U.S. Men 2019-20 season - news & updates

[Sylvia]

Liam Kapeikis finished 10th at the Youth Olympic Games (14th in SP, 9th in FS), was drawn for the YOG Mixed NOC Team event and improved his FS score, setting a new ISU personal best of 117.28 in that segment.

Ilia Malinin posted an Instagram story at the beginning of the Youth Olympic Games that he injured his back the day before he was supposed to fly to Lausanne and that's why he withdrew. Unfortunately, Malinin has also withdrawn from Nationals.

Article on Joseph Klein, 15, who won the Midwestern Sectional Novice title to qualify for the Junior event at Nationals (in his younger days he was inspired by Jason Brown when he skated in Chicago):

Motivated by Novice Pewter Medal, Joe Klein Makes the Leap to Juniors - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

When Joe Klein received the novice pewter medal at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships, everything changed.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Excerpt:

He spent about seven weeks total training with a different team of coaches in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and worked with his high school to re-balance his schedule. He starts his school day at 8 a.m., attends three periods and gets out at around 1:30 p.m. He skates before and after school, and has off-ice training after skating.
"It's always really difficult with missing all the school because of skating," Klein said. "But I still try to keep my grades up. I've had straight As for the past few years now. I'm a freshman in high school so it's about to get a lot harder, but I'm still keeping it up."
...
"There were definitely a lot of ups and downs," Klein said of his season. "I think towards the beginning of the season, it was a little sloppy, but as I got later into the season I kind of pulled everything together, and I've been improving since then."

 

[Jammers]

Well Nationals is really going to be missing some of its top young skaters this year. Ting. Hanna Harrell and now Illa.

 

[clairecloutier]

Vincent Zhou frankly declares himself more “not ready” than “ready” for Nationals this week:

Vincent Zhou put Ivy League classes on hold to return to figure skating

Vincent Zhou left school, moved and changed coaches in the last month. His outlook for nationals is not the most optimistic.

olympics.nbcsports.com

It sounds like he managed to wind up his first semester at Brown. But he couldn’t get any ice time at Brown, and commuting to train in Boston didn’t work out. He considered taking the whole season off, but decided to come back for the second half of the season.

 

[barbk]

Vincent Zhou frankly declares himself more “not ready” than “ready” for Nationals this week:

Vincent Zhou put Ivy League classes on hold to return to figure skating

Vincent Zhou left school, moved and changed coaches in the last month. His outlook for nationals is not the most optimistic.

olympics.nbcsports.com

It sounds like he managed to wind up his first semester at Brown. But he couldn’t get any ice time at Brown, and commuting to train in Boston didn’t work out. He considered taking the whole season off, but decided to come back for the second half of the season.

Wow. I can't believe he didn't evaluate ice time availability before picking Brown. Yikes.

 

[VGThuy]

It’s ok. He now will be able to concentrate full time on skating while having a spot at Brown saved for him. He still has a season and a half to prepare for the Olympic season.

 

[Carolla5501]

Wow. I can't believe he didn't evaluate ice time availability before picking Brown. Yikes.

his whole Brown semester has seemed very bizarre.

 

[Vagabond]

I guess now we know the answer to the question, "What can Brown do for you?"

 

[missing]

I guess now we know the answer to the question, "What can Brown do for you?"

My hope is that Brown can inspire Vince and that Vince in turn can inspire Brown to land a clean quad thus making everybody with a rooting interest in either Brown very happy!

 

[Vagabond]

Ask not what Brown can do for you; ask what you can do for Brown.

 

[Hedwig]

They have an ice rink at the college. And they couldn't dish out a few hours a week of ice time for a World medallist? I am a bit shocked. I know how hard ice-time is being fought for at rinks but this is ridiculous.

 

[Vagabond]

They have an ice rink at the college. And they couldn't dish out a few hours a week of ice time for a World medallist? I am a bit shocked. I know how hard ice-time is being fought for at rinks but this is ridiculous.

Brown has men's and women's varsity ice hockey teams (representing the University) and intramural competitions. Dozens of students participate in these programs. Why should it promote the interest of one student who does not represent the University when he competes at the expense of those who do?

 

[Hedwig]

There are roundabout 16hours 7 days a week that an ice-rink can function. I refuse to believe that there are no 5-6 hours a week that could be used for a World medallist.
Especially since he is only one person so it could be scheduled in the mornings during free periods where most hockey teams would not be able to play.
Often this is just unwillingness to really look for a solution from rink management.
but well - a moot point now.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

There are roundabout 16hours 7 days a week that an ice-rink can function. I refuse to believe that there are no 5-6 hours a week that could be used for a World medallist.
Especially since he is only one person so it could be scheduled in the mornings during free periods where most hockey teams would not be able to play.
Often this is just unwillingness to really look for a solution from rink management.
but well - a moot point now.

It's too bad that Vince didn't go to Yale instead - they seem more accommodating to Olympic skaters. Vince is a world medallist as well as an Olympian. He deserves more respect imo.

 

[misskarne]

I'm kind of enjoying Jason flying under the radar a bit. I have a gut feeling he's going to make a splash this weekend and forcibly remind people that he is the best damn PCS skater the US has and they better not forget it.

