Patrick Chan - 300 points total - discuss

[barbk]

Other than the landings on the quad combos -- which looked less than fabulous in both the short and the long -- those performances were stellar, and the marks earned. He's really flying through that one foot step sequence in the SP -- very, very impressive. Incredibly intricate and flowing choreography for both programs.

I hope he skates like this at 4CCs. I'll look forward to seeing him.

[l'etoile]

I wouldn't say those points were never deserved for Patrick. 'Cause he's that gooooooooood. When he's fairly clean, it's almost like he's roaring his absolute superiority over everyone.

[DickButtonFan]

He just always looks like he's flying out there, I've never seen anyone skate like that.

[Vash01]

I had predicted in an earlier post- before he took the ice for the LP- that he will score over 300 points.

[ciocio]

Great!!!! I don´t care about the score, 300, 400, 500, I hope he has a clean, solid skate at Worlds.

[fsfan22]

I believe they are only allowed a maximum of 7 triples, which Patrick did (in addition to his 2 quads and double axel): 1 axel, 2 lutzes, a flip, a loop, a toe and a salchow.

No, he couldn't have. He repeats the lutz and the quad toe. Another triple toe elsewhere and he'd have Oda'd himeslf.

Max # of triples is 8 with max # of jump opportunities of 8. Quads aren't included in that, but a skater is only allowed to repeat 2 jumps including quads. So, with Patrick repeating his 4T and his 3Lz, he can only do 7 triples and his 2 quads.

Kevin Reynolds, when skating a clean performance, is capable of completing 3 different quads and 8 triples in his free skate within 8 jump opportunities (3 quads - 4T, 4S, 4Lo; 8 triples - 3A, 3F+3T+3Lo, 2A+3T, 3Lz, 3S+3Lo).

[Aaron W]

His spins are great. Fast, well centered, good positions. Orser was talking on Ctv about his good spins.

Sorry, I don't agree with the "good positions" part.

I think the world of Patrick's skating and firmly believe he deserves the lofty scores he typically receives, even when he has a mistake or two on the jumps. And while his spins have improved (the speed & centering is fine), I think the positions are average at best. I think his altered sit position is decent and I quite like the back cross-foot spin. But I think there's room for improved stretch in both the camel & sit spin. When he's performing a basic camel or basic sit spin, he needs to lift the free leg higher & stretch out, point the toe, and straighten his back. The line created just isn't as aesthetically appealing as I suspect he's capable of achieving. In the category of great Canadian spinners of recent times, I would group Buttle, Sawyer, and maybe Sandhu at the top, Stojko & Browning toward the bottom, and Chan in the middle. I'm probably being nitpicky here, but compared to the exceedingly high quality of the rest of his skating, some of his basic spin positions just don't quite measure up for me.

[orbitz]

But I think there's room for improved stretch in both the camel & sit spin. When he's performing a basic camel or basic sit spin, he needs to lift the free leg higher & stretch out, point the toe, and straighten his back. The line created just isn't as aesthetically appealing as I suspect he's capable of achieving.

My major pet peeve on a standard camel spin is when a skater's free leg is kept lower than his upper body; It should be at least parallel to it. Joubert and Takahasi do this. For some reason this seems to be more of an issue with the men than the women, although I recall Lu Chen had the same problem.

[Rafter]

He just always looks like he's flying out there, I've never seen anyone skate like that.

The funny think is, I didn't think he looked as fast at Canadians as he did at the GPF. Probably because of the smaller ice surface. He didn't have the larger surface to really push it out. I felt the same about V&M and W&P.

[DinDonShamu]

He deserved it ... That's all I'm going to say. For the first time this season I actually got to appreciate the full effect of his LP to Aranjuez. That was a choreographic magic. Saying I was blown away doesn't even begin to describe the effect of that program on me. If he skates like this at worlds I wouldn't be surprised if he received similar scores as he did at Canadians.

[judgejudy27]

If he skated like that all the time nobody would have a problem with his winning every event by comfortable margins.

