2014 SKATE CANADA: Mens Preview

I always like Skate Canada because for some reason I feel like they consistently get the best talent. I don't see anyone running away with this mens event like Machida did at Skate America. I think we will have a cluster of 5 at the top and 4-5 in the middle.

Podium Predictions:
Gold: Javier Fernandez (ESP)
Silver: Takahito Mura (JPN)
Bronze: Takahiko Kozuka (JPN)

Javier Fernandez (ESP) has been hyped up for the past two years, but hasn't actually lived up to the hype for most of that time. He's the Gracie Gold of mens skating if Gracie had two world medals. He's a jumper and he performs like Elvis Stojko. Brian Orser needs him to step up this season in the depleted post-Sochi field. He hasn't competed a major international since Worlds so he may have to kick the dust off the tires a bit. The mixture of the tacky as hell Black Betty and highbrow "Barber of Seville" sum up Javier perfectly.

Takahito Mura (JPN) has suffered greatly from the depth of mens figure skaters in Japan. He won the 2014 Four Continents, won the recent International Challenge Cup and placed 2nd at the Lombardia Trophy. This is going to be his season to break out.

Takahiko Kozuka (JPN) has had an up and down go of it the past few years. The 2010 Grand Prix looked like his coming out party, but he has struggled with his jumps as of late and Yuzuru Hanyu blew by him at home. Missing the Sochi team must have shredded his confidence, but he finished a respectable 6th at the 2014 Worlds and will look to reestablish himself this season. I think he could've benefitted from performing a senior B event.

The Rest of the Field:
Elladj Balde (CAN)-11th at 2014 Four Continents, 18th at 2014 Worlds, 5th at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy
Liam Firus (CAN)-28th at 2014 Olympics, 9th at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy
Kevin Reynolds (CAN)-15th at 2014 Olympics, 11th at 2014 Worlds, 6th at 2014 Autumn Classic
Michal Brezina (CZE)-4th at 2014 Europeans, 10th at 2014 Olympics, 2nd at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy
Florent Amodio (FRA)-13th at 2014 Europeans, 18th at 2014 Olympics, 7th at 2014 Lombardia Trophy
Konstantin Menshov (RUS)-3rd at 2014 Europeans, 3rd at 2014, Nebelhorn Trophy
Max Aaron (USA)-8th at 2014 Worlds, 1st at 2014 US International Classic
Stephen Carriere (USA)-1st at 2014 O. Nepela
Adam Rippon (USA)-8th at 2014 Four Continents, 2nd at 2014 Finlandia Trophy

2012 Skate Canada: Mens Preview

Patrick Chan (CAN) looks to take back his Skate Canada title after Javier Fernandez won last season. He is going with Rachmaninov for the short and Vivaldi for the free...trying to win over those Europeans eh? Patrick is literally on thin ice with the skating fans this season for multiple reasons. Aside from his many off-color comments in the press, many people believe that he was undeserving of the World title over Denis Ten last season. He needs to clean up his skating this season and put together perfect programs in order for skating fans to believe that he is deserving of Gold in Sochi.

Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) is one of our favorite skaters. He has the artistic soul of Johnny Weir and Sasha Cohen, but unfortunately he also has their competitive mentality. He does well on the Grand Prix, however, and luckily for him, he earns extremely high PCS marks and levels so he can absorb a few small mistakes and still earn high scores overall. I want to see him put together a full season this year and earn the Olympic medal that he truly deserves. I cannot wait to see his interpretation of Rota's Romeo & Juliet and Parisian Walkways made famous by our own Lang & Tchernyshev.

Jeremy Abbott (USA) is a sentimental favorite for me to make the Sochi team. His Vancouver trip was disappointing and unfortunately, the last quad has been a roller coaster for him. He only went to Worlds 2 of the last 4 seasons, finishing 5th in 2010 and 8th in 2012. He has everything he needs to make an Olympic podium, but he has to catch lightning in a bottle and put them all together in 2 programs. I'm so thrilled that he is revisiting Muse, because his previous Muse program was fantastic and his best of the quad. He will face competition at home, but I strongly believe that if he goes clean, he will make it to Sochi. That road starts here and there's no reason he can't medal here. I actually think it will be good for him to face two of the best in the world here. Why not meet the competition face to face early on?


My Podium Predictions:
Gold: Patrick Chan (CAN)
Silver: Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)
Bronze: Jeremy Abbott (USA)

The Rest of the Field:
Elladj Balde (CAN)
Andrei Rogozine (CAN)
Michal Brezina (CZE)
Takahito Mura (JPN)
Nobunari Oda (JPN)
Joshua Farris (USA)
Ross Miner (USA)

Skate Canada: Mens Preview

If (and that's a big if) we happen to get a feed for this event, I will be live blogging all of the Skate Canada events this weekend!

