Andrew Torgashev

[Tav]

I knew it! I'm so happy for him. Why did they make us wait for so long? Hopefully, everyone going has known about going for a while now so they could already begin to prepare for travel, etc.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

As much as you can ever predict US Men, many people in the US Nationals Prediction Thread are predicting Andrew will be on the podium at Nationals again this year. I think that is amazing considering last year he had to do Sectionals and his goal was only to finish top 10 because he'd had to take two seasons off.

My own expectations are low to moderate, only because we haven't seen him skate since October. And Skate America was a roller coaster. He could have an amazing SP at Nationals, or the SP could leave him buried in the standings. Of course, it depends on how other skaters do as well. I certainly hope he can medal at Nationals again. And I wonder how his performance at Nationals (good or less good) may or may not affect his ability to do well at 4CC. It will be interesting since the events are so close together.

I will always be curious about why he withdrew from Golden Spin, but we'll probably never know.

 

[Tav]

Good to know they have so much faith in him. I'm certainly hoping for the best.

 

[el henry]

I am always torn in the predictions game when it is an "unknown" between my head and my heart.

I was also worried about injury, and then Andrew posted this on his IG: Do we think this is a recent practice

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I am always torn in the predictions game when it is an "unknown" between my head and my heart.

I was also worried about injury, and then Andrew posted this on his IG: Do we think this is a recent practice

It seems current, though I don't know for sure. It was posted yesterday with the caption "9 days." The Mens SP is, in fact, happening 9 days from that date.

Goodness, I love that StSeq so much! I also love how thrilled the person watching sounded! Is it Shae-Lynn? Every time I watch Andrew skate, especially if it's been a while, I am reminded how much I appreciate his skating! I hope his jumps are going as well as that, but even if he's jumping well in practice, competition is a different matter. Nonetheless, he showed off the best aspects of his skating in that clip.

I never participate in the predictions; too much pressure. Actually, in my fantasy world in which I would rank skaters according to my enjoyment of their skating, regardless of TES, the podium would be Jason, Andrew, Camden. Although that's hard too, because in some ways I enjoy Andrew more than Jason. They have different styles. Jason is more soft and lyrical, and Andrew is more sharp and passionate. It's like picking your favorite child!

My newest discovery is Anthony Paradis, who at various moments reminds me of both Andrew and Jason.

 

[el henry]

It seems current, though I don't know for sure. It was posted yesterday with the caption "9 days." The Mens SP is, in fact, happening 9 days from that date.
Goodness, I love that StSeq so much! I also love how thrilled the person watching sounded! Is it Shae-Lynn? Every time I watch Andrew skate, especially if it's been a while I am reminded how much I appreciate his skating! I hope his jumps are going as well as that, but even if he's jumping well in practice, competition is a different matter. Nonetheless, he showed off the best aspects of his skating in that clip.

I never participate in the predictions; too much pressure. Actually, in my fantasy world in which I rank skaters according to my enjoyment of their skating, regardless of TES, the podium would be Jason, Andrew, Camden. Although that's hard too, because in some ways I enjoy Andrew more than Jason. They have different styles. Jason is more soft and lyrical, and Andrew is more sharp and passionate. It's like picking your favorite child!

My newest discovery is Anthony Paradis, who at various moments reminds me of both Andrew and Jason.

Yours truly started a FF for Anthony, come on over. .

One thing I will say: my avatar is the great Toller Cranston, who revolutionized skating in the 70s. Andrew channels so much of Toller in his skating as do Jason and Anthony, in different ways.

And it is so good to hear Shae-Lynn (?) appreciate Andrew's skating.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I feel like it's been SO long since Andrew has competed. (I know it's just been a few months).* Even if he had skated at Golden Spin, there was no livestream. So it's not like we "missed anything." But since Andrew rarely posts skating-related things on Instagram, when he does it's precious evidence to see him actually on the ice. Yes, I am fully aware this is an over-dramatic post. I am very excited to watch him at Nationals!

*And, certainly, two entire seasons is much longer, but I wasn't following his skating closely back then.

 

[el henry]

Encouraged by a friend who said it was beautiful, I went looking for Andrew on the Practice Cam replay on Peacock.

