Canadian Men 2017-18 season news & updates

[barbarafan]

The way things have been going for 97% of underachieving Canadian men this season I would not be surprised at all to see Stephen Gogolev win 2018 Sr men national title, followed by Joseph Phan, and neither able to leave the country, LOL and as a Brit commentator once remarked "that would really throw cat amongst the pigeons, wink, wink!" Canadian Men going from legendary Rockstar status, to now practically scraping bottom of the barrel -- how the worm has turned, my heart is breaking! Please fella's wake up, pull up your big boy pants and get out of your own way and back to training, go see sports psychologist's whatever, y'all got the necessary skills, just need to find your inner warrior's again! Only bright spot has been Roman's SA debut...

Stephen is still too young...I believe he may be old enough for junior GP next fall not before. He will prob. do an international or 2 as advanced novice at beg. of next year.

 

[mag]

Well Liam was 6th in the LP at SA and ended up the top Canadian man so I wouldn’t count him out just yet. I think the Olympic spots will be two of Liam, Nic, and Keegan. My prediction is Patrick will retire prior to Nationals.

 

[manhn]

Patrick should realize he is far from the only male skater with a bad skate or two. The men this year....ugh.

 

[screech]

Liam also stood up on his 3A in the LP.

It should say something that Liam was the top Canuck when his highest jump landed in the entire competition was one triple axel with a hand down.

Mind you, the competition as a whole was pretty bad.

I wouldn't count Kevin out just yet. He somehow manages to pull it together at the bigger events. Nic, I think, has the showmanship that could get his PCS ahead of the others. If Keegan skates well though, it'd be great to see him make the team. I enjoy his skating.

 

[fan]

Well Liam was 6th in the LP at SA and ended up the top Canadian man so I wouldn’t count him out just yet. I think the Olympic spots will be two of Liam, Nic, and Keegan. My prediction is Patrick will retire prior to Nationals.

You think Patrick wouldn’t want to go for the gold in the team event?

 

[mag]

You think Patrick wouldn’t want to go for the gold in the team event?

I don’t think it is that important to him. No, I have’t ever spoken to him so this prediction is worth just what you paid for it

Patrick is not a young buck anymore. He is not driven the way Plushenko was/is. How he would need to be training, the pain he would need to deal with on a daily basis, the restrictions on his lifestyle, make me think it just won’t happen. Maybe he will go to Nationals and the Olympics, maybe not. Either way, I don’t think he is wasting any time or energy pining after an Olympic team medal.

 

[Zazy]

I wouldn't count Kevin out just yet. He somehow manages to pull it together at the bigger events.

The problem is that most of his jumps are borderline underrotated, which hurts him when he has to face a tougher technical panel. He's one of the skaters whose scores will be hugely dependent on who's on the tech panel at nationals (along with Chartrand in women's).

 

[manhn]

I will be livid if a second Canadian man skates the free program in the team event instead of Gabby or W&P.

 

[binbinwinwin]

Gogolev is old enough for the JGP next season.

Patrick said in an interview this summer that it was important to make sure Canada has a strong team for the team event no? I'm pretty sure it's on his mind in some way. I don't think he will retire, he wants that National title for the record. 10 Nationals titles under CoP would be quite an achievement.

 

[WildRose]

Does anyone know if Patrick is even training? Last I heard he was hanging out in Vancouver with his girlfriend - thousands of kms away from his training centre and his coach. I know he was spotted at a local rink but I have to wonder if he is even skating regularly much less training seriously for an Olympics. He can waltz into Nationals and win regardless of how he skates, but I’m not sure how much help he will be to the team at the Olympics if he’s not motivated enough to train properly.

 

[Rafter]

Well Liam was 6th in the LP at SA and ended up the top Canadian man so I wouldn’t count him out just yet. I think the Olympic spots will be two of Liam, Nic, and Keegan. My prediction is Patrick will retire prior to Nationals.

There is no way Skate Canada is sending Liam Firus to a second Olympic Games.

 

[mag]

There is no way Skate Canada is sending Liam Firus to a second Olympic Games.

I would agree, except that SC clearly has a soft spot for LF. I can remember back when Ronald Lam still skated for Canada and TPTB made it clear that Liam was the chosen one. Lam ends up with a consistent 3A and quad skating for Hong Kong and 14th in the world, Liam has the skate of his life and goes to Sochi where he doesn’t make the free program. So very little about this sport makes sense ...

 

[Seerek]

I would agree, except that SC clearly has a soft spot for LF. I can remember back when Ronald Lam still skated for Canada and TPTB made it clear that Liam was the chosen one.

Certainly, Paul Parkinson and Ronald Lam probably felt the same way (in retrospect) and did what was best for them to try to get to Worlds/Olympics. There's also this undiscussed dimension as to whether SC is that keen on skaters like Ronald Lam who were taking close to 100% university course loads while competing.

It appeared around that time, Skate Canada was more than willing to "move on" to the next generation of Firus/Rogozine/Nguyen and push aside Jeremy Ten/Balde/Reynolds (Russell and Sawyer already retired).

 

[screech]

Don't forget that Liam oh so generously 'gave' his Worlds spot that he earned to Nam, who then tanked. So SC hasn't really been showing Liam quite as much love lately.

I think what they love(d) about Liam is his skating skills, which are sorely lacking in the other boys. If they miss jumps they have zero to help them. If Liam misses the jumps, he can still actually skate. And aside from last year when he was attacked by his suspenders, Liam usually skates well at Canadians, earning his placement.

