2019-20 Canadian Figure Skating

[Dr. Jenn]

Kaiya won Alberta Sectionals (by a lot). Notably, she's now doing 3Lz+3T as her combination in both the short and the free (the free even has two Lutzes now; the solo one got a !).

The impression I got is that Ruiter is a natural flip girl, not a Lutz girl, so it's interesting that her coaches are evidently going all-in on making the jump work for her. With some success.

Fantastic to hear! I think that she's my (new) favourite skater of the season. She's got a wonderful presence on the ice and such a love for the sport.

 

[siberia82]

Nicolas Nadeau
IdF LP (No Commentary 1080p): https://streamable.com/k3imh
IdF Ex (No Commentary 1080p): https://streamable.com/c2fql

I've edited my post to include Nic's exhibition number, since it's not available on YouTube. "Sunglasses at Night" must be what he was talking about in this old Instagram post : https://www.instagram.com/p/BusWusYHybx/

"Boobs are like the sun. Ok to look, dangerous to stare. But that's what sunglasses are for."

I have been trying to find a video of Nic to re-watch the cute interaction he had with one of the flower girls over a thrown animal (it's from 5:30 on if someone wants to see it).

Someone on Twitter posted that exact clip (albeit of low-quality): https://twitter.com/lydiaonice/status/1188279037015285760

And you can see the fan who threw the toy for him: https://twitter.com/WeatherwaxVimes/status/1188278781963694080

Nic has also been coming back from injury. So I don't expect his recent results to be a reflection of the skater he is at full potential.

Thanks for bringing this up. At SCI, he looked darned happy just to be competing again. We hadn't seen him skate in 3 months by this point. Not to mention it's tough having two GPs in a row, and it's not the easier adjustment that Hubbell & Donohue had with Las Vegas and Kelowna being in the same time zone.

Nic's Grand Prix results this season were overall pretty solid for him, the best he's skated since his injury.

I know you've uploaded a video of his Minto SP, which was a complete disaster, so I agree with you that his GP results are fairly decent when you remember how poorly his season had began.

He still needs to work on his BV, but in terms of delivering what he's planned, he's made notable improvements. The triple Axel, especially, is much better than it was in the last couple of seasons.

I assume the low BV means that he's not fully recovered from his recent injury, and his current SP layout indicates that he favours edge jumps. I've noticed that he avoided the 3Lz all of last season, and it's still missing now. That seems to suggest he may have an older injury that hasn't healed (and it may even be a permanent problem?), and it's preventing him from attempting the Lutz.

 

[4everchan]

to add to the Nic discussion. His ankle injury is still preventing him from doing a lutz jump. That's why he has to downgrade his SP using the salchow and loop jumps. His flip, which was huge when i saw him live at nationals a while back is just getting added back to his program... no man would do a 3loop+2a SEQ unless there is no other option to add point in their content... Nic has shown videos of him landing the quad lutz BEFORE the injury...

Some injuries take a few weeks to heal... and some will never fully heal... ankles can be very difficult to fully heal.. I have broken tons of bones in my body and so far, i haven't had any severe set backs.. but my brother has broken his ankle over ten years ago and he is still suffering from it.

Taking seriously a career in such a case is to listen to one's body.... if the body says no lutz... that doesn't mean you can no longer be a figure skater... if the body prevents one from becoming a world medal contender, well, that still remains up to the skater to decide what he or she wants to do... perhaps winning a medal at Nationals is Nic's dream... and he was very close from doing so in 2017... perhaps that's what he is after... we do not know... but what looks clear to me, is that nobody spends so much time, money and energy "just for fun".... and even if it were just for fun, that's fine. Not everyone will be an Olympic champion, that doesn't make other irrelevant to the sport.

also, nic just turned 22... it looks like he's been around forever but he could definitely skate for a few more years, considering many men tend to peak later.... perhaps his recovery is slow but steady and he feels like he wants to skate again to his full potential before moving on.

