Rostelecom Cup 2012 Preview

Rostelecom Cup 2012 is here, so I’ve been doing some more wondering... hmm...

Will anyone new be able to upset Patrick Chan? (Um, Takahito Kozuka? I’m looking at you)

Can Artur Gachinski relocate some of the form that put him on the World podium in 2011?

Will Richard Dornbush make the most of his GP shot? (a somewhat controversial one, considering he finished well out of the Top 10 at last season’s Nationals)

Just how long will the ovations last when adopted native son/comeback kid Johnny Weir begins and ends his programs?

Will a veteran like Kiira Korpi be able to outskate a young’un like Adelina Sotnikova?

Which Alena Leonova will show up on home ice—the one who claimed silver at Worlds, or the one who sank to 7^th at Skate America last month?

Will Gracie Gold, Caroline Zhang, or Agnes Zawadzki be able to light up the rink in November the way they’ve been prone to save until January?

Will Volosozhar/Trankov push themselves to be “great” when they can probably win this event by only being “pretty good?”

Is there any chance that Denney/Coughlin might win silver over Bazarova/Larionov?

Will the Russian team of Martieusheva/Rogonov make a bigger mark here than they did three years ago (when they finished 7^th in their only other GP appearance to date)?

Will Virtue/Moir be able to sell me any further on their retelling of Carmen?

Can the Shib Sibs make the transition from ballroom to... well, whatever “room” Memoirs of a Geisha finds itself in?

Will Ilinykh/Katsalapov turn more heads than usual with a free dance to music from The Ghost.

Can Coomes/Buckland upset for a medal?

And here’s some info to get you going...

Friday Competition Schedule (All times Eastern)

Ladies – 6 a.m.

Gracie Gold – 6:07 a.m.

Caroline Zhang – 6:14 a.m.

Agnes Zawadzki – 6:27 a.m.

Pairs – 7:40 a.m.

Tiffany Vise and Don Baldwin – 8:00 a.m.

Caydee Denney and John Coughlin – 8:14 a.m.

Men’s – 10 a.m.

Johnny Weir – 10:07 a.m.

Richard Dornbush – 10:20 a.m.

Ice Dancing – 11:40 a.m.

Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani – 12:33 p.m.

And... NBC will broadcast Rostelecom Cup coverage of the ladies and men's free skates from 4-6 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Nov. 11.