Patrick Uber Thread - road to Sochi

[luckiest1]

I could sit and watch him skate, even without jumping, for hours on end and never tire of it. I remember his first live competition I attended a few years back....when I first arrived, and got down to ice level on a practice session, I was so in awe of the way he moved. And I'm no newcomer, I've been at live competitions since about '97, and I've followed a lot of skaters. But Patrick drew me back in again like no other skater has been able to. I am happy that they've said we can attend the exhibition practices this morning. It's always a treat to see the skaters having fun and goofing around after the stress of competition is over. It's usually my favourite part of the weekend. Plus, I couldn't get the file from Patrick's JO exhibition to play on my computer, so his solo number today will be new to me.

I am so glad I found this thread.

[clarie]

I'm hoping the haterz will leave him alone for a bit now that he has lost a comp with one fall. I will not venture into the comp threads again......nasty!!!!

[IHeartJeffrey]

Rod Black was being so annoying. Not just with Patrick - but with the other Canadians as well. He acted like Tessa & Scott's little mistakes in the free dance was going to cost them the title. LOL!

I could sit and watch him skate, even without jumping, for hours on end and never tire of it. I remember his first live competition I attended a few years back....when I first arrived, and got down to ice level on a practice session, I was so in awe of the way he moved. And I'm no newcomer, I've been at live competitions since about '97, and I've followed a lot of skaters. But Patrick drew me back in again like no other skater has been able to. I am happy that they've said we can attend the exhibition practices this morning. It's always a treat to see the skaters having fun and goofing around after the stress of competition is over. It's usually my favourite part of the weekend. Plus, I couldn't get the file from Patrick's JO exhibition to play on my computer, so his solo number today will be new to me.

I am so glad I found this thread.

I completely agree. I think Patrick is one of those skaters that is 10x better live than he is on TV.

Before I saw Patrick live, I didn't think much of him. I knew that he was a good skater, but there didn't seem to be anything special about him to me. But then I saw him skating a footwork sequence at the practice session, and my first reaction was "how is that physically possible?"
I think it's because the best part about Patrick's skating is how he manages to get so much speed without doing crossovers. That speed does not translate well to TV, but when you see him fly by you in person he's like a different skater.

[spikydurian]

luckiest1,Manaud and IHeartJeffrey , I hope Patrick knows that he has fans like you who appreciate his gorgeous skating skills.

BK, how are you? You have been away for quite some time.

I'm hoping the haterz will leave him alone for a bit now that he has lost a comp with one fall.

Alas Clarie, this may be wishful thinking. They are not called haterzz for nothing, and IMO, haterzz are faithful irrationalists. Just as VarBar posted earlier, if Patrick wins by huge margin, it’s chanflation; if he wins by small margin, there’s conspiracy ; if he loses by small margin, he should lose more; and if he loses by big margin, he should still lose more. They just want him to be vapourised. (I will leave the study of irrational behaviour to the experts since I am not a psychiatrist but if anyone of you in this thread is one or a psychologist please share your thoughts and experience ).

Too bad he has not succeeded 3A in competitions after he parted ways with Christy. But I won't discuss about it right now because there has been too much voices from all around the world saying "He needs technical coach" and apparently that mood has reflect negatively on mental condition of Patrick.

Indeed, I think poor Patrick must have had enough of people asking him about technical coach. I trust Patrick will take each competition to discover more about himself. The goal is obvious but the journey is just as important. Adversity builds character and tests one’s friends, and I hope every step he takes, the knowledge and experience stay with him forever and will assist him not only to achieve his goal in Sochi, but prepare him for the real world. As he said, the internalisation of his experience in JO is hard to explain in words.

I'm happy to see his smile during and after the performance

Yes, his signature smile. <3

[VarBar]

Thank you so much, luckiest1. Your practice reports had kept me encouraging and convinced me, like in JO, that he hasn't lost his jumps. (I'm not good at making a comment during the progress of competition. I'm afraid my comment would jinx my most favorite skater.)

Too bad he has not succeeded 3A in competitions after he parted ways with Christy. But I won't discuss about it right now because there has been too much voices from all around the world saying "He needs technical coach" and apparently that mood has reflect negatively on mental condition of Patrick.

That been said, I'm deeply impressed by his LP today.
Somehow I knew he couldn't skate without mistakes but he just held out. I'm happy to see his smile during and after the performance.

Patrick is on the road to finding his own style of artistry. I can't wait to see his artistry grow and flourish.

