Skate Canada Afterglow

So Skate Canada is in the books. I have to apologize for not posting flashes. I was actually intending on watching most of Skate Canada on demand but ended up watching most of it as it happened. The flip side I was at work and couldn't watch, blog, work simultaneously. However...you can read what I thought about the action by checking my Twitter profile.

What were the Skate Canada highlights for me? Let's start with the amazing performance given by Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch in the free skate. I'm always down for a good Les Mis program and they rocked it. You didn't even care about the bobble Kirsten had on her Salchow because any memory of it was erased by the two fantastic lifts they did at the end to pull the crowd out of their seats. They won the free skate and took the silver overall but the were desparately close to catching the Russians Iliushechkina and Maisuradze for the Gold. Kirsten were joined on the podium by their young teammates Lawrence and Swiegers.The Americans Castelli and Shnapir were so close to medaling after a fantastic short but the free got the better of them. I do love their Avatar free skate though.

I also loved the unpredictability of the dance event. This season it seems like nothing is a done deal and all the teams can't put it on cruise control like they did before. Kerr and Kerr of Great Britain have a lovely free skate and were on their way to victory when they had a slip on lift and it didn't really go as planned. That one mistake was enough to let Crone and Poirier of Canada slip past them for the win with a Beatle's number choreographed by Christopher Dean (so in the end...I guess Great Britain still wins out!). The Canadians are really putting pressure on these Grand Prix Podiums. Paul and Islam, another Canadian Team at this event, was actually 2nd in the free dance and finished 4th overall. It was the Americans Chock and Zuerlein that snuck in for the bronze after after a fun dance set to Cabaret.

The ladies event was so unpredictable start to finish. I actually pegged the Junior World Silver Medalist Agnes Zawadzki to win it because I though at the least she would be consistent and that would win the day. Well Agnes was hot and saucy in the short but nerves got the better of her in the free and she fell to 6th. The podium was quite a roller coaster. Amelie Lacoste 5th after the short, managed the bronze. She didn't have a great free but it was good enough on the day. Johnny Weir tweeted several times that we should all pray for Ksenia. The prayer must have worked because she worked her Evita free skate enough to earn the silver medal. She seemed happy with her skate and Johnny tweeted he almost cried his lashes off! The Gold Medal, however, went for the second time in her career, to Alissa Czisny (video below). She came back from 4th in the short to take it all with a gorgeous program set to George Winston's Winter and Spring. Are good things ahead this season for Alissa?

Finally the men. I took some heat on Twitter for defending the judges at this event. Patrick Chan had a terrible short program and many felt he should have been further back than what he was (4th). In the free skate, he came roaring back (quad included) to take the title. Nobunari fans in particular harped on the "Canadian Bonus" Patrick got in the short. I will be the first to call out any point padding. I think Kevin Reynolds (who hit two quads in the short!) and Amelie Lacoste in particular were beneficiaries of some point bumps at this event. Chan, I felt was marked fairly. His tech score wasn't padded at all, the protocols show that, and he is one of (if not the) the best skaters as far as the component score. A better way of looking at it is like this...so you think Patrick was over scored in the short, so you think he should have been ranked behind Alban Preaubert, Javier Fernandez, Yasuharu Nanri? Even on a bad Patrick Chan day, you have to admit his skating skills are certainly going to keep him ranked ahead of those skaters. On the flip side, you can say Adam Rippon and Nobunari Oda weren't given the component scores they deserved. But as good as they are (and I love both of them!), Patrick is still far superior to them in the component mark. In the end...rationally...I think the judges did get it right and there were just some mad fans. I think Nobunari's silver and Adam's bronze were right. Should I prepare for more egg dodging?

You can see the full results here.

I can report that I am 0 for 8 on accurate podium predictions. I have to improve this. I did do better on my fantasy picks though. Tied for 197th (better than the 365th last week) and have improved to being ranked 175th overall. I just keep telling myself slow and steady... Cup of China next week!

Junior Worlds Wrap-Up

I know, I know...I'm a day late (or like five) and a dollar short but I have to put in my two-cents worth!

I'll gloss over the pairs competition because I thought it rather bland and uneventful. Nice job by the Americans Castelli and Shnapir for getting to the podium with the bronze. It is a not everyday that an American team accomplishes that, it seems to be the discipline where we struggle the most. Russians Martiusheva and Rogonov had one of those come from behind performances to win the free skate from 11th place and get the silver. Gold went to last season's silver medalists Iliushechkina and Maisuradze.

I was quite impressed with the mens event. Artem Grigoriev of Russia nabbed the bronze medal after a pretty good free skate (lacked a triple axel) but more importantly showed that Russia while down a bit (as far as international competitors go), is certainly not out. Seems that Russian skating will survive sans Plushenko. Michael Brezina took the silver after a program that slinked across the ice with great speed and great jumps. I thought he was channeling Jeffrey Buttle as he moved across the ice (the haircut was shockingly similar as well!). The Czech Republic seems on the up and up with mens skaters. But the day belonged to Adam Rippon who really shocked me actually. I wasn't surprised that he won...but rather how he won. All season long I've thought the whole package Rippon had was too heavy. The music, the choreography, just a little thick. But he was amazing in Sofia! He moved across the ice beautifully, the choreography amazing, and the jumps...my goodness where were those triple axels earlier in the season? The last few moments of his program where he does the sliding camel into his final spin...you can just feel the emotion and power in the music! I just loved his program here and I think if Adam skates like that next season he'll be a top contender in every competition he enters.

The Ice Dance competition was all over the map. The Hubbell's just lost more steam with each section of the competition and found themselves in fourth. I was surprised they failed to medal given their solid debut as Seniors at Nationals. Russians Riazanova and Gurreiro slipped in for the bronze medal while Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani slipped in for the silver! There was a lot of slipping as the difference between 2nd and 4th was desperately close. But the clear class of the field was American's Chock and Zuerlein who dominated and never looked back. This competition makes me think...what if? Imagine had both Chock and Zuerlein and the Shibutani's competed as Seniors at National's in Cleveland? Imagine the standings...just think on that...

And the ladies competition was a bit of a tumultuous ride as well. I thought, finally, Elene Gedevanishvili was going to get it together and show she can really be one of the best...wrong. Talk about self-destruct! Ashley Wagner showed one of her weaker performances of the season. That fall on the triple salchow, however, was perfectly timed to the music! Still good enough for the bronze though. Carolize Zhang had another comeback performance, 10th after the short and completely unphased, she delivered another gorgeous, clean free skate (now three in a row...Nationals, 4CC, Jr. Worlds) to get all the way to the silver medal. And Gold went to Alena Leonova of Russia. Interesting how, in the current judging system, you can win no part of the competition and win a gold...sometimes consistency pays off and it did just that for Leonova. Alena is starting to put herself on the map...if you recall, she had an amazing free skate at European's to finish 4th...has Russia found their next female skating star?

Full results (and video if you are so fortunate) can be found here.

But back to my gushing about Adam Rippon! Check his amazing free skate below!