Quick Europeans Update

Very quickly, some updates on Europeans.

First, Pairs Champions were crowned yesterday. Volosozhar and Trankov, looking much rested after skippping Russian Nationals, turned in a lovely performance to take the title.



Noticeably absent was Savchenko and Szolkowy who withdrew due to a muscle injury suffered by Aliona. "I was a very difficult decision for us," said their coach Ingo Steuer. "We came to the European championships and now we are unable to compete. The risk is too high to aggravate the injury further." Aliona plans to begin training again in 5 - 7 days.

Russian Teams in fact swept the podium with Bazarova and Larionov taking the silver and Stolbova and Klimov the bronze. See full results here. Top 6 below:



Amongst the men, Artur Gachinski upset Plushenko to take the lead in the mens short program. Plushenko has been complaining of injury and says his participation in worlds is "50/50." Verner and Fernandez were close behind in 3rd and 4th with Amodio and Brezina rounding out the top 6. Brian Joubert was way down in 10th. Full Results.



The Free Dance has also concluded with Pechalat and Bourzat winning after a lot of moving and shaking in the standings. Leaders after the short program Bobrova and Soloviev had to settle for silver and their teammates Ilinykh and Katsalapov moved from 7th all the way to the bronze medal. Full Results.





The ladies short program finds Carolina Kostner leading Kiira Korpi and Ksenia Makarova. Full Results.

2012 Canadian Nationals

This past week, Canada's best took to the ice in Moncton, New Brunswick to declare National Champions. From my point of view, it just about went by the expected script.

Amelie Lacoste slipped in for her first Canadian Title, finishing second in both the short and free. In this case consistency paid off. She wasn't perfect, singling both a lutz and flip in her free but it was good enough on a night when it didn't take much to win. Cynthia Phaneuf, just fourth after the short, won the free skate (not by much) and pulled up to second. Surprise leader after the short, Kaetlyn Osmond (no idea who she is), in the end could only muster third. Without Joannie Rochette I don't think anyone expected this to be much of a "firework" event...

In Dance, Virtue and Moir won of course. I think the bigger story is that they only beat Weaver and Poje by a little over 6 points. It speaks volumes to the leaps and bounds Kaitlyn and Andrew have made. At the Grand Prix Final I was in tears watching them. It didn't help that I was sitting with Alexandria Aldridge's mom (who along with Daniel Eaton competes for the U.S. in Ice Dance and competed in the Junior Grand Prix Final); Alexandria trains with Kaitlyn and Andrew and her mom knew every step of their free dance and was sobbing the whole way through...which of course made me sob all the way through! I think Virtue and Moir will need to find a few extra points to defeat Americans Davis and White (I'm getting excited for 4CC!). Speaking of Americans, the bronze went to Gilles and Poirier. Piper Gilles, of course, is an American now skating with Paul Poirier (who used to skate with Vanessa Crone). Who new her first senior Ice Dance medal would come from Canada?

In Pairs, Duhamel and Radford skated away with a win. Not sure if sbs triple lutzes are the smartest thing to try, but I guess if your trying to set yourself apart... Dube and Wolfe slipped in for the silver and youngn's Lawrence and Sweigers the bronze. Moore-Towers and Moscovitch finished a disappointing 4th. Pairs skating in Canada right now is reminding me a lot of Pairs skating in the U.S. Some potential is there but nothing seems to be happening in a major way.

The big story was the men where Patrick put on quite the performance. Two clean skates, and a score of 302.14 (yes...he cracked the 300 mark!) gave him a more than 60 point buffer win over Kevin Reynolds. Being a National event, scores are always higher than international competition, so it's unclear if Patrick would have hit that number outside of Canada but what is clear it was an amazing performance (below). He's had some rough skates this season (although his scores haven't really reflected this) but he really had it together here. If Patrick skates like this the rest of the season I'll go ahead and give him the unbeatable stamp. Jeremy Ten made a bit of a comeback taking the bronze.



You can see the full results here. This week gives us U.S. Nationals and Europeans.

U.S. Nationals About to Begin

It's a new year and we've entered into Championship season. Canadian Nationals are in progress and U.S. Nationals get underway next week.