It is beautiful. All the passion and performance, even during a practice. He looked healthy to me, he did pause every once in a while, but skaters do that during practice

Starts at 24:55 (?) if you have access Peacock

 

[gsk8]

 

[el henry]

What a beautiful wonderful passionate skate by Andrew

And now we are learning that he didn't start jumping until five weeks ago (Adam Rippon on Peacock) and he wasn't sure he would come to Nats (Jackie Wong)

We were almost deprived of that skate

 

[Tav]

Now we know he had a back injury from Skate America that made him miss Golden Spin. Does that mean his back was injured for the short program? The long program?

Anyway, tonight, he was amazing! No quad and nearly 90 points. That was just fab and his step sequence is just feral.

 

[elbkup]

Oh My!! What a skate!!. Fierce!!
I see Kevin A vibes in there.. yes!!

 

[trishelle]

It sounds like he had the performance of the night! Love that he got another standing ovation.

That he is behind Jason with a fall is BS though.

 

[noskates]

What a gorgeous skate from Andrew. He was so passionate in his step sequence and just looked so confident out there. Hope that same passion carries over to his free skate tonight. Sorry - as good as he was he isn't a Jason Brown...............................yet!!!!!

 

[skatingfan4ever]

What a gorgeous skate from Andrew. He was so passionate in his step sequence and just looked so confident out there. Hope that same passion carries over to his free skate tonight. Sorry - as good as he was he isn't a Jason Brown...............................yet!!!!!

Here's what I think. Andrew Torgashev will never be a Jason Brown. But by the same token, Jason Brown will never be an Andrew Torgashev. They have different styles, ways of moving on the ice, and ways of expressing themselves on the ice. When I'm watching Andrew, I never feel like he's trying to imitate Jason or any other skater (which is a compliment from me, because when it looks like a skater is consciously trying to imitate another skater, the imitation often falls short). Various audience members may find one style more appealing than the other, or enjoy both equally, and the judges give the scores they give, but I don't think Andrew is trying to become a Jason. Andrew is being himself on the ice, and that's why his passion is so real and comes through so strongly. (Jason also is being himself, he doesn't imitate other skaters, and he's passionate about his craft; I'm with @el henry in that I so love both of them).

Jason has already had so many more international opportunities than Andrew, and with Andrew's injury history every competition is a precious gift. It may seem like I'm cheering more for Andrew than Jason, but with Jason we expect him to skate well these days, whereas Andrew is still unpredictable. Cheering for Andrew doesn't mean I'm discounting Jason. I simply don't feel the need to compare them.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I just watched Andrew's short program!!! What impressed me most was the CONFIDENCE! At Stake America, Andrew was like a deer in the headlights in the SP. None of that here. WOW WOW WOW!!! His jumps looked AMAZING!!! I didn't love his 3A last season, but I love it now - so much height and security on the landing. I love his posture on his jump landings now - he didn't always have that in the past either.

As I've said already multiple times in this thread, this program is beyond amazing! THAT STEP SEQUENCE!!! What I loved also is that not only do we now have a clean, pristine version of this program, but he held the ending position long enough for us to appreciate it. He stayed in character, soaked it in, and by so doing he let us soak it in too. (On-ice celebrations can be fun to watch, but in this case it maintained the spell he cast when he stayed there longer. I loved it, because so often skaters barely show us the ending pose because they're celebrating or disappointed or whatever).

Nationals scoring, I know, but Andrew got a higher score here than at Lombardia (88 vs 86). This is noteworthy because at Lombardia he landed a 4S, and here he did not attempt a quad at all. It is amazing where a clean program can take you.

I will probably have more to say, but I'll stop for now.

 

[gsk8]

 

[el henry]

I'm still proud of Andrew coming back and doing all that with an injury.

Hope that he can shine with both programs at 4CC!

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I just saw the results, but haven't watched any programs yet, not even Andrew's. (Watching live was too nerve-wracking; call me a chicken if you want ). I would have hoped for a better skate, but I'm happy Andrew still finished Top 5. That means he should be invited to the gala. [EDIT: Do the 4CC skaters even have time for the gala though???] He also gets a bye to Nationals again next year. Two years in a row of earning a bye! And Andrew's short program was a gem!

I will have more to say tomorrow.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I wonder how 4CC will go. The turnaround is SO short. Andrew told GS this was a taxing week. But he's not going to Worlds unless he's a Worlds alternate and catastrophe strikes for his teammates, so I hope 4CC can work out well for him despite the crazy timing and circumstances.

And next season, hopefully he can stay completely injury-free the whole time.