Impressions on Men's Final

[SkateFan4Life]

Well, surprise, surprise, Evegeny Plushenko wins another Grand Prix title. It didn't seem to matter that he received the call to compete only 10 days prior to the competion, and that he made it to the finals because Johnny Weir withdrew due to his foot injury. Plushy dominated the event like the champion he is. His long program was masterful - excellent jumps, improved spins, and less of that silly "arm flailing" that used to creep into his performances. Well done, Plusy - you deserve the title. I liked the music, which had been composed for him.

I was really pleased to see Canadian Jeff Buttle win the silver medal. Here is an example of a wonderfully talented, all-around skater with top-knotch jumping and artistic ability who scores well under the new scoring system. His long program was very interesting, full of emotion, and his spins were superb.
This guy definitely has the talent to win World and Olympic medals.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be another splatfest for Canadian Emanuel Sandu. This guy has the elegance of John Curry, and when his quads are on, he is one of the few skaters who can challenge Plushenko, jump for jump. It just seems that mistakes creep into his programs and ruin them. When he makes a mistake, it seems that the steam is knocked out of him and he just gives up on the rest of the program. Falls on quads, triple axels, stumbles here and there. It was dismaying.

It looks as though Brian Joubert needs to go back to the drawing boards and work on his jumping technique. He can't make the kinds of mistakes he made at the GP Finals at Worlds and expect to medal there.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

skatefan - Will we ever see a competition where Sandhu and Buttle both skate perfect programs? It seems only one at a time can do it.

Brian needs to come to Frank Carroll. The Yags team are russianizing him and he's losing his french touch.

Joe

 

[SkateFan4Life]

skatefan - Will we ever see a competition where Sandhu and Buttle both skate perfect programs? It seems only one at a time can do it.

Brian needs to come to Frank Carroll. The Yags team are russianizing him and he's losing his french touch.

Joe

Good question, Joe. I would love to see both Sandu and Buttle skate clean programs at Worlds this year and to see how they wind up - possibly on the podium! Both of them have the talent to do it.

As for Joubert, he seems to have become a clone of Yagudin. Frankly, there's only one Alexi, and nobody can really impersonate him and/or copy his style.
Perhaps Frank Carroll would be the best coach for Brian at this time. I'd like to see what Linda Leaver, Brian Boitano's coach, could do with him, assuming that she's still coaching and both are willing to work together.

 

[Hikaru]

skatefan - Will we ever see a competition where Sandhu and Buttle both skate perfect programs? It seems only one at a time can do it.

Brian needs to come to Frank Carroll. The Yags team are russianizing him and he's losing his french touch.

Joe

LOL!! Well, I dunno if Carroll would be the best option for Joubert. I do agree that, even though I like that Brian has a good role model like Alexei, he cannot go and try to be someone he is not. He has to remember he's french, and should skate in his own style (although I don't know it a style is determined by the nationality). He is discovering that I think.

I fear that if Brian went to Carroll, we would end up with Brian dressing one of those "An American In Paris" ourfits that Carroll seems to like (did you all notice that Evan Lysacek wore one just like Tim's? I wonder if Carroll got it by the dozen )

 

[Ximena]

I fear that if Brian went to Carroll, we would end up with Brian dressing one of those "An American In Paris" ourfits that Carroll seems to like (did you all notice that Evan Lysacek wore one just like Tim's? I wonder if Carroll got it by the dozen )

Well actually Brian has already worn one of those when he skated to "The Untouchables" a couple of seasons ago.
I don't know how good could someone like Carrol could do to Brian. Then again Brian last season didn't do so well in the GP series and then did very good performances at his last three events so maybe he will do the same this year.