Canadian Men 2017-18 season news & updates

[fan]

isn't patrick dating liz putnam?

 

[Erin]

I think that at this point, expectations for Patrick's skating and training have been so low that people are just pleased to hear that he's actually skating and that he is working with anyone. Even if Ravi was a one-time thing.

I'm still not really sure what to make of the latest article or what to expect of him in 2018 - I think I'll still keep my expectations pretty low as I've learned that lesson the hard way too many times with Patrick. But it's nice to hear that maybe things aren't quite as dire as they might have seemed with him. Like Marina, I hope he's happy.

 

[sunshine4you]

Just noticed this in the SkateCanada website:
Senior Men Short Program January 8, 2018 to January 14, 2018 Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, Vancouver, BC 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships
Name Starting Order Section
1 Dustin Sherriff-Clayton AB/NT/NU
2 Jérémie Crevaux QC
3 Eric Liu AB/NT/NU
4 Olivier Bergeron QC
5 Edrian Paul Celestino QC
6 Bennet Toman ON
7 Conrad Orzel ON
8 Samuel Angers QC
9 Elladj Baldé QC
10 Stephen Gogolev ON
11 Joseph Phan QC
12 Roman Sadovsky ON
13 Liam Firus BC/YK
14 Keegan Messing AB/NT/NU
15 Nicolas Nadeau QC
16 Nam Nguyen ON
17 Kevin Reynolds BC/YK
18 Patrick Chan ON

 

[Japanfan]

Kind of amazed to see Elizabeth Putnam listed! I'd had no idea what she was up to since her time competing ended.

I digress, but am reminded of how much I enjoyed Putnam and Wirtz. I thought they had the wow factor, and that it was a shame they didn't stay together and continue competing.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I loved her. I had hoped that Eric Radford would partner with her or Kyra Moscovitch (who had to stop skating due to her back).

 

[skateboy]

This is cute. (If this has already been posted, my apologies.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWjymRxYkfE

 

[dramagrrl]

So adorable, but none of them should ever consider quitting their day jobs to pursue singing.

 

[mackiecat]

So adorable, but none of them should ever consider quitting their day jobs to pursue singing.

My thoughts exactly! Wonder where Scott and Tessa were.

 

[Parsley Sage]

I love Keegan with the santa hat over his hat.

 

[The Accordion]

So adorable, but none of them should ever consider quitting their day jobs to pursue singing.

I was kind of wondering if they got them to sing it without the background music - so they just sang in whatever key - and then put the music in later. Surely not all of them are so bad? And some of them piano players?

 

[Doggygirl]

This is cute. (If this has already been posted, my apologies.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWjymRxYkfE

None of them should record their own covers for their 2018/2019 programs it seems.....

 

[supergirl573]

My thoughts exactly! Wonder where Scott and Tessa were.

Scott and Tessa have both called each other out for being bad at singing, so maybe it is a good thing they are not there.

 

[cgirl8]

Antony Cheng announced his retirement https://www.instagram.com/p/BdS2dEZFKrd/

Today I turn 20, marking the end of a long chapter in my life as I am retiring from competitive skating. Not exactly the way I had once envisioned the end of my competitive career but I’ve come to realize that everything happens for a reason, you win some, you lose some and I am beyond grateful for what I have achieved and learned. Big thank you to everyone who has influenced me in some way, positive or negative. Excited for my new endeavours in dancing, professional skating, choreography, coaching. Good luck to all the skaters out there who I know for the rest of the season & seasons to come!

He missed qualifying to nationals this year by 2 places. Sad to see him hang up his skates competitively but good luck to him in future projects.

 

[honey]

Is Nam going back to La Strada? He just posted an instagram story with the caption "costumes are ready to go". One costume is the sp one he's been wearing all season and the other is his 2015 La Strada lp costume. If so, I think that's not a bad idea for him. I didn't think An American in Paris suited him all that well, and if they can update La Strada a bit I could see that being a better vehicle.