Somehow I knew that too in spite of Luckiest1's encouraging practice reports. The pressure on Patrick must have been enormous since Japan Open and I suspect he had started to feel the pressure long before JO actually, so I am very proud of him that he didn't fall apart again and could hang on to the silver medal. I wouldn't have liked to be in his shoes yesterday because I can imagine what it felt like for him to compete in front of his own audience considering the circumstances.

agree. I feel like he has continued the artistic growth we saw this summer, and i am happy he skated better here than at the Japan Open. I love both programs and look forward to seeing them develop as the season progresses. Congrats, patrick!

I feel that one thing that makes the difference between this season and previous seasons is that Patrick loves his music and his programs this season. Glad to see you back, Bfk.

[luckiest1]

Gala practice this morning was so much fun. I love watching the skaters have a blast, goofing around. Patrick seems to be friendly with a lot of them. Mrs. Chan came and sat behind us for a while and was asking our impressions of the new programs. She mentioned that it is a challenge working with new choreographers, as they place the jumps differently. In particular, the lutz is in a different spot than Patrick is used to. She also said he is thinking about keeping the SP for the Olympics.

[Emdee]

If he keeps the SP I think he will need to kick it up a notch. While I like it in itself it is not chock full of stuff which he will need.

[PCFan]

Let me start with the good, Patrick has shown considerable improvement with his expression and it was clearly evident this past weekend. But, as the resident worrywart, Patrick appears to be back to square one with regards to his 3A. For comparison sake, pre Kathy Johnson, over a span of 6 competitions, Patrick downgrade his 3A to a 2A twice, a hand down once and zero falls. Patrick was conquering his nemesis, only to see it rear its ugly head again. I cannot recall the last time Patrick under rotated a 3A. I'm concerned. I hope Patrick proves me wrong. However, if this technical regression is a trend, I also hope Patrick won't hesitate to make a move.

[bmcg]

I'm also a little concerned about the coaching situation. The few bits I've seen of Kathy Johnson she seems more like a cheerleader who is excited to have a backstage pass. During the warmup he skates by her and shes' glowing like a proud mother that something he did was amazing. I'm assuming it was the 4T3T he did but I just don't think it's the appropriate response to pull out her pom poms.

I also must confess I'm not sure I like his new programs. I was excited to see what someone else would do with him but having watched them I'm finding I like that Lori Nichol went crazy with his choreography/transitions because it made me sit in awe of his abilities, the odd fall here or there didn't detract from his programs for me because everything else was so demanding and amazing. I haven't felt that way watching his FS. I accept it could be I just don't feel comfortable with his situation and that he seems a bit lost AND I do appreciate he is trying to explore his artistic side. Hopefully it will improve and I will change my mind.

[spikydurian]

My 1 cent worth only ....
I am not too keen on Elegy as an Olympic piece (if that is what he is thinking of). Firstly, I think it will be overused by 2014! The judges may get tired of it too. Secondly, whilst it was a brilliant EX, and as Emdee pointed out, there is not enough elements in the SP to score points. I don't think it's bad choreography... I think the music makes it hard to incorporate certain elements into the program.
I also agree with PCFan and bmcg regarding his jumps and TES, and if it does not improve by GPF/end of the year, I will be very worried too. I hope Patrick realises that we all only wish the best for him, and would dearly wish that he has a chance to ace the next Olympics.
luckiest1, if you sit next to Mrs Chan again, please tell her that we wish Patrick well and we worried about his jumps.

[vigiliae]

Here I say again I'm not a fan of the revised Elegy. I will never get the beginning of the step sequence.

I started to like his LP. While it is kinda lack of the top notch transitions which I adored from his Lori Nichol programs, the program was designed (or at least I belive) to show off his pure skating skills and it worked for me. The program will never be fully appreciated by broadcasting watchers since IMO its major strength is on the speed, fluidity and ice coverage.

I'm not much worried of his performance level at SC(other than 3A); it's early in the season and he always had a subpar performance in SC. However I'm now concerned of his mental status as a competitor based on luckiest1's practice report. From what I remember Patrick was generally better at the actual competition than practices. This time it seemed to be the opposite. I hope this is a temporary issue but if it's unfortunaly not, some decisions should be made ASAP.

This is absolutely personal thought(so I gonna keep using "might"), but I think the mental issue might be based on his long-term situation, possibly back to pre-Vancouver. It is possible that all the bashing and media noises finally took significant effects on him. The terrible experience in Nice might be a trigger. And how many times have media asked him about his opinion of "overscoring", PCS, etc? He seems being tired of saying he's not the one who gives out scores, he's only supposed to do perform as well as he can. He might desperately need something or someone to boost his confidence and that might be one of the reason of keeping Johnson as his main coach.
I will be laughed at for being fanatic but I couldn't help but saying this.

