What's Left After Lethbridge: Skate Canada 2015 in Review (Ladies/Pairs)

Skate Canada International is in the books for 2015, with Canada taking three of four available titles and four medals in all. It was a competition with, perhaps, more than its share of surprises due to equal parts comeback misfires and what-just-happened? moments... and in some cases, a little of each. Here’s what caught my attention with regards to ladies and pairs:

NOTEWORTHY PAIRS:

+  I got a whopping FOUR of 12 predictions right this time—a slight upgrade from being 3-for-12 at Skate America last week—and one of them was Duhamel/Radford for gold. But it’s hard to imagine anyone predicting anything else... at this event at least, there was D/R and then there was the rest of the pack. Even at less than their best—and they were surely that, with at least one subpar SBS 3lutz and an imperfect SBS 3Toe combo—they proved majestic and unbeatable.

+ Unfortunately, my pick for bronze (Marchei/Hotarek) became more noteworthy when they withdrew from the event, apparently because Hotarek had suffered a concussion in practice that “got worse” after the SP. As you might know, this is at least the third concussion suffered this season by a big-leagues skater; reigning World Champ ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis and Team USA’s Josh Farris were the first two. I can’t help but wonder if the new attention given to head injuries (thanks, American football!) has raised awareness across the board for sports... or is there just a lot more head-banging going on lately?

+ The journey continues (pun intended) for USA’s Castelli/Tran in their second season together, and it appears to be making them stronger. In fact, they were neck-and-neck at SkCAN with another sophomore-season team (Canada’s Moore-Towers/Marinaro), with the latter edging the former for bronze by less than two points.

+  Honorable mention to Russia’s Bazarova/Deputat—not for their placement (a distant 5^th to Cas/Tran’s 4^th) or Bazarova’s costume, which looked more like it came from the set of The Dukes of Hazard than the Beatles era from which their music hailed. No, the “honor” came in Deputat’s nose getting bloodied during the FS, presumably from a collision with Bazarova mid-program. Last time I saw that happen was at a GP event (maybe this one?) during an early season of the Duhamel/Radford partnership. I’m guessing that’s way, way in the past for them now.

NOTEWORTHY LADIES...

+  What an up & down weekend for the dozen that turned up in Canada! I’ll start near the top of the final standings with Liza T (Elizaveta Tuktamysheva), who overcame a circa 2013 GP performance in the short program (a.k.a. the season she finished 10^th at Russian Nats) to win the free skate and finish with the silver medal.

+  But she was hardly the only one on a performance roller coaster. Also with weak SPs and much stronger free skates were Canada’s Gabrielle Daleman (5^th overall) and Kazakhstan’s Elizabet Turnsynbaeva (7^th overall)... while the reverse was true for Japan newcomer Yuka Nagai (bronze overall) and Sweden’s Joshi Helgesson (9^th overall).

+  YIKES, and maybe a sympathetic pint of Haagen-Daz,  is about all I can offer for Kaetlyn Osmond’s rough return to the GP circuit. She got it started after having sustained some sort of ankle injury in practice last week, then fell no less than seven time (2 in SP, 5 in FS) combined to put her in second-to-last place overall. She was spared from the bottom spot mostly because her first two jumping passes in the SP—prior to the literal gut-punch of that death-drop crash—were superb.

+  Given all the above, the number of consistent-between-both-programs ladies—for better or worse—was relatively small. But you know which lady wasn’t anything but up up UP all weekend, right? That would be Ashley Wagner, who exceeded even my silver-medal expectations with back-to-back great skates, winning her fourth GP gold medal (and fifteenth GP medal overall) in the process. Take note, especially, of her new “Hip Hip, Chin Chin” SP. I know it’s early, but there are certain short programs that stand out all season long (think Javier Fernandez’s “Black Betty” from last year). I call them “IT” programs, and Wagner is on it for sure. Can you think of others (from this current season) that you’d put on such a list?

