Questions as we head into the various nationals.

[oleada]

*SIGH* Loved it! Like Aliona, and Qing, Tatiana is still one of the very best female pairs skaters. Maybe one day soon, Max will grow into her equal.

I think I like Maxim in this program more than Tatiana - he's more emotional and feeling the music. But they are very well matched overall, IMO.

I can't say I agree with calling Qing Pang one of the best female pairs skaters right now...but I do think Aliona and Tatiana are the best!

 

[chillyfranz]

Tatiana is not on the level of Aliona Savchenko. Aliona stands alone.
I think Tatiana is some things better than Qing, but not whole lot better.

 

[oleada]

I agree Aliona is the best, but Tatiana is a better jumper than Qing and also has gorgeous positions, which Qing lacks. She also has better basic skating.

 

[Jammers]

Canada will need the two spots in ladies regardless of Joannie Rochette as there are 2 ladies who can potentially be top 10 materials at Worlds, if not better. Amelie Lacoste has been turning some heads and the rumbling I have been hearing thus far is many feel she would be a better bet than Phaneuf as Canada's new Ladies Champion. It will depend on how they skate in Victoria, BC. I hope Cynthia ups her ante such as starting to do 3t+3t b/c toe loop is her best jump and she has enough speed and height to do it. I also hope Amelie shows us what she is made of, she has been impressing Int'l judges quite a bit lately, the Levels she achieved is consistently 4 across the board or almost and the 3Lo+3Lo combo is also ambitious as almost no one else is doing it anymore yet such a breathtaking combo. Canadian ladies sans Rochette can still be tough to beat given that without Joannie, Canada still beat both the U.S. Ladies Champion and U.S. Silver Medalist at the 2010 Worlds. I don't think the Americans would want a repeat again.

Don't get too used to a Canadian girl beating the American girls. We have much more depth then Canada does and sooner or later an american will be on the podium at Worlds again. There are simply to many good skaters for this slump to continue.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

Don't get too used to a Canadian girl beating the American girls. We have much more depth then Canada does and sooner or later an american will be on the podium at Worlds again. There are simply to many good skaters for this slump to continue.

Hey, we'll take the three years we got.

 

[SerpentineSteps]

Not according to icenetwork. Miki is #2 and Akiko #5.

Icenetwork is one American website. Do you really think the Japanese federation base their World teams based on one American website over the official (albeit admittedly flawed) ISU rankings?

To give you perspective, here's a hypothetical: would the US figure skating federation base their decisions on whom they're sending to World's on a random figure skating site in Japan?