2019-20 Canadian Figure Skating

[Colonel Green]

Would doing a Senior international just before Worlds make the difference? Surely there must be one somewhere.

Hypothetically, winning a minor international would do it, but I'm not sure that there are any left; Challenge Cup doesn't have an ice dance segment.

A bit of an underwhelming free skate for all our pairs, but I'd say Evelyn & Trennt have earned that second Worlds spot. Michael's random fall was kind of hilarious, but the major concern I'd have for them is Kirsten's second consecutive Salchow pop (I imagine the second happened because she was thinking about the first); important to get out of that headspace for Worlds. But a bronze medal is a bronze medal, and hopefully this will mean they can peak at Worlds this year instead of at 4CC like last year.

Alicia has definitely earned her Worlds ticket.

 

[ladyjane]

There is actually a small ice dance segment at Challenge Cup this year, but only a National Championship with exactly one couple in there. So, as Colonel Green mentions, no help there. The Egna Dance Cup is now, so not possible.

 

[Colonel Green]

The junior dance event at Bavarian Open has concluded, and the results are pretty decisive as far as the remaining two Junior Worlds spots go. Emmy & Aissa and Natalie & Bruce finished silver and bronze (behind Nguyen/Kolesnik's expected gold), while Miku & Tyler were fifth. Nadiia & Peter had a compete disaster competition here, finishing in ninth place; she completely wiped out on her first twizzle set in the free, and looked really distraught afterward.

They've been probably the most consistent of the top four junior teams over the course of the season, so this is a really down note to end things on.

 

[siberia82]

My non-YouTube links of the Canadian men's short programs at 4CC:

Keegan Messing SP (1080p): https://streamable.com/y5fqp

Nam Nguyen SP (1080p): https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7rn5t0

Roman Sadovsky SP (1080p): https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7rn5dg

Sorry that I couldn't upload these earlier, but my Internet hasn't been working properly since a major snow storm, so videos are more difficult for me to handle at the moment.

 

[rain]

Hypothetically, winning a minor international would do it, but I'm not sure that there are any left; Challenge Cup doesn't have an ice dance segment.

A bit of an underwhelming free skate for all our pairs, but I'd say Evelyn & Trennt have earned that second Worlds spot. Michael's random fall was kind of hilarious, but the major concern I'd have for them is Kirsten's second consecutive Salchow pop (I imagine the second happened because she was thinking about the first); important to get out of that headspace for Worlds. But a bronze medal is a bronze medal, and hopefully this will mean they can peak at Worlds this year instead of at 4CC like last year.

Alicia has definitely earned her Worlds ticket.

Yes, I'd say Walsh/Michaud is the obvious pick now. While I think I/B have tons more potential, they're not ready for prime time. Kirsten and Michael can take away from this that the judges are willing to go with them, but they have to skate clean. They can't have these random errors.

Alicia is now an obvious pick for the ladies, so at least that is clarified, but who is the other? Emily did not get the worlds minimum. I'd say Alison, maybe, as she did have a good LP, but the concern of course is that she bombed the short and would not have even qualified for the LP at worlds. I think it's actually a toss up whether any of the ladies can make the LP at worlds (you need to have a triple/triple), so do they go with someone like Veronik, who has more experience (and the world minimums) or just figure it can be a learning experience for someone like Alison?

Why oh why can't we just transfer one of those slots to the men?

 

[lariko]

Just saw Emily did not get enough TES for the Worlds at 4cc

 

[chuckm]

It's possible that neither makes it to the FS. Scores at Euros and 4cc tend to be inflated, while Worlds scoring is tough especially for the earlier groups, where Alicia and her compadre will skate.

But Canada will still have one spot for 2021 Worlds, regardless.

 

[blue_idealist]

It's possible that neither makes it to the FS. Scores at Euros and 4cc tend to be inflated, while Worlds scoring is tough especially for the earlier groups, where Alicia and her compadre will skate.

But Canada will still have one spot for 2021 Worlds, regardless.

It seems like Alicia tends to have a strong short, although I'm not that familiar with her. On the other hand, Allison's free usually seems to be stronger. Too bad it's not first, LOL.

 

[rain]

It's possible that neither makes it to the FS. Scores at Euros and 4cc tend to be inflated, while Worlds scoring is tough especially for the earlier groups, where Alicia and her compadre will skate.