+  Finally, a little note about Polina Edmunds, who skated consistently enough but finished a disappointing 6^th... I know her technical score on both performances was brought down some degree by UR (underrotation) calls on many of her jumps, but as I understand it she received zero points on one of her SP spins because the judges claimed she did not hit a low enough “sit” position?? I took another look, and still this decision surprises me. I assume this might be something that has changed, ever-so-slightly, for her as she’s gotten older... and taller. But how bewildering it must be for Edmunds to know that, on top of all else, she may need to adjust a spin she’s been doing “correctly” for more than a decade? Tweak the jumping technique, yes. But spins? We’ll see how much things change for her by the time Rostelecom Cup (her next event) rolls around.

Men and dance wrap-up will follow soon!

2015 Skate Canada International Preview/Predictions

I was only 3 for 12 with my Skate America podium predictions—let’s see if I can do any better this week when the Grand Prix parade moves to Lethbridge (Alberta) for SKATE CANADA INTERNATIONAL!!

(First, here’s when to watch it on IceNetwork...

As well as Universal Sports and NBC...)

DANCE

CONTENDERS: Weaver/Poje, Bobrova/Soloviev, Monko/Khaliavin, Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen, Shibutanis

GOLD: Weaver/Poje

SILVER: Shibutanis

BRONZE: Monko/Khaliavin

DARK HORSE: Bobrova/Soloviev

Weaver/Poje have competed at SkCAN five times so far, have medaled four of those times, finally winning in 2014. They missed the mark at Worlds, but they won’t miss it here. Be on the lookout for the Shib Sibs’ FD to Coldplay’s “Fix You”. My initial take? It’s good, but I look forward to it getting even better as the season rolls out.

I have Bob/Solo as my DH but they’re really more of a wild card, given that they haven’t competed at ANY major event since Sochi.

LADIES

CONTENDERS: Kaetlyn Osmond, Elizabet Tursynbaeva, Alena Leonova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Polina Edmunds, Ashley Wagner

GOLD: Tuktamysheva

SILVER: Wagner

BRONZE: Osmond

DARK HORSE: Edmunds

World Champ Liza T. is here, but for me, the bigger story is the return of Kaetlyn O. (as in Osmond). She missed last season due to a broken leg, but also withdrew from both her GP events in 2013 because of a torn hamstring... so barring any new injuries, this will actually be her first full GP appearance aside from the 2012 edition of SkCAN (where she emerged with the win). I anticipate her doing well here, but also think adrenaline and excitement might lead to a few mistakes—which is why I put Wagner ahead of her.

But I’m keeping an eye on Edmunds, who is capable of pulling down some HUGE technical scores thanks to her ample arsenal of 3-3 combos.

PAIRS

CONTENDERS: Duhamel/Radford, Moore-Towers/Marinaro, Marchei/Hotarek, Tarasova/Morozov

GOLD: Duhamel/Radford

SILVER: Tarasova/Morozov

BRONZE: Marchei/Hotarek

DARK HORSE: Moore-Towers/Marinaro

Can anyone beat Duhamel/Radford these days?? Yeah, sure, I can think of a few possibilities. But whoever it is, they won’t be competing at SkCAN this year.

USA Alert: Marissa Castelli/Marvin Tran will make their GP debut here. Castelli used to pair with Simon Shnapir; Tran is a veteran Canadian pairs skater who won Worlds bronze representing Japan... then represented Canada for a year... and now reps the U.S. but is competing in Canada. For the United States. Got all that?

MEN

CONTENDERS: Patrick Chan, Nam Nguyen, Yuzuru Hanyu, Daisuke Murakami, Alexander Petrov, Adam Rippon

GOLD: Hanyu

SILVER: Chan

BRONZE: Rippon

DARK HORSE: Nguyen

It’s the headliner! The great re-match! The Thrilla in... Alberta? Whatever you call it, Chan vs. Hanyu starts all over again here at SkCAN, and it’s what everyone wants to talk about... with good reason. Hanyu’s healthy again after a rough 2014-15 season. Chan’s back after taking a year off to reflect on life post-Sochi Silver. Who will prevail? Who???

Here’s what I know: I can’t recall the last time I saw Hanyu skate a clean FS (though he often wins anyway). I don’t recall SkCAN going balls-to-the-wall fantastic for Chan in any particular circumstance (though he’s won this event four times). Both would get outrageous component scores even if they just stood on the ice reading the side of a box of Apple Jacks. BUT... Hanyu’s training 2 quads, and Chan’s only training one. Advantage Hanyu? We shall see.

