2011 Rostelecom Cup: Men's Preview

This is a very hard event to predict because we have a very erratic group of skaters. About 6 of these 9 skaters have podium potential, so it will be interesting say the least to see how things shake down. The men skate their short Friday November 25th at 10:45 a.m. EST and their free Saturday November 26th at 10:25 a.m. EST.

Javier Fernandez (ESP) surprised us all when he nearly beat Patrick Chan at Skate Canada, and I for one do not think he is a one hit wonder. His technique is solid and Brian Orser has helped him to improve his components. He scored over 250 at Skate Canada and that was even with mistakes! This is certainly not the safe prediction to make, but I say he wins this event and qualifies for the Grand Prix Final. Jeremy Abbott (USA) won Cup of China, but his winning score was over 20 points below Fernandez' Silver medal score in Canada. He has beautiful programs but until he ups the technical arsenal and gets his consistent Quad back, he won't compete with Chan and the top guys in the World. Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) is a wildcard because when he is on, there are few people he can't beat. He has a great Quad and is so beautiful artistically, a rare combination these days. But he's very inconsistent and often starts out his free skates much too fast, running out of steam at the end as he did at Cup of China. Artur Gachinski (RUS) skating on home ice will certainly factor into the top group, though I'm not certain he has all the goods to skate with the best and even though he has the jumps, I don't think he can beat the likes of Fernandez, Abbot, or Hanyu if they are clean. Michal Brezina (CZE) is another wildcard because he is very inconsistent technically, but the judges usually score him high, so look for him to make the podium even with flawed skates. Then you have Brandon Mroz (RUS) who self-destructed in the free after a great short at NHK Trophy. He'll be skating with a chip on his shoulder and if he hits, he'll pull massive technical elements scores that could hold him up over skaters.

My Podium Predictions:
1) Javier Fernandez (ESP)
2) Jeremy Abbott (USA)
3) Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)


Competitive History:


Jeremy Abbott (USA)-1st at 2011 Cup of China, 3rd at 2011 Four Continents, 3rd at 2010 Rostelecom Cup, 2nd at 2010 NHK Trophy, 4th at 2009 Grand Prix Final; PB: 237.72 at 2009 GPF


Michal Brezina (CZE)-2nd at 2011 Trophee Eric Bompard, 1st at 2011 Skate America, 2nd 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, 4th 2011 Worlds, 8th 2011 Europeans, 1st 2011 Bavarian Open, 2nd 2010 Golden Spin of Zagreb, 7th 201 Nebelhorn Trophy; PB: 236.06 at 2010 Worlds


Javier Fernandez (ESP)-2nd at 2011 Skate Canada, 4th 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, 10th at 2011 Worlds, 9th at 2010 Rostelecom Cup, 5th at 2010 Skate Canada, 5th at 2010 Coup de Nice; 250.33 at 2011 Skate Canada

Artur Gachinski (RUS)-5th at 2011 Cup of China, 3rd at 2011 Worlds, 5th at 2011 Europeans, 6th at 2010 Rostelecom Cup, 7th at 2010 Skate Canada, 1st 2010 Coup de Nice, 1st 2010 Finlandia Trophy; 241.86 at 2011 Worlds 


Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)-4th at 2011 Cup of China, 1st 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, 2nd 2011 Four Continents, 7th 2010 Rostelecom Cup, 4th 2010 NHK Trophy; 228.01 at 2011 Four Continents


Konstantin Menshov (RUS)-6th at 2011 NHK Trophy, 7th 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, 7th 2011 Europeans, 10th 2010 Rostelecom Cup, 2nd 2010 Coup de Nice, 6th 2010 Finlandia Trophy, 2nd 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy; PB: 202.62 at 2011 Europeans


Brandon Mroz (USA)-9th at 2011 NHK Trophy, 3rd 2010 Trophee Eric Bompard, 2nd 2010 Cup of China; PB: 216.80 at 2010 Cup of China


Andrei Rogozine (CAN)-7th at 2011 Skate Canada, 1st 2011 World Juniors, 3rd 2010 JGP Final, 1st 2010 JGP Japan, 1st 2010 JGP France; PB: 200.13 at 2011 World Juniors


Sergei Voronov (RUS)-2nd 2011 Winter Universiade, 12th 2010 Cup of China; PB: 220.39 at 2009 Cup of China