I also have a feeling...just a feeling, no more...it would be quite something if he went perfectly clean at Nationals.

 

[Laney]

I'm kind of enjoying Jason flying under the radar a bit. I have a gut feeling he's going to make a splash this weekend and forcibly remind people that he is the best damn PCS skater the US has and they better not forget it.

I also have a feeling...just a feeling, no more...it would be quite something if he went perfectly clean at Nationals.

Don't jinx him

 

[misskarne]

Don't jinx him

I'm pretty sure I already used all my jinxing power on myself this week, but you are right. Skategods, I jest! Do not smite dear Jason for my blaspheme!

 

[Willin]

@Hedwig Universities are under no obligation to provide ice to anyone, and particularly at colleges they have a lot of open skate time for students in general - some college rinks also close for a couple hours a day due to college skating classes. Some also have public sessions for the general public and group lessons for the general public. Most of these rinks are also staffed by students, and that further limits open hours. Not to mention they like to keep ice closed for a while between sessions to preserve quality, or the fact that the varsity hockey players also do one-on-one private lessons, not just the team practices.
It should also be noted that within the skating community Ivies are kinda known to not like skaters much. Skating isn't quite the boon to your resume as much as other sports. Harvard's the only one known to "like" skaters. So perhaps Brown simply isn't very accommodating with their rink for that reason.
As far as I know Nathan isn't running into these problems because he isn't skating at a solely university owned-and-operated rink.

 

[Vagabond]

There are roundabout 16hours 7 days a week that an ice-rink can function. I refuse to believe that there are no 5-6 hours a week that could be used for a World medallist.

This isn't a commercial rink. It is a Brown University facility. There are several other rinks in the immediate area, but Zhou chose to go to Boston instead.

 

[RoseRed]

@Hedwig Universities are under no obligation to provide ice to anyone, and particularly at colleges they have a lot of open skate time for students in general - some college rinks also close for a couple hours a day due to college skating classes. Some also have public sessions for the general public and group lessons for the general public. Most of these rinks are also staffed by students, and that further limits open hours. Not to mention they like to keep ice closed for a while between sessions to preserve quality, or the fact that the varsity hockey players also do one-on-one private lessons, not just the team practices.
It should also be noted that within the skating community Ivies are kinda known to not like skaters much. Skating isn't quite the boon to your resume as much as other sports. Harvard's the only one known to "like" skaters. So perhaps Brown simply isn't very accommodating with their rink for that reason.
As far as I know Nathan isn't running into these problems because he isn't skating at a solely university owned-and-operated rink.

The Whale (Ingalls Rink) isn't owned and operated by Yale? Because I thought that's where he's mainly skating.

 

[misskarne]

USFS hype video for the men's event at Nationals: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7rMgS3AqLZ/

I had to watch it twice to be sure what I was seeing, but yep. No Jason. Not even a glimpse of Jason. That bodes well, not.

 

[barbarafan]

USFS hype video for the men's event at Nationals: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7rMgS3AqLZ/

I had to watch it twice to be sure what I was seeing, but yep. No Jason. Not even a glimpse of Jason. That bodes well, not.

Was the vid done at champs camp in the summer. Wasn't Jason in a serious taxi accident where he was injured during the camp.

 

[sk9tingfan]

The Whale (Ingalls Rink) isn't owned and operated by Yale? Because I thought that's where he's mainly skating.

He's supposed to be skating at the rink in Cromwell, about 30 minutes away from New Haven

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

I don't remember which article I read and which semester it applied to but he did skate a little at the Yale rink and did other sessions at Cromwell.

 

[misskarne]

Was the vid done at champs camp in the summer. Wasn't Jason in a serious taxi accident where he was injured during the camp.

Hasn't Jason also skated at no less than three different events between then and now (including SkAm)?

 

[jlai]

Hasn't Jason also skated at no less than three different events between then and now (including SkAm)?

Considering how some of the skaters in the promo are not even top name skaters, I agree it is likely not intentional, likely something to do with logistics. It's also likely that the people shooting this don't know who the top names are other than Chen.

 

[Rukia]

Jason was heavily featured in a video to experience the "magic of skating," so he's still on USFS's good list I would imagine.

 

[lurkz2]

USFS hype video for the men's event at Nationals: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7rMgS3AqLZ/

I had to watch it twice to be sure what I was seeing, but yep. No Jason. Not even a glimpse of Jason. That bodes well, not.

I heard elsewhere it was footage from the first day of practice and Jason wasn't there

 

[barbarafan]

Hasn't Jason also skated at no less than three different events between then and now (including SkAm)?

yes...some elements watered down due to injury. But what I said was it is possible this was taped during champs camp when all the skaters were together.

 

[Carolla5501]

Jason was heavily featured in a video to experience the "magic of skating," so he's still on USFS's good list I would imagine.

And tweets about him are on heavy rotation on the big screen here at the arena. Don’t worry about Jason

 

[Carolla5501]

This isn't a commercial rink. It is a Brown University facility. There are several other rinks in the immediate area, but Zhou chose to go to Boston instead.

There are 2 ways to combine skating at this level and college. One is to plan and have the details as worked out as you can (Chen), the 2nd is to try to do it on the fly and hope it all works out. I think Zhou went with the 2nd option and it didn’t work out