2018 JGP Canada Highlights: Your thoughts?

Hi Folks!

Now that the competition is over, what were your favorite highlights of the event? Feel free to talk about costumes, elements, scores, etc. Everything goes!

We are also looking for those who have a bit of writing skillz! We'd love to see a paragraph of each discipline highlighting the top three along with your thoughts. The staff will be watching and someone may win a free season pass to the competition forums if you haven't already got one Get those creative and technical juices flowing and show us your journalistic abilities! One-liners are welcome, just keep out the snark

A big congrats to the winners below who gave great recaps on previous events and earned a free season pass!

IceBallerina JGP Linz *
Fluture JGP Linz *
MalAssada JGP Kaunas

- Lajoie & Lagha nailing everything this time around to win decisively on home ice.
- Mishina & Galliamov's delightful "Party Like A Russian" short program, which is already on my shortlist for favourite programs of the year. Their free is good too, but the short is the sort of thing that people remember long-term. These two have the sort of vibe that could maybe have made "Candyman" work as a light-hearted program.
- Sena Miyake's short program, even if not skated cleanly, falls firmly into the memorably odd category.
- D'Alessandro & Waddell cement themselves as the frontrunners to be national junior champs next season once Lajoie & Lagha move up with another really strong free skate.
- Muhammad Dwi Rizqy Apolianto's obvious enjoyment in just being at the event. Easy to get caught up in the medal race and overlook the people who aren't contenders but just love what they're doing.

I think having three simultaneous ISU competitions over a three day period is a beast. I'm exhausted.

For men, Yuma Kagiyama. This guy. He's just flowing. His SP is such a tough music to handle and it's his first JGP season but he did it perfectly fine. Amazing SS at his age, good jumps, good spins, he did it all and he didn't forgot to perform and entertain. He's got a future. Petr Gumennik was such a nice suprise, when he came up with that 3A-3Lo, I was just stunned, didn't expect that at. all. I've never seen this combination at competition. He has some good amount of talent and I really like his spins and his use of arms. Can't wait to see more of him in the future.
For ice dance, Marjorie / Zachary and their free, gosh. I fell in love with them. I can't believe they're juniors, so much charisma and confidence at such a young age. I was enganged for the whole performance, they really made me not lose focus for even a second and it's such an important thing especially in ice dancer.
Ladies, my favorite discipline. I mainly saw major improvements in skating of You Young and Tarankova, SS, posture, both girls become so much poised just in season, it's incredible. Rion Sumiyoshi's free was a stunner, beautiful Swan Lake program, she presented it so well. Also, Yuna Aoki's 3Lz-3Lo and Rion's 3F-3Lo were gorgeous.
In pairs, I actually really enjoyed Riku Miura / Shoya Ichihashi, they have nice connection and really neat skating, can't wait to see them develop. Good to see some growing talent in Japan, other than in singles discipline. Anastasia Mishina / Aleksandr Galliamov were just wow, comaparing to all these talented pairs, you could still see the differences that made them win this competition. They're so technical but still hold up performance-wise just as fine.

Obviously Russians who took 3 gold , 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. All of them

I watched bits and pieces of the 3 different competitions when I had time this weekend. The main highlight for me personally was Makita/Gunara's JGP debut in front of a hometown crowd. Hopefully, someone who attended live can give me their impressions of them because they looked awesome in their free dance on video

Anna Shcherbakova's musicality continues to impress. And her performance ability improves with each competition. Shame about the falls but I could watch her without jumps. There's a lot of hype around her quad, which was robbery when it was called underrotated, and her tech, but her greatest strength is her musicality and interpretation. Unlike so many others, she doesn't need dramatic movements and expressions or a character to act out; she was telling Ted how she just feels the music and the program.