[skatingfanfun]

Not true. He only did one triple toe. He could have done another one.

No, I don't think he could. He already repeated 4T and 3Lz.
Great performance and he was like flying.

[nlyoung]

Sorry, I don't agree with the "good positions" part.

His camel spin had a really nice layover?? position in both the short and long which I hadn't made note of in the past. I'm sure he is working to improve his spins as well so who knows what we'll see in future from him.

[Skate Talker]

Yes he does continue to improve all element imo, and definitely has the potential for more should he remain healthy. That is one of the reasons why I was so unhappy when he initially let it be known that he planned only to skate competitively through 2010, before achieving all he could - and I don't mean results-wise. The best thing that could have happened was his set-back with the Olympics.

[Vash01]

If he skated like that all the time nobody would have a problem with his winning every event by comfortable margins.

ITA. It does look like he struggles initially (early in the season) when the programs are new and he is trying to add different things to it, and he peaks toward the end of the season (GPF,nationals and worlds) when he has figured it out. I have no problem with him winning with big margins when he delivers. When he is struggling though (now it seems that only happens during the GP series), I like to see the marks reflect that.

[sequins]

He's amazing, simply amazing. As some one says I don't really care what his score is no one's touching him if he skates like that and I pray he does at Worlds so everyone can see once and for all what he's capable of. There should be no questions or doubts if he skates this kind of performance in France. Like him or not you can't deny the talent he possesses. He is and could be so dominant it's scary.

[luna_skater]

When he is struggling though (now it seems that only happens during the GP series), I like to see the marks reflect that.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that "struggling" is relative (not speaking about you in particular, just using your point as an example). All mistakes are not equal. When Patrick splats on a jump, his stroking and footwork is still so inhumanly precise and beautiful that he still warrants high marks. He doesn't fall apart. (And Patrick's not the only one for whom that is the case--I don't have access to the Canadians forum, but I'm betting there were some discussions about Jeremy Ten's skate in that regard. I couldn't believe how high his marks were for the free given all his errors, but clearly something wasn't translating through my television. Elladj's basics are weaker, so I don't necessarily dispute that Ten shouldn't have beaten him, but his marks left me a little .)

Patrick's stroking and footwork in the SP in particular was the textbook definition of ease and effortlessness. He could have just been sauntering down the street the way his shoulders and upper body were so relaxed. Still has me shaking my head in awe.

[Mayra]

I'm not a Patrick uber by an stretch of the imagination but I was trying to come up with a correct adjective to describe his skating and nothing seemed to do it justice. His skating is simply transcending anything and anyone on the ice right now. It's unreal. I feel very privileged to be watching it.

Here's hoping Chan, Abbott, Takahashi, Plushenko and Fernandez all bring their A game to Worlds. The men's field is truly something special right now.

[wingnut]

Scores at Nationals have always been a bit inflated. This time though, probably not by that much. He really was perfect pretty much every second of both programs. The SP might score 95-96 at an international and the LP in the 190s. I'll guess we'll only find out for sure if he's able to do it again at Worlds.

I think most of all what it shows is that this season he's got a lot of room for error before the next guys are going to be able to overtake him. His mastery over every element in his program combined with the most difficult jump content amongst the top guys has just put him on another level. Anyone can lose, and he hasn't always been the most consistent, but I'd say him repeating as World Champion is about the most sure thing in the sport since Plushenko before the 2006 Olympics. Exciting times though with so many young guys who will be gunning for him over the next few years.

[Louis]

Based on what I heard from after the GPF, I expect we'll see much more tempered scores at Worlds -- for everyone.

Similar conversations to what took place on this board were also happening among officials and power brokers within the sport. There is also the general sense that while Patrick Chan has some great qualities, so do many other skaters. Their federations are pushing this line quite hard and consistently, from what I've heard. Unless one skater is clean and the others all have errors, I expect we'll see a close men's competition at Worlds. That said, if Chan has two clean skates with three total quads, I think it will take a herculean effort to beat him. Takahashi may be the only one capable of it right now.