Of course, this year I'm not able to make it out to San Jose for Nationals and my skating icon is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame...of course! I'd totally Queen out as soon as she appeared so maybe it's better this way. But, I'm totally excited for her, I know she'll be glowing, and I'll scream with glee from home whilst watching Ice Network.

So about the competition, I think U.S. Nationals are either going to be shockingly stellar or a complete dud. All I know is that U.S. Figure Skating needs to do something to increase the international mojo...it's been a bit lacking recently.

Of course our flagship competitors will be Meryl and Charlie in Ice Dance...nobody here can beat them, even if they are having a bad day. Seriously...nobody. They could just stand on the ice, Charlie could flip his hair, and that would be enough. Maia and Alex will likely pull in for second with consistent, safe performances. The real interesting bit is for the bronze which I think is up for grabs a bit. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue? Emily Samuelson/Todd Gilles? Madison Chock/Evan Bates? That might get interesting.

Pairs...yikes. This is one place where its kind of a roll of the dice. I guess I'd say Denney and Coughlin are the ones to beat (each representing one half of the winning team the past two seasons) but they've not been super great. Neither have Evora and Ladwig who are likely the biggest threat to them. But honestly no American Pairs team has been great so I think it will likely come down to who falls the least. After typing that I really it's kind of sad.

The ladies...I just feel like this will be a hot mess. I pray I'm wrong. And I've been kind of blah about really supporting a U.S. lady since Kimmie Meissner disappeared (where did she go?) but I'm fulling full support behind Ashley Wagner! I really want her to gout out there and kick ass. I think of all the U.S. ladies her programs are far superior, especially her Black Swan Free, and that is just how I feel. If Alissa is still on her bum ankle, Rachael is skating like she did in the Grand Prix, and Mirai continues to be a head case...the path should be clear for her.

As for the men, I feel as if this is Jeremy Abbott's to lose. It was made abundantly clear this season that the U.S. men, outside of Jeremy, have some major catching up to do as compared to the rest of the world. The only one in the competition I feel could make a run at Jeremy is Ross Miner. As much as I love Ricky Dornbush, he's had trouble finding the consistency he had last season. Brandon Mroz is like a one-trick pony with his usually unsuccessful quad lutz. Adam Rippon seems unfocused. To be honest, outside of Jeremy, the one I'm really keeping my eye on is Jason Brown. He might be the ultimate spoiler. Gosh, Johnny should have come back sooner (think he'll really comeback?)...he'd have a real shot at this title?

Anyways, I'll be watching and tweeting from home. In two and half weeks I will be making the trip to Colorado Springs for the Four Continents Cup. It will be my first skating competition where I can use my new toy...an iPad 2! I'll recap Canadian Nationals on Monday and will be giving concurrent updates on Europeans during Nationals. Lots on the horizon!

Year End Wrap-Up

2011 Draws to a close...I call it the "Year of Chan." He certainly had a great year...a Canadian Title, a World Title, another Grand Prix Title, and recently named Canadian Press Athlete of the Year. He's going to win another Canadian Title (take it to the bank!)in Moncton next month (short of a withdrawal) and probably another World Title in Nice. I've been very critical of the judges overmarking of Chan this season, let's see if it continues into the Championship span of the season.

Speaking of Championships, several have taken place naming top skaters around the world National Champions. In France, Brian Joubert won another National Title. Take a look:



He went back to his "Matrix" program that brought him success in the mid 2000s. I am a bigger fan of the more artistic Brian that tried to peek out over the last couple of years but he was having no luck with results so he's gone back to what works for him. Trouble is, there aren't any "component boosters" to speak of in this program so it doesn't have a hope or prayer outside of Europe. Pechalat/Bourzat also captured another French Title last week.

In Ostrava, Czech Republic, Tomas Verner bested Michal Brezina to win another Czech (and Slovak and Polish) Title:



One of the better skates from Verner in a while. Beauty of a quad off the top.

In Saransk, Plushenko did it again, I have no words.:



The ladies standings at Russian Nationals were a hot mess. Sotnikova won. Leonova (who looked to be on track this season) could only muster 3rd, Makarova was 4th, and seemingly immune to defeat Tuktamysheva was just 6th. Both Volosozhar/Trankov and Kavaguti/Smirnov skipped the event giving Bazarova/Larionov an easy win. Bobrova/Solviev took the Dance Title.