Competition Schedule:
Friday October 26th at 7:30 pm-Short Program
Saturday October 27th at 7:10 pm-Free Skate



Hi, anybody who knows anything knows that Patrick Chan (CAN) is going to win this event. He is at home, he is the love child of IJS and the judging panels. He is working with a new coaching team this year because he fired the people who created him so we'll see if that takes a toll on his emotional status. It's a big year for P-Chiddy because he has two, count 'em two, new programs this year. Good times! In all seriousness, this guy can skate and it's great to see the quads, but let's hope he holds back some of the goods to make it a fair fight for the rest of the field.

Javier Fernandez (ESP) is my new skating boyfriend. I am just smitten with him! He is a lovely performer and I love how he was hot on Chan's heels at last year's skate Canada. I cannot wait to see his Zorro short program and especially his Charlie Chaplin free skate. Both should be endearing and jam-packed technically. I really want him to win, but it will take a lot to beat Chan on home ice.

Ross Miner (USA) has a chance to make the podium on the Grand Prix this season, but until he gets the quad nobody will take him seriously. He is usually pretty consistent so considering that the first 2 or 3 Grand Prix events are a hot mess, he has a really good shot at the podium.

Speaking of hot messes, Florent Amodio (FRA) has been all over the place in the past two years. I no longer take him seriously as a competitor, but I do look forward to seeing the costumes that he borrows from the disco animals in Lady Gaga's bathhouse. I'm looking at his free skate music, which looks like a hot disaster on blades, and I couldn't be more excited about it!.

Our dear Artur Gachinski (RUS) is a hot mess of an entirely different variety. We love that he is Evgeni's mini-me and how he flails about like Boy George in 1980s London, but it really has no place on the ice in 2012 under IJS. Perhaps he should've been born in another generation so he could pit his "style" against the likes of Rudy Galindo and Philipe Candeloro. He does have a World medal under his belt, but he has not risen to the occasion since he accomplished that feat in 2010.

Our dear little Nobunari Oda (JPN) is a sad case. Ever since he became a father his career has gone down hill. 2011-2012 was a disaster for him and this is a do or die year. Takahashi is still fabulous, Hanyu and Kozuka are world medalists, and Machida is on his way up the ranks. If Oda does not prove this season that he can still do it, I say the Japanese federation washes their hands of him as they did with Fumie Suguri.

My Podium Predictions:
Gold: Patrick Chan
Silver: Javier Fernandez
Bronze: Ross Miner

The Rest of the Field:
Elladj Balde (CAN)
Liam Firus (CAN)
Takahito Mura (JPN)
Denis Ten (KAZ)

2011 Finlandia Trophy: Men's Final Results

Men's Final Results

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Takahito MURA	JPN	189.55	1	4
2	Douglas RAZZANO	USA	189.43	5	1
3	Maciej CIEPLUCHA	POL	184.35	8	3
4	Alexander MAJOROV	SWE	183.81	3	5
5	Adrian SCHULTHEISS	SWE	182.39	10	2
6	Ivan TRETIAKOV	RUS	180.27	4	7
7	Paul Bonifacio PARKINSON	ITA	179.30	6	8
8	Zhan BUSH	RUS	179.00	7	6
9	Paolo BACCHINI	ITA	173.97	2	11
10	Artem BORODULIN	RUS	173.12	9	10
11	Akio SASAKI	JPN	167.80	12	9
12	Abzal RAKIMGALIEV	KAZ	160.05	11	12
13	Julian LAGUS	FIN	146.36	13	13
14	Matthias VERSLUIS	FIN	136.05	17	14
15	Bela PAPP	FIN	135.84	15	16
16	Ari-Pekka NURMENKARI	FIN	131.80	16	17
17	Vitali LUCHANOK	BLR	129.76	18	15
18	Valtter VIRTANEN	FIN	125.98	14	18

