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.