This is a tough one to predict for bronze too. I had Nguyen in there until I saw his unusually rough FS at the Autumn Classic a few weeks ago (though he still managed silver behind Hanyu). As young as he is, and as fresh as THAT is... well, that’s part of why I decided to go with Rippon. It’s also because Rippon’s Beatle-icious FS is really, really good. (So is his Queen SP—we’ll have to see what happens with his quad lutz, though.)

USA Alert: Timothy Dolensky (who finished 14^th at Nationals) is Rippon’s teammate at this event; he replaces Joshua Farris, who was sidelined with a concussion.

What do YOU think about Hanyu vs. Chan... or any other aspect of this event?

If you’re watching online, follow me at @KLBSt8ofSk8... or follow the event in general at #SCI15 ! 

Beer, Brats & Skate America: A Milwaukee Roundup (Dance & Men)

MORE ABOUT LAST WEEKEND'S SKATE AMERICA...

NOTEWORTHY DANCE:

+      According to the total scores at the most recent Worlds (if not a consensus of skating fans), less than five points separates the reigning gold medalists, Papadakis/Cizeron of France, from reigning bronze (Canada’s Weaver/Poje). In between the two are Chock/Bates, who won this event last season with scores remarkably similar to what they won with this time (70.56 for the SD; 102.66 for the FD)... though most I heard from agree that C/B continues to grow and refine themselves as a team in this, their fifth season together. Incidentally, this current FD (to Rachmaninoff selections) is their first time using classical music since going with Chopin in their initial season.

+      What a difference a season makes for Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov! Last fall they were a newly-minted, post-Sochi dance team that was still finding its feet. They fared so badly at one event—NHK Trophy—that Katsalapov, a reigning Olympic Bronze Medalist (with Elena Ilinykh), had the dubious honor of receiving the lowest free dance technical score of any team in the GP series that season. But he and Sinitsina made dim memories of all that with last weekend’s performances (particularly with their “Io Ci Saro” FD). Yes, they were still a good 11 points behind Chock/Bates; nonetheless, silver had to look pretty fine overall.

+      Meanwhile, Canada’s Gilles/Poirier—who did no worse than 2^nd at the GP events last year—had to settle for bronze behind the Most Improved Russians. As firmly as C/P is now embracing the quirk in each and every program, I have to wonder if they will find themselves “settling” (and thinking they deserved better) more and more often. Quirky ice dance history suggests the odds lean towards that conclusion... but I DO hope they keep it up, as I enjoy them most of the time.* *Except for their Sgt. Pepper-inspired SD costumes—yikes. Keep it on the album cover, kids.

+      A very Honorable Mention to the two other U.S. dance teams at SkAM, both of whom, interestingly enough, are doing FDs this year that pay tribute to famous men as they become afflicted with hearing loss (Beethoven, for Cannuscio/McManus) and ALS (Stephen Hawking, for Hawayek/Baker).

NOTEWORTHY MEN:

+      MAX! There probably hasn’t been this much attention on Max Aaron since he won his “surprise” U.S. title in 2013. Back then, it was for marvelous quad jumps and the fact that he had one or two of them and no other American man really did (at least, not as consistently). As for now... remember when Peggy Fleming routinely cited a couple of skaters each season, saying “And this is what ____ has really been working on this year... the artistic side...”? Well, it applies exponentially to Aaron from what I’ve heard—and now seen. John Curry he may never be, but Aaron’s own brand of artistry is really starting to come through. Hopefully that gold medal he earned last weekend is also providing a much-needed sense of validation. We’ll see how it goes when he competes at TEB in a few weeks.

+      UNO! He has the power of Hanyu, the knees of Oda, the emerging style of Takahashi... or is it the power of Takahashi, the grace of Hanyu... ah, whatever. He’s seventeen. SEVENTEEN! With (hopefully) miles to go until his skating career sleeps, so he can take his time emerging as whatever kind of athlete he wishes to be. For now, silver at his GP debut is a pretty good start.