Not going to lie, in terms of singles, JGP Canada was a bit of a let down. The roster was impressive: Stephen “can land three quads plus two triple axels” Gogolev and Anna “can land 4Lz+3T+3Lo” Shcherbakova. However, Stephen had his 3Lz + 3T downgrades in the short, pummeling him down to 7th place, and Anna had a painful fall on her 3Lz+3Lo combination and put herself in a vulnerable first place position. I will admit that Anastasia Tarakanova’s tango Short was a nice surprise. I didn’t enjoy the program during the test skates, but Nastya really polished the program and performed it quite well. Anna was courageous in the free, going for her 4Lz, despite a fall in the warm up (she also landed one in the warmup too). Not so surprisingly, she fell, but like in the short, the fall did not affect her performance whatsoever. What amazing ability! The rest of the program was clean. Nastya’s Free was also clean yahoo, and I really enjoyed it too! The step sequence especially was really nice. You Young also didn’t do so well with no 3A and two falls. Young ends up in fourth, therefore closing her chances of making it to the Junior Grand Prix Final. Anyway, in comparison to the previous three events, JGP Canada wasn’t so spectacular.

Lajoie / Lagha - what a pleasure it was to watch them score so much higher this time around! Glad they worked out the technical issue so they could shine bright. I nearly got choked up watching their free dance. So gorgeous! And I loved the music and mood on the rhythm dance, too. Their free dance got the highest score of anyone so far in this year's JGP - well-deserved! (And honestly just nice to see someone other than the Russians winning first.) I felt so bad for the bronze medalists, though - the guy performing with blood dripping down his hand. Ouch!! But even without that mishap, they weren't close to gold.

Once more with passion: Lajoie / Lagha!!

Rather than reviews, (which I think are wonderful and thank you all for them), I prefer to think of JGP comps as explorations.

And an exploration is best with discovery. Seeing someone I didn’t know about before: priceless:agree:

So, for the men, without further ado, for me the finds were Ilya Kovler and Mohammed whose last name I will mess up if I try to spell it.

Ilya’s SP was smooth as silk, captivating presentation, transition, program skills. Not to mention a shirt that was a gorgeous shade of purple. Yes, his FP was disappointing. But I’m glad I know about him now.

Muhammad: what can I say about his infectious joy about simply competing on the ice at an international comp? Did he have a hope in Hades of attaining the podium? No, and who cares. His skates show why International comps are important as a venue for all comers and why they can have much more value than medals.

Men: Gumennik FS
Aside that Gumennik was the only one clean on the free, what got me was its interpretation, unusual at this level. Just go see its face. He was in the program, not just focused for the next elements.
Hiwatashi has take the silver with its skating skills. USA has a lot of wonderful skaters, sometimes it makes me sad to think that many of them risk to be hidden at senior level beyond their extreme jumpers, such as Zhou and Chen.
Siao Him Fa was a good surprise, he really step up this season. There somethings on its skating that remind me of Patrick Chan, and i like it.
Too bad for Gogolev, i wasn't expecting to see him struggle like that.

Ladies: Anna's fight after the fall, Tarakanova FS

I was afraid of this event. May Anna be strong if something goes bad with the quad, may Anastasia be consistent with jumps this season, like the other russian skaters we have see until now ?
The short wasn't that good for everyone, especially Sumiyoshi, with that unexpected come up on the free. But even if she was almost clean, i was more sad for Young You then impressed by her. You's potential seem far greater.
Quad or not, Anna was really strong. I hope that she can really put the injury aside now, on her mind.
Anastasia was wonderful. She still can improve hers programs and her condition, so it's a great thing to see her over 190. And that last spin... :dance:

Pairs: Mishina/Galliamov FS and consistency... but i still cheer for Panfilova/Rylov

Can Mishina/Galliamov make a mistake ? That don't seem possible right now. Still, Panfilova/Rylov's throws and twists are awesome, maybe also because Apollinariia is so tiny, so i see more potential on them, and their FS is my favorite. Good luck to both pairs on the final.
Kvartalova/Sviatchenko were so messy...

