2015-16 State of Russian Ice Dance | Page 12 | Golden Skate

2015-16 State of Russian Ice Dance

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Sorry, it seems I've been living under a rock lately - where did Virtue/Moir hint they might return for Worlds? :scratch2:
I'm hoping I/Z will remain Russian # 1 because for me they have the 'it' and they stand out in the Russian ID field, and when given the right programs they shine. S/K got the right vehicles this year though, and they seem very good. B/S have done nothing for me for years, and so far I am not smitten with Y/M either. The top 3, 4 even counting S/B, seem on equal footing this season. It's the next one I'm curious about, as I'm sure a favorite will not emerge before then.

TSL mentioned it, they've been training new lifts for 'shows' but they were like there is no way you train that many difficult lifts for show programs. Then they went on to say that they were still salty after there loss in Sochi and if they were to come back I think they would be #1.
 
Im positive I/Z will deliver in FS like at CoR but
some change IS in order for them though

yes the lack of Fed support IS significant (I have a history of supporting undervalued ppl like K/S & Hohlova/Novitsky) but I dont like how some fans just dismiss I/Z's fails & blame the judges only, that dont want to give marks that they deserve

If you have lack of Fed backing then you have to be 200% ready & 500% prepared & work your *** off training & showing that you SHOULD be supported over the lucky ones with strong lobbying. Like K/S do with 2 quads for example

Just skate clean & show that YOU are the one that is reliable & able to get world medals.
& thats what I wanted from I/Z (I do think they got too low scored & should have been 68-69)

What I liked about SinKats this season (apart from Vika immansely improving) is Nick seems to be a completely different person on & off the ice. He like never posts on his insta. & yeah it's maybe an illusion but it seems he's always working.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that they're in the US where our media cant bother tham.

The Fed needs a reliable team but instead I/Z decided to go creative (which is good in itself but its clear that the Queen prog isnt liked by the judges) & make mistakes almost in every competition.

I get why in the end the Fed got ...well fed up with them a bit probably.:slink:
 
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This whole shabang has me wondering what Ice Dance would look like if Ilinykh and Katsalapov were still together... (I know it'll never happen but one can hope :) )
 
This whole shabang has me wondering what Ice Dance would look like if Ilinykh and Katsalapov were still together... (I know it'll never happen but one can hope :) )
imo they'd be as inconsistent as they were

& Now I remember how Nick was blamed for being too much & dragging Elena down, her being the star (which she IS dont get me wrong!). So now she got rid of him & still with another partner they're still inconsistent
 
This whole shabang has me wondering what Ice Dance would look like if Ilinykh and Katsalapov were still together... (I know it'll never happen but one can hope :) )

I think for one, winning that OBM could probably be the first step to shoot them into the first place to last year's everything. Alas, that's in the past.
 
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I may be wrong but I suspect that dance is no longer a big priority for Russian Fed. Most resources are now going into singles and pairs.

Yeah, I think they realize that Ice Dance is no longer a discpline that excites:

A. The Russian People

or

B. Anyone at all really because it's the least popular event in Figure Skating altogether.
 
I think for one, winning that OBM could probably be the first step to shoot them into the first place to last year's everything. Alas, that's in the past.

I was thinking the same thing too. I thought they deserved that world title back in 2014 (even with the mistakes and all)... But the problem is that even you have problems in pairs, you can still skate with them because it's purely professional. But Ice Dance is so much more than that so :(
 
What do you all think about Ilinykh/Soloviev? I think Elena would be happy to leave Ruslan (imo) but I don't think Dmitri would leave Ekaterina, but I just don't see anything in them anymore...
 
I dont think you should skate together if you feel uncomfortable
It wont get you anywhere when you have such temperaments like I/K
Maybe they just needed a psychologist but thats all in the past:(
 
I think for one, winning that OBM could probably be the first step to shoot them into the first place to last year's everything. Alas, that's in the past.

They would still be losing to Papadakis and Cizeron.

On the bright side, the debutantes from this year's JGP all look promising. I'd turn my eye into nurturing Konkina and Reviya, Polischuk and Vakhnov, and Shevchenko and Eremenko before wasting anymore money on the Elena Ilinykh vanity project.
 
They would still be losing to Papadakis and Cizeron.

On the bright side, the debutantes from this year's JGP all look promising. I'd turn my eye into nurturing Konkina and Reviya, Polischuk and Vakhnov, and Shevchenko and Eremenko before wasting anymore money on the Elena Ilinykh vanity project.

I don't know about losing to P/C. Even with Sochinflation - ahem - they still scored a lot in 2014, and they could only go further up, if consistent. I don't think they would be held back at all.

But about the juniors, I have a very soft spot for Shpilevaya and Smirnov, who I think could become a very good team for the next cycle. And I like Loboda and Drozd, they have regular technique, and this year they have been hitting their levels very well, only a good revamping on their programs perhaps would suit them better. But for this cycle I think SK, IZ and BS are the headers. We'll see what will happen after the Olympics.
 
