2026 Europeans - Men Free Skate - “To Be Or Not To Appleby - That Is The Quadstion?”

[victorskid]

Is the rink in Milano Olympic-sized? If it isn't, we are going to have some accidents with the boards. (My husband said that some of the NHL hockey players who will be there were complaining about the rink size).

The hockey is not played on the same rink(s).

 

[Sally1214]

It's the Olympics... yes it'll be Olympic-sized

I am well aware that it is indeed the Olympics. My comment about some of the hockey players complaining about the size of the ice surface stands.

 

[Sally1214]

The hockey is not played on the same rink(s).

Ah ... thank you for clearing that up with a respectful answer. Now, it makes sense.

 

[Hedwig]

Adam Hagara

only 19 and 5th appearance at Euros.

4toe without a murmur on the landing!
3a2toe
he means business. I predict that the rein of Kessler is over now

3axel
3flip2toe
3z2a2a
knee slide into 3flip
3l
no jump mistakes. this score will be massive!!

 

[Hanna]

Love Hagara's clean lines and good basics.

 

[Vagabond]

Kessler has had his hour in the sun.

 

[BittyBug]

If Hagara is able to develop a more mature presentation style he’ll be a force.

 

[susieB129]

Not particularly dynamic, but solid and pleasant to watch. He's growed up!

 

[peibeck]

Hagara is pretty pleasant when he isn't concentrating on just the jumps.

 

[tony]

Also congratulations to Adam for being elected to the ISU Athlete Commission!

 

[delayedaxel]

The hockey is not played on the same rink(s).

Now I am confused: Isn't a standard ice rink always 30 x 60 metres, regardless if it's used for hockey or figure skating?

 

[miffy]

This is such a huge ask of Pitot to make top 10

 

[Sally1214]

Now I am confused: Isn't a standard ice rink always 30 x 60 metres, regardless if it's used for hockey or figure skating?

Ice surface size varies. Tonia just mentioned a few moments ago that some of these skaters are used to skating on ice surfaces a bit wider than the one at these Europeans.

 

[tony]

Now I am confused: Isn't a standard ice rink always 30 x 60 metres, regardless if it's used for hockey or figure skating?

I see what Sally was referring to. The ice hockey rink is slightly different than what the NHL is used to. 196.85ft x 85.3ft in Milano versus 200ft x 85ft

 

[Vagabond]

Appleby, Appleby, Appleby, whisper words of wisdom, Appleby.

 

[victorskid]

Now I am confused: Isn't a standard ice rink always 30 x 60 metres, regardless if it's used for hockey or figure skating?

From a Google search:
NHL Rink
*Dimensions: 200 ft long by 85 ft wide (60.96m x 25.91m).
*Features: Has the trapezoid behind the net for goalie puck handling.
*Style: Encourages more contact and a faster pace in tighter spaces

Traditional Olympic Rink
*Dimensions: Approximately 200 ft long by 98-100 ft wide (60m x 30m).
*Features: No trapezoid, allowing goalies more freedom to play the puck.
*Style: Promotes a more flowing, less physical game due to the extra space.

Recent Changes & Trends
*Shift to NHL Size: The 2010 Vancouver Olympics used NHL ice, and Beijing 2022 and the upcoming 2026 Milan-Cortina Games are also using NHL-sized rinks (or slightly smaller variants due to arena build), showing a move towards standardization, notes the olympic.ca website.
*IIHF Adoption: The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) now allows world championships on NHL-sized ice to encourage hosting in North America

 

[Hanna]

This is such a huge ask of Pitot to make top 10

Disaster for the French men.

 

[Vagabond]

Pitot is skating to an entire Beatles double album in four minutes.

 

[susieB129]

Oh, pauvre pauvre Pitot.

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

Pitot has had a lot of coaches in his teens. I sense another change coming. Not sure he can afford the cricket club but that’s what he needs.

 

[Hedwig]

Pitot

I so hope that he can pull up to tenth....