+      BROWN! I predicted him for bronze, but wasn’t sure he’d finish anywhere near it after seeing his 8^th place SP. Kind of a mixed bag for him here... yes, his components/artistry are everything we’re coming to expect, but the slip in jump consistency is a little concerning, considering he’s at a disadvantage. Yes, he’s getting closer on his quad-in-competition, but in the meantime his absolutely-must-have triple axel (not to mention triple axel/triple toe) still seems shaky half the time. Hopefully Brown’s persistently upbeat nature will keep him moving in the direction he belongs.

+      KERRY! (As in BRENDAN!) You may not have seen much of him before—this was his GP debut. And you may not see much of him again for several months—this was his only GP appearance. But the 20 year-old Australian threw down one of only a few successful quads in the SkAM Men’s free skate, and earned himself an ISU personal best score that was good enough for 8^th overall.

+      TEN?? I didn’t expect Denis Ten to skate well in Milwaukee, but that’s because he never does well in the GP events (with only one GP medal to his name in 7 seasons of competition). What we know now is that he skated with at least one or two injuries, and probably left his FS with at least a few more. He’s already indicated he might scratch from his other GP assignment (TEB); at this point, I’ll be downright alarmed if he does show up.

+n      MINER? AMODIO? Both men have had their moments in the GP sun from time to time—two bronze medals for Ross Miner, two bronzes and a silver for Florent Amodio. Both men are now in their mid-20s. Their respective styles couldn’t be more different, but it’s their technical content—or lack thereof—that they also have in common of late. For Miner (finishing 7^th here), he’s not skating badly per se—but his once semi-reliable quad salchow is AWOL, and he doesn’t have the triple/triples, let alone the Brown-esque artistry, to rise above the pack as he has in the past. As for Amodio (down in 11^th), whose last significant top 5 finishes happened three whole seasons ago—aaugh! Every performance is a technical roller coaster with more plunging lows than hopeful highs, leaving us (and surely him) feeling rattled and asking “what just happened??”

That’s it for Skate America in review... Skate Canada is up next! I’ll bring the preview and predictions sometime before the SPs get underway.

Beer, Brats, & Skate America: A Milwaukee Roundup (Ladies & Pairs)

As a figure skating supporter who lives in the U.S., there’s so much to love when the ISU Grand Prix delivers Skate America: It’s the first “A” event of the season! It features the largest crop of American skaters we’re likely to see until Nationals! It’s right here in the States, so one doesn’t have to alter their sleep habits just to watch it live!

And as with many host countries, the U.S. usually brings in a decent medal haul with its own event—five medals in ’13, five in ’14, and five this year, to be specific with recent showings. Some of those medals were definitely more expected than others. A closer look follows:

NOTEWORTHY PAIRS:

+     I was very impressed with the new U.S. team of Jessica Pfund/Joshua Santillian (finishing 8^th), and not just because they used Sara Bareilles’ stunning ballad “Gravity” for their SP. Put it this way: given that they nailed all their SBS triples in a major competition with a mere three days’ notice, does this mean we should totally re-think the way USFS does pairs GP assignments? Hmmmm...

+     Another U.S. pair, national bronze medalists Tarah Kayne/Daniel O’Shea, had a hot & cold FS (finishing 6^th overall)... but kudos for trying their first-ever throw quad salchow! (As you might guess by their placement, Kayne fell on the under-rotated attempt.)

+      Each discipline at SkAM had unexpected highlights this year; in pairs, it was Canada’s Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau (who won bronze). Just 18 and 20, respectively, SegBilo finished an impressive 8^th at Worlds but were still something of a revelation in their FS to an orchestrated version of Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale”. No quad twists or throw triple axels yet... just great skating and great chemistry!

+      Another unexpected highlight: Wenjing Sui (of Sui/Han)’s angular new haircut—which proved a perfect accessory to their already-impressive Samson & Delilah FS. Sui/Han won easily; one of only three predictions I nailed this time.

+      And while current U.S. champs Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim seemed to buckle under that at-the-top pressure in their Elizabeth: the Golden Age FS, they did have that fab SP (to Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”) which put them on top in the first place... and was largely responsible for them claiming silver when all was said and done.

