2011 Skate Canada Preview

Here’s what’s on the Skate Canada tap this weekend…

On Ice Network.com (subscription required):

Friday, Oct. 28
2:05 p.m.: Ladies short program
3:45 p.m.: Pairs short program
7:30 p.m.: Men's short program
9:10 p.m.: Short dance

Saturday, Oct. 29
2:15 p.m.: Ladies free skate
4:15 p.m.: Pairs free skate
7:10 p.m.: Men's free skate

Sunday, Oct. 30
12:30 p.m.: Free dance

On Universal Sports (available over-the-air or via dish/satellite, depending on where you live):

Saturday, Oct. 29
4:00 p.m. Pairs free skate
7:00 p.m. Men’s free skate

Sunday, Oct. 30
12:30 p.m.: Free dance

NOTE: The Ladies free skate will not air until NBC shows it NEXT Saturday (November 5).

As I mentioned last week, I’m going a slightly different route this year with the previews… no medals predictions, but some stuff of note nonetheless:

SK8CAN MEN—

Replacements from original lineup: All original invitees are here; the TBD for Canada is Elladj Balde
Top 5 guess in alphabetical order: Patrick Chan, Javier Fernandez, Adam Rippon, Daisuke Takahashi, Denis Ten
Dark Horses: Tough to say; from bronze medal down it appears wide open. Maybe Ross Miner or Alban Preaubert?
Has a quad, or quads: Chan (2 of them), Takahashi, Fernandez, Ten
Has a quad maybe: Rippon (he is reportedly trying his quad lutz here), all other competitors of whom I know far too little about
Senior GP Debut: Andrei Rogozine, Balde, Alexander Majorov
Favorite: Chan. Maybe co-faves with Dice-K, but on home ice? Chan.
Other: Despite all the debuts of recent junior competitors here, the youngest of the bunch is 18 year-old Denis Ten (born June 1993).


LADIES—

Replacements from original lineup: All original invitees are here; the TBD for Canada is Adriana DeSanctis
Top 5 guess in alphabetical order: Rachael Flatt, Mirai Nagasu, Cynthia Phaneuf, Akiko Suzuki, Elizaveta Tutamysheva
Dark Horses: Alena Leonova, Amelie Lacoste, Ashley Wagner
Who might have a 3/3 (triple/triple): Nagasu, Tutamysheva, Sarah Hecken
Senior GP Debut: DeSanctis, Tutamysheva
Favorite: I’d say Phaneuf, except she crashed last year (1st in SP, off the podium in the end) and even said she probably shouldn’t compete at this event anymore…so IF there’s a favorite aside from the home-country variety, I think it might be Nagasu.
Other: Tutamysheva (aka “Liza”) is most likely the youngest here, not turning 15 until this December.

PAIRS—
Replacements from original lineup: None… Jessica Dube and (new partner) Sebastien Wolfe are Canada’s TBD.
Top 4 guess in alphabetical order: Iliusheckina/Maisuradze, Lawrence/Swiegers, Sui/Han, Volosozhar/Trankov
Dark Horse: Duhamel/Radford
Senior GP Debut: Yu/Jin, Dube/Wolfe, Volosozhar/Trankov
Favorite: Volosozhar/Trankov
Other…: Take note, US readers… no American teams in this event.


DANCE—

Replacements from original lineup: Lucie Mysliveckova and Matej Novak (CZE) are out; Madison Chock and Evan Bates take their place. Tarrah Harvey/Keith Gagnon are the Canadian TBD’s.
Top 4 guess in alphabetical order: Cappellini/Lanotte, Riazanova/Tkachenko,
Virtue/Moir, Weaver/Poje
Dark Horse: Chock/Bates, Riazanova/Tkachenko
Senior GP Debut: Harvey/Gagnon, Pushkash/Guerrero, Chock/Bates
Favorite: Gotta be Virtue/Moir
Other…: Pechalat/Bourzat were originally scheduled to compete here, but Bourzat has been battling bronchitis… they’ve consequentially withdrawn.

Stay tuned for results & (my version of) analysis... as soon as I can get it posted! (Even if "soon" turns out to be Monday or Tuesday as it often does!)