Skate American TBA Spots Discussion

[haribobo]

What are everyone's thoughts re: the open Skate America spots?

Men- I guess between Grant Hochstein and Armin Mahbanoozadeh? Maybe another guy will start coming on strong in the summer comps (besides Messing and the JGP guys), but so far I haven't seen it.

Ladies- Tough choice between Dobbs, Gilles, and Musademba. Earlier this year I'd say Angela Maxwell for sure but now it seems that isn't an option.

Pairs- lots of options here and I guess Indy next weekend will decide it.

Dance- Tibbets/Brubaker or Cannuscio/Lorello I guess. Any other contendors?

(sorry, just realized I put an N on the end of America in the title. I'm really off today!)

[crzesk8dad]

What are everyone's thoughts re: the open Skate America spots?

Men- I guess between Grant Hochstein and Armin Mahbanoozadeh? Maybe another guy will start coming on strong in the summer comps (besides Messing and the JGP guys), but so far I haven't seen it.

Ladies- Tough choice between Dobbs, Gilles, and Musademba. Earlier this year I'd say Angela Maxwell for sure but now it seems that isn't an option.

Pairs- lots of options here and I guess Indy next weekend will decide it.

Dance- Tibbets/Brubaker or Cannuscio/Lorello I guess. Any other contendors?

I don't think the Men and Women's spots will be filled until Detroit and Glacier Falls have been completed.

I agree with your pairs assessment...after Indy.

I don't do dance.............................

[jlai]

(sorry, just realized I put an N on the end of America in the title. I'm really off today!)

Not at all. I thought you were sending a message to all those who want to switch countries. We could have a new slogan like "Fly American, Buy American, Skate American."

[DORISPULASKI]

I think the dance spot will be filled, contingent upon results of Lake Placid IDC. C/L did better internationally, but T/B did better at Nationals. I'd tell them to slug it out at LPIDC. It's very close.

Ryan Bradley hasn't said that he is retiring-he's waiting to see how his foot heals. It's possible he would get the Men's TBA's, if he's healed. For one thing, he's a heck of a crowd draw, and higher ranked than Armin or Grant.

Granted Musademba, Gilles and Dobbs have one slot each already, but I haven't been that impressed by any of them lately. I think the slot is pretty open, and may be assigned on summer results. Based on Liberty, Felicia Zhang might even get the spot. She looked very good there, better than Musademba, Dobbs, or Gilles have looked in the past.

There are 2 slots in pairs, and Indy will be key, but another interesting question is I&B--they have an NHK assignment and haven't said they are quitting. Has John peed off USFS enough that they will not be given the slot? Maybe. Maybe not. Castelli/Shnapir are favs of mine. I hope they get one of the 2 slots.

[Debbie S]

I would like to see Katz/Lynch get the SA pairs spot, but I agree, whoever does the best at Indy that doesn't already have an assignment should get it.

For the dance spot, I wouldn't count out K/G-S - we'll see how everyone does in LP.

For women, I'd say it's wide open - I would have liked Joelle Forte to have gotten it, but given her Liberty performance, she just didn't earn it. I think Felicia Zhang will probably stay on the JGP and Musademba didn't do Liberty, so unless she does another comp, it's probably not fair to reward her over the others. I think a summer comp is required for ISP athletes, except for SGP skaters, correct? Samantha Cesario did well at Liberty, but I assume any assignment for her wold be JGP....or maybe not.

For men, I would love to see Armin get it (is Ross Miner staying on the JGP?) but I think it's too early to call, with other comps still to come.

[genevieve]

Ryan Bradley hasn't said that he is retiring-he's waiting to see how his foot heals. It's possible he would get the Men's TBA's, if he's healed. For one thing, he's a heck of a crowd draw, and higher ranked than Armin or Grant.

I thought Ryan said he was taking the season off...but I would be a thousand times more excited to see him at SA than Hochstein or Mahbanoozadeh. Is it for sure that the spot would go to a US man?

[Debbie S]

Is it for sure that the spot would go to a US man?

Yes, it's one of the three spots for U.S. men - right now it's TBA. I assume the USFSA left it open in case Evan wanted it, but we haven't yet received any indication that he does.

[DORISPULASKI]

Ross Miner already has 2 assignments, NHK and CoC.

[Debbie S]

Ross Miner already has 2 assignments, NHK and CoC.

