ISU Grand Prix Assignments 2017/18 Olympic season

[Catherine M]

Keegan Messing's short program is my favorite of the season and I loved seeing it live last week in Regina. Glad to see him get the chance to go back out on the GP and hopefully his free will go better this time.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Patrick Chan is out of NHK Trophy. Keegan Messing has been given the spot.

http://www.isu.org/docman-documents...gp-6/series-files-10/entries/7516-gp-men/file

Wow, talk about fast notice for KM

Do we know what happened to PC?

 

[Skate Talker]

Do we know what happened to PC?

I think we pretty much all saw what happened to PC ....

 

[aftershocks]

Good luck to Keegan! I hope he makes the most of the opportunity.

 

[misskarne]

Darn, I was hoping Brendan would pick that one up. I thought Messing had another one on his own. But I can't argue with that, I guess.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I think we pretty much all saw what happened to PC ....

So if there no chance to making the GP final then just withdraw?

I mean theres no immediate injuries right?

 

[JasperBoy]

I suspect the PTB at SC had something to do with PCs withdrawal. That circular firing squad meeting in the corridor in Regina looked pretty serious.

 

[aftershocks]

I suspect the PTB at SC had something to do with PCs withdrawal. That circular firing squad meeting in the corridor in Regina looked pretty serious.

Circular firing squad meeting.

Surely SC is going to at least want Patrick to regroup and help them out at the Olympics for the team event, no? Is that what the firing squad was about? If Patrick doesn't get himself a bit more inspired and motivated and accepting of the lay of the land, he won't be much help. But if nothing else, SC will want his stature and rep. So again, maybe that's why the ultimatum/firing squad session so he maybe can take some time out to get whipped into fighting shape especially mentally for the Olympics?

 

[Skate Talker]

My guess is actually that Patrick wanted out of the assignment. Chan is known not to like to travel outside North America for these events and without the goal of the GPF would be seriously un-motivated, as if he wasn't already that way inclined. This is reminiscent of Kwan not wanting to do anything but Skate America but then she accidentally qualified for the GPF anyway. No worries about that for Chan.

I would think Skate Canada would be in two minds about it - send him and risk even further damage to his reputation with another bomb, or get him out there for more experience this short year before the Olympics. One of Patrick's comments afterward had to do with how Skate Canada was his first competition this year, the implication being he didn't really expect more from himself for a first go at it. So how he expects to iron things out by avoiding NHK to me is all part of his perhaps subconscious plan to have some ready excuses for later.

 

[tony]

Patrick's comments in the kiss and cry sounded like it was going to be a difficult task to even get through this entire season.

While Canada is a favorite for gold in the Team Event, a final 5 of Russia, USA, China, Japan, and Canada (which seems likely at this point), could mean that Chan was going to likely finish in 4th or even 5th place anyways in the LP if the other teams send their best skaters. So not so many points lost there.

 

[wickedwitch]

While Canada is a favorite for gold in the Team Event, a final 5 of Russia, USA, China, Japan, and Canada (which seems likely at this point), could mean that Chan was going to likely finish in 4th or even 5th place anyways in the LP if the other teams send their best skaters. So not so many points lost there.

With Chan struggling, and Kolyada's rise, I think Russia may have retaken the lead as favorite. I also expect Italy to place over Japan and make the final.

 

[Jammers]

With Chan struggling, and Kolyada's rise, I think Russia may have retaken the lead as favorite. I also expect Italy to place over Japan and make the final.

I agree. Canada seemed to be the slight favorite heading into Sochi also until Plushenko came along and changed everything. Ironically Canada is much more competitive in Ladies now compared to Sochi but Men's is a weakness now and Pairs which was another advantage a year ago is gone.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

This is reminiscent of Kwan not wanting to do anything but Skate America but then she accidentally qualified for the GPF anyway.

You mean where she qualified to the Final with only 1 GP assignment? Ahhhhhhh, those were some days!

@JasperBoy what means PTB?

 

[JasperBoy]

Powers That Be.