4sal fall
3flip
3a step out
3l
3a fall Schild-like tilted in the air
3z3toe both hands down
3z2a2a
he does not handle high pressure situations well - like Olympic qualifier or now the extra stress
I hope he can still learn that and that they look for a mental coach for him - I think that would benefit him a lot!

 

[Wyliefan]

This is such a huge ask of Pitot to make top 10

Poor Francois. Too much pressure.

 

[tony]

Sigh. I really want to get behind Pitot but he only seems to skate well when there is zero on the line. Kevin has surely put him in a tough position to try to even salvage a second spot to Europeans but he also fell apart at the Olympic Beijing qualifier. I'm sure he has Worlds third spot in mind, because Economides was ahead of him at Nationals.

And on top of all of this drama, Kevin has told me he's staying in for 2027 in big part because he wants to skate his final Euros at home in Switzerland. Welp. There's only one spot now.

 

[Kateri]

That's what, -6 in deductions, unless they're feeling kind?

 

[delayedaxel]

Thanks, y'all!

Now doing some research myself (or rather converting "feet" into normal), I stumbled across this article:

https://puckprose.com/is-it-time-to-panic-about-the-size-of-the-olympic-ice-rink-01kc7j58p5kx

It's kind of strange (and unintelligible to me) that this issue only seems to be discussed from a hockey point of view (less space = more chances to score) and a figure skater's needs are not addressed at all.

 

[peibeck]

Well Pitot isn't going to get two spots for France for next year with that. His flow over the ice is lovely though.

 

[Nadin]

Disaster for the French. Bye bye Lausanne

 

[victorskid]

After 2 of 4 groups we have an ice resurfacing:

FS results so far:
1 Adam HAGARA SVK 155.31 83.98 71.33 7.07 7.14 7.21 0.00 #11
2 Jari KESSLER CRO 135.14 60.81 74.33 7.75 7.50 7.07 0.00 #5
3 Fedir KULISH LAT 132.70 71.46 61.24 5.93 5.89 6.57 0.00 #9
4 Vladimir SAMOILOV POL 128.94 65.07 65.87 6.46 6.36 6.96 2.00 #2
5 Maurizio ZANDRON AUT 128.57 64.93 63.64 6.36 6.43 6.32 0.00 #6
6 Davide LEWTON BRAIN MON 127.59 57.33 70.26 7.14 7.07 6.89 0.00 #4
7 Tomas-Llorenc GUARINO SABATE ESP 127.48 58.22 70.26 6.93 7.46 6.71 1.00 #8
8 Genrikh GARTUNG GER 124.87 64.46 60.41 5.75 5.93 6.46 0.00 #1
9 Francois PITOT FRA 124.78 61.22 69.56 6.82 6.82 7.25 6.00 #12
10 Ean WEILER SUI 121.71 56.50 67.21 6.93 6.50 6.75 2.00 #10
11 Edward APPLEBY GBR 116.77 53.87 62.90 6.18 6.46 6.25 0.00 #3
12 Matias LINDFORS FIN 115.83 45.24 71.59 7.57 7.07 6.86 1.00 #7

Overall results to this point:
1 Adam HAGARA SVK 224.27 14 1
2 Jari KESSLER CRO 201.46 20 2
3 Fedir KULISH LAT 201.22 16 3
4 Francois PITOT FRA 197.87 13 9
5 Maurizio ZANDRON AUT 196.25 19 5
6 Tomas-Llorenc GUARINO SABATE ESP 195.42 17 7
7 Vladimir SAMOILOV POL 193.49 23 4
8 Davide LEWTON BRAIN MON 192.87 21 6
9 Ean WEILER SUI 190.63 15 10
10 Genrikh GARTUNG GER 189.32 24 8
11 Matias LINDFORS FIN 183.63 18 12
12 Edward APPLEBY GBR 181.72 22 11

 

[Hedwig]

Disaster for the French. Bye bye Lausanne

this is such a loss for us - the French are often the most interesting skaters. Even further down like Rols I still like to watch them. Le sigh.

 

[Nadin]

this is such a loss for us - the French are often the most interesting skaters. Even further down like Rols I still like to watch them. Le sigh.

Same