Every athlete has their own story and it belongs to them. No point being harsh on them

 

[WeakAnkles]

I have tried to post here three times only to have the board jump around, then the "do you want to leave this page" box pop up and, because I'm a fast touch typist, I was hitting a key the exact same time as the box appeared. And of course each time the post I was working on disappeared.

It's BEYOND FRUSTRATING.

So much for that comment. It's been eaten up by the board. And sorry I just don't think the third time would be the charm.

Grrrrr.

 

[4everchan]

I have tried to post here three times only to have the board jump around, then the "do you want to leave this page" box pop up and, because I'm a fast touch typist, I was hitting a key the exact same time as the box appeared. And of course each time the post I was working on disappeared.

It's BEYOND FRUSTRATING.

So much for that comment. It's been eaten up by the board. And sorry I just don't think the third time would be the charm.

Grrrrr.

lol... yet this comment posted just fine

 

[WeakAnkles]

Of course. You never drop the UNbuttered slice of bread, do you?

Let's try a brief version of this. Gilles & Poirier may be following the career trajectory of Rahkamo & Kokko:

A bit (and screen jump) too strange and only so-so tech skills so down the pack;
Innovative off-beat programs that people start noticing, along with better skating skills;
Lauded for their creativity but just out of the top pack;
Success and major podium placements their last two s(screen jump) seasons together. Including winning Europeans and a silver at Worlds.

I can see something similar for G&P.

Yay! Only two jumps that time and no popup box!

:hap93:

 

[4everchan]

as a RK huge fan... if they follow in their finnstep i will be happy... i adore them... i LOVE paul .... i think carol lane's programs are fabulous... and nobody else could pull off this peachy outfit. i cannot wait to see them again at worlds

 

[WeakAnkles]

as a RK huge fan... if they follow in their finnstep i will be happy... i adore them... i LOVE paul .... i think carol lane's programs are fabulous... and nobody else could pull off this peachy outfit. i cannot wait to see them again at worlds

I HATED the Joni program the first time I saw it. The added waltz intro is a HUGE improvement, but they look like they've nailed the TONE. Plus, let's face it, there is still that whole "they have to earn their spot" ethos still at work in ID...and my goodness these two certainly can check that box, can't they?

 

[haribobo]

SENIOR + JUNIOR LADIES

INTERNATIONAL
Gabrielle Daleman 164
Veronik Mallet 161
Alicia Pineault 161
Kaiya Ruiter 159 J
Emily Bausback 158 J
Alison Schumacher 151 J
Michelle Long 149
Olivia Gran 138 J
Hannah Dawson 138
Amelia Orzel 131 J

*FYI- 75th on SB list last season scored 161. 40th was 180.

LOCAL & SECTIONALS (a few more major sectionals coming up this week)
Summer/fall scores over 140
Sectionals in Bold
(JR) just means score was obtained at a junior level comp but some may have moved up to senior...

Kaiya Ruiter 175 (JR)
Aurora Cotop 167
Emily Bausback 161
Kim Decelles 158 (145)
Hannah Dawson 157
Michelle Long 154
Kim Deguise-Leveillee 152
Madeline Schizas 152 (JR)
Alicia Pineault 152
Sarah-Maude Blanchard 152 (143)
Catherine Carle 151 (JR)
Sarah Tamura 146
Beatrice Lavoie-Leonard 144
Emily Millard 144 (JR)
Amanda Tobin 143
Isabelle Law 142
Amelia Orzel 142 (JR)
Olivia Farrow 140
Viviane Maltais 140 (138)

 

[NanaPat]

Thank you for the video.

The pickup wasn't just luck. My daughter lobbed 16 items onto the ice total, and 2 got picked up by the skater. We were sitting behind the camera pit, and most were sent in over the heads of the camera operators. To get something picked up you have to have good placement (sideways from ice level just where the rink starts to curve is ideal), good timing (too soon, and a predatory flower girl will swoop in and take it before the skater sees it), and a good arm.

