2017-2018 Canadian Road to the Olympics

NanaPat · Nov 10, 2017

Bluediamonds09 said:
I know that Gabby really likes her Gladiator program, but.......

What’s going on with Alaine?? I still say she’s going to the olympics because who else can challenge for the spot?

I'm not discouraged about Gaby yet. Wasn't it just last year that she was fighting back tears in the kiss'n'cry at the French grand prix? Also, she had abdominal surgery just a few months ago, so her training has been disrupted.

But poor Alaine. I'd rather see Veronique Mallet at the Olympics, if she's at all healthy. Her upside is less than Alaine, but her downside is more. Just my opinion. I love Alaine, but I hate to see her struggle.

kenboy123 · Nov 10, 2017

NanaPat said:
I'm not discouraged about Gaby yet. Wasn't it just last year that she was fighting back tears in the kiss'n'cry at the French grand prix? Also, she had abdominal surgery just a few months ago, so her training has been disrupted.

But poor Alaine. I'd rather see Veronique Mallet at the Olympics, if she's at all healthy. Her upside is less than Alaine, but her downside is more. Just my opinion. I love Alaine, but I hate to see her struggle.

I honestly don't know what is going on with Alaine, she doesn't really have any pressure this season...she has to know that no one can really challenge her for that third spot in the Olympics, you would think, right???...shouldn't she be skating more freely and with more confidence knowing that she doesn't have any pressure..

I'm not discourage by Daleman yet, but i'm kinda disappointed with her program...i feel like the potential for her to actually create impactful moments almost are 0 in her free skate. First of all, her music choice is music is awful. Of all the Gladiator music you choose, you pick the slowest and least impactful of any possible Gladiator music and then we have her program which looks like she is literally just skating around on the ice with nothing to do. It feels like when i'm watching the program that there should be elements all over the place, but instead i get just her skating around where elements should be...The program is just not impactful enough for any season, let alone an Olympic season...again, part of that is the music that makes her look like she isn't doing much...I don't know, just my opinion....

ice coverage · Nov 10, 2017

mrrice said:
I don't know what's up with Nam but, he just wasn't good today. Maybe they'll need to put Nic or Conrad on the team instead.

If you think Nadeau or Orzel should be under consideration, then don't forget Liam Firus.

Of all the Canadian men, Messing and Firus have the very highest ISU SBs, separated by only 0.01.
The next highest SBs belong to Chan and Nguyen.
Others trail well behind.

As far as I can see, only Chan and Reynolds have anything that meets Skate Canada's body-of-work criteria for the Olympics.
Reynolds just barely, meeting the third criterion by virtue of his 9th place at 2017 Worlds.

Seems to me that for everyone except Chan, 2018 Nats will be the make-or-break competition.

mrrice · Nov 10, 2017

kenboy123 said:
I honestly don't know what is going on with Alaine, she doesn't really have any pressure this season...she has to know that no one can really challenge her for that third spot in the Olympics, you would think, right???...shouldn't she be skating more freely and with more confidence knowing that she doesn't have any pressure..

I'm not discourage by Daleman yet, but i'm kinda disappointed with her program...i feel like the potential for her to actually create impactful moments almost are 0 in her free skate. First of all, her music choice is music is awful. Of all the Gladiator music you choose, you pick the slowest and least impactful of any possible Gladiator music and then we have her program which looks like she is literally just skating around on the ice with nothing to do. It feels like when i'm watching the program that there should be elements all over the place, but instead i get just her skating around where elements should be...The program is just not impactful enough for any season, let alone an Olympic season...again, part of that is the music that makes her look like she isn't doing much...I don't know, just my opinion....

I agree 100% with this comment. Frankly, all she has to do is stand up to get on the team year. She has a relatively easy road to the Olympics and you'd think that would help her relax into her performances. I hope she takes the pressure off of herself because a performance like this would hand her spot to next skater in line......

singerskates · Nov 10, 2017

mrrice said:
I didn't see her SP in Japan but she is sitting in last place....There has to be a skater in Canada that bring it under pressure. At this point, they should send their top Junior if Alaine can't pull herself together. Didn't Cynthia Phaneuf win Nationals as a junior?

Unfortunately, the Junior with the top marks so far is from Skate Ontario Section and she is only 14 and too young to go to the Oympics.