Dance: Lajoje/Lagha FS
Wow, just wow. Lajoje/Lagha just need to go between the seniors and receive some proper and deserved 9 on the components. Another rhythm and intensity.
The others was at a lower level, but i also think that Konkina/Vakhnov were conditioned to much by that hand cut, otherwise i don't see Ivanenko/Karpov over them.

For me, I think JGP Canada has been my favorite so far of this year's series. There was a lot of good skating all around, and lots of gems from lesser-known skaters.

Men: The podium was a bit of a surprise with Gogolev not placing (the poor kid was crushed, but he's still got a lot of time and the rest of the season to get ready for), but it ended with three really strong skaters. Out of the three, I really loved Adam Siao Him Fa from France. I wasn't familiar with him before, but the raw power and energy he put into the performance really made it stand out from the rest. He seemed to run out of steam toward the end, so I'm excited to see how the program develops over the season.

Pairs: The same top two from Bratislava, it felt a bit like Groundhog Day. But both teams are so solid, and definitely a joy to watch. I particularly love Panfilova/Rylov because their programs are genuinely interesting to watch, which I sometimes find lacking in pairs, and the speed and extension that she gets out of the throws is jaw-dropping. Technically, they are really strong except for the SBS jumps, hoping for them to do well at the Final.

Ice Dance: In ice dance, there generally isn't a lot of movement in placement from the SD to the FD, but the podium was definitely exciting. L/L delivered for a home crowd in the most spectacular way possible-- I particularly love their SD, and their twizzle sequence is gorgeous, especially with the arm variations. I would say they have some of the best twizzles in the world, juniors and seniors combined. And then there was the other standout of Konkina/Vakhnov's FD where Vakhnov cut his hand and they ended with her dress covered in blood and his hand looking straight out of a crime scene. I honestly can't remember anything else from that performance but I hope he's okay lol. Also, D'Alessandro/Waddell are looking like really strong rising prospects for Canada.

Ladies: My favorite and the most exciting event imho. I thought that Anna fell on a 3Lz, she rotates so fast. But idk what the technical panel was seeing, because it certainly wasn't her 4Lz. I was so so happy to see that Tarakanova held it together in the FP and delivered two strong performances. I still don't know how I feel about the Plushenko programs/packaging she has now (it kind of reminds me of how Trusova's FS last year didn't fit her either-- the ice princess packaging just doesn't work for either of them), but she's such a passionate performer that I loved it and hope she gets another JGP stage. I was also really surprised by Hannah Dawson of Canada and Gabriella Izzo of the USA. I didn't know either, but both had really strong SPs then struggled in the FP. They both have a unique performance quality and clear passion for skating that was just lovely to watch, even if neither had the technical content to really compete at the top.

For me JGP Richmond really underscored why it is so very important to have a Pacific JGP each season.

I was just blown away by the sheer number and diversity of Asian countries represented, as well as New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, South America.

While the top competitors will be seen at European JGP events, for me this strong representation from small skating countries around the Pacific gave the event a different vibe. Seeing all these skaters who were new to the JGP series held my attention through the whole event.

Interesting JGP this week, got to see a lot more of it because stuff was at more convenient times for me which was very nice

I’m gonna start with Ice Dance. Lajoie/Lagha were AMAZING. Both of their programs were so intricate and precise but also had so much emotion, I think they deserved to win by that much. I’ve never seen anyone skate to the Warsaw concerto before (which is probably just me) but WOW. I though Ivanenko/Karpov were pretty good too, but didn’t stand out as much for me. I liked Konkina/Vakhnov a lot! Too bad about the loss of levels in their free. I found myself pulling for Gropman/Somerville to do well, they just seem to have that likeable quality. D’allesandro/Waddell will be good in the future, best to keep our eyes on them! A bit of a side note here, but I’m always pleasantly surprised at how beautiful some of the costumes in ice dance are.

