2015 Skate Canada International! Pairs and Ice Dance

Pairs

 

After their top Chinese rivals had a great showing at Skate America (and their Russian rivals bombed), our World Champions rose to the occasion and proved they were ready to defend their title. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are never going to be snob favorites. Their extreme height difference gives them weird lines, and they are not the most naturally expressive or artistic skaters. However, they are extremely gifted athletes who are pushing the technical limits of the sport and forcing their competitors to innovate to keep up with them. While everyone else is struggling with side-by-side triple toes, this team is nailing lutzes. Their throw quad salchow has become very consistent, and they have a throw quad lutz to add to the mix later in the season.  They may not be artists, but they do have performance quality, and their program components are (deservedly or not) very high. Most importantly, you can count on this team to deliver when it counts. They are difficult to beat.

Meagan Duhamel is an intense girl who feeds off of pressure and loves to win. She does not hide her intense workout regimen, and she was in amazing shape at Skate Canada. Eric is much more serene. It’s clear who is running the show. “Hometown Glory” is a great vehicle for them. They could both give it a little more emotion, but it’s early in the season. I wish they didn’t spend so much time setting up the throws, but it’s hard to do transitions into a throw quad anything. I am always rooting for Meagan and Eric, and I think this is going to be another great season for them.

Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov won the silver medal here with solid but uninspired performances. They have the classic Russian lines, good throws, and a triple twist that goes straight to the ceiling. I don’t understand why they’re not doing a quad. I am kind of obsessed with Evgenia’s perfect posture and flexibility. This girl doesn’t know how to hit a bad position. There is not a lot of expression happening here. If you’re going to do “Lord of the Dance,” you need to be giving me Jason Brown performance quality or else it falls very flat. I don’t understand why Vladimir is wearing pleather pants in an Irish themed program. The long program packaging is a bit too on the nose for me. He is a conductor and she is the music, as evidenced by the bedazzled treble clef on her dress. He waves his invisible baton a few times, but otherwise the theme is not conveyed through the rest of the choreography. They look a hell of a lot better than Stolbova/Klimov did last weekend at Skate America, so their spot on the Worlds team looks secure. This is a team with World medalist talent, but something isn’t clicking. Nina Mozer is a great technical coach, but there is a level of taste missing. This is a woman whose top teams skated to Jesus Christ Superstar and The Addams Family at the Olympics in Russia. Her camp needs an intervention.

I was happy to see Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro pull out the bronze medal here. Last year was a rough first season for this team, and it’s nice to see things finally coming together. Kirsten is one of my favorite pair girls, and I love her grit. You know she is going to land those throws no matter how they look in the air, and she is going to give you a good landing position. She has been doing power yoga with Meagan Duhamel, and she is also in amazing shape. Her partner is a bit whatever, but he at least no longer looks out of his depth. He did completely miss a lift in the long program, and I fear for his psychological safety as Kirsten is kind of a scary girl. The long program costumes have to go. They’re doing music from the Leo DiCaprio Romeo+Juliet in purple fairy tale prince and princess costumes. They should do something more modern. I’m optimistic about this team for the first time, and I think they have a great shot at making it to Worlds in a crowded Canadian pairs' field.

Skate Canada was a mixed bag for Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran. The field was weaker than Skate America’s last weekend, and this team really could have used a podium finish to assert themselves firmly as the 2^nd best American pair. Marissa and Mervin have excellent individual skating skills, and they are engaging performers. I am not 100% on board with the Journey medley in the long program, but they sell it. I even love the part where they literally “drift apart” during “Open Arms.” Marissa has the refinement that is missing from many of the top U.S. pair girls. She hits some gorgeous lift positions. Side-by-side jumps are an issue. Their throw triple salchow is good, but they need a better second throw. The throw double axel is not going to cut it, and the execution was pretty poor here anyway. I’m rooting for them, but they need to step it up technically.

Vera Bazarova and Andrei Deputat continue to ride the struggle bus after a rough first season together. Vera really is everything you want in a female pairs’ skater minus the jumps. Her triple toe somehow gets worse every season. Does it even leave the ice? Her new partner is more attractive than the last one, but he isn’t strong enough to give her the foundation she needs to hit those fabulous lift positions. I don’t know what about the Beatles screams short shorts and bare midriffs, but no one asked me.

I was devastated that my girl Valentina Marchei had to withdraw from the long program due to her partner’s injury. The short program did not go well for the Italians, but apparently Ondrej Hotarek sustained a concussion in practice and no one knew about it. I was a huge fan of Valentina when she was a solo competitor, and I am living for her second career as a pair girl. She is a star. Sending all my best wishes for a speedy recovery and a quick return to the ice!