Cherry blossom · Nov 10, 2017

I wouldnt be to worried about the state of our team after this season. We have some notable up and comers. Stephen gogolev, catherine carle, lajoie/zagha and conrad orzel.

Mango · Nov 10, 2017

Haven't caught up on the discussion but the top 3 junior ladies right now are Hannah Dawson, Alison Schumacher, and Aurora Cotop. Of the three only Hannah is eligible to go to the Olympics age-wise.

eyeballlickinggecko · Nov 10, 2017

4everchan said:
well.... so she didn't fix him? a good coach is there to take a student and make them improve. For me, the biggest issues came with Mira Leung.... and then Kevin... both... huge potential but never improved.... I gave her slack because apparently Mira had her family very involved in her skating and that's always tough for a coaching team....but then kevin... what a waste... and now I am worried for Sarah. Another huge potential.. I have seen her skate live twice. She has something special... but meh...
Mind you, we are critical of Joanne but we are also critical of many other coaches... I think to be fair we could mention that we don't like Alaine's coaching situation either...

I'm honestly pretty disappointed with Sarah's development. The first time I really paid attention to her, I thought her jumps were quite good but really needed to work on PCS. Her jumps keep improving but not much progress on her skating and presentation. Her programs are choreographed by Megan Wing so clearly Sarah works with the ice dancers at her club so I'm not sure why there's isn't more improvement.

nimi · Nov 11, 2017

mrrice said:
IFrankly, all she has to do is stand up to get on the team year. She has a relatively easy road to the Olympics and you'd think that would help her relax into her performances. I hope she takes the pressure off of herself because a performance like this would hand her spot to next skater in line......

Well, at least today's FS was a step up for Alaine. Yeah there was the middle part where her lutz and loop got away from her but then she quickly got back on track (and outscored Mariah Bell in the free).

Fingers crossed this was a watershed moment for her & that a more confident Alaine will show up at Nats... :pray:

mrrice · Nov 11, 2017

Cherry blossom said:
I wouldnt be to worried about the state of our team after this season. We have some notable up and comers. Stephen gogolev, catherine carle, lajoie/zagha and conrad orzel.

It's definitely not the future that I'm worried about, it's the present. I have to wonder if Alaine is masking an injury. She was much better today but, she's not even close to being back to her old self. She's fortunate to have a relatively easy path to the Games due to Canada's 3 spots. I hope she heads back with confidence to know that she can score big if she skates cleanly.

kenboy123 · Nov 11, 2017

mrrice said:
It's definitely not the future that I'm worried about, it's the present. I have to wonder if Alaine is masking an injury. She was much better today but, she's not even close to being back to her old self. She's fortunate to have a relatively easy path to the Games due to Canada's 3 spots. I hope she heads back with confidence to know that she can score big if she skates cleanly.

I'm more worried about the near future instead of the actual future if that makes any sense at all...

Osmond4gold · Nov 11, 2017

mrrice said:
It's definitely not the future that I'm worried about, it's the present. I have to wonder if Alaine is masking an injury. She was much better today but, she's not even close to being back to her old self. She's fortunate to have a relatively easy path to the Games due to Canada's 3 spots. I hope she heads back with confidence to know that she can score big if she skates cleanly.

I fear with every comp., that she is losing her game face for competing. We know she has the goods and today I saw a bit of old Alaine in her FS performance fight, but a far cry from Alaine who I knew in 2016 (Halifax). How I wish she could have made a team change as a few of us suggested, last year. A change can be as good as a rest, sometimes.

Such a natural talent and a beautiful person when I met and congratulated her, as the national champion. I hope she can get back to herself, and wish her all the best at Canadians.

4everchan · Nov 11, 2017

re Alaine :

I think that her work with Krall is just starting and confusing her a bit.. however : here are some things I have noticed that are encouraging

1) she is definitely working on fixing her edge on the flip. This weekend, she only got a ! on it instead of the e she often gets at international events
2)she doesn't two-foot her jumps anymore... that's a huge improvement compared to just a few months ago
3) her 3z-3t is better and better as we go in... the rotation on it is better.
4)her 2a-1/2loop-3s has always had bad timing however, i feel that the connection between the last two jumps is getting better and has more flow. I think it's the first time i see her do this combo with a full 3s at the end of it.

