Canadian Men 2018-19 season news & updates

[Sylvia]

Grand Prix assignments for 5 men (7 spots) as of June 28, 2018:

Keegan Messing [S2]: Skate Canada Int'l (#2) & Rostelecom Cup (#5)
Nam Nguyen [S3]: Skate America (#1)
Kevin Reynolds [S5]: NHK Trophy (#4)
Roman Sadovsky [S7]: Skate Canada Int'l
Nicolas Nadeau [S9]: Internationaux de France (#6)
1 TBD at Skate Canada Int'l

Keegan posted 2 quad Axel attempts (on pole) on his Instagram back on June 27: https://www.instagram.com/p/BkjTxGJjQY6/?taken-by=sk8erkeeg


Junior Grand Prix assignments published by Skate Canada so far: https://skatecanada.ca/event-schedule/#tab-31263c319f20cf01436
* = making JGP debut

#1 - Bratislava, Slovakia (Aug. 22-25)
Men: Stephen Gogolev* [S10], Aleksa Rakic* [N2]

#2 - Linz, Austria (Aug. 29- Sept. 1)
Men: Conrad Orzel [S11], Corey Circelli [J2]

#3 - Kaunas, Lithuania (Sept. 5-8)
Men: Joseph Phan [S6], Eric Liu [S14]

#4 - Vancouver, BC, Canada (Sept. 12-15)
Men: Stephen Gogolev

#5 - Ostrava, Czech Republic (Sept. 26-29)
Men: Joseph Phan

#6 - Ljubljana, Slovenia (Oct. 3-6)
Men: Conrad Orzel

Re-posting from the CAN Ladies' thread:

... what jumped out at me on the link was the list of boys staying junior...PLUS....FINALLY.....Gogolev.

I feel like I've aged over a decade waiting for this guy to skate internationally.
He's prob 6ft 2 now and can't rotate his jumps, but whatev. Good to see him finally eligible

 

[danafan]

Thanks for starting this thread!

I see from instagram and Joseph Phan has been posting a lot from the Cricket Club. Has he relocated? Possibly working with Lambiel on choreography?

https://www.instagram.com/joseph_phan_/?hl=en

I can see why they are sending Phan back to the JGP (he's still young, he could contend well there and help keep lots of junior spots for next year) but I hope they will give him a senior international as well so he can get his TES minimums. And so he can get more comfortable going for quads in the short, which AFAIK are not allowed in juniors yet.

 

[believed]

Thanks for starting this thread!

I see from instagram and Joseph Phan has been posting a lot from the Cricket Club. Has he relocated? Possibly working with Lambiel on choreography?

https://www.instagram.com/joseph_phan_/?hl=en

I’ve heard it’s just for the summer, but I could be wrong!

 

[Rock2]

I thought Buttle did one of his programs this year (Phan). I saw a social media post months ago with the two and the comment that the program is VERY different from last year. I think they were referencing the short.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Phan's 4 Lutz is going to be his big arsenal this year. Go Joseph!

 

[Marco]

I am hoping Nicolas recover from injury and return to form this season and (partially) fill the void left by Patrick. Not trying to be mean, but past results have shown that Kevin and Nam are not going to be that competitive even if they skated well.

 

[chantilly]

I thought Kevin was retiring.

 

[danafan]

I thought Kevin was retiring.

He's been assigned to NHK and he's also registered for the BC Summer Skate.

 

[mag]

I thought Kevin was retiring.

I think many of us thought that. Clearly we were wrong

 

[chantilly]

I thought that because he said it last season.
I don’t remember the exact quote but he pretty much said something to that effect at Canadians.
Personally I think he should retire.
I just think with all his UR issues it’s going to be yet another disappointing season.

 

[euterpe]

Apparently Kevin has hopes of winning the Canadian championship before he retires.

 

[fsfann]

OMG, I can't believe Kevin is still kicking around. It's time for him to retire. Sorry, but I just don't see why he would want to stick around.

