Replay Lounge 2025 Skate Canada

[Mathman]

I guess what I have been struggling to say is something like this.

Person A achieves great success. This does not diminish the accomplishments of person B.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

Smallness? Saskatoon 2025 Population 316,342. It's a hub for agriculture and technology. The 2025 population for Kelowna, the city where 2019 Skate Canada was held, is almost half of Saskatoon at 165,907 and it was a full house. You either have an interest in who is skating or you do not.

On a side note - Lake Placid N.Y. hosted the 1980 Olympics. Does it get any smaller or remote than Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains? Maybe 2,500 population.

My bad! I don't know why, I had in mind that it was some place around Toronto though a bit afar. In fact it's a 4h drive from Vancouver, over 5h from Seattle and 7h from Calgary. Now we European mock Northern American people for knowing little of European geography...

 

[lariko]

British Columbia is a coastal province with a mild climate and large population compared to Saskatchewan that is in the middle of the prairie provinces' vastness. BC has 5.7 million people with Vancouver being one of the biggest cities in Canada, with 2.7 million. Saskatchewan has 1.3 million population in the entire province. I believe that metro Tokyo population is about 40 million, basically equal to population of Canada.

It's great that Canada doesn't make buying tickets hard for their events for those abroad like the Japanese do, so it's far easier for the Japanese to come here and watch an event than for a Canadian to go to Japan and watch an event there. We welcome all international fans of all skaters. If any Japanese fans actually love FS, there is no barriers for their entry.

Despite strained relations between Canada and US all American competitors were also warmly welcomed in Saskatchewan

 

[4everchan]

British Columbia is a coastal province with a mild climate and large population compared to Saskatchewan that is in the middle of the prairie provinces' vastness. BC has 5.7 million people with Vancouver being one of the biggest cities in Canada, with 2.7 million. Saskatchewan has 1.3 million population in the entire province. I believe that metro Tokyo population is about 40 million, basically equal to population of Canada.

It's great that Canada doesn't make buying tickets hard for their events for those abroad like the Japanese do, so it's far easier for the Japanese to come here and watch an event than for a Canadian to go to Japan and watch an event there. We welcome all international fans of all skaters. If any Japanese fans actually love FS, there is no barriers for their entry.

When ACI was in Montreal (Pierrefonds) it was always full of Japanese fans with banners and so on.

 

[lariko]

When ACI was in Montreal (Pierrefonds) it was always full of Japanese fans with banners and so on.

I am still bitter I don't have option to go to GPF this year, because it's Japanese. They grab the events, then gate them for fans from other countries.

 

[4everchan]

I am still bitter I don't have option to go to GPF this year, because it's Japanese. They grab the events, then gate them for fans from other countries.

Go to worlds in Prag ? Super nice city !

 

[lariko]

Go to worlds in Prag ? Super nice city !

I am not going to worlds again as it is so crowded and just hard to enjoy with the number of skaters, though Prague in the spring is very tempting. I really want GPF one year, or 2-3 GP events in a season once geopolitical situation favors both travel and figure skating.

 

[4everchan]

I am not going to worlds again as it is so crowded and just hard to enjoy with the number of skaters, though Prague in the spring is very tempting. I really want GPF one year, or 2-3 GP events in a season once geopolitical situation favors both travel and figure skating.

oh... we are such opposites. . I didn't like Skate Canada that much when I went... not enough skaters and I loved worlds. GPF would probably be my least favourite event to attend though, I would go because of the juniors which would be a big incentive.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

It's not about Hanyu specifically. The sport used to have many competitors who captivated audiences. Now it has none, as the skaters are not focusing on the art of the programs and necessity of selling a performance to an audience. It's been stamped out by a system that has killed real footwork sequences and turned the concept of choreography into an AI-like question of how many turns you can fit inbetween elements. The ISU can be blamed for the program requirements and scoring mediocre artistry so high.

Hanyu developed as a skater idolizing the skaters of the 2002-2010 era. People who were performing while competing and had distinct personalities on the ice - Lambiel, Takahashi, Buttle, Yagudin, Plushenko, Weir, Preaubert, Abbott, Contesti, Ponsero, Kozuka, Verner. Even someone who was allegedly "all about the jumps" like Joubert had an absolutely magnetic presence and good showmanship, or someone like Kevin van der Perren who managed to have a couple memorable programs. Hanyu's biggest influences can clearly be seen with Weir and Plushenko, bringing some of Weir's introspectiveness (and costumes) and some of Plushenko's brashness.

Fernandez is another person who had enough of that "performance is paramount" foundation to keep some artistry alive in his programs. Or someone like Florent Amodio, who briefly was able to, before being overwhelmed by the ever increasing AI-ification of how things needed to be done in order to be competitive. Jason Brown was able to manage some wonderful programs too, but all of his best programs were created in the 2010-2016 period (thanks to Rohene Ward).

The situation after 2018 has become dire with 30 seconds being chopped out of the Men's Long Programs, while they are expected to do as many quads as possible and include a disgustingly clunky and laborious "footwork sequence" in their program, wherein everyone has to do all of the same turns, in both directions. It's not interesting and it kills the potential of every program. Not to mention the spin requirements. All the while, nobody is truly caring about the GLIDE of what ice skating is supposed be, of maintaining an attractive or interesting body position at all times, of creating a vision on ice, a character, an emotion, an audience connection. Hanyu himself never reached his potential as a competitive performer, because already since 2011 the rules for footwork sequences had started becoming worse.