I found the men to be a very deep field this week (albeit not all the best performances) but I found the numerous outcome possibilities to be exciting. I was happily surprised by Gumenik winning, and he deffinetly deserved it for putting out a clean performance. Although his spins are a bit weak, I thought his take on R & J without the over the top following the story to be nice, and an emotional performance. If only everyone had a BV that smart for their abilities. It was nice to see a 3-2Lo-2Lo combo which is a small, but rare thing. Tomoki’s SP was nice and original and the most polished, but I found the long to be a bit flat. Although it wasn’t his best day, so then again. Kovler even with the free was a nice surprise. His sp was great, and it was nice to see him up high in the ranks for it which should be a confidence boost. Oh, the free. I saw him do it clean at Minto summer skate live, and it was very impressive, could’ve got him a medal. Sad that it was his undoing because it’s a real crowd pleaser. Yuma Kawagami was a nice surprise, never heard of him before. Gogolev obviously performed very far below his abilities and has put his JGPF spot on the line. Hope he can do better next time. I thought that Vetlugin’s SP was underscored, I really enjoyed it. His long, I’m not so sure about. I remembered Basar Oktar of Turkey from last season, I was disappointed he didn’t have better results here.

In pairs, the Russians continue to dominate. Everyone’s talking about the potential all Russian ladies JGPF when personally I think it’s much more likely for pairs. After watching the junior worlds pairs FS last year I was under the impression there was a huge gap between senior pairs and junior pairs, this competition proved to me that that idea was wrong. Mishina/Galliamov’s technical elements, holy cow! A SBS 3-3 is quite rare even in senior pairs, I know the second half of her combo was UR, but still very impressive. The one technical element I wasn’t sure about was the depth on their death spiral, but everything else was just so impressive. Party like a Russian reminds me of a mix of Candyman & Adam Rippons club music SP from last season. Sounds absolutely awful, but actually works pretty well. I thought it was a nice program. Panfilova/Rylov to me were very impressive. Although she has a clear weakness in SBS jumping, everything else was very good and secure. While watching their free, two thoughts came into my mind at around the exact same time. Evgenia Music! & Holy triple twist. I actually rewinded to rewatch the twist because the music connection distracted me too much. I thought they were superior than the Mishina/Galliamov presentstion wise, but it’s clear they were second because of the technical side. Just so smooth throughout! It was nice to see a pair from Japan with such good potential too, I think it won’t be long before they’re a great in all disciplines.

The ladies were obviously a bit weaker than last week. Scherbakova’s fall in the short was very surprising to me, but I still loved the program. It’s just so unlike any other program I’ve ever watched. it’s already a masterpiece so early on this season. Props to her for going for the 4Lz (I didn’t see a UR?) and although she took a fall there, the rest of the program was lovely. That dress always gives me a greatest showman feeling but then the music starts playing. Tarakanova was so improved. Her Tango SP is one of my favourite junior SP’s so far this season, and I think the idea of Rock moonlight sonata is cool. Very glad they replaced believer. I wasn’t much of a Tarakanova fan last season, but I certainly am now. Hope she gets a second assignment! If only everyone did music cuts like Rion. I’m a big Osmond fan, but I thought that this was a better music cut & program for swan lake. I thought it was also done very well, and the Flip Loop. Young You was a bit disappointing, I was sad she didn’t go for the 3A.

Overall, one of my favourite JGP’s so far! New surprises popping up everywhere. I guess that’s the joy of the JGP.
Edit: I just realized how long I rambled for, sorry

TGee said:

For me JGP Richmond really underscored why it is so very important to have a Pacific JGP each season.

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I think there should generally be one in North America, which there mostly has not been in the last 15 years.

Step Sequence4 said:

I’ve never seen anyone skate to the Warsaw concerto before (which is probably just me) but WOW.

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It's not especially common, though oddly enough there was a junior pairs team skating to it in the very same JGP.

Colonel Green said:

I think there should generally be one in North America, which there mostly has not been in the last 15 years.