Men's Free Skate Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Deduction -	StN.
1	Douglas RAZZANO	USA	126.43	63.43		64.00	6.55	6.25	6.40	6.35	6.45	1.00	#16
2	Adrian SCHULTHEISS	SWE	125.44	61.84		63.60	6.55	5.95	6.40	6.40	6.50	0.00	#8
3	Maciej CIEPLUCHA	POL	124.55	63.15		61.40	6.05	5.90	6.30	6.30	6.15	0.00	#10
4	Takahito MURA	JPN	121.77	59.87		62.90	6.65	5.75	6.40	6.30	6.35	1.00	#15
5	Alexander MAJOROV	SWE	119.54	60.84		59.70	6.00	5.70	6.05	6.00	6.10	1.00	#14
6	Zhan BUSH	RUS	118.90	62.10		57.80	6.00	5.40	5.80	5.95	5.75	1.00	#7
7	Ivan TRETIAKOV	RUS	117.27	61.87		55.40	5.85	5.20	5.50	5.65	5.50	0.00	#17
8	Paul Bonifacio PARKINSON	ITA	116.88	58.28		59.60	5.95	5.70	5.95	6.10	6.10	1.00	#13
9	Akio SASAKI	JPN	114.83	51.23		64.60	6.35	5.60	6.65	6.80	6.90	1.00	#11
10	Artem BORODULIN	RUS	114.36	54.46		59.90	6.05	5.70	6.05	6.00	6.15	0.00	#9
11	Paolo BACCHINI	ITA	108.22	50.12		60.10	6.10	5.70	5.80	6.20	6.25	2.00	#18
12	Abzal RAKIMGALIEV	KAZ	104.67	52.27		54.40	5.55	5.05	5.40	5.60	5.60	2.00	#12
13	Julian LAGUS	FIN	97.79	45.49		52.30	5.00	5.00	5.35	5.30	5.50	0.00	#5
14	Matthias VERSLUIS	FIN	93.60	47.70		46.90	4.85	4.65	4.60	4.75	4.60	1.00	#3
15	Vitali LUCHANOK	BLR	91.26	48.66		42.60	4.50	4.10	4.15	4.35	4.20	0.00	#6
16	Bela PAPP	FIN	89.84	44.14		46.70	4.80	4.60	4.75	4.60	4.60	1.00	#4
17	Ari-Pekka NURMENKARI	FIN	86.66	35.76		51.90	5.25	4.95	5.00	5.50	5.25	1.00	#2
18	Valtter VIRTANEN	FIN	78.59	38.39		42.20	4.70	3.90	4.20	4.20	4.10	2.00	#1

2011 Finlandia Trophy: Men's Short Program

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Deduction -	StN.
1	Takahito MURA	JPN	67.78	36.28		31.50	6.65	5.80	6.40	6.30	6.35	0.00	#17
2	Paolo BACCHINI	ITA	65.75	35.70		30.05	6.00	5.65	6.10	6.10	6.20	0.00	#18
3	Alexander MAJOROV	SWE	64.27	33.62		30.65	5.95	5.85	6.30	6.20	6.35	0.00	#13
4	Ivan TRETIAKOV	RUS	63.00	35.00		28.00	5.85	5.40	5.55	5.60	5.60	0.00	#3
5	Douglas RAZZANO	USA	63.00	31.60		32.40	6.60	6.10	6.65	6.40	6.65	1.00	#11
6	Paul Bonifacio PARKINSON	ITA	62.42	32.22		30.20	5.95	5.80	6.25	6.00	6.20	0.00	#8
7	Zhan BUSH	RUS	60.10	31.00		30.10	6.20	5.45	6.10	6.10	6.25	1.00	#9
8	Maciej CIEPLUCHA	POL	59.80	30.50		29.30	5.70	5.50	6.00	5.85	6.25	0.00	#7
9	Artem BORODULIN	RUS	58.76	27.26		31.50	6.15	5.90	6.55	6.40	6.50	0.00	#5
10	Adrian SCHULTHEISS	SWE	56.95	28.30		29.65	6.20	5.70	5.80	6.05	5.90	1.00	#15
11	Abzal RAKIMGALIEV	KAZ	55.38	28.58		26.80	5.40	4.80	5.55	5.50	5.55	0.00	#12
12	Akio SASAKI	JPN	52.97	23.82		30.15	6.05	5.60	6.00	6.10	6.40	1.00	#16
13	Julian LAGUS	FIN	48.57	24.22		24.35	4.75	4.45	4.90	5.05	5.20	0.00	#10
14	Valtter VIRTANEN	FIN	47.39	24.94		23.45	5.00	4.40	4.65	4.70	4.70	1.00	#1
15	Bela PAPP	FIN	46.00	22.00		24.00	5.00	4.55	4.85	4.80	4.80	0.00	#4
16	Ari-Pekka NURMENKARI	FIN	45.14	21.24		23.90	5.00	4.45	4.80	4.75	4.90	0.00	#14
17	Matthias VERSLUIS	FIN	42.45	20.20		22.25	4.65	4.25	4.50	4.35	4.50	0.00	#6
18	Vitali LUCHANOK	BLR	38.50	18.30		21.20	4.40	4.15	4.10	4.35	4.20	1.00	#2