2012 Skate Canada Preview

As Skate Canada gears up for events starting on Friday, my skating-obsessed head wonders things such as the following with regards to its most prominent competitors:

FOR THE MEN:

Will Patrick Chan get his groove back—and by “groove,” I mean to fall only 2 or 3 times in the free skate (as opposed to 4 times at the Japan Open) and still win on his PCS scores?

Will Nobunari Oda bring some of that early-season fire he’s become known for?

Will the steadily improving Ten (as in Denis, not Jeremy) make a mark?

Will Javier Fernandez have enough stamina to make his FS as captivating as his SP?

Will Ross Miner land his quad salchow?

FOR THE LADIES:

Will Kaetlyn Osmond make a big a splash here, in her senior GP debut, as she did at Nebelhorn Trophy a few weeks ago?

Now that she’s a few years older, will Kanako Murakami continue to be able to distinguish herself from the ever-growing field of uber-talented Japanese athletes?

Is reigning World Bronze Medalist Akiko Suzuki the favorite at SKCAN? Or is it Russian phenom Liza Tuktamysheva (who won this event last year)? And how will both ladies respond to the pressure?

Is Gracie Gold (like Osmond, also in her senior GP debut) as much a contender as any of them?

FOR THE PAIRS (of which only 7 teams will compete; Kemp/King have withdrawn due to injury):

Can anyone come close to Savchenko/Szolkowy?

Will anyone get a better ovation than Canadian faves Duhamel/Radford (another team enjoying slow, steady, solid improvement)?

Will the bronze medal be a toss-up between Berton/Hotarek, Lawrence/Swiegers, or Americans Vise/Baldwin?

FOR ICE DANCE:

How will I feel about hearing Carmen for the bajillionth time once Virtue/Moir take the ice?

Are Cappellini/Lanotte as logical a guess for silver here as I think they are?

Will Gilles/Poirier light it up at SKCAN as much as I think they’re capable of?

So... what are YOU wondering about? If it’s “Where can we watch it if we don’t get Universal Sports, don’t want to wait a week for Ice Network coverage, and am currently trapped under a fallen piece of furniture and can’t access You Tube for a while?”, well... see if you can reach your TV remote, because NBC is scheduled to have coverage from 2-4PM Eastern this Sunday.

For any other “wonderings,” be sure to leave a comment!