But if SC is to look at the season as a whole, I think it'd be down to Nic and Keegan for that second spot.

 

[Japanfan]

Does anyone know if Patrick is even training? Last I heard he was hanging out in Vancouver with his girlfriend - thousands of kms away from his training centre and his coach. I know he was spotted at a local rink but I have to wonder if he is even skating regularly much less training seriously for an Olympics. He can waltz into Nationals and win regardless of how he skates, but I’m not sure how much help he will be to the team at the Olympics if he’s not motivated enough to train properly.

I have the same questions. I do think he'll skate well at Nationals, as he always does - he really has no competition there, and seem to enjoy himself. As opposed to increasingly falling apart on the international stage.

Patrick said in an interview this summer that it was important to make sure Canada has a strong team for the team event no? I'm pretty sure it's on his mind in some way.

From everything he's said, I think he does care about Canada doing well at the team event. He most likely enjoys and is motivated by the team environment. IMO Patrick has always been freaked out by the individual events. That was particularly evident in Sochi, when the gold was so very much within his grasp, and he just let it slip away.

But I blame the Canadian media for that, as it hounded him relentlessly in the lead-up to the Games as a favorite for Gold. In interviews he became increasingly defensive.

I just don't think Patrick does well under pressure. He's not one of those skaters who thrives on competition.

 

[screech]

I agree that Patrick will go to Canadians. I think more than anything this year, his goal is to get that record title.

Plus, he's so far ahead of the rest of the field, he could probably skip the SP, just skate the LP and still medal (his scores actually did that a few years ago at Canadians)

 

[crzesk8dad]

Is Keegan a Canadian citizen? I know he originally is from Alaska. I believe one must be a citizen of a country to represent that country in the Olympics.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Is Keegan a Canadian citizen? I know he originally is from Alaska. I believe one must be a citizen of a country to represent that country in the Olympics.

He's dual.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Anyone but Nam. He was good in 2014 and 2015, but since then, his skating is so drawn out, stiff and robotic.

Also, whomever advised him on that terrible music for his short program, should be tied to a chair and made to watch Tarasova and Morozov's free skate on loop.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I love Keegan's skating this year. He's getting the international marks when he skates well, which is really promising, too.

 

[crzesk8dad]

He's dual.

Exxxxcellent!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Word is that Pat is being pushed by the CFSA to compete in PyeongChang, so that Canada gets gold in the team event.

 

[Alilou]

Word is that Pat is being pushed by the CFSA to compete in PyeongChang, so that Canada gets gold in the team event.

Well of course he is. And I think he's feeling even more pressure than if he were just skating for himself. Arrrrrggh! I have to skate well or I'll let the whole team down!

He's said in interviews that this olys is just for him, but no, he finally realises that with the team event this olys is about doing well for all his Cdn team mates. I think it's freaking him out.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Well of course he is. And I think he's feeling even more pressure than if he were just skating for himself. Arrrrrggh! I have to skate well or I'll let the whole team down!

He's said in interviews that this olys is just for him, but no, he finally realises that with the team event this olys is about doing well for all his Cdn team mates. I think it's freaking him out.

Now I'm having visions of Michael Slipchuk driving around a Zamboni full tilt during one of Pat's training sessions, and carrying a huge bull whip!

 

[kwanfan1818]

Scott Moir will make Tutberidze and Fusar-Poli look like lambs if Chan doesn't come through in the TE.

 

[fan]

Scott Moir will make Tutberidze and Fusar-Poli look like lambs if Chan doesn't come through in the TE.

Can’t wait to see this

 

[Zazy]

As much as I would love to see Patrick skate at the Olympics, if his heart isn't in it, he should retire.
The team event really isn't that important and even with his best efforts Canada probably wouldn't get the gold.

 

[Erin]

If Patrick skates the way he did in the Skate Canada practices or the Skate Canada free skate, he isn't going to do Canada any good in the team event anyway (a not-perfect Nadeau actually beat him in the free skate there). I know it's slim pickings behind him but there is no point pushing Patrick if his heart isn't in it either. I love Patrick's skating when he is on but I would rather see two skaters who want to be there than a reluctant Patrick - if that is in fact the case.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

If Patrick skates the way he did in the Skate Canada practices or the Skate Canada free skate, he isn't going to do Canada any good in the team event anyway (a not-perfect Nadeau actually beat him in the free skate there). I know it's slim pickings behind him but there is no point pushing Patrick if his heart isn't in it either. I love Patrick's skating when he is on but I would rather see two skaters who want to be there than a reluctant Patrick - if that is in fact the case.

Agreed.

I'm sure Skate Canada is in enough trouble for sending Nguyen over Firus, only to have Nam crumble in Boston.

For Pat, it might be about experiencing the Olympics on his terms and enjoying it.

But, if you're not there to compete, and if going means denying rising talent like Nic Nadeau, Conrad Orzel, or Joseph Phan the chance to make a name for themselves on the world stage, what's the point?

 

[Erin]

But, if you're not there to compete, and if going means denying rising talent like Nic Nadeau, Conrad Orzel, or Joseph Phan the chance to make a name for themselves on the world stage, what's the point?

Well, Orzel and Phan don't have senior minimums so they won't be going regardless. But it's still denying someone their dream of competing at the Olympics.