NOTEWORTHY LADIES:

+      Gracie Gold (winning silver) did a lot better than I thought she would, given the stiff competition she faced from the usual suspects (Russia, Japan) and her own sub-par performance at the Japan Open a few weeks ago. From her Louboutin (black w/peekaboo red) SP dress to the pair of crisp new programs she’s got for this season, Gold looks to be in great shape as she sets out to achieve all those goals mentioned by Terry Gannon and the Shimmer Twins (Tara & Johnny) on NBC: GP Final, re-claiming her U.S. crown, etc. Yes, it’s being said by some that she “gave away” the title by doubling a critical jump in both performances, but until I see this become a reliable habit of hers—think Angela Nikodinov—I’m not fussing about it.

+      I predicted Japan’s Satoko Miyahara to win, but while she was pretty much “on” throughout this event (with two new programs I thoroughly endorse)... but compared with Russia’s latest showstopper (and SkAM gold medalist) Evgenia Medvedeva, Miyahara’s itty-bitty jumps were not nearly as much to sneeze at. Bronze medal it is!

+      Unexpected highlight #1 from the ladies FS came in the form of 4-foot, 7 ½ -inch Elizabet Tursynbaeva (of KAZ), another itty-bitty presence who skated large enough to finish 4^th with her lovely “Papa Can You See Hear Me” FS.

+      Unexpected highlight #2 was Nicole Rajicova, a first-generation American who has been representing her parents’ homeland of Slovakia for several years now. Her SP landed her in last place, but her Dr. Zhivago FS was everything a competitive program should be— content-sturdy, well-paced, elegant, CLEAN (as far as I could tell, anyway), and delivered with a great deal of joy. She finished 5^th in the free skate and 7^th overall. A fluke? Maybe. But 20 year-old Rajicova was 15^th at the most recent Worlds, and way down in 25^th  the year before. She sure seems like a skater on the rise, and the ISU must think so as well—she’ll make another GP appearance in France in a few weeks.

+      Both Karen Chen (finishing 5^th) and Mariah Bell (8^th) did the home country proud in their respective GP debuts. Bell bounced back from 11^th in the SP and did NOT fall on her FS triple lutzes as she has in just about every other competition she’s participated in this season, so surely that was a victory in itself for her. Chen apparently expected a podium finish for herself, and saw her 5^th place as a disappointment. Sportswriter/resident skating curmudgeon Phil Harsh—oops, I mean Hersh—made a point of this in his SkAM roundup column, applauding her for skipping the platitudes and acknowledging that “results matter”. Think he had certain past-and-present U.S. skaters in mind when he wrote that? I do.

+      One definite LOWlight of this event, at least for me: Julia Lipnitskaia (finishing 7^th in the FS, 6^th overall). No, it’s not because of her costume choices—an SP dress that looks like an experiment from back when movies were brought to us in Glorious Technicolor; a FS outfit that someone in the Twitterverse compared to things worn on The Jetsons. It’s not even because her jumps are not what they used to be due to training issues, mental toughness issues, Puberty Monster issues, whatever. It’s because she looks so sad. Like she doesn’t want to be out there. At all. Forget what I said in last week’s post about her possibly being “back in the hunt”... it’s more likely that she and her Elvis music have already left the building.

More on SkAM soon as I turn to the Dance and Men’s event next time! 

Skate America 2015 Predictions

Who has two thumbs and is back to make some Skate America 2015 predictions?? THIS WOMAN!

Here are the times to watch (on IceNetwork)... and here’s when to watch on NBC and Universal Sports...

And here are my thoughts on who might shine in Milwaukee this weekend...

MEN

CONTENDERS: Yan Han, Takahito Mura, Shoma Uno, Denis Ten, Konstantin Menshov, Max Aaron, Jason Brown

GOLD: Shoma Uno (JPN)

SILVER: Takahito Mura (JPN)

BRONZE: Jason Brown (USA)

DARK HORSE: Max Aaron (USA), Han Yan (CHN)

Reigning World Bronze Medalist Denis Ten might be the favorite (??) but A) Historically speaking, he doesn’t skate well early in the season... and B) I simply can’t forget Shoma Uno’s marvelous free skate at the Japan Open a few weeks ago. Maybe he can’t replicate it here—he didn’t do so great at the U.S. Classic, after all—but if he’s anywhere close, look out! Also, keep a lookout for Mura’s SP—none other than Charlie White is listed as choreographer.