 

[professordeb]

As much as I appreciate all the Kevin has given to Canada in competition, I'm not sure if he has the goods and in quality that would make him an automatic "lock" as Canadian champ. I am trying to remember how Kevin did when Patrick took that year off. It left the door open for Kevin to knock down but I seem to recall he didn't take advantage of such an opportunity. I give him kudos for sticking it out so long, what with boot problems and some physical problems. I just don't know if his body is willing to take any more. Regardless of what he decides, I will not forget his awesome skate that helped Team Canada to win the silver 4 years ago (it was back then, wasn't it? My memory not so good any more.)

 

[Dobre]

Of course, Kevin isn't a lock. I was surprised to hear he plans to continue as well; however, considering the up & down nature of essentially all the guys behind Patrick at last year's Canadian Nationals, I can see the thinking behind taking a stab at the Canadian title. There are a plethora of names in the mix, but it really depends on which version of each of those guys shows up this season. And for that specific competition. It's possible Keegan or Joseph or one of the other Canadian men could really step out front and dominate; but they haven't demonstrated dominance over the competition yet.

You often hear athletes who think the Olympic season will be their last one; but when goals aren't reached--as Kevin's obviously weren't--then you also hear them change their minds about when they want to go out.

 

[manhn]

Kevin came 9th at 2017 Worlds and he is seen as a has been for Canadians, because our men are just so deep in success. Keegan came 8th in 2018 when skaters like Javier, Patrick and Hanyu do not compete, and yet he is somehow a lock for Canadian champ.

Kevin came 3rd in 2015, although Jeremy's second place is ummm... Nah had an excellent Worlds, while Jeremy came a dominant 22nd.

 

[danafan]

Kevin came 9th at 2017 Worlds and he is seen as a has been for Canadians, because our men are just so deep in success. Keegan came 8th in 2018 when skaters like Javier, Patrick and Hanyu do not compete, and yet he is somehow a lock for Canadian champ.

Kevin came 3rd in 2015, although Jeremy's second place is ummm... Nah had an excellent Worlds, while Jeremy came a dominant 22nd.

Kevin fell on every jumping pass in the short, finished 12th, and withdrew from the free.

 

[manhn]

My bad, real bad.

 

[greenapple]

My hunch is Kevin is doing this one GP to say goodbye to his Japanese fans with BC Summer Skate as a warm up. I just don't see him doing much else competitively.

 

[savchenkoboss]

I am pretty shocked to see Kevin competing this season. I thought it had been established before Nationals last year that it was his goodbye. I wish him the best but really what does he have to offer internationally now. He has been far surpassed in quading by the likes of Chen and many others, and that was his strength and how he beat the other skaters before. It was never GOE, spins, footwork, or PCS.

 

[euterpe]

I'd think the changes won't be to his advantage, either. He can't repeat quads, he URs more often than not, and GOE is not his friend.

 

[savchenkoboss]

I'd think the changes won't be to his advantage, either. He can't repeat quads, he URs more often than not, and GOE is not his friend.

Yeah all and all his continuing is quite amazing. It must be for personal reasons, and nothing to do with result oriented goals as he cant realistically have those at this point.

 

[JasperBoy]

Maybe Kevin will pack his bags before NHK and remain in Japan. Wasn't that his retirement plan last year?

 

[Erin]

Maybe Kevin wants one more shot at the Canadian title? I don't think it will be easy, and he will certainly have to skate a lot better than he did last season, but he could have the idea that he wants to give it another try. The one time he maybe could have had a shot when Patrick wasn't skating was the season he had boot problems and what was later discovered to be a severe hip injury, so he could just want to get a chance at it while he is healthy. Right now, I would say Messing is the clear favorite after his finish at Worlds last year, but I would have said that about Kevin for the 2nd spot in 2018 after 2017 Worlds, so a lot can change in a year. Plus it will be interesting to see what younger guys like Phan, Sadovsky, the ever inconsistent Nadeau and even Gogolev look like in the fall.