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There were two in the US much more recently than 15 years ago: 2009 and 2012 in Lake Placid NY, quite close to the Canadian border. I went to both.

Ladies

Anna Shcherbakova wasn't totally clean here, but performance-wise, I think her FS has improved quite a bit since Bratislava. I enjoyed it a lot more here - and I'm coming around on the dress. She's very enjoyable to watch. Anastasia Tarakanova did well here too, other than the 3-2 in the SP. She's fast and has interesting movement, but very stone-faced here. Hope she works on that because it does take away from the performance quite a bit. But I know she was trying to earn a 2nd JGP here so there was lots of pressure. I wasn't sure what to expect from her, but it went well. And I liked the new FS. I was also happy to see decent skates from Hannah Dawson (mostly SP) and Sarah-Maude Blanchard in their first JGP events. A lot of work to do, but good experience for them.

Pairs

I'm really loving Mishina/Galiamov this season. They really do look ready for seniors right now. And their performance/expression was better here that in Bratislava. I think they'll win at the JGPF too, if I have to pick one of the Russian pairs. I also love his FS costume. Panfilova/Rylov have great quality, just need the SBS 3s. I don't feel I Put A Spell on You from them, but their FS suits them well. And the twist and throws are pretty gorgeous. And great to see a Japanese pair doing well. They need to get the SBS jumps in order, but the rest was nice. I also have to mention Andrew/Fletcher. She's got that it factor for me. And they added a triple throw since Bratislava, which was nice to see. I think she was saying she wants to add another next in the KnC.

Men

First of all, Iliya Kovler in the SP was great. I don't think he's even got 70 domestically before. FS was a learning experience, but still, big increase, his previous PB was in the 140's (I know the scoring changed, but still, 30+ points). Beres Clements was also around 25 points higher here than at Linz, so good for him. Petr Gumennik was very good, especially in the FS. But the overall highlight has to be Muhammad Apolianto from Indonesia. His joy and love of skating was lovely to see. A real sunshine smile.

Ice Dance

I saved this for last because it was my favourite event. I'm a big fan of Lajoie/Lagha, so it was great to see them do so well here. They were fantastic. I really enjoyed both of their programs - very intricate and they can handle it. They have a very effective knee-slide in the FD. And very nice costumes. And it was cool to see the FD after reading a recent interview with them. Zachary found the music for both programs. Apparently their coaches had a classical piece, but Marjorie hated it and she loved this and the coaches liked it too, so they went with it. And the way Zach talks about the FD - you can tell they really love the program. D'Alessandro/Waddell also had a strong FD - I wouldn't have picked Carmen for them, but I think it's working and I was surprised by how much I liked it. And Makita/Gunara have such a nice charming quality in their FD. Konkina/Vakhnov looked like a new team, but I like them together. The FD was rough with him cutting his hand on the lift, but I'm interesting to see them grow.

chuckm said:

There were two in the US much more recently than 15 years ago: 2009 and 2012 in Lake Placid NY, quite close to the Canadian border. I went to both.

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And? I said “mostly”, if you read the post you are quoting.

chuckm said:

There were two in the US much more recently than 15 years ago: 2009 and 2012 in Lake Placid NY, quite close to the Canadian border. I went to both.

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And there was one in Colorado Springs in 2015.
But nothing since then, I don't think.

Colonel Green said:

I think there should generally be one in North America, which there mostly has not been in the last 15 years.

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I can agree that a regular North American JGP would be helpful for smaller federations in the Americas, but for Asian and Australian skaters, a west coast event is best.

As Canadians and Americans see traveling to the JGPs in Europe, it's one thing to get the transoceanic flight, but getting into a small center from there, or just managing internal flights can be a barrier.

I'm not sure we would have seen so many skaters from Thailand, the Philippines, NZ and others if the event had been in Chicago or Toronto.

One in North America and another in Asia/Australia every year would be ideal. But for now, one on the Pacific coast each year would be logistically better.