USA Alert-- Our entries are Brown, Aaron, and Ross Miner, the latter of whom is using Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever” for his free skate. (Fellow American Adam Rippon, who skates next week, uses the same song for his SP this season.)

LADIES

CONTENDERS: Satoko Miyahara, Yulia Lipnitskaya, Evgenia Medvedeva, Karen Chen, Gracie Gold

GOLD: Satoko Miyahara (JPN)

SILVER: Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS)

BRONZE: Yulia Lipnitskaia (RUS)

DARK HORSE: Gracie Gold (USA)

Medvedeva, a junior GP star making her senior GP debut here, is currently a jumping machine! I’m giving Miyahara the nod here because of the component score expectations, but if she misses a jump or two Medvedeva could “jump” right in there.

I saw Lipnitskaia at her warm-up event (Finlandia Trophy) and think she may well be back in the hunt... but I don’t think she can beat Miy or Med just yet.

USA Alert—Gold, Karen Chen, and Mariah Bell are our entrants. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chen get into the top 5 here, especially if she can skate anything like she did at Nationals last season.

PAIRS

CONTENDERS: Sui/Han, Stolbova/Klimov, Asakhova/Rogonov, Scimeca/Knierim

GOLD: Sui/Han (CHN)

SILVER: Stolbova/Klimov (RUS)

BRONZE: Asakhova/Rogonov (RUS)

DARK HORSE: Scimeca/Knierim (USA)

I can’t imagine this will be that difficult for the reigning World Silver Medalists to win, even with the reigning OSMs in the hunt. Would love to see Sci/Kni get that bronze.

USA Alert—In addition to Sci/Kni we are represented by Kayne/O’Shea and Pfund/Santillan... and if you’re saying “WHO?!?” on that last one, it’s because they just replaced Donlan/Bartholomay this week due to Gretchen Donlan recovering from an illness. I can tell you Joshua Santillan competed in senior pairs with another partner last January and finished 11^th; Jessica Pfund did the same in 2014 and finished 10^th. What a place for a new partnership to make a senior competitive debut! Wish them luck!

DANCE

CONTENDERS: Gilles/Poirier, Sinitsina/Katsalapov, Chock/Bates, Hawayek/Baker, Yanovskaya/Mozgov

GOLD: Chock/Bates (USA)

SILVER: Gilles/Poirier (CAN)

BRONZE: Yanovskaya/Mozgov (RUS)

DARK HORSE: Hawayek/Baker (USA)

C/B started a very successful season with a SkAm win last year; no reason I know of that they shouldn’t successfully defend their title. Bronze is sort of a tossup, but I’m picking the rising Russian stars over the rising U.S. stars this time.

USA Alert—Cannuscio/McManus are the other US team here; they took bronze at the Nebelhorn Trophy a few weeks ago. 

I'll be live-Tweeting as much as I can, so follow me at @KLBSt8ofSk8 or follow the event in general at #SkateAmerica or #SA2015 (I'm currently seeing both hashtags in use)!

Hello Again...(as the skating world says) Goodbye, Again

(NOTE: Hi! Yes, I'm still here. Hope all my readers can find their way back! 

I actually started writing this post back in May...)

It’s been that farewell time of year. Graduations, weddings, season finales... those are the good kinds of goodbyes. We like those. They are equal parts goodbye/hello. They are easier to take.

But I’ve been overrun with the REAL farewells of late...

(Not that that’s any reasonable excuse for not posting since BEFORE FRICKING WORLDS, but I’ve got to jump in somewhere. So bear with me.)

1) Mad Men is over. I was late getting to this show for reasons I cannot fathom, but managed to catch up with the DVDs over the course of one year (I’ve no time for binge-watching), and joined my husband for real time Season 7, parts 1 and 2, over the past two years. By the time AMC rolled the entire series marathon-style a few weeks ago, I was as anxious as any other fan as to whether Don would actually jump out of a building somewhere (um... NO), whether Peggy and Joan would go into business together (almost!), and whether Pete was really reuniting with Trudy as he relocated to Kansas (ugh, yes). I loved this show. I will miss this show. But not as much as I’ll miss (and am already missing)...