Alaine : keep going...it's normal to have a phase of bad performances when fixing one's technique but then, the newly acquired technique will create more and more confidence.

Skater Boy · Nov 11, 2017

Well, I have to admit I am not seeing a lot of positives for Canada in respect to the olympics. In pairs, well let's start with Duhamel and Radford - they seem to only have a chance for a medal if others make mistakes. They are not well liked on this website and by the judges. They must be technically superior to compete. Sui and Han are not getting the GOE's of past champions and h uge pcs - so they are going to be hard to beat. They may not be original in that they seem to be a remake of Shen and Zhou but they are pretty, beautiful skating with solid easy pair elements. D and R have to skate with commitment and sell their own style. But they are the most hope Canada has in pairs. Lu and dylan had potential but without the side by side jumps with her and the top getting crowded with the French, Italians and Americans it is very easy for them to fall out of the top 8 (2 Russian, 2 Chinese, Italians, French, D and R and that doesn't factor in that the third Russian and chinese team and another Italian team are capable of beating I and M. As for the third Canadian team though we saw some hope in the fighting spirit of Mt andM - he is the weak link - literally, Lifts and twists are far more laborious than t they shold be for her size and he hasn't really improved with strength/technique. Seguin and Bilodeau are kind of a real sad. Once looking like they would take over for D and R say a year ago now they are struggling to make the Canadianteam and out of the top ten in the world. Injuries costly and lack of development technically and artistically including have to drop the triple loop inidividually = kind of sad to see their regression.

Men wat can we say. Patrick Chan seems to have lost his drive, confidence, jumps and is stagnant with his skating. When he should be solidifying two quads in the short and doing 3 to 4 quads in th elong he is going backwards and has lost the passion. Is there time and the drive to recalibrate. He needs the two quads in the short. In fact if he could do a clean program he could still lead if someone else like Umo or Chen or Boyang skated clean two quads (harder ones) But he needs the two quads. The world seems to have passed him; even a quadless Brown. he is no longer invincible nor is there much to differentiate pcs. Meanwhile, Reynolds and Nam the faves for the second men's spot have not impressed, have not impreved and if anythng regressed. Nam has not matured as an artist, not improved his jump content and signinficantly has not gained the strnegth or improvement in skating skills. Reynolds has not done anythign in years even recvoering for injury. From the hair, to the costumes to the music to the jumps - he has not really changed and or improved Just sat there and now his jumps never that reliable are no longer the most difficult. Yes, there is hope in the youngsters Nadeau, Roman and Conrad but not yet. Does not look great for Canada's men.

Dance. Well I agree Virtue and Moir are a lock for OSM but I think gold is lost likein 2014. The judges like P/C. P/C are skating to their strength and a safe fs music program. V and M are prone to errors. And most signifiantly their sd no longer can be relied on to build a lead over the French who always do well in the free dance. Weaver and P oje have stagnated and really are fighitng for top 8 along with G and P who could be the new Duchesnay's but sadly the judges have not warmed up to them.

Ladies. Daleman was suppose to battle Osmond for top lady and so far that has happened. She has power that is for sure but she looks to be one more mediocre skate away from being stuck down around tenth. All three Americans, All three Russians, Carolina, two Japanese skaters look like they can beat her and there is still ET, the French, Chinese and Koean ladies all ableto beat her. I feel for Alaine because she is a human being but it might be time to cut bait. She had huge potential but her last skates have been poor. Canada may ant to invest in an up and coming third skater.

Gabby has the most to lose; Weaver and Poje the most to gain. If Gabby doesn't get it together I can see Osmond getting the nod for both skates in the team event. duhamel and radford may be the only safe choice but because their pairs events is early Canada might risk one of the other teams skating the free in the team event. Chan is going to be needed even at his worse to skate both programs for the men. Kevin or Nam or the second male is too much of a gamble. WEapo could be a risk too with B/S from Russia in the free dance; If Canada wants a chance at the gold they need to pick their team wisely. The big wild card is the Americans. Their men, women and pairs could do really well and they could bomb. Ice dance is solid bu tthe rest is a huge crap shoot from podium to struggling to be in the top ten.