[ali_dorate]

Very impressive and touching comment form vigiliae. Especially regarding how "the bashing and media noises" has exerted a lasting impact on Patrick.
What can we, fans, do to cheer and encourage him?

At the same time, I trust Patrick is a type of person who always gets up, dusts himself off and keeps moving forward. I really appreciate and love his spirit.

As for the step sequence of Elegy, when I saw the SP version for the first time at the practice, I thought that part was not right music for stsq because it's so quiet. I had expected the excitement and enthusiastic backing of music like the StSq in the last part of "Selections of Rachmaninoff" 08/09 season.
But after I heard Patrick's comment at the press conference after the SP, I changed my mind.

He said something like "make something beautiful out of nothing", "something great just out of silence".
I became convinced that Jeff purposefully put that part of music to the step sequence so that Patrick can create beautiful sounds of his blades between notes of piano. It's almost like an ensemble of a piano and his blades.
I want to listen to that music more.
I know it's a big challenge but no one but Patrick can make that kind of music on the ice. I'm sure this is the SP that will develop his own style.

[spikydurian]

What can we, fans, do to cheer and encourage him?

Great that you brought some cheer to the increasingly depressive dissecting of (poor) Patrick's current state of skate. Indeed, I think I shall leave him alone until the next skate where I may start worrying once again or be reassured. Whatever the outcome, I will always be a fan of Patrick's skating.

He might desperately need something or someone to boost his confidence and that might be one of the reason of keeping Johnson as his main coach.

Yeah vigilae. I am sure there must be a reason for keeping Johnson as a coach, a reason where only Patrick and close families understand and know. He has indicated one of the reason is that he feels comfortable with Johnson. He's now a young man, no longer a kid, and he may want to make his own decisions. He needs the space to grow. Let's support and cheer him on as ali dorate suggested. Let us not worry too much (hard for me but I shall try my best).
Go Patrick go!

[naan]

Here I say again I'm not a fan of the revised Elegy. I will never get the beginning of the step sequence.

I started to like his LP. While it is kinda lack of the top notch transitions which I adored from his Lori Nichol programs, the program was designed (or at least I belive) to show off his pure skating skills and it worked for me. The program will never be fully appreciated by broadcasting watchers since IMO its major strength is on the speed, fluidity and ice coverage.

I'm not much worried of his performance level at SC(other than 3A); it's early in the season and he always had a subpar performance in SC. However I'm now concerned of his mental status as a competitor based on luckiest1's practice report. From what I remember Patrick was generally better at the actual competition than practices. This time it seemed to be the opposite. I hope this is a temporary issue but if it's unfortunaly not, some decisions should be made ASAP.

This is absolutely personal thought(so I gonna keep using "might"), but I think the mental issue might be based on his long-term situation, possibly back to pre-Vancouver. It is possible that all the bashing and media noises finally took significant effects on him. The terrible experience in Nice might be a trigger. And how many times have media asked him about his opinion of "overscoring", PCS, etc? He seems being tired of saying he's not the one who gives out scores, he's only supposed to do perform as well as he can. He might desperately need something or someone to boost his confidence and that might be one of the reason of keeping Johnson as his main coach.
I will be laughed at for being fanatic but I couldn't help but saying this.

That's exactly what I thought.


Patrick's interview on Absolute Skating.
http://www.absoluteskating.com/index...012patrickchan

Some people say that you are sometimes over-scored. How would you comment on that?

I can't really give you a good answer on that. I just go out and skate. My job isn't to judge or argue about my points, my job is to go out and produce something beautiful, something that the judges can understand, to make them feel something. It's too quick to judge, point fingers and say I'm maybe over-marked. You have to look at the details. If you really understand skating, you can look at the way certain skaters skate and can compare. Instead of making a judgment, study the little details over and over. For me it's just a joy to skate, and draw the judges and the audience [into the performance]. It's just a really cool position to have that power.

[luckiest1]

After watching the TSN/CTV coverage back, I am not so worried as I was. It's always worse to be there live when things aren't going well. I agree that it is mostly a confidence issue Patrick seems to be having, and I trust that he knows what he needs (i.e. his current coaching situation). So I'm just going to continue to support and cheer him on for the rest of this season without trying to psycho-analyze him. I love both programs, but then again I'm easy....I wish the one didn't end on the spin because I worry about timing, but other than that, it's mesmerizing.