 

[Fiero425]

My guess is actually that Patrick wanted out of the assignment. Chan is known not to like to travel outside North America for these events and without the goal of the GPF would be seriously un-motivated, as if he wasn't already that way inclined. This is reminiscent of Kwan not wanting to do anything but Skate America but then she accidentally qualified for the GPF anyway. No worries about that for Chan.

I would think Skate Canada would be in two minds about it - send him and risk even further damage to his reputation with another bomb, or get him out there for more experience this short year before the Olympics. One of Patrick's comments afterward had to do with how Skate Canada was his first competition this year, the implication being he didn't really expect more from himself for a first go at it. So how he expects to iron things out by avoiding NHK to me is all part of his perhaps subconscious plan to have some ready excuses for later.

I never knew Kwan had an aversion to going abroad! As far as I can remember she skated both SA & SC and qualified for the final at least a half dozen times; most going down to Irina Slutskaya! It was a tougher event back then with 3 programs performed; 1 SP & 2 LP's! The skaters usually used the previous season's program due to that extra performance needed to win the gold! This was my favorite event for that reason! I guess the skaters thought it was stupid and they finally dropped a LP!

 

[alchemy void]

It was a tougher event back then with 3 programs performed; 1 SP & 2 LP's! The skaters usually used the previous season's program due to that extra performance needed to win the gold! This was my favorite event for that reason! I guess the skaters thought it was stupid and they finally dropped a LP!

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the one and only person who misses the 2 long program Grand Prix "super final" format.

 

[tony]

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the one and only person who misses the 2 long program Grand Prix "super final" format.

It was incredibly stupid. We usually saw repeat LP's that skaters had the season or two before, and it was clear it had barely been trained (there were exceptions such as Kwan's Miraculous Mandarin and Slutskaya's Don Quixote actually being debuted at the event and not used again until the next season). At one point, the event schedule was also SP and LP1 both in one day, with about 6 hours in between IIRC. And the 'Super Final' where it was 1 vs. 2 and 3 vs. 4 - skaters were limited to only those positions even if the skater in 4th place going in happened to have the best skate that night.

Definitely one of the worst ISU ideas ever.

 

[Fiero425]

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the one and only person who misses the 2 long program Grand Prix "super final" format.

Well I usually liked the programs from the previous season of the top skaters! Come on; we're talking an extra 4-5 min. on the ice! Figure skaters are accustomed to being abused; esp. at the Olympics where it's one "command performance" after another! They were actually traveling over the different islands in Japan when the event was set in Nagano in '98! It seemed like every time I surfed, the skaters were performing again; not repeats of the telecast! Have we forgotten "qualifying?" At Worlds that performance can determine if you even skate in the event! Exhibitions can be just as stressful if not more because they're holding back on the "technical" to stay upright, but accidents will happen even on the simplest of elements! An extra LP shouldn't be that big a deal!

 

[Fiero425]

It was incredibly stupid. We usually saw repeat LP's that skaters had the season or two before, and it was clear it had barely been trained (there were exceptions such as Kwan's Miraculous Mandarin and Slutskaya's Don Quixote actually being debuted at the event and not used again until the next season). At one point, the event schedule was also SP and LP1 both in one day, with about 6 hours in between IIRC. And the 'Super Final' where it was 1 vs. 2 and 3 vs. 4 - skaters were limited to only those positions even if the skater in 4th place going in happened to have the best skate that night.

Definitely one of the worst ISU ideas ever.

You're taking me back 20 years! Those were the days; prime time competitions on Fox with Pro events over the weekend like "Ice Wars!"

 

[tony]

Well I usually liked the programs from the previous season of the top skaters! Come on; we're talking an extra 4-5 min. on the ice! Figure skaters are accustomed to being abused; esp. at the Olympics where it's one "command performance" after another! Exhibitions can be just as stressful if not more because they're holding back on the "technical" to stay upright, but accidents will happen even on the simplest of elements! An extra LP shouldn't be that big a deal!

The difference at the Olympics is that the skaters usually have a day in between their events. This switched with Sochi IIRC but in the past, there had (almost) always been a day in between the short and long programs.