kenboy123 · Nov 11, 2017

Skater Boy said:
Well, I have to admit I am not seeing a lot of positives for Canada in respect to the olympics. In pairs, well let's start with Duhamel and Radford - they seem to only have a chance for a medal if others make mistakes. They are not well liked on this website and by the judges. They must be technically superior to compete. Sui and Han are not getting the GOE's of past champions and h uge pcs - so they are going to be hard to beat. They may not be original in that they seem to be a remake of Shen and Zhou but they are pretty, beautiful skating with solid easy pair elements. D and R have to skate with commitment and sell their own style. But they are the most hope Canada has in pairs. Lu and dylan had potential but without the side by side jumps with her and the top getting crowded with the French, Italians and Americans it is very easy for them to fall out of the top 8 (2 Russian, 2 Chinese, Italians, French, D and R and that doesn't factor in that the third Russian and chinese team and another Italian team are capable of beating I and M. As for the third Canadian team though we saw some hope in the fighting spirit of Mt andM - he is the weak link - literally, Lifts and twists are far more laborious than t they shold be for her size and he hasn't really improved with strength/technique. Seguin and Bilodeau are kind of a real sad. Once looking like they would take over for D and R say a year ago now they are struggling to make the Canadianteam and out of the top ten in the world. Injuries costly and lack of development technically and artistically including have to drop the triple loop inidividually = kind of sad to see their regression.

Men wat can we say. Patrick Chan seems to have lost his drive, confidence, jumps and is stagnant with his skating. When he should be solidifying two quads in the short and doing 3 to 4 quads in th elong he is going backwards and has lost the passion. Is there time and the drive to recalibrate. He needs the two quads in the short. In fact if he could do a clean program he could still lead if someone else like Umo or Chen or Boyang skated clean two quads (harder ones) But he needs the two quads. The world seems to have passed him; even a quadless Brown. he is no longer invincible nor is there much to differentiate pcs. Meanwhile, Reynolds and Nam the faves for the second men's spot have not impressed, have not impreved and if anythng regressed. Nam has not matured as an artist, not improved his jump content and signinficantly has not gained the strnegth or improvement in skating skills. Reynolds has not done anythign in years even recvoering for injury. From the hair, to the costumes to the music to the jumps - he has not really changed and or improved Just sat there and now his jumps never that reliable are no longer the most difficult. Yes, there is hope in the youngsters Nadeau, Roman and Conrad but not yet. Does not look great for Canada's men.

Dance. Well I agree Virtue and Moir are a lock for OSM but I think gold is lost likein 2014. The judges like P/C. P/C are skating to their strength and a safe fs music program. V and M are prone to errors. And most signifiantly their sd no longer can be relied on to build a lead over the French who always do well in the free dance. Weaver and P oje have stagnated and really are fighitng for top 8 along with G and P who could be the new Duchesnay's but sadly the judges have not warmed up to them.

Ladies. Daleman was suppose to battle Osmond for top lady and so far that has happened. She has power that is for sure but she looks to be one more mediocre skate away from being stuck down around tenth. All three Americans, All three Russians, Carolina, two Japanese skaters look like they can beat her and there is still ET, the French, Chinese and Koean ladies all ableto beat her. I feel for Alaine because she is a human being but it might be time to cut bait. She had huge potential but her last skates have been poor. Canada may ant to invest in an up and coming third skater.

Gabby has the most to lose; Weaver and Poje the most to gain. If Gabby doesn't get it together I can see Osmond getting the nod for both skates in the team event. duhamel and radford may be the only safe choice but because their pairs events is early Canada might risk one of the other teams skating the free in the team event. Chan is going to be needed even at his worse to skate both programs for the men. Kevin or Nam or the second male is too much of a gamble. WEapo could be a risk too with B/S from Russia in the free dance; If Canada wants a chance at the gold they need to pick their team wisely. The big wild card is the Americans. Their men, women and pairs could do really well and they could bomb. Ice dance is solid bu tthe rest is a huge crap shoot from podium to struggling to be in the top ten.

Would Osmond even want to do both???.... My guess is no... She would sabotage her chance for an individual medal knowing how tight it is between her and Zagitova and even Kostner has a chance and whoever that third Russian lady is (Tsurskaya, Sotskova)... So, I ask you Ms. Osmond, do you want to skate both???.. I don't think so...

