2016 Finlandia Trophy Pairs FS

[text_skate]

Although it's early in the season, for pairs particularly, I think this competition was messier than the one's of last week or Nebelhorn. Last week we had Seguin/Bilodeau with a beautiful performance (not spotless) and James/Cipres

 

[Tyranid]

Scores aside, I can't think of a Medal or a title they have won in the past few
years they haven't deserved

D/R definitely deserved this win as everyone else also had many errors. However, think about all the good, talented teams that dont get a 207 score even with two clean skates. I mean was this really the (practically tied) best performane this season, at this point?

 

[4everchan]

you know, they scored over 150 in a local competition with being 100% clean... 131 is very low for them... I haven't seen their skate here in finlandia but before people scream to overscoring, it would be important to put things into perspective : their program scores easily and usually 20 points higher...

Oh my... 131.

With so many mistakes, its the 3r'd highest score this season. Finlandia stream didnt show scores but it's obvious the PCS helped them get that score.

They've faced tons of criticism, a lot of which is just hate, but, folks, we can't deny that they are definitely some of the most overrated (and overscored) figure skates today.

 

[Sackie]

But even with the errors D/R went for the big tricks and rotated them. Just like in singles - the one thing they say is to make sure you rotate your jumps. Yes others may have cleaner skates but they do not have the big content.
That would be like saying a single skater who does only doubles but goes clean should score higher then a skater you goes for triples and quads and has errors.

 

[4everchan]

lol... you really don't need a flag though we know you are the vegemite princess

yay i figured out ow to make it show my flag

aussie aussie aussie!

 

[4everchan]

saw him standing in ACI... not skating... but just looking at him and i was like :luv17:

Eric is super impressive in person

i bet his skating live is amazing.. you are lucky!

 

[Crossover]

D/R's second half of the program is like Inception's kick song to awake a reality. Coincidentally, it is the same song.

 

[Mista Ekko]

D/R definitely deserved this win as everyone else also had many errors. However, think about all the good, talented teams that dont get a 207 score even with two clean skates. I mean was this really the (practically tied) best performane this season, at this point?

1) D\R didn't score 207, They scored 197.

2) If a team cannot reach a certain score with clean performances than they must not be attempting the same levels of difficulty
and or not be on the same skating level as others might.

3)"At this point" the season has barely started, And most of the top pairs are nowhere to be seen or making mistakes,
So i don't understand the big shock that this was a good score in comparison, I mean, It's all relative.

4)I remember seeing S\B last week score about 10 points higher than this, i wouldn't call that "practically tied".

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Terrible to say but am kind of glad Meghan and Eric are having problems. That's how it went for them last year too and it made them stronger for worlds! They seem to need the fight!

Early season struggles are to be expected especially with the addition of a 3A. Like Yuzuru, they can't be expected to have a clean skate first time out when upgrading their difficulty. Looking at the protocols, at least they should be happy with hitting their levels, even with the sloppy elements. Sometimes a wakeup call is necessary going into the GP series.

 

[TMC]

saw him standing in ACI... not skating... but just looking at him and i was like :luv17:

i bet his skating live is amazing.. you are lucky!

It is. He's one of the most musical skaters I've seen. You can tell he's a musician!

 

[karne]

They've faced tons of criticism, a lot of which is just hate, but, folks, we can't deny that they are definitely some of the most overrated (and overscored) figure skates today.

Oh yes, we can.

Seriously? Overrated? This pair are world champions for a REASON. They do technical stuff nobody else does. Who else does SBS 3Lz? Nobody. The fact that people are so shocked that they skated poorly here speaks for itself, because we are so used to seeing them skate well.

In a world where skaters have won medals and even whole competitions by being overscored as they fall on their backsides over and over - and not little Bs with small fields, either - it seems a bit rich to pick on Duhamel and Radford as overrated and overscored.

 

[karne]

lol... you really don't need a flag though we know you are the vegemite princess

but I ran out of Vegemite :sad21:

 

[QuadThrow]

Oh yes, we can.

Seriously? Overrated? This pair are world champions for a REASON. They do technical stuff nobody else does. Who else does SBS 3Lz? Nobody. The fact that people are so shocked that they skated poorly here speaks for itself, because we are so used to seeing them skate well.