I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about the technical side of things aside from the glaringly obvious elements (ie are twizzles in sync, etc). I tend to go on what I like personally and which teams I find interesting. I was a huge I/Z fan last year, especially their exquisite Carmen, and I have to say I'm rather disappointed this year- but I still enjoy watching them skate; from the perspective of this fan, I find their skating the most engaging. And I tend to like the teams that have a little more... personality isn't the right word, but I guess that do something a little different or off the beaten path, and that's what I like about I/Z and what I don't care for about S/K and S/B- they're consistent and pleasant, but I don't ever get drawn in by their skating.

I like B/S, but I have a suspicion they're on the decline as far as the fed is concerned. Ideally, I'd like to see S/K get some personality and I/Z get some consistency and those two push each other to be better and battle it out. At their best, I could see them being a sort of light-and-dark styles: S/K doing light, airy programs and I/Z reveling in dramatic ones. Now that would be awesome to watch, and I think that could absolutely happen.
 
I don't know about losing to P/C. Even with Sochinflation - ahem - they still scored a lot in 2014, and they could only go further up, if consistent. I don't think they would be held back at all.

But about the juniors, I have a very soft spot for Shpilevaya and Smirnov, who I think could become a very good team for the next cycle. And I like Loboda and Drozd, they have regular technique, and this year they have been hitting their levels very well, only a good revamping on their programs perhaps would suit them better. But for this cycle I think SK, IZ and BS are the headers. We'll see what will happen after the Olympics.

Yeah, I forgot S&S. They were injured earlier but looked much better at the 5 th Russian Cup event. I like Skoptsova and Aleshin, but she's outgrowing him so I really see no future together. Maybe with new partners, as they are both good.

But the Olympic team has lately been the top 2 teams plus one team for the future. That's how Bobrova and Soloviev beat out Rubleva and Schefer in 2010 and Sinitsina and Zhiganshin beat out Riazanova and Tkachenko in 2014.
 
I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about the technical side of things aside from the glaringly obvious elements (ie are twizzles in sync, etc). I tend to go on what I like personally and which teams I find interesting. I was a huge I/Z fan last year, especially their exquisite Carmen, and I have to say I'm rather disappointed this year- but I still enjoy watching them skate; from the perspective of this fan, I find their skating the most engaging. And I tend to like the teams that have a little more... personality isn't the right word, but I guess that do something a little different or off the beaten path, and that's what I like about I/Z and what I don't care for about S/K and S/B- they're consistent and pleasant, but I don't ever get drawn in by their skating.

I like B/S, but I have a suspicion they're on the decline as far as the fed is concerned. Ideally, I'd like to see S/K get some personality and I/Z get some consistency and those two push each other to be better and battle it out. At their best, I could see them being a sort of light-and-dark styles: S/K doing light, airy programs and I/Z reveling in dramatic ones. Now that would be awesome to watch, and I think that could absolutely happen.

I don't know about that, but I would say no. But they are not being pushed to number one, which we already know who is. But at the moment I don't think we can actually count anything set in stone, there's the FD tomorrow and a lot can happen.
 
I don't know about that, but I would say no. But they are not being pushed to number one, which we already know who is. But at the moment I don't think we can actually count anything set in stone, there's the FD tomorrow and a lot can happen.

I see what you mean. The FD should definitely be interesting. On a related tangent, I've always wondered why it seems ice dance rankings shift the least, both between competitions and between the short and free. Is it just because jumps are the "riskiest" elements and dance doesn't have those? It feels like this uncertainty re: Russian dance is unusual. Or maybe it's just me :laugh:
 
Yeah, I forgot S&S. They were injured earlier but looked much better at the 5 th Russian Cup event. I like Skoptsova and Aleshin, but she's outgrowing him so I really see no future together. Maybe with new partners, as they are both good.

But the Olympic team has lately been the top 2 teams plus one team for the future. That's how Bobrova and Soloviev beat out Rubleva and Schefer in 2010 and Sinitsina and Zhiganshin beat out Riazanova and Tkachenko in 2014.

If the Olympic team is the top 2 plus the future team, assuming Russia actually manages to send three teams, then I would certainly bet in S/B, although a lot of people don't like them. She might not have the best posture, but Zhuk and Svinin have been working in and out of the rinks to push them, so I do think somehow it will pay them off in some way. As I said before, I personally have nothing against them, and do admire their originality, both on twizzles and the lifts, and they only had a big mistake at worlds last year, because they have been pretty consistent in any other competition.

The other junior teams are too green for me yet, but there's still some time, so maybe there will be a new thing surprise us.
 
I see what you mean. The FD should definitely be interesting. On a related tangent, I've always wondered why it seems ice dance rankings shift the least, both between competitions and between the short and free. Is it just because jumps are the "riskiest" elements and dance doesn't have those? It feels like this uncertainty re: Russian dance is unusual. Or maybe it's just me :laugh:

The change on the rakings usually happens when a team has a stronger program than the other, or when big mistakes happen. A little shift, maybe a place, is almost normal, but not excpected on the top teams. But let's see what happend tomorrow, there's always something in the bag for the fans, I'd say.
 
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