 

[Rock2]

OMG, I can't believe Kevin is still kicking around. It's time for him to retire. Sorry, but I just don't see why he would want to stick around.

Ummmm, because he loves it and has goals?

I think ending his career without making the Olympic or world team leaves a sour taste and also can dry up a lot of opportunities ( * cough * Lubov/Dylan). Kevin might want to go one more year....or two with world's in his two fave places in those years. Also, Canadian title is totally up for grabs, so....

I can never relate to any comment that uses the words 'should retire'. Retiring is a highly personal thing that's connected to goals (theirs, not yours) and enjoyment. If he URs, what's it to you? If others score better, they progress; if they don't, he goes to world's. It's a meritocracy.

On a side note, I'm still seething at Kevin's scoring at 2017 world's. He was called for more URs than what he actually did. There is no question in my mind he should have been 6-7 TES pts higher which would have got him 8th and Canada the 3rd spot in Korea. No question. Grrrrrrrer.

 

[savchenkoboss]

It is true I guess in theory the Canadian title is possible but I think especialy with the new rules Keegan Messing would have to really bomb for Kevin to beat him. Their base values would be about the same, as Messing would get way more GOE and PCS, and he isnt prone to < calls. We saw how well Messing did at worlds and to a lesser degree the Games, and it is pretty safe Kevin wouldnt have done nearly as well at those events last season had he qualified instead. Nam Nguyen if he skates well should easily beat Kevin with the new rules as well, although he is erratic as heck. Still I wouldnt blame him for taking one last shot at that.

I guess having the goal of skating at worlds in Montreal is nice for all Canadians, but he will have a huge task to get there with the new rules which dont suit him at all, and being clearly past his physical prime, even in the very weak mens field in Canada now with Chan retiring.

 

[danafan]

Joseph Phan is on the list of registered skaters for the Skate Ontario Sectional Series.

http://skateontario.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Athletes-Registered-as-of-July-16th.pdf

So one can guess his move to Toronto is permanent?

 

[RoseRed]

Joseph Phan is on the list of registered skaters for the Skate Ontario Sectional Series.

http://skateontario.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Athletes-Registered-as-of-July-16th.pdf

So one can guess his move to Toronto is permanent?

He's already back in Montreal though. ETA: maybe he's not. He posted a picture that someone identified as the Montreal metro near where they live, and tagged Emy Decelles in it. But I just saw in the comments that someone asked him if he's "still at Mtl" and he said no, he misses mtl.

 

[barbarafan]

He's already back in Montreal though. ETA: maybe he's not. He posted a picture that someone identified as the Montreal metro near where they live, and tagged Emy Decelles in it. But I just saw in the comments that someone asked him if he's "still at Mtl" and he said no, he misses mtl.

Hard to say....They have a good summer skating program at cricket ..it is possible he is there for that program. Lots of Quebec skaters go to Minto..He is also registered for Quebec competition Aug 9th and is shown quebec there.

 

[danafan]

Today was Kevin Reynolds' birthday. He made an instagram post and talked about his reasons for competing one more season. https://www.instagram.com/p/BlmNeeuBdSy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Info about his programs: "My short program is to Nobuo Uematsu’s Illusionary World, choreographed by Lance Vipond. It was my first time working with Lance this summer, and it was a wonderfully enjoyable experience.
I will also have a new free skate to the music of Ni no Kuni by Joe Hisaishi, and I’m looking forward to developing and performing it soon."

 

[kwanfan1818]

and also can dry up a lot of opportunities ( * cough * Lubov/Dylan).

Moscovitch has changed careers, and Ilyushechkina has a contract with Cirque, and she's been proposed as a partner for everyone, including boys who have not yet been conceived, not to mention as a coach, so I don't see how either's opportunities have dried up.