But it's not just that. You could tell the programs weren't nearly as trained as they needed to be in some cases. Take Malinina's Aladdin that she brought back after 3 years in 2002. She found out at the very final regular season GP that she was going to make the Final, and I'm pretty sure it was maybe 2 weeks later. A LOT of the performances in the LP1 and LP2 were way below any decent standard. On the other hand, it did create the battle between Yagudin and Plushenko before the 2002 Olympics and that was one of the most exciting and intense free skate broadcasts I've ever seen. But it was bad more than it was good

 

[Fiero425]

The difference at the Olympics is that the skaters usually have a day in between their events. This switched with Sochi IIRC but in the past, there had (almost) always been a day in between the short and long programs.

But it's not just that. You could tell the programs weren't nearly as trained as they needed to be in some cases. Take Malinina's Aladdin that she brought back after 3 years in 2002. She found out at the very final regular season GP that she was going to make the Final, and I'm pretty sure it was maybe 2 weeks later. A LOT of the performances in the LP1 and LP2 were way below any decent standard. On the other hand, it did create the battle between Yagudin and Plushenko before the 2002 Olympics and that was one of the most exciting and intense free skate broadcasts I've ever seen. But it was bad more than it was good

I remember that! Malinina along with other skaters tended to be under-marked at times! Tech. she surpassed Kwan, but they just couldn't give it to her! Figure skating will be an absolute criminal enterprise until the human element is eliminated! I thought shady scoring would stop with this new system, but it's still as corrupt! I was looking forward to Evgeny cleaning up that "Circ" performance at the Olympics, but he switched to Carmen which is one of my least fave since so many people do it in all the skating disciplines! Mishon gave Carmen to Yagudin years ago taking World Bronze medal in '97 IIRC!

 

[Skate Talker]

Ina & Zimmerman totally worked the rules at the 2-Free-Program GPF when they skated a virtually identical program to a different orchestration of the same piece of music. How boring was that, but apparently met the letter of the law.

 

[Fiero425]

Ina & Zimmerman totally worked the rules at the 2-Free-Program GPF when they skated a virtually identical program to a different orchestration of the same piece of music. How boring was that, but apparently met the letter of the law.

He was one gorgeous man! He could do whatever he liked as long as I can look upon him performing!

 

[DreamSkates]

@LilJen, Farris' name was listed "(w/d, 10/3)" [October 3] from NHK Trophy on USFS' International Assignments page. There has been no press release or public announcement.

His withdrawal was noted in this thread back on Sept. 24: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...-18-olympic-season.101315/page-9#post-5138055

Sad, but he is likely not able to continue skating at a competitive level due to his previous injuries. Hopefully he will continue with skating - coaching? I saw his SP and LP nationals programs in person when he won bronze, just breath taking. Haven't seen anything like it since.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Does anyone know why Li was pulled from CoC???? She's still listed for France...

I feel like she's always getting pulled, added back in, pulled again......

 

[Sylvia]

Does anyone know why Li was pulled from CoC???? She's still listed for France...

I posted an article in the Chinese news thread in which Hongbo Zhao mentioned Zijun Li was injured but gave no specifics: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ad-to-beijing-2022.100886/page-6#post-5176308

Kazuki Tomono (he was 5th in his ISU Challenger/senior international debut in SLC) has replaced Daisuke Murakami at NHK Trophy: http://www.isu.org/docman-documents...gp-6/series-files-10/entries/7516-gp-men/file
ETA from the NHK Trophy subforum in Kiss & Cry:

Murakami has acute pneumonia.
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20171106/k00/00e/050/204000c

Very tough break for Murakami as this was his only GP.

 

[Sylvia]

Not unexpectedly, Zijun Li's name has been crossed out of France as of today: http://www.isu.org/docman-documents...series-files-10/entries/7515-gp-ladies-1/file

 

[Coco]

Poor kid, I wonder if we'll see her again. I can't remember how many spots China has.

 

[Sylvia]

China has one ladies' spot for the Olympics: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-11/03/c_136726675.htm

Marissa Castelli/Mervin Tran have replaced Duskova/Bidar in France: http://www.isu.org/docman-documents...-6/series-files-10/entries/7517-gp-pairs/file

Happy for M&M!

 

[mattiecat13]

Does the North Korean pair team have any international/GP assignments?