Thanks! I should have remembered that.

[pinky166]

Amanda might get a 2nd GP spot that isn't SA now that Yuna has withdrawn, among the ladies that have 1 GP so far, her SB is the highest of all of them. For me, Dobbs is heavy edge to Gilles and Musademba, although Gilles if she ever managed to skate cleanly would likely outscore Dobbs as she has more triples in her arsenal. It's hard to tell with Amanda because she could be assigned to SA for singles or for pairs or be assigned to COR for singles.

Cesario looked good at Liberty but idk if she's already been assigned to JGP. If she hasn't, I'd give the spot to her, she's been looking really promising recently.

[Sylvia]

I'm pretty sure that Samantha Cesario will be on the JGP this season.

I think the dance spot will be filled, contingent upon results of Lake Placid IDC. C/L did better internationally, but T/B did better at Nationals. I'd tell them to slug it out at LPIDC. It's very close.

Cannuscio/Lorello are currently scheduled to compete at Lake Placid, but Tibbetts/Brubaker aren't. Maybe both teams will be assessed at Champs Camp at the end of August?

Based on Liberty, Felicia Zhang might even get the spot. She looked very good there, better than Musademba, Dobbs, or Gilles have looked in the past.

However, Zhang only skated the Senior SP at Liberty. She was 6th in Junior at 2010 Nationals and is more likely to be considered for a JGP spot, IMO.

There are 2 slots in pairs, and Indy will be key, but another interesting question is I&B--they have an NHK assignment and haven't said they are quitting. Has John peed off USFS enough that they will not be given the slot? Maybe. Maybe not.

I'll go with maybe.

Tiffany Vise/Don Baldwin (8th at Nationals) aren't scheduled to compete at Indy Challenge but are planning to make their season debut (exhibition) at Glacier Falls in Anaheim, CA, the week after Indy. Also, junior champs Zhang/Toth competed at Liberty and aren't scheduled to compete at Indy. Both Simpson/Miller and Castelli/Shnapir (they currently have 1 GP apiece) placed higher than Zhang/Toth and Aaron/Cohen at Liberty and are on the roster for Indy, along with Yankowskas/Coughlin (Cup of China), Dobbs/Jacobsen, Aaron/Cohen, and Katz/Lynch.

[Conga]

For the dance spot, I wouldn't count out K/G-S - we'll see how everyone does in LP.

I like this team and hope they can break through this year. They did well at their Senior Bs the past two seasons.

[pinky166]

I think Dobbs should get a spot....the question is, should it be with Joe in pairs, or by herself in singles? Plus if she gets Yuna's spot at COR then that would be 3 competitions in a row if she does SA, all on different continents, so that might be too much. That's why they should announce these things earlier.

[chipso1]

I think Dobbs should get a spot....the question is, should it be with Joe in pairs, or by herself in singles?

Amanda competes the week before in China. That makes it nearly impossible for her and Joe to train enough beforehand for the pairs spot. The travel time might be a little tight, too, for her to get the TBA ladies spot.

I think Hochstein might get the men's TBA (to go with his Skate Canada assignment), Gilles for the ladies TBA (she also has Skate Canada), Castelli/Shnapir for pairs (...also at Skate Canada...), and either Tibbetts/Brubaker (SC) or Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt (no assignments) for the ice dance TBA. The fact that Skate Canada and Skate America are two weeks apart this year makes it easier for skaters to compete at both rather than flying from China to the U.S. or from the U.S. to Russia in back-to-back weeks.

[Polymer Bob]

The men's TBA is still there. I'm not sure what they are waiting for. Maybe they will wait until all the summer events are over.
I know Johnny will take the season off, but is Evan doing the same?

[Sylvia]

Based on the Lake Placid IDC Senior FD reports I've seen so far, Lynn Kriengkrairut & Logan Giulietti-Schmitt could definitely be in the running for the SA host dance pick.

[Jenna]

The SA is still wide open. Gong might have just thrown her name into the hat, but I doubt it. She will likely be on the JGP.

[TanithandBenFan]

I think Lynn and Logan definitely made a strong case in Lake Placid for the SA spot.

[shan]

Have K/GS ever received a GP spot?

[TanithandBenFan]

Have K/GS ever received a GP spot?

They did Cup of Russia in 2007.