1. Men
Will Chan land the quad? Will he somehow put the haters to rest with a performance everyone can love? Adam Rippon just beat the world champion at the Japan Open. Can he knock off the silver medalist on his home turf too? Will Oda start off strong like he always does, only to falter in the final laps? Will all the changes (personal and professional) help or hurt? Will Gachinski be the great Russian hope? Will Morosov emerge as the finest fine-tuner of young talent (Amodio did well at NHK. How about Fernandez?) Will Reynolds go for a two-quad short program? Paolo Bachini charmed at the Olympics - will he do the same here? Will Ten withstand two back-to-back competitions? What animal will Preaubert mime this year?
2. Dance
Weaver and Poje threw down a challenge with their two skates. Will Crone and Poirier rise to it? Can they beat the Kerrs'? Can the Kerrs' ever win a GP event (of course, these two are linked). The Shibutanis threw down a challenge at NHK. Can Chock and Zuerlein rise to it? Can Paul/Islam actually continue that astonishingly rapid growth (from World Juniors to Thornhill was actively remarkable). Will Carron and Jones gell on the circut better than she did with Jost. Can Gorshkova and Butikov deliver performances that make the Russian Federation sit up and take notice?
3. Pairs
Who the heck will win? Moore-Towers and Moscovitch had a sensational senior debut last season at Skate Canada. Can they build from that? They've got some technical tricks and they've got a go-for-broke style that will work with the audience. How about Duhamel and Radford? They're a new couple but are going for triple flips and triple lutzes in their programs. The three Canadian teams here are likely vying for that second spot at Worlds (the first one being inked to Dube/Davison, knock on wood). I love Kemp and King (so regal and handsome a couple) - can they grow here? Simpson and Miller are in the unfortunate space of being too young/old for worlds (she's to young for junior, he's too old for senior... actually, I mean that the other way around, but lets leave the mistake in for amusement), but they had a jawdroppingly beautiful and creative lift at last year's Lake Placid JGP. Will I have to learn how to spell Iliushechkina and Maisuradze's names (copy and paste is my friend)?
4. Ladies
In corner one, we have the headcases. They are sensationally beautiful skaters and when they're on, it's a wondrous thing to behold. Unfortunately, they're not often on. In the other corner, we have the uninspired. So hopefully all the skaters just go for broke. I'm curious about Zawadzki, hopeful about Meier, rooting for Phaneuf (though I think I'll shut my eyes during her long program. I won't actually enjoy it live), praying for Czisny (prove me right!!!!! I said you'd have a Paul Wylie year, and a Wylie year you shall have), glad to see Marchei and Lafuente on the GP circuit, and just keeping my fingers crossed.
)