ETA: I still can't stand Rod Black. :p

[spikydurian]

Thanks Naan. This makes my eyes wet.

The long program in Nice was on the birthday of your former coach, Mr. Osborne Colson, who passed away in 2006. Did you think of him when you finished your routine?

I was more emotional going into the ice, before I even started my program, but it ended up being a good thing. Mr. Colson brought me to where I am, he started everything. And he kind of foresaw this all [winning the world title] was going to happen to me one day. His memory really helped me. I didn't feel worried or nervous, I just felt calm, like nothing else matters, forgetting the other skaters, the audience, the media. I was just doing it for myself, I started off with big two quads. Mr. Colson guided me when I was a child and he kind of guided me today. Just thinking about him and the fact that it was his birthday helped me to forget about being nervous. Even though he was such a tough coach at practice, when it came to competition and I had to step on the ice, he was always there. I could look at him and know everything is going to be fine. I kind of had the same feeling before I took to the ice in Nice

I remember reading elsewhere a translated interview he had with a Russian journalist. The interview was done after he won the 2011 Worlds in Moscow. There was this part where he talked about visiting Coulson's grave on his way to Moscow, and where he talked to him just like he used to talk to Coulson when he was alive. The impression I get is that his gratitude and respect towards Coulson runs very deep. He never forget to remind everyone that his skating skills is due to Coulson. I once listened to a radio interview with Lap Chan (Patrick's uncle) regarding Patrick. Lap spent 1/3 of the interview raving about the greatness of Coulson's teaching. I somehow think Patrick's wanting to work with Wilson is partly due to the fact that Wilson was a student of Coulson (ok I am just guessing.. don't take this seriously).

BTW, some of us fans noticed that he pointed to the 'sky' after he finished his skate in Nice. We had wondered whether it was a gesture of 'thanks to Coulson'.

ETA: I still can't stand Rod Black.

Let him know!

[Eyre]

My 1 cent worth only ....
I am not too keen on Elegy as an Olympic piece (if that is what he is thinking of). Firstly, I think it will be overused by 2014! The judges may get tired of it too. Secondly, whilst it was a brilliant EX, and as Emdee pointed out, there is not enough elements in the SP to score points. I don't think it's bad choreography... I think the music makes it hard to incorporate certain elements into the program.

I agree. I hope Patrick won't use it next season. If a SP program doesn't have the potential to get into 90s in scoring, it will not be a good SP for Olympic season.

[VarBar]

Patrick would first need to land all his planned content cleanly at one of his next international competitions this year for us to see if Elegy could get into the 90s in scoring or not by 2013 Worlds. But I am surprised that Chan placed just one jump pass in the second half of his SP because Hanyu has two. Did Chan's choreographer forget about the 10% bonus or am I missing something?

[seabm7]

Patrick would first need to land all his planned content cleanly at one of his next international competitions this year for us to see if Elegy could get into the 90s in scoring or not by 2013 Worlds. But I am surprised that Chan placed just one jump pass in the second half of his SP because Hanyu has two. Did Chan's choreographer forget about the 10% bonus or am I missing something?

Considering both are done by the same choreographer, I guess either Chan did not want to put two jumps in the second half or the jumps did not fit well with the given music cut.

[ali_dorate]

But I am surprised that Chan placed just one jump pass in the second half of his SP because Hanyu has two. Did Chan's choreographer forget about the 10% bonus or am I missing something?

Putting two in the second half means he has to jump 3A latter in the program. Haynu and Kozuka, who put 3A in the second half, have solid 3A and they have almost certainly succeeded 3A in the second half in FS in previous seasons. I heard that Daisuke also plans to put 3A in the second half in his new SP. He also has a beautiful and solid 3A.

Patrick's 3A has improved much last season. Still it's too risky for him to put 3A in the second half. IIRC, Patrick used to deliver beautiful 3A in his FS many times but his success rate of 3A in the second half of FS was not high.
Of course he can put 4T instead of 3A in the second half in SP. But again it's too risky.

In FS this season, Patrick puts 3A in the second half and he has not succeeded yet. If he'll ensure consistency in this FS, then may be he'll put 3A in the second half in SP in the Olympic year. We'll see.

Btw, watching the video again I found he did a solid 3A during the six-minutes warm-up before FS. To compare this with the one in FS, they're almost same in the way of take-off. So I think it's not a technical issue. Jumps will come when he'll build his confidence and be more comfortable with his new programs.