So long...we hardly knew ye

The best performance I've seen by a US pair in over 10 years



My favorite program of the 2010-2011 season hands down



Oh what they could have accomplished under Zoueva & Shpilband

2011 World Figure Skating Championships: Pairs Short Program Skate Order

Twenty-two of the World's best pair teams will take the ice tomorrow at 11:30 am EST for their short program. The top 16 will move on to the Free Skate on Thursday morning at 10 am EST. The skate order for the short program is as follows.

Here is my preview of the event http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com/2011/04/2011-world-figure-skating-championships.html

StN.	Name	Nation
	Warm-Up Group 1
1	Danielle MONTALBANO / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI	ISR
2	Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD	CAN
3	Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER	AUT
	Warm-Up Group 2
4	Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG	CHN
5	Huibo DONG / Yiming WU	CHN
6	Natalja ZABIJAKO / Sergei KULBACH	EST
	Warm-Up Group 3
7	Klara KADLECOVA / Petr BIDAR	CZE
8	Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV	RUS
9	Adeline CANAC / Yannick BONHEUR	FRA
10	Alexandra MALAKHOVA / Leri KENCHADZE	BUL
	Warm-Up Group 4
11	Lubov BAKIROVA / Mikalai KAMIANCHUK	BLR
12	Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG	USA
13	Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH	CAN
14	Stacey KEMP / David KING	GBR
	Warm-Up Group 5
15	Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV	RUS
16	Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK	ITA
17	Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE	GER
18	Qing PANG / Jian TONG	CHN
	Warm-Up Group 6
19	Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY	GER
20	Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN	USA
21	Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN	JPN
22	Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV	RUS

2011 US Figure Skating Championships: Senior Pairs Predictions and Fantasy Picks

My Predictions:
1) Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin
2) Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett
3) Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig
4) Marissa  Castelli & Simon Shnapir
5) Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker


My Fantasy Picks:                                     SkateGate's Fantasy Picks:
A) Yankowskas & Couglin                         A) Yankowskas & Coughlin
B) Marley & Brubaker                               B) Marley & Brubaker
C) Aaron & Cohen                                     C) Aaron & Cohen

Pairs is always a tough event to call at Nationals because anything can happen. When your pair teams are as inconsistent as they are in the US, falls and mistakes are practically inevitable, especially in high-pressure situations. However, I am going to be an optimist and hope that we have a fabulous senior pairs event this year with clean programs and tight competition. The pairs title really could go to about five different teams depending on how the chips fall, but I think this event is going to belong to Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin. They have a fierce short program that they really attack and a gorgeous free skate to Ave Maria dedicated to the memory of John's mother. They put up some strong programs on the Grand Prix and have the hardware to prove it with a bronze medal at Cup of China. Their scores this season, a top combined score of 166.72, are competitive internationally and they qualified as second alternate for the Grand Prix Final. Based on their momentum from the Grand Prix, I think they are truly the team to beat in Greensboro.

Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett are the defending US National Champions but based on their Grand Prix performances, I think they will be playing catch up at Nationals, and that may be a good thing for them. Last year they came in as underdogs and won the title. This season, all the buzz is about Yankowskas & Coughlin so Denney & Barrett are going to find themselves in another situation where they are not necessarily favored to win, and that low-pressure situation very well could lead to another title. Though at first glance it seems that they had an unsuccessful Grand Prix season because they did not bring home medals, they competed against tougher fields than some of the other top US teams. And though they suffered a fall in the free skate, their Skate America score that landed them in 4th was 166.42, only .30 less than the score that won Yankowskas & Coughlin a bronze at Cup of China. I love their Free Skate to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and I think it is so dynamic and exciting. Their coaching switch to John Zimmerman has done wonders for their performance quality and I think they will put up a strong fight to hold onto their national title.

Reigning US silver medalists Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig will also be right in the thick of things. They struggled at Cup of China but ended their Grand Prix season with a bronze medal at Cup of Russia so they have great momentum going into Nationals. Both of their programs this season, short to The Mask of Zorro and free to Nessun Dorma are gorgeous and they have some of the best elements in the world if they can execute well. In fact, one of the lifts in their free skate was the highest scoring single element in the entire pairs competition at the Olympics last season. Because of their lack of consistency, I have them in third, but they could easily run away with this competition if they skate two clean programs. Their 110.27 in the free skate is the highest of any US pair this season so if they can stay in the top 3 in the short program, their free skate could put them atop the podium.

Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir are a wildcard team for me because they have some spectacular elements but are incredibly inconsistent. They showed us an incredible short program at Skate Canada but fell apart in the free skate and fell into a hole in Skate America with a weak short program but went on to put up a good number in the free skate. They have an edge to them and do not conform to tradition in terms of music or costumes with a Pink Floyd short program and an Avatar free skate. They can definitely shake things up if they show up fully loaded. They have a throw triple axel in their free skate and the consistency is improving so that will be a key element if they hope to knock one of the top three teams off of the podium.

Speaking of wildcards, Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker, most of us have yet to even see them compete. They put up a strong score internationally at Nesquik Cup that ranks them 5th overall in terms of US pair team scores and they'll look to make a big splash in Greensboro in order to prove they are the real deal and set themselves up for a strong season in 2011-2012. 

Countdown to US Figure Skating Championships: 21 Days!

Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin (Colonial FSC)

• 2008 US Nationals 6th
• 2009 US Nationals 7th
• 2010 US Nationals 6th
• 2010 Four Continents Championships 4th
• 2010 NHK Trophy 4th
• 2010 Cup of China Bronze Medalists

I have been a big critic of the US Pairs program for a long time and though I don't think this team is the future of US Pairs skating, I think they are our best hope for the present. Caitlin is only 20 but John is 25 so I don't know how many good years they have left in them. I hadn't seen them skate before this year's Grand Prix and I was quite impressed. I find them to be quite clean and fairly consistent compared to the other top pairs teams in the US who often crack under pressure. Their free program this season to Ave Maria  is a tribute to John's mother who passed away recently and it is quite beautiful. Pairs is so hard to predict at Nationals but I have a feeling this team is going to stand atop the podium this year. Denney and  Barrett will probably lead after the short program, but I predict that Yankowskas and Coughlin's free skate will propel them ahead in the end.