But Canada will still have one spot for 2021 Worlds, regardless.

And let's be honest, Canada doesn't need more than one spot at this juncture.

 

[Step Sequence4]

I'm very curious to see what Canada will do regarding balancing SrW and JrW spots for those who are eligible for both. Presumably Alicia is a lock for worlds, just as Kaiya has already been assigned for junior worlds. I'll be interested to see what they do with the other spot at SrW and JrW (Presumably between the 3 medalists at nats) and if they send Emily to a challenger to get the SP mins?

 

[AlinaRina]

I'm very curious to see what Canada will do regarding balancing SrW and JrW spots for those who are eligible for both. Presumably Alicia is a lock for worlds, just as Kaiya has already been assigned for junior worlds. I'll be interested to see what they do with the other spot at SrW and JrW (Presumably between the 3 medalists at nats) and if they send Emily to a challenger to get the SP mins?

If it were me, I would probably send Maddie to JW. She's outscored both Emily and Alison substantially (comparing scores from Bavarian and 4CC) and seems calmer under pressure. But I'm totally lost as to SW. Alicia seems certain, Emily cracks under pressure, and Alison is amazing but inconsistent. Maybe Veronik is the safest bet, though at this point it doesn't really matter - we're not keeping those two spots no matter who goes (unless someone's up for falsifying Kaiya's birthdate so she can compete senior ).

What's the deadline for Canada to announce the team? I'm so curious what they'll do.

 

[theharleyquinn]

At this point, they might as well have a private skate-off with the senior ladies that have minimums and make the decision that way. Relying on the outcome of Nationals seems arbitrary given how 4CC turned out.

 

[siberia82]

So I assume that Nam will be assigned to Worlds?

 

[withwings]

I do feel bad for Keegan...hoped he will go to worlds

Nam has a great FP, tailored well to his personality. Good luck him at worlds.

 

[chuckm]

Keegan's heart doesn't seem to be in it any more. I wouldn't be surprised if he retired.

 

[blue_idealist]

So I assume that Nam will be assigned to Worlds?

I hope so. I think that's the right choice this year.

 

[rain]

I hope so. I think that's the right choice this year.

As long as he doesn't get himself buried in the SP, he's the most likely to do what he can do at worlds. He seems to be the one who is least intimidated in the pressure cooker of competition when everyone around him is skating really well. He's proven this a few times, and again here.

 

[Colonel Green]

So I assume that Nam will be assigned to Worlds?

I imagine. He's been the most reliable guy this season -- across the ten segments he's skated either internationally or at nationals, he's really only had two outright bad programs (Nebelhorn SP and Nationals FS). His ceiling is likely lower than Keegan's or Roman's, but both of them have struggled more in the delivery; and Nam's best international scores this season are definitely top ten material (especially with home ice boost, as he got at SCI).

I know Keegan said at the outset of the quad that he was committed to doing two years and then he'd assess whether he wanted to try to push for Beijing or not. It'd be quite understandable if he decided this was a good time to hang up the skates, but I hope he doesn't, if only because this would be a bit of a downer note to end things on.

 

[Roo87]

As long as he doesn't get himself buried in the SP, he's the most likely to do what he can do at worlds. He seems to be the one who is least intimidated in the pressure cooker of competition when everyone around him is skating really well. He's proven this a few times, and again here.

Getting buried in the SP is the biggest issue. Keegan's SP could place him in the final group (he was lowballed here, should have been a few points higher). Nam was great in the SP here too, but he was much lower than Keegan, and would be lucky to make the second-to-last group at worlds.

 

[Colonel Green]

Getting buried in the SP is the biggest issue. Keegan's SP could place him in the final group (he was lowballed here, should have been a few points higher). Nam was great in the SP here too, but he was much lower than Keegan, and would be lucky to make the second-to-last group at worlds.

Just for comparison, Nam was thirteenth in the short program in Saitama (i.e., one short of the penultimate group) despite a bad triple Axel. I agree that he'll always to some extent be dependent on others not hitting everything they can do, but that seldom happens anyway (indeed, the 4CC men's short program was widely noted as an unusually well-skated event). Nam would have been in the final group at Euros this year with the same performance.