Finally to Osaka, Japan which had the most contested titles up for grabs. On the Men's Side, Takahashi held on to win after being bested in the free skate by Kozuka who finished 2nd and Hanyu who finished 3rd (Hanyu won the free skate). Nobunari Oda, whose had a terrible season after recovering from injury, did not compete. Despite the win, Takahashi's skate was marred by several errors. Here are all three performances:







On the ladies side Mao Asada, in what must have been a very difficult week after the recent passing of her mother, turned in a beautiful performance to win another Japanese Title:



While not perfect, you all but forgive her the last two jumping passes given the circumstances. Akiko won the silver and Murakami took the bronze.

Hope 2012 is great to everyone! Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

Final "Final" Musings

Can I stay in Quebec forever? If you've never had the opportunity to make it up here...you simply must. It's a Canadian gem.

So the Free Dance was today and talk about close! I think Meryl and Charlie beat Tessa and Scott in the Free Dance by .05. Of course Meryl and Charlie had the lead going in...but imagine if Scott had not fallen in the Short Dance...that would have made for a photo finish if there ever was one. Apart from the top two dances...I really enjoyed Weaver and Poje's dance. They went for it 100%. There were plenty of tears in the crowd after their skate; it was magnificent, and they have really moved up in the world as far as Ice Dance goes.

I took lots of Pictures...see them all at Axel, Loops, and Spins Facebook Page!

Now that it's all over, I'll leave everyone with one thought I had about each skater/team competing here:

Pairs

Takahashi/Tran - Waiting for consistency...if/when that happens, watch out!

Duhamel/Radford - Stop analyzing everything (Meagan in particular seems to go on an analyzation psycho-babble spree at the end of every performance)...just skate and trust it.

Zhang/Zhang - Dan needs to figure out how to be as expressive as Hao.

Kavaguti/Smirnov - They have the ability to be the best hands down. Dig deeper.

Volosozhar/Trankov - REST!

Savchenko/Szolkowy - Don't get comfortable at the top...teams are nipping at your heels.

Men

Michal Brezina - Rethink the free skate music cuts (see Ross Miner for advice).

Jeremy Abbott - Don't think when you skate and let go...your best when you don't think. Pull a Kwan...just feel.

Yuzuru Hanyu - Keep doing exactly what you're doing!

Javier Fernandez - Aim big! No reason why you shouldn't be European Champ and possibly a world medalist.

Daisuke Takahashi - Keep proving the judges are getting it wrong...sooner or later enough people will take notice.

Patrick Chan - Know that you ARE appreciated more than most skaters will ever be.

Dance

Bobrova/Soloviev - Think refinement...it's all a bit messy yet.

Shibutani/Shibutani - Be risk takers. You can't play it safe anymore. PUSH PUSH PUSH!

Weaver/Poje - Combine your amazing skating with more difficulty...you can handle it!

Pechalat/Bourzat - Fabian...smile! I love how you both never miss a "ching" in your Free Dance.

Virtue/Moir - Keep up the good fight!

Davis/White - You have to keep the good fight going!

Ladies

Alissa Czisny - Be fierce, not fragile.

Elizaveta Tuktamisheva - Skate bigger, skate faster.

Alena Leonova - I like that the lutz was back in the free. Keep working out the kinks, you look good this season!

Akiko Suzuki - Own it girl...get out of your head and get into the ice.

Carolina Kostner - Next stop...triple lutz.

Grand Prix Musings...2

She Was Wearing What?

The ladies event came to an "uneventful" conclusion. As per I expected Kostner pulled off the win. I give her props...she did three events plus the final...that's not an easy schedule to keep. What I don't give her props on was her outfit...yeesh! Carolina, call me, we need to chat. Who also needs to call me...Alissa Czisny. Girl! What happened to Czisny 2.0? Czisny 1.0 showed up at this event. Find her again...please! Also, I was hoping Leonova would sport her Viktoria Helgesson "esque" do for the free skate...she went back to the usual hair...bummer.

