Joesitz said:
Does the USA team have enough substitutes?
Apparently all the US skaters want to go to France.
It's pretty common to see all or many of the submitted alternates from each country listed per event.
Joesitz said:
Among the Americans: Who is better?
Kanallakan or Carriere?
Hyatt or Wagner?
Well, Megan Hyatt was "better" than Ashley Wagner at 2006 U.S. Nationals -- she won the Junior ladies gold medal and Wagner the pewter (4th place), and Hyatt gained some valuable international experience at Junior Worlds last March even though she didn't place highly there. In the new season, Wagner landed 7 triples in winning the Junior Ladies FS Final at the Liberty summer competition earlier this month, while Hyatt landed fewer triples in placing 3rd in the Senior Ladies Final free skate at Skate Detroit this past weekend, so Wagner appears to be more "ready to go" at this early point in the season.
ETA: Ashley Wagner scored a win in her first junior international at Triglav Trophy this past April, and was 10 points higher than the silver medalist, Kathryn Kang of Canada, whom she will face again in Courchevel next month.
Austin Kanallakan was "better" than Stephen Carriere at the Junior Grand Prix Final in December 2005, winning the silver medal to Carriere's 6th place, but then one month later Carriere won the Junior men's title at 2006 Nationals (landing his first triple axel in competition there) and went on to place 4th at Junior Worlds.
Carriere made his senior debut at Liberty earlier this month and landed his first-ever quad toe loop in the FS to win the event. Kanallakan competed junior at Liberty and skated well there, as did Curran Oi (2006 U.S. Novice bronze medalist), who will be competing in Courchevel with Kanallakan (Carriere is scheduled for the Budapest JGP, not France). IMO, Kanallakan is a more "complete package" skater than Oi at this point, with more choreography and expression in his skating, but both are very talented and it could come down to who lands the most triples (Oi landed more triples at Liberty and he placed ahead of Kanallakan by about 5 points and was "better" there, results-wise by one place, 3rd to 4th).
