Is Patrick Chan the best pure skater ever

[stolbovadivas]

Now that the legendary and wonderful Patrick Chan has officialy closed the curtain on his amazing career it is a good time to reflect on his legacy. While I would not say he is the best mens skater ever (although he is certainly an all time great) would you agree (as many of his peers do) he is the best pure and basic skater ever in mens skating. By that I mean things like quality of edges, flow, curves, blade work, footwork, speed, and just general ability to work the blade and the edges.

 

[draqq]

Well, he certainly sets the standard for skating skills and transitions. I could just watch Patrick skate around without any jumps and I would be enraptured. I think he could still improve on his expression and emotional commitment, but he was still THE skater that showed that you could combine artistry with quads in the IJS system.

 

[stolbovadivas]

Well, he certainly sets the standard for skating skills and transitions. I could just watch Patrick skate around without any jumps and I would be enraptured. I think he could still improve on his expression and emotional commitment, but he was still THE skater that showed that you could combine artistry with quads in the IJS system.

And he helped raise the bar in mens skating by both: a)forcing other guys to improve their skating skills to a new level, and close the gap there, to even have a shot at winning, and as a result we collectively see higher quality basic skating than before. Even a guy like Boyang who is deemed weak for a top skater here, is far above any Chinese male contender we saw before in basics. b) force the other guys to incorporate more and more quads, as Patrick was so superior in basic skating, the others had this as their only avenue to try and win. So despite not exactly being a quad revolutionary he inadvertently helped pushed the amazing quad trend we see now too by indirect means.

 

[snd]

yes.

 

[mrrice]

In a word.....YES!!!!!!!! I bet Patrick would have been great at figures. His edge work is the best I have seen in person.

I still think the best overall skater was Plushy. I would love to see them both in a show together.

 

[stolbovadivas]

Yes Patrick would have rocked figures IMO.

 

[Shayuki]

Best skating skills ever, I'd have to say.

But the expression, upper body usage and such left a lot to be desired. Still, I always found him enjoyable to watch when concentrating on only his feet and that's more than I can say for a ton of skaters.

 

[stolbovadivas]

Best skating skills ever, I'd have to say.

But the expression, upper body usage and such left a lot to be desired. Still, I always found him enjoyable to watch when concentrating on only his feet and that's more than I can say for a ton of skaters.

Yes I do agree some aspects of his artistry could be better, and there was a time some aspects of his PCS were inflated, particularly when he made major mistakes which were disruptive and impactful to the overall program, sometimes protecting his wins even with falls over others who skated cleanly. I am just speaking of skating skills alone in this instance.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Patrick, Jeremy Abbott, Kurt Browning. Oh and then there was this guy Robin Cousins.

 

[plushyfan]

In a word.....YES!!!!!!!! I bet Patrick would have been great at figures. His edge work is the best I have seen in person.

I still think the best overall skater was Plushy. I would love to see them both in show together.

In Stars on ice show Japan tour in 31 March- 6-8 April http://figureskate-soi.com/skaters.html look at that cast!

 

[mrrice]

In Stars on ice show Japan tour in 31 March- 6-8 April http://figureskate-soi.com/skaters.html look at that cast!

Holy Freakin' Cow!!!! I would love to see that show. Wow!

 

[moon]

The answer is yes.

 

[andromache]

Don't people always rave about John Curry and Toller Cranston's skating - or is that raving more about performance/interpretation?

 

[RobinA]

Ever? No. Recently, yes.

 

[RobinA]

If you think about it, Plushy and Chan are completely opposite skaters. Plushy - slop with charisma and consistent jumps, Chan - precision with not a lot of charisma and inconsistent jumps. Don't get me wrong, I like them both. They were just good at completely different things.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Don't people always rave about John Curry and Toller Cranston's skating - or is that raving more about performance/interpretation?

Here's John Curry's 1976 OGM-winning LP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z79TMsYRnEc

Everything Patrick does is with greater speed and more intricacy, not to mention Curry only did triples through the loop there.

 

[friedbanana]

Patrick's pure skating is incredible. I'd watch him do crossovers for hours

 

[Sam L]

Yes, best skating skills ever.

 

[BlackAxel]

And he helped raise the bar in mens skating by both: a)forcing other guys to improve their skating skills to a new level, and close the gap there, to even have a shot at winning, and as a result we collectively see higher quality basic skating than before. Even a guy like Boyang who is deemed weak for a top skater here, is far above any Chinese male contender we saw before in basics. b) force the other guys to incorporate more and more quads, as Patrick was so superior in basic skating, the others had this as their only avenue to try and win. So despite not exactly being a quad revolutionary he inadvertently helped pushed the amazing quad trend we see now too by indirect means.

Gosh I know Han Yan hasn't reached his full potential yet, but let's give him some credit for his skating skills.

 

[BlackAxel]

By the way, when I think of a pure skater in terms of skating skills, carriage, upper body movement, expression, and musicality ... a certain Swiss skater by the name of Stephane Lambiel comes to mind.