2018-19 GPF: Men's Pregame Chat

[jillredhand]

I won’t really disagree about last year’s GPF, but I wouldn’t say he handed the worlds win to Nathan ... also he was injured.

Shoma-Nathan will be exciting for sure - they’ve been pretty even this season, score-wise.

Yeah, fair. I'm mostly thinking about that missed combo from the GPF, worlds was another issue entirely. I'd love to see them both go clean in this head to head!

 

[Interspectator]

Nathan or Shoma for Gold? --and who will win the Bronze?
Lots to look forward to at this GPF.

 

[Tonichelle]

Excited for Keegan and hoping for two great skates for him.

 

[elektra blue]

Nathan or Shoma for Gold? --and who will win the Bronze?
Lots to look forward to at this GPF.

junliet i'm betting on it

 

[oatmella]

Junliet for bronze! That’s where I put him in the predictions thread

 

[xabia]

Thank goodness Yuzuru has decided to love his ankles, GPF would be much more exciting with him and the Pooh shower but his health is more important.

Now it's a really diverse field here, Japan, US, Czech Republic, Russia, Korea, and newly added Canada. I'll be up in the wee hours of the night again, but this isn't something I can miss.

Such a pity that Kolyada isn't included. Ok, he messed up his jumps all season, but he has two super programs this year. He has presence, and that will be missed.

 

[Jaana]

This will be an interesting competition, WOW!!! It seems Uno and Chen will be battling for gold and the rest for bronze. Brezina perhaps as the strongest, at least he has been surprisingly strong this season. My guess is that Voronov might have the least chance for bronze and who knows what Messing will be like in this competition. His nerves failed him in the second GP, will he perform better for the home crowd or have more pressure? Cha had two back-to-back events, maybe that is why his scores have not gone up? Now he has had more time to train.

 

[rachno2]

Such a pity that Kolyada isn't included. Ok, he messed up his jumps all season, but he has two super programs this year. He has presence, and that will be missed.

At least we get to see him at Golden Spin with Uncle Bychenko, Daniel Samohin, Deniss Vasiljevs, and Jason Brown. It's like a GPF of beloved hot messes. :luv17: (too bad Boyang is still recovering and Aliev won’t be there)

I really have no idea who's going to win bronze here.....Messing was fantastic at Skate Canada, so I don't know if home pressure will be that much of an issue. Then again, he is Canada's only representative in seniors, and he hasn't had as much time to prepare as the others. I keep flipping between Keegan and Junhwan (for whom this is also "home ice" without the national pressure), with Brezina and Voronov as very capable dark horses.

 

[elektra blue]

next week end'll be crazy. i'm in going to need a 48H day to watch both gpf (junior and senior) and golden spin

 

[Colonel Green]

I hope the Alaska earthquake doesn't throw off Keegan's preparations too much (obviously at this point his training for it is mostly what it is, but it's not the sort of thing I'd want weighing on my mind before a comp).

 

[lichi]

When I was initially shilling for Keegan to make the GPF, I didn't really have any podium ambitions for him. I just wanted to see him make the final. Now that he's in, though, and in this field actually has a shot at the podium ... I might find something new to lose my mind over. Go Keegan! Bronze seems most realistic, but if he does the best he can, silver is not impossible, though it'll depend on mistakes from Shoma or Nathan.

I'm excited for the Shoma-Nathan match up as well. Shoma more or less handed last year's GPF and Worlds wins to Nathan with a couple silly mistakes, it will be interesting to see how it falls out if both men are clean/cleanish.

Still remember the time violation from Shoma :shame:

I'd say they're evenly matched right now, and it's really interesting to see this play out. It would be a shock if either of them didn't make the Top 2.
The Bottom 4 on the other hand, is another story. I can see any one of the three get bronze, and place in any order. It's so hard too because I'm rooting for all of them. I predicted Junliet, but who knows?

 

[Noxchild]

Nathaaaaaaaaaan!

 

[Tonichelle]

I hope the Alaska earthquake doesn't throw off Keegan's preparations too much (obviously at this point his training for it is mostly what it is, but it's not the sort of thing I'd want weighing on my mind before a comp).

I'm sure he's fine.

 

[Colonel Green]

Speaking of Keegan, I’ll be interested to see if he goes for the 4Lz here. Evidently he landed it in practise today. Even if it’s erratic, this and 4CC are in a lot of ways the safest places to try it. At Nationals he’ll want to win the title and not take especially risky moves, while at Worlds there’s the issue of spots. Conversely, at worst here he finishes sixth.

 

[Weetos]

/Votes for Brezina to win just because

 

[xeyra]

Good luck to all the men. I will sadly be missing most of the competition due to timezones (European here needing to sleep) but I wish everyone the best.

 

[siberia82]

Keegan is interviewed alongside Patrick and Elladj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6UCuj8s-aY