Retrenching 30s to Men's Long Program was indeed very detrimental to their beauty and appeal in general. Only skaters who held them paramount were able to retain a good deal of it, but it made the rest too difficult. I disagree about the Step Sequence in general, some make it a laborious exercise but not all, and this happened from the beginning. In fact, the most frequently "speaking" (that is, interpreting the music/choreography) element is the Step Sequence, at the top level (say, World Championships Free Skating) a good majority of skaters do it, for both programs (although those who get the highest scores are more often those who do not); then, there are the Spins, with a much reduced number of skaters making it "speak" the program; then there are the jumps, I can think only of Yuzuru Hanyu and only in his latest competitive years (and his Professional career even more, of course). Furthermore, for some skaters, the Step Sequence is the only moment when we can see actual steps, particularly clusters.
Here's one of the first Step Sequences in the reduced duration Free Skate; while I agree that his Short Program (Otoñal) was and is a monument of a Step Sequence and so well fit to music and choreography, his Free Step Sequence was already great too (while the rest of the program was still a bit in limbo in this "first pancake"):

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Several architects have said that constraints rather enhance their creativity. As many people, I love Frank Lloyd Wright's celebrated house on a waterfall in a forest, but I've been underwhelmed by his other buildings.
I would say that Yuzuru Hanyu have outgrown the competitive skating constraints, but I don't think it's always been so, nor do I think that many other skaters have?

 

[lariko]

oh... we are such opposites. . I didn't like Skate Canada that much when I went... not enough skaters and I loved worlds. GPF would probably be my least favourite event to attend though, I would go because of the juniors which would be a big incentive.

I like doing full day, all practices, everything. And (with appologies) I can't stay focused with SPs that have soooo many skaters. Full arena is also hard for me to manage, particularly when fans behave badly. GPF will be a big deal for me because, yes, juniors and seniors on the same ice. I really want to do a few GP stages once world changes for the better like the French Sisters in Pink.

 

[lariko]

Skate Canada had really interesting comp this year in both men and women, with Olymoic spot contenders from different countries going head to head in women and men. The biggest downer was Canadian performances, tbh (and women's free, lol). The rest was great. But, like, women's free was a highlight in Japan.

 

[4everchan]

I like doing full day, all practices, everything. And (with appologies) I can't stay focused with SPs that have soooo many skaters. Full arena is also hard for me to manage, particularly when fans behave badly. GPF will be a big deal for me because, yes, juniors and seniors on the same ice. I really want to do a few GP stages once world changes for the better like the French Sisters in Pink.

I didn't do much practices at worlds nor Nationals. That's how I save myself for the long competitions.

 

[lariko]

I didn't do much practices at worlds nor Nationals. That's how I save myself for the long competitions.

We really like practices, because it's quiet and we can seat where we want. Plus, when the skaters turn performance on and off, it's so cool

 

[4everchan]

We really like practices, because it's quiet and we can seat where we want. Plus, when the skaters turn performance on and off, it's so cool

I went to sit front row for women's and dance practice at worlds... I liked it for women's but for dance I realized I like further so I can see patterns on the ice better. It's interesting indeed. I guess I like the adrenaline from the competition so galas are out and so are practices for me

 

[lariko]

I went to sit front row for women's and dance practice at worlds... I liked it for women's but for dance I realized I like further so I can see patterns on the ice better. It's interesting indeed. I guess I like the adrenaline from the competition so galas are out and so are practices for me

We do second row for dance since that time Choke and Bates went into lift at full speed right in front of Mom. First row is not for faint-hearted.

 

[Mathman]

. First row is not for faint-hearted.

Once I was in the front row in the Lutz corner at Skate America when Emily Hughes came barreling down the ice on her opening jumping pass and almost landed in my lap. I was terrified.

 

[lariko]

Once I was in the front row in the Lutz corner at Skate America when Emily Hughes came barreling down the ice on her opening jumping pass and almost landed in my lap. I was terrified.

Yeah, we seat to the right of center so we don't get to see Miura (and others, but since it's Skate Canada, it's Miura) fall. But Miura is tricky. He falls all over the rink.

 

[Jeanie19]

We really like practices, because it's quiet and we can seat where we want. Plus, when the skaters turn performance on and off, it's so cool

I love practices, too.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

I'd like to end with a positive and hopeful note. You know how Single Eurlers are nearly always poorly jumped, sometimes they call this way a mere stepout (and as far as I know, while there's a specific, rather lenient call in the rules, I don't see it applied), most often it's a step more than a jump, without being a stepout. I confess that even my dear, near-perfect Alyona Kostornaia didn't have a good Euler. And after all, we tend to notice what's wrong, rather than what's right. But I happily noticed these two Weekends that both Ilia Malinin, whom I don't praise often, and Shun Sato, who has exceptional qualities but whose take-offs are more often correct than good, had a really good Euler, and, how to say, it "heals the eyes" from the usual poor ones. It's maybe restricted, but at least on Eulers, Figure Skating seems to be on the right way. (I know, as we say in French, a swallow doesn't make the Spring; but it announces it, right?)

 

[Mathman]

^ That was a well-written post. I appreciate good writing.