No Way

Okay, I'm about to snap on the judges! Chan's Free Skate was scored higher than Daisuke's! How? And yes, I was in the building, and hands down Daisuke outskated Patrick on every level. The only component that Patrick really dominates Daisuke on is Transition/Linking Footwork. The rest...they're basically tied. And tonight, Daisuke was far superior in Interpretation (he does not miss a beat in his free skate), Skating Skills, and execution. What a shame the marks didn't reflect it. The crowd was cheering joyfully as Patrick won and I just sat there shaking my head...sad. On a more positive note...let's welcome Hanyu to the big boys club. What a skate! I think someone passed him my note, he tempered his performance just a bit and bingo! What an accomplishment for Fernandez as well (Canada appears to have adopted him as their own via Brian Orser). Finally Jeremy...oh he made my heart skip beats when he hit that quad! Shame there were problems that came later but I think he is on the right path as he heads towards San Jose...when he does that program clean it's going to be a gem.

So Close!

Savchenko and Szolkowy's MO this season has been to not do their best in the short but come rocketing back in the free. That's basically what they did here...only this time Volosozhar and Trankov kept up! The last two pairs free's of the night were absolutely amazing. Both teams had us on the edges of our seats. I think it came down to Tatiana's little wiggly landing on her throw salchow. Other than that it was an epic finale between the two.

p.s. Props to Jason Brown on a brilliant skate to take the Junior Men's Title...it was just awesome!

Grand Prix Musings

She's Not a Fem-bot

So we learned today that Elizaveta Tuktamisheva is not a fem-bot. Until today I had never seen her skate live and I thought she was a programmed robot with the instructions...[In Russian Robot Voice] "Skate Perfect." But seeing her live, despite the botched jumps in her short program, I found a couple flaws: She's kind of slow and she doesn't cover the ice super well. I now believe she is in fact human...but the jury is still out on Julia Lipnitskaia (pictured)...she seemed kind of fem-botish today with a perfect skate (somewhere I know someone is praying she never grow boobs or hips). Carolina leads the field after a solid skate...no one really challenged her. Mao Asada was missed in the event. What sad sad news about her mother.

Bounce-Back

So Scott Moir had the fastest fall and bounce back up ever this afternoon. That's right...fall! He was doing some footwork and tripped (or got clotheslined by Tessa...couldn't tell which) and went down. But as fast as he was down he was right back up and never missed a beat. I actually think he gained points by that move it was so impressive. Nevertheless, the fall cost them precious points against Meryl and Charlie who steamrolled right through on their way to winning the SD.

Get on the Trankov Train

Last year Volosozhar and Trankov wooed me in and they have quickly become my favorite Pairs Team. I was somewhat concerned when on the warm-up Maxim kept favoring his left hip. No worries though as they went out and killed the short program to take the leave. "Get on the Trankov Train" somewhere near me yelled after their skate...I like it!

Patrick Chan...Unappreciated?

He's so unappreciated that he got a standing ovation and the lead after another...another I say...botched short program. Hand down on triple axel and banging into the boards just before sitting down on combination = amazing score. Patrick should not exert so much effort...he should go stand on the ice for his programs...that should earn him enough points to win. The judges had no problem slapping Daisuke Takahashi, Savchenko and Szolkowy, and Virtue and Moir for making mistakes...why is Patrick immune? I have a video of him being unappreciated (re: Thunderous Applause) that I'll upload as soon as I can figure out how,

Chan's Mouth

So on my way up to Quebec I grabbed a newspaper at the airport in Toronto, open it up to the sports page, and boom...Chan's mouth!

The first time I was treated to Chan's mouth was at the 2009 World Championships where he got into a media tussle with Brian Joubert.

I love it, first of all, only in Canada (well maybe in Japan and in Korea if it pertains to Yu-Na) does figure skating make the front page of the newspaper.

I read the headline, "Chan Feeling Unappreciated in Canada." He talks about all the hard works skaters do and he feels left out of the big boys club (Stojko, Browning). He then even talks about how it would be cool to skate for China...

Chin to floor!

It was such a stir up here that he had to issue a statement about his statements (which were given 4 months ago to Reuters).

Patrick should come to the U.S. where people go, "What's figure skating?" and then discuss appreciation. I mean, I don't think he realizes how good he has it. He got the front page of the sports section for crying out loud! When was the last time a U.S. skater got the sports front page of the New York Times, or Washington Post, or USA Today (I'm dying for someone who really wants to put in the research here and tell me it's been at least close to a decade)?

So he hits the ice today...Canadian's, please support him or we may have to deal with another "skatertantrum."

p.s. Wishing Mao Asada well and hoping her mom is okay.