2) DAVID LETTERMAN. Do you know what CBS has been running in The Late Show’s time slot until Stephen Colbert takes over in September? CSI and The Mentalist reruns. It’s like the network is as distraught as I am without Letterman in the lineup. Don’t get me wrong... Fallon is fantastic, and Kimmel and Conan are cucumber-cool—but all of them owned up to their Dave Debt in marvelous ways recently.

My Dave Debt isn’t like theirs—go friend me on FB and you can see my own little tribute I posted back on 5/20—but in short, I’ve watched him for almost his entire late-night tenure (I was only 13 when he started; late-night wasn’t as easy to do back then) and my admiration of him, warts and all, has only intensified since I’ve lived in his hometown for the past 21 years. He’s barely been gone a month and I miss him SO. MUCH. ALREADY.

***ATTENTION! This is when I finally get back to talking about skating***

So... have I forgotten we also said farewell to the 2014-15 skate season over two months ago? Nope. And I plan to look back at that whole crazy head-banging season SOON.

But in this season of farewells, I’m thinking of Doug, Sammi, and Stephen... and Jeremy too...and now Christina!.. the most recent departees of the U.S. and Canadian elite skating scene.

Sammi (Cesario) announced her retirement first so I’ll start with her. Is 21 too young for a top female athlete in this sport to call it a day? Way back when, she’d be the senior-est of the seniors by now. Not so much in 2015. But this is a young woman who seems painfully aware of both her physical limitations, and those which are currently imposed on all skaters courtesy of the ISU. For selfish reasons, I wanted to see Cesario’s post-Carmen skating life in the worst way. (It was not for nothing that I asked on Twitter, pre-retirement announcement, what fans hoped she’d take on next.) But apparently it is not to be.

CESARIO career highlights: 4 U.S. Senior National appearances and two 5^th place finishes. Although she never medaled at a GP event, she made four appearances over the last two years. You can see one of her best Grand Prix FS performances here:

Also not-to-be is Stephen Carriere’s chance to come back from last season, which started with his best GP finish in eons (4^th at Skate Canada) but ended, sadly, with another injury forcing him to miss Nationals (his third time missing it in the past six years). The sharp-styled, 26 year-old Carriere may have peaked competitively seven or eight years ago, but he never lost the will to fight. Good for him.

CARRIERE career highlights: 2 Grand Prix medals, 6 U.S. Senior National appearances, Bronze at Nats in ’08; 10^th at Worlds that year. For a look at podium-worth FS from 2008, look here: 

And for a look at his work at last year’s Skate Canada—where he lost bronze to Max Aaron by a mere tenth of one point!!—look here:

Douglas Razzano, also 26, wrote the skate world a marvelous fare-thee-well back in May   as he explores “other avenues”. Razzano has a gift for nuanced grace with all his skating elements, and even when he isn’t skating clean he’s a joy to watch.

RAZZANO career highlights: Four GP appreances and eight U.S. Senior National appearances; highest finish was 5^th in 2012.

But his “fondest skating memory” (as told in the article) was his 2014 Nats FS, which you can see here. 

I often put Razzano on a similar skating plane with Canada’s Jeremy Ten, yet another 26 year-old who recently hung up his competitive skates. Both (arguably) had more podium success as juniors than seniors; both were on the cusp of success with their quad toe loops (Razzano a little more so than Ten, as I recall), both visibly ached for the missed jumps that kept them from the highest pinnacles of the sport. But Ten, in particular, has a musicality about his skating that always left me rooting for him. It sounded (via his Twitter account) like he gave serious thought to hanging up those skates last year—I’m glad he didn’t. Not only because he earned his best Nationals finish (Silver) and a second trip to Worlds, but because it allowed him to do his FS to Jeff Buckley’s rendition of “Hallelujah”, which turned out to be one of my favorites of the skating-with-vocals brought on by new rules this past year. (More on all that in another post!)

TEN career highlights: Seven Canadian Senior Nationals appearances (winning 2 Bronze and 1 Silver, two Worlds appearances in ’09 and ’15, and eight GP appearances. I think I remember him being happy about this year’s NHK appearance because he stayed upright on his quad, so I’ll give you that one to look at here.

