will, but I could see it happening. Like 30% chance. However I am pretty sure you wont see him compete next season. I also dont think he will return in the future if someone is skating at the level the OGM looks completely unrealistic.

Mao I actually expect to compete next season if I had to guess (although wont surprise me either if she doesnt) and to go right through to 2018. I see her continuing far more likely than Chan.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
I just rewatched Radianova's short program from Skate America and I must say as big a fan I am of Julia, Elena truly looks like the better skater. Her jumps are bigger and higher quality than Julia. Her jumps arent as big as Sotnikova but they have much nicer air positions, better run out, and better control than Adelina's sloppy jumps. Her spins arent as good as Julia, but they are still quite good. Her basic skating and overall strength and ease of movement is superior to Julia's, and her choreography and control of her body movements is far superior to Adelina.
 

Tompson

Rinkside
Joined
Apr 15, 2014
Yes. Truly I believe Radionova will win over Yulia by small margin if they go clean. Radionova has inner music soul and not better spin but better jump.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Not sure if she would win right away as Julia has the reputation edge right now in a big way, but by seasons end she could if she shows similar consistency to the judges as Julia already has.
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
This is my opinion on Mao's choreography and path to future success after reading the post of MaoAsadaFan above. As far as choreography and transitions go for Mao in her Sochi FS, I noticed that she had developed a unique quality that seems to have gone largely unnoticed: a remarkable wave-like flow of her entire body throughout the entirety of the program based on her life-long training in ballet, including a large amount of single foot skating. I believe that these motions are extremely difficult to execute because I have not seen them in another skater and that she has worked long and hard to perfect them because I didn't notice them fully until Sochi. They are most noticeable when she exits her jumps and she arches her entire back, head and neck fluidly backwards and her arms flow back to the exit of the jump, though the motions are always present. I feel this is why many are so impressed with her performance, despite a perceived lack of choreography. The flexible and fluid flow is incorporated into every movement and becomes her unique form of continual choreography.

In regards to her skating future, Mao finally got her triple axel and the rest of her jumps to championship form by the end of the season after many years of struggling, yet she needs to keep skating to preserve them since she hasn't been in this peak form for long. If she wants to have a great shot at winning Worlds, I believe she needs to keep skating next season. It is obvious that the process has not come easily for her, so it just makes sense that it would be difficult to preserve. If she took a whole year off, the process of rebuilding that base would be quite difficult and traumatic, especially since she would be coming back at the age of 25.

She is my favorite skater, but even I have to admit the odds would be stacked against her. Her reputation would also likely drop relative to another World Champion, and she would probably lose PCS points as well. Scoring has not been kind to Asians in comparison to Russians this year since Sochi, so she may have to battle this issue as well. Ideally, I feel she would benefit most from continuing to skate even in the Grand Prix season to maintain the stellar form she has reached and her status as the number 1 seed with peak PCS, but there are a lot of risks if she is as tired as she said she was after Sochi. As she said, she needs to have some definite goal and drive that she currently doesn't have. If she does find it, I think taking off the Grand Prix season would be fine, and then she could do Nationals and Four Continents and still be prepared for Worlds. This is a happy medium. Just my thoughts.
 

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
I'll be interested to see which Canadian dance teams Skate Canada wants at the Skate Canada GP. Usually they alternate one or two of the 3 slots every year to keep it fair to the other teams. V&M were at SC the last several years in a row, but W&P, G&P, P&I, R&H, etc. have been rotated to give them all a shot at it.

This year with V&M presumably retired, W&P will be the top Canadian dance team there. And if G&P are seeded, maybe them too. They could also try to assign P&I to SC, although they were there last year. SC will be in Kelowna, British Columbia this year, so normally they might consider inviting the local team of O&W since they train nearby, but I'm not sure if they qualify at the present time.
 

Adios

Spectator
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
I'd like to see what Asada will do in the coming months. It'd be nice for her to skate another season!
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Country
United-States
Not sure if she would win right away as Julia has the reputation edge right now in a big way, but by seasons end she could if she shows similar consistency to the judges as Julia already has.

Even the Russians can say..."the Russians are coming!!"

I don't disagree one bit. This will likely be a big year for Radinova who was kind of left in the dust due mostly to her age. Up thread you said Elena has better SS skills than Yulia. True but I'd take note instead and give the nod in skating skills to Anna P. She possesses much more power and turns on deeper confident edges than both girls. Radinova likely will have the best Ladies FS this year out of Russia. I'd bet on it if I was a gambler. I wouldn't go counting anyone out and those who struggle early may be the strongest come Worlds. So many well packaged skaters and so few births into the big events.
 
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