Someone on Twitter posted that exact clip (albeit of low-quality): https://twitter.com/lydiaonice/status/1188279037015285760

And you can see the fan who threw the toy for him: https://twitter.com/WeatherwaxVimes/status/1188278781963694080

The clip of the fan throwing shows exactly what I was talking about: the thrower had an ideal location, almost perfect timing, and an excellent arm, but the item was still almost lost to a predatory flower girl.

 

[Noxchild]

Bwa ha ha! I'm sure the girls don't mean any harm - they just want to be useful and have their time on the ice

 

[Colonel Green]

At the Volvo Open's junior ladies event, Catherine Carle and Madeline Schizas placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with much higher scores that the YOG-eligible skaters who competed on the JGP. So it may be that Carle is now the frontrunner for that berth.

 

[chuckm]

Be cautious about comparing scores from different events. B events tend to score higher than JGP events. Also, JGP events require ISU judges, while Bs can use International judges.

 

[Colonel Green]

At Cup of China we've officially passed last year's Grand Prix medal total, with two bronzes from Liubov/Charlie and Laurence/Nikolaj bringing it to six.

The judges there weren't as enamoured with the Danadians as all the other panels have been, but whatever, take the medal and run.

Liubov & Charlie had an okay jump day and a bad throw day, but still got on the podium since it wasn't a terribly clean pairs event in general.

On to Moscow, where Piper & Paul will book their Final ticket and Nam will try his luck as well.

Be cautious about comparing scores from different events.

That's literally what the YOG criterion is, though.

 

[Sabrina]

I am not sure where to ask this question. I have bought tickets for Canadian Nationals and I am still waiting for the tickets...anybody in a similar situation?

Now about our skaters, I was happy for all the Canadians taking part in Skate China. Lubov/Charlie and Laurence/Nicolaj won bronz medals...

 

[Andrea82]

Also, JGP events require ISU judges, while Bs can use International judges.

International judges can do JGP (and even Senior GP) events as long it is not the Final. However, the Technical Panel must be ISU in JGP events while it can be INT in Bs.
At Volvo controllers and specialists were ISU. The panel of judges was split 3 ISU 3 INT.

The problem of comparing scores between different events remains valid, especially when events of different "levels" are considered. In fact, when the Federations choose criteria based on sums of different events, they are always open to situations in which someone is lucky enough to find the overscored event. There is always an hugely overscore B event every season but you never know in advance which one will be that year.

 

[siberia82]

Did anyone else watch the livestream for the Skate Ontario Sectionals Senior Men SP? Iliya Kovler performed to last season's "Maybe I, Maybe You", but I'm not sure if he actually dumped "Natural", or if he was forced to skate his old short because there was nearly a 3-minute delay (presumably music-related, but I can't hear what Iliya or the officials were saying) beforehand. Does anyone know exactly what happened?

 

[Balloon]

Guess he handed in last years music and had to use it

- - - Updated - - -

https://skateontario.org/results/20SEC/20SECJuniorPairSP1DRO.pdf
But I was impressed with Junior Pair reports, solid improvement.

 

[siberia82]

Jack Dushenski won the Senior Men's event at the Ontario Sectionals, Iliya Kovler took the silver, and Matthew Markell got the bronze (plus he also won the free skate, and had the highest PCS in both segments). Matt ditched his "November" LP and went back to the old "To Build a Home" from two seasons ago.

Bennet Toman seems to have injured himself because he was wincing in pain after his performance, and a medic had to examine his right leg or foot while he was sitting in the kiss & cry.

 

[DonnaR]

I am not sure where to ask this question. I have bought tickets for Canadian Nationals and I am still waiting for the tickets...anybody in a similar situation?

Now about our skaters, I was happy for all the Canadians taking part in Skate China. Lubov/Charlie and Laurence/Nicolaj won bronz medals...

I bought them as well. We likely won't receive the actual tickets until December. Ticketmaster Canada usually does this when tickets go on sale so far in advance of the event as they don't have the event schedule yet.