European/American man most likely to close the JPN/Chan score gap?

[pinky166]

It seems like the Japanese men are setting the bar and dominating men's skating right now. Apart from Chan and Fernandez when he delivers, the scoring potential between the "big 3" (Hanyu, Takahashi, Chan), plus well-skating Kozuka and Fernandez, and everyone else seems to be growing. So the question is, is there a guy in the US or Europe capable of scoring 90+ SP and 170+ FS in the foreseeable future (relatively short term - a few years out at most)? And if people believe there is, who are these men and can they bridge the gap before the 2014 Olympics? Do you think any of the guys on the list can be successful with a quad in the SP and two in the FS? Or will things change after 2014 Olympics and so many quads won't be necessary to win?

Feel free to discuss. And I left Plushenko out of the poll because he's his own case of skater with his own set of scoring rules/capabilities IMO.

[blue_idealist]

I went with Amodio. I'm not sure about the others yet.

[pinky166]

Amodio has very smooth skating and his 4s is coming along. He just needs to get away from Morozov and get programs with less two feet skating that show off his smoothness more. I'm hoping Brezina can bounce back, he was so promising a few years ago but putting the quad in his programs really seems to have messed with his consistency. Maybe it's just a matter of adjusting to the new coaching situation..

[Vash01]

Jeremy Abbott is fully capable of challenging the top Japanese skaters and even Chan, if only he skates the way he is capable of. I know that's a big if, but he is the most talented skater among those mentioned here.

[love_skate2011]

Plushenko

[Vash01]

Plushenko

Funny that I forgot about Plushenko. HOwever, given his injuries and age, I don't know what to expect from him.

[briancoogaert]

Florent Amodio and Javier Fernandez !

[l'etoile]

Hopefully Ricky

[love_skate2011]

Funny that I forgot about Plushenko. HOwever, given his injuries and age, I don't know what to expect from him.

just realize no Javier on the list, you must thought he was Canadian ? lol

[sadya]

I voted Amodio and Brezina, but my sentimal choice is Abbott.

During competitions I always choose the skaters who will likely medal and then there are the skaters who for one reason or another are my sentimal favourites, it could be because I like their skating style or their attitude or anything else. I realise these people very probably won't medal, but I wish they would (for example, Lucinda Ruh used to be one of my sentimental favourites for a medal, even though I knew it was impossible without the more difficult jumps). I'd like to see Abbott show what he really is capable of and make the World and Olympic podium, but I doubt it will happen.

[smarts1]

Joshua Farris has the potential. It's all about harnessing it.

[pinky166]

just realize no Javier on the list, you must thought he was Canadian ? lol

I said BESIDES Javier, because I think Javi's just shown he can compete with those guys based on winning the GPF FS

[pinky166]

Jeremy Abbott is fully capable of challenging the top Japanese skaters and even Chan, if only he skates the way he is capable of. I know that's a big if, but he is the most talented skater among those mentioned here.

Yes but his time is running out. I'm still hoping Brezina and Dornbush can pull themselves together, if not maybe Farris or Messing could break through.

[orientalplane]

What a silly and meaningless poll if you deliberately exclude Fernandez and Plushenko.

[blue_idealist]

I don't think Abbott's going to. He's a good artistic skater but IMO, he's on the way down technically (at least for now).

[pinky166]

What a silly and meaningless poll if you deliberately exclude Fernandez and Plushenko.

I excluded them because I've already considered them as being capable of doing so. This poll asks the question - who else BESIDES those two can do the same? Because it's already pretty clear those two can/have.

[judgejudy27]

Until after Sochi absolutely nobody. Which is fine by me, I am just glad that the Japanese men and maybe Fernandez are closing the gap on Chan, and so we will have a real battle in Sochi with Takahashi, Chan, Hanyu, and Fernandez. The rest have no chance of more than a bronze but that is perfectly fine by me, it is still way more a battle than it looked like it would be 6 months ago.

[pinky166]

I still wonder about Brezina with his huge jumps. He can do 4s and 4t. Bad programs won't help but idk, it's all there, just a matter of harnessing it.

[love_skate2011]

I still wonder about Brezina with his huge jumps. He can do 4s and 4t. Bad programs won't help but idk, it's all there, just a matter of harnessing it.

Brezina is more of a headcase type
he just lost to Menshov big time at NRW

[pinky166]

Brezina is more of a headcase type
he just lost to Menshov big time at NRW

I saw that and was very distressed, he was 5th in the FS with PCS that were arguably too high. Ge, Liebers, Besseigher all beat him in FS. And that was with Michal landing 4s and 3a. Just stupid mistakes added up and did him in. It makes me sad to see someone so talented struggle, especially b/c his teammate Verner has been doing so for years despite all the talent. It's not too late for Michal but something's gotta click soon.