 

[Rock2]

Is Nam going back to La Strada? He just posted an instagram story with the caption "costumes are ready to go". One costume is the sp one he's been wearing all season and the other is his 2015 La Strada lp costume. If so, I think that's not a bad idea for him. I didn't think An American in Paris suited him all that well, and if they can update La Strada a bit I could see that being a better vehicle.

I could go my whole entire life without ever hearing La Strada again.

 

[dramagrrl]

I also think that it would probably be a good switch if Nam went back to La Strada, if he made the change early enough that he's trained it and any changes made to the choreo very thoroughly.

 

[Sylvia]

Antony Cheng announced his retirement https://www.instagram.com/p/BdS2dEZFKrd/

He missed qualifying to nationals this year by 2 places. Sad to see him hang up his skates competitively but good luck to him in future projects.

Thanks for the heads up, @cgirl8. I saw many supportive comments from fellow skaters on his Instagram post, including one by Joseph Phan who wrote that maybe Antony could choreograph a program for him one day.

I tweeted the link to Antony's entertaining Sr. SP to "Starboy" (The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0IXcgxyl9Q (Ted Barton was the commentator: "Antony has such great energy in his programs").

I'm glad he was able to represent Canada internationally at a JGP in 2015 and win a Jr. gold medal at 2016 Coupe de Printemps in Luxembourg.

 

[Japanfan]

I could go my whole entire life without ever hearing La Strada again.

I love La Strada! It's one of those pieces I never tire of hearing, along with Dr. Zhivago.

However, I am really weary of Carmen, Summertime, and to a lesser degree, American in Paris (to a lesser degree only because it's used less than the previous two). Even POTO is bearable in comparison.

 

[Alilou]

New article by Bev Smith.

He does sound in a good place.

PATRICK CHAN, PULLING HIMSELF TO THE FINISH

https://bevsmithwrites.wordpress.com/2018/01/06/patrick-chan-pulling-himself-to-the-finish/

 

[starrynight]

Does Patrick have an actual coach with him on a day to day basis or is it all long-distance? The article kind of talks around that a fair bit.

 

[Japanfan]

https://bevsmithwrites.wordpress.com/2018/01/06/patrick-chan-pulling-himself-to-the-finish/

Does Patrick have an actual coach with him on a day to day basis or is it all long-distance? The article kind of talks around that a fair bit.

He's living here, and Ravi is in Edmonton, so I assume it's occasional training and long distance. And according to the article, Kaetlyn is Ravi's priority.

Walia will be the coach that stands by the boards with him at the Olympics. But Walia’s first priority is world silver medalist Kaetlyn Osmond. If there is a conflict, then his mentor from the Detroit club, Oleg Epstein, will stand with Chan by the boards.

Anyone heard of Anna Aylwin?

His new trainer, Anna Aylwin is just over the Rockies in Calgary, working at the Canadian Sports Institute in Calgary. She’s a specialist in strength and sport physiology.

I thought Patrick was a bit defensive in the interview, which is not uncommon for him. I find the following to be a bit concerning.

For now, Chan feels motivated, if not inspired. “I feel a push to keep striving, whether it’s a good day or a bad day,” he said. “I always see the light at the end of the tunnel lately and I was missing that. The light thinned quite a bit when I was in Michigan.”

Patrick let the last two Olympics get to his nerves, and it was his undoing in Sochi.

I think his plan to skate within his limits is the best strategy. I just want Patrick to skate as only Patrick can, and skate two clean, beautiful programs that he will always take pride in. A medal doesn't matter this Olympics, though it would be awesome if he could keep his eye on the prize of helping Canada to win gold in the team event. It's going to be an exciting contest between Canada, the U.S. and Russia.

In my view, Patrick's need to change coaches and training environments may reflect boredom with the training process itself. I don't think Patrick thrives on competition. So it's not surprising that he usually does well at Nationals, where he doesn't have anyone to contend with for gold.

He just has to hang on for one more big competition, and then he's done.

 

[Seerek]

After what happened at U.S. Nats, I wanted to know if anyone other than Reynolds and Sadovsky have any of SC's "body of work" criteria (if it's going to come down to that)?

(I'm referring specifically to the second spot).