Osmond4gold · Nov 11, 2017

Skaterboy, you may remember that you said similar prior to Worlds, and look how that turned out, with Canada earning more spots than any other nation. I don't share your grim view of Canadian chances at the Olympics.

4everchan · Nov 11, 2017

Skater Boy said:
Well, I have to admit I am not seeing a lot of positives for Canada .

Have you ever?

Skater Boy · Nov 11, 2017

4everchan said:
Have you ever?

yep, because they still will get a team medal. May even be gold. BEcause as much as they are only guaranteed a medal in dance they are perhaps the only nation realistically that could medal in all four events and gold is possible in 3 out of 4 and if Chan is on and others mess up could be a sweep.

4everchan · Nov 12, 2017

Skater Boy said:
yep, because they still will get a team medal. May even be gold. BEcause as much as they are only guaranteed a medal in dance they are perhaps the only nation realistically that could medal in all four events and gold is possible in 3 out of 4 and if Chan is on and others mess up could be a sweep.

ok... i understand now... we go from nada to a sweep... :eek:

Skater Boy · Nov 12, 2017

You guys are so mean. My hopes actually would be all Canadians at the top of the oly podium. It won't happen but I really would like to see Duhamel and Radford get to the top for their perseverence and for all the hate they receive. They in their own way are innovative and wonderful. People jump on the Savchenko bandwagon for her perseverence but ditto for Duhamel and Radford. I wish for a tie though not possible between Evgenia and Kaetlyn. Kaetlyn bring something that I can't put my finger on. She has great power - again I have seen the videos of past Canadians like Manley and Chouinard and more recently of course Rochette. These ladies have a certain je ne sais quoi! Power yet elegance but not int he princessy, feminine overly graceful way yet they are graceful and refined. I am losing faith in Virtue and Moir because of th eir mistakes, because of the "trend" for loving the French and probably the wrong decision in the free dance - they needed a Mahler wow program and they are taking a risk with the Moulin program in light of P/C doing what they do best. In fair judging it doesn't matter that that is all P/C do you get marked for the program on that day not that all programs look alike - interesting how Evgenia gets criciticized for that but not P/C so much. Anyways, I really like V and M - I just think their actual skating is better - now Guillaume is a better dancer and has the body of a dancerr but this is ice dancing. I just think like in 2014 the momentum and the fave are the French and the pcs reflect that. This is where Ithought V/M should shine over D and W and if they don't over p/c then they will lose. And my real big dream is Chan. Though this is so far from reality with the current system of jumps being worth so much and pcs being worth so little. IMHO, Chan should be at least 5 pts of Hanyu in pcs and 15 to 20 over Chen. It ain't happening but when he is on it is pure beauty and grace - techincaly when he is on the jums, spin, footwork and just stroking is art and athleticism. The depth and sureness and precision of the blade and body positions. While not as dancey as Guillaume he is pure poetry on ice when on. But even if on he would be hard pressed for bronze. The thing is for Canada to get gold in each discipline they have such srong favourites and skill from Sui and Han in pairs and the sure drive and Judge's love for the Germans; in men while you have the faves in the japanese men Patrick still has to hold off the quadsters of Chen, boyang and the popular Javier and this does not include Zhou or the Russian Resurgence. Osmond and Gabby who seems to be struggling will have a huge uphill battle against the Japanese and Russian ladies as well as pesky Carolina who is still a fave regardless of what she does or does not do. I am curious if Osmond can get really consistent and strong in her longand develop the program. Even if she doesn't get ogm I hope for a medal. I think though there is only going to be one s pot for a Canadian on the podium in ladies. And to be honest I prefer them all over the American hot mess except an on Gracie. It is not really a swing I just think the Canadians will find it tough but they certainly are contenders for the podium I just don't think they are really the judges favourites and will get huge boosts like say carolina who can pick her nose and get marks for artistry (ok exaggeration lol).

2017-2018 Canadian Road to the Olympics

NanaPat

kenboy123

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605

mrrice

singerskates

Cherry blossom

Match Penalty

Mango

Royal Chinet 👑🍽️

eyeballlickinggecko

nimi

mrrice

kenboy123

Osmond4gold

4everchan

Skater Boy

kenboy123

Osmond4gold

4everchan

Skater Boy

4everchan

Skater Boy

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