In a world where skaters have won medals and even whole competitions by being overscored as they fall on their backsides over and over - and not little Bs with small fields, either - it seems a bit rich to pick on Duhamel and Radford as overrated and overscored.

Well. To be fair. Marchei/Hotarek have a 3Lz in their program. But of course no pair has a 3Lutz and a Quad and a good twist in its program....

 

[4everchan]

sure but how often have they landed their 3Lz.... ? in the entire span of their career???? how many times? I think at one point they didn't even dare to put it in their SP... plus yes... they are pushing their limits on throws .. and their twist is improving year after year.

Well. To be fair. Marchei/Hotarek have a 3Lz in their program. But of course no pair has a 3Lutz and a Quad and a good twist in its program....

 

[QuadThrow]

sure but how often have they landed their 3Lz.... ? in the entire span of their career???? how many times? I think at one point they didn't even dare to put it in their SP... plus yes... they are pushing their limits on throws .. and their twist is improving year after year.

Marchei/Hotarek put the lutz in their SP this year. And they landed it several times.

This weekend D/R really struggled with the SB for the first time. I hope this is just a one-time mistake.

 

[4everchan]

not at lombardia fall.

and they removed it from their LP.

I just looked at protocols.

Marchei/Hotarek put the lutz in their SP this year. And they landed it several times.

This weekend D/R really struggled with the SB for the first time. I hope this is just a one-time mistake.

 

[Art&Sport]

Seeing as D/R received scores that are some 35 points below what they scored at Boston Worlds, yes the judges downgraded them based on their poor performance. Keep in mind that with their tech content, D/R have a lot of base value difficulty. D/R were not up against a deep field at all, so that is essentially what helped save them from losing.

Unfortunately, all the pairs had problems at this competition. The only pair that came out looking somewhat okay is Cain/LeDuc, being that they are a very new team putting themselves out there for experience and exposure. The expectations were not super high for C/L, and they were able to manage not falling in the fp (with falls by all the top teams). C/L could have medaled if Ashley's jump landings had been less shaky, and if they had a 3-twist. They are surely working on mastering a 3-twist. On the upside, C/L have the best lines, spirals and musicality of all the teams at Finlandia.

I like Mari Vartmann, but I thought that she and Blommaert have chosen not very good music for their fp. V/B's fp had many errors (failed on getting up at all for the 3-twist), plus their choreo, style and interpretive skills are not great, average at best. Their fp music does nothing for them. V/B seem to be held up a bit in the marks.

 

[cathlen]

I remember Ziegler/Kiefer doing SBS 3Lz too (I think at Europeans?), so no, D/R are not the only ones. Not sure if it was clean though. (I'll check later). I do think D/R won their WC titles fair and square, but for performances they had shown here, they were overscored on PCS. I mean seriously, any other team for SP they did would get few points lower PCS, only their reputation has saved them.

EDIT: Ziegler/Kiefer did SBS 3Lz in their Free, landed it but they had ! for that element. M/H had worse quality SBS 3Lz at Europeans (-2 from almost all judges). Anyway, to prove the point, D/R are not the only ones. They're just the ones who happened to be a top Pairs team.

 

[4everchan]

I don't think we are saying they are the only ones as it is exclusive to them. We are saying they are the only ones who
1) land them regularly
2) have them in their programs AND are a top team.

I remember Ziegler/Kiefer doing SBS 3Lz too (I think at Europeans?), so no, D/R are not the only ones. Not sure if it was clean though. (I'll check later). I do think D/R won their WC titles fair and square, but for performances they had shown here, they were overscored on PCS. I mean seriously, any other team for SP they did would get few points lower PCS, only their reputation has saved them.

EDIT: Ziegler/Kiefer did SBS 3Lz in their Free, landed it but they had ! for that element. M/H had worse quality SBS 3Lz at Europeans (-2 from almost all judges). Anyway, to prove the point, D/R are not the only ones. They're just the ones who happened to be a top Pairs team.

 

[cathlen]

I don't think we are saying they are the only ones as it is exclusive to them. We are saying they are the only ones who
1) land them regularly
2) have them in their programs AND are a top team.

From karne post:

They do technical stuff nobody else does. Who else does SBS 3Lz? Nobody.

Which I disagreed.

I do agree with what you have just written