 

[WildRose]

Does Patrick have an actual coach with him on a day to day basis or is it all long-distance? The article kind of talks around that a fair bit.

No, he does not have an actual coach. He is apparently consulting various experts now and then.

 

[luckiest1]

After what happened at U.S. Nats, I wanted to know if anyone other than Reynolds and Sadovsky have any of SC's "body of work" criteria (if it's going to come down to that)?

For that matter, what is Skate Canada's "body of work" criteria? Is it the same as USFSA?

 

[danafan]

https://info.skatecanada.ca/index.p...-olympic-winter-games-selection-criteria.html

 

[Erin]

For that matter, what is Skate Canada's "body of work" criteria? Is it the same as USFSA?

https://info.skatecanada.ca/index.p...-olympic-winter-games-selection-criteria.html

The HPDC will exercise discretion with regard to the relative weight and priority of the Selection Criteria as well as other relevant factors deemed appropriate in their decision making process and will take into account, in no specific order, the following criteria:

• Medalist at the 2016, and/or the 2017 ISU World Figure Skating Championships
• Placement at the 2018 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships
• Top 10 placement at the 2016 and/or 2017 ISU World Figure Skating Championships
• Top 6 placement at the 2016 and/or 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
• Qualifying for the 2015/2016, 2016/2017, and/or 2017/2018 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and/or the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final
• Other relevant criteria deemed appropriate for selection

Looking at the men:

• Patrick has top 10 placements at the last 2016 and 2017 Worlds, top 6 placements at 2016 and 2017 4CCs and qualification for 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 GPF.
• Kevin has a top 10 placement at 2017 Worlds
• Roman has a JPGPF qualification from 2015-16

That's it. So I'd say Patrick has a pretty good case, regardless what of what happens in Vancouver. That said, I expect him to skate well there, as he typically does at Canadians. Thus giving us false hope.

As for the rest of the men, I don't think Kevin's top 10 at Worlds would be enough to be outweighed by anyone else's placement at 2018 Canadians, especially when you consider the rest of his season. He needs to finish second of the age-eligible men who have the minimum score to go. Sadovsky's JGPF qualification is irrelevant if you ask me (I do find it interesting that qualifying for the JGPF matters but not a Junior World medal, so Nadeau gets no credit for that). The rest of the men haven't done anything in particular to distinguish themselves in the area of "Other relevant criteria" either.

Since placement at 2018 Canadians is one of the criteria, I'm sure it will be weighted heavily. As in, the only criteria for spot #2.

 

[luckiest1]

They'll send Patrick, no questions asked. "Other relevant criteria deemed appropriate for selection" may come into play, depending on what happens, i.e. Junior World medals, placements and scores at 2016/2017 Grand Prix or Challenger events.

 

[Erin]

To be honest, I don't really think Nic's junior world medal from 2 years ago is relevant either. It just struck me as a weird design of the criteria that qualification for the JGPF is better than a Jr. World medal.

I think the "Other relevant criteria" is why Kevin's top 10 from last year and Roman's JGPF are basically nullified though.

 

[Rock2]

Wow, Skate Canada really digs back deep into the whole cycle. Great for athletes who are older and have had that many chances.

The spirit of the criteria is admirable but at the end of the day they are a joke. It's all a smoke screen for the federation to choose who they think will perform best in Korea vs necessarily rewarding who skated for the opportunity. US men is a glaring example of this where we can really see how little value the National trials can have if the federation wishes to go in that direction.

With all that said, I suspect SC has firm eye on team gold. To get there we will send the man who we think can score the highest in the LP as I'm sure it won't be Patrick skating it. Tough call since pretty much all our men tried their best to avoid consideration for the team. My expectation is that the federation will look for every reason to send Kevin. If he doesn't go, it's because someone else really crushes it with at least two quads/175+ in the free AND Kevin skates as he has all year. Crap. Otherwise, almost a done deal, IMHO.

 

[nlyoung]

I think there is a very good chance Patrick will skate the long program. Unlike last time he really doesn't have a great shot at an individual medal, but can help in the quest for team gold. Without a reliable second man to take his place they really can't risk it.