Finally, Christina Gao. Nope, we won’t see her competing anymore either, and her story might tug at me the hardest. Four years of fifth-place finishes at U.S. Nationals. Four seasons of steadily increasing international recognition. Three years of wondering if this would be the year of Gao’s podium breakthrough... particularly in 2014, when Sochi was on the line... and that’s when, sadly, her Olympic dreams were crushed with an 8^th place finish. She didn’t retire at that point, but a lackluster past season (coupled by her continued full load of studies at Harvard) seemed to lay the groundwork for Gao to turn her complete attention to school as of now.  I miss her quiet grace already... and, thanks to a brief Twitter exchange I had with her a couple years ago, I will always think of her when I see carrot cake-flavored LUNA bars.

GAO career highlights: six consecutive U.S. Senior Nationals appearances (four times 5^th place), eight GP appearances, one medal, one GP Final appearance. But rather than do a video link to any of those performances, I think I’d prefer to treat you to one of her best-known exhibition performances... 

Yes, I know there is now one more retirement from the U.S. team to talk about as I go to post this... thank you, Simon Shnapir... but I’m aching to get this post up (finally!) so perhaps I’ll address that in a pairs-related post later in the summer.

As for what’s next... maybe it’s time to talk about the other side of this retirement coin—that is, who’s coming back, and (maybe) who’s sticking around beyond expectations too?

My only goal is to get up at least one more NEW post this month! Right?? Hey, don’t laugh, it’s still early... in July, at least.

Thanks for coming back to read! (And please share the post wherever you can!) 

Shanghai Shake-up: Worlds 2015 Ladies and Men Predictions

Here’s what I’m thinking for the singles’ podiums at Worlds this week...

LADIES

GOLD: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS)     

SILVER: Elena Radionova (RUS)

BRONZE: Ashley Wagner (USA)

DARK HORSE: Polina Edmunds (USA)

Call them Liza and Lena, call them Tukta and Radio, or even call them The One With the Drapey Dress and The One With the Bench-Pressable Dress... just don’t call them anything less than the favorites for leading a 1-2 Worlds finish this year. They may be teenagers, but they have OWNED this season. As usual, I’m picking Tukta for the title ahead of Radio because she’s the more mature & complete skater of the two, though it might be a toss-up depending on whether Tukta is helped—or harmed—by a triple axel attempt.

As for Wagner... I’m going to go ahead and put her in third. She’s certainly going for it, so it seems the least I can do! And to be honest, I wanted to put both Edmunds and Gracie Gold as the dark horses, but for such a big event I thought I should go with just one of them. I picked Edmunds based on her 4CC breakthrough, but if Gold shines brightest, I won’t be surprised.

Who could be the most interesting to watch here? I’m keeping my eyes peeled for Li Zijun—the sole lady representing China in this Shanghai Worlds—and 26 year-old Kiira Korpi, who has not competed at Worlds since 2011 (where she came in 9^th, her highest placement to date).

MEN

GOLD: Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)           

SILVER: Denis Ten (KAZ)

BRONZE: Javier Fernandez (ESP)

DARK HORSE: Sergei Voronov (RUS)

As certain as I feel about the ladies, well, take that and put it in a blender when it comes to the men. Gold could go to any one of these guys I’ve put as a podium pick... or maybe even someone I haven’t listed here. It all depends:

A) Can Fernandez rise above a fairly sloppy season when it matters most?

B) Is D.Ten capable of another performance this year like the one he gave at 4CC?

C) Is Hanyu HEALTHY and TRAINED enough to deliver the goods (again)?

I guess I came up with this prediction by saying that even if all the above answers are YES... I’d have the same guess.

And I’ve got Voronov as the DH because he’s having the Best Year Ever, so why not?

U.S. guys: they all have Worlds breakout potential, but I’m worried. Know what I mean? For the sake of positivity, though, I’ll take a stab at it in a way that keeps our 3 spots...

Some American man will finish 5^th. Another will finish 8^th. The other will end up 17^th. There. That's as far as I'll go!

Most interesting to watch?? How about Song Nan, who hasn’t competed all season (even 4CC) and must be here for the home country hospitality... yep, I’ll go with that.

Again, if you’re on Twitter, look for me... live-tweeting as much as I can (@KLBSt8ofSk8)!