Ice Dance

To the surprise of no one (because ice dance), the winners here were reigning World Bronze Medalists and Canadian National Champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. I always feel like I’m walking on eggshells when I talk about this team. There are people who passionately love them and legitimately believe they should have won the last two World Championships. I am not one of those people. This is a quality team. Their skating skills are strong, and they do more close, difficult dance holds than many other top dance teams. They’re just kind of basic.

The compulsory pattern is a waltz, and you show up with a program to “The Blue Danube.” How original. The free dance is allegedly about a girl recovering from drug addiction, but I don’t really get it from their presentation. They literally do the same free dance lifts every season. The only thing different is the music. This team has had some great programs in the past, but they’ve gone very conservative lately. Nothing about this team screams World Champion to me. Kaitlyn especially doesn’t give it enough. This is ice dance. She needs to do her homework and watch hours of Pasha Grishuk and Maya Usova giving us the drama in the ‘90s. While this team is admirable, they’re always going to be vulnerable to a team with more X-factor. It happened last year at Worlds versus the French and the Americans, and it could happen again.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really would have given the win to Maia and Alex Shibutani. Our favorite overachieving Asian-American siblings have a new lease on life this season. They always bring the technical ability (their twizzles are second to none in the current international dance field), but their packaging is usually wrong. It’s either too corny (Michael Jackson two years ago) or too boring (“The Blue Danube” last year). The “Coppelia” short dance veers a little too cutesy for me, but it works. Maia is not a naturally expressive skater, so she is well cast as a wooden doll come to life. The Coldplay free dance is gorgeous. I feel like it tells the story of the peaks and valleys of their oftentimes difficult career. It’s the first time I can remember getting genuine emotion from them. They’re really going to create a moment for themselves at Nationals and Worlds. They actually beat the Canadians on the technical mark in both programs. I firmly believe they should have been ahead on program components as well. I don’t think Nationals will be a cake walk for Chock/Bates this year, and the Shibutanis could conceivably make a run at the World podium.

This was a disappointing comeback for Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, who missed last season due to injury. They skated fine, but they finished behind two teams they were regularly beating in the Olympic season. That kind of loss of rank is dangerous and difficult to reverse in the world of ice dance. If you followed my Olympic coverage in 2014, you’ll know that this team is not my favorite. They are very fast and powerful, but they tend to be sloppy. Her posture in particular has always been unsatisfactory, though I saw improvements this weekend. The programs don’t do them many favors. Dick Button would be throwing a fit over their interpretation of “Masquerade Waltz.” It’s a piece about a husband murdering his wife in a jealous rage, and they were treating it like a traditional ballroom waltz. The Anna Karenina free dance is more effective, but lacking in real moments. Their lifts are difficult, but they never create beautiful pictures. The judges weren’t particularly kind to them. With only two spots for Russia in ice dance at Worlds, Katia and Dmitri have some work to do if they even want a place at the table, and it will be an uphill battle for them to contend for World medals again.  

I’m always kind of rooting for Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, if only because I am obsessed with their coach. Barbara Fusar-Poli is truly one of the all-time great ice dance divas, and I want her to be successful in her coaching career. There is certainly a level of taste missing. Schindler’s List is not off-limits in the skating world, but I think it’s in poor taste to dress up as concentration camp survivors. Still, the 2^nd-ranked Italians skated well and look ready to climb the standings at Worlds.

Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam could be a really strong team with different packaging. They’re evenly matched and very attractive. It’s all very pretty, but not particularly memorable. The inspiration is clearly Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, but without the extra spark that made them amazing. It’s the Crystal Lite version. Also, I didn’t realize Yentl was such popular skating music these days. Still, the interpretation is all wrong here. Too much lovey-dovey faux romance, not enough desire to dress in drag and become a rabbi.

It was a pretty dire ice dance event beyond these five. This discipline needs a jolt of life to become as exciting as it was during the Olympics. The depth isn’t what it used to be.

2015 Skate Canada International! The Men and Ladies

Serving it.

Men

This was the marquee event of Skate Canada, as 3X World Champion Patrick Chan returned to major international competition for the first time since Sochi and had to take on reigning Olympic Champion and arch rival Yuzuru Hanyu. Patrick has never been a fan favorite. At his peak, he had a habit of winning major titles with visible errors over cleaner performances, and he refused to apologize for it. Patrick’s otherworldly skating skills were usually enough for the judges to give him the marks he needed to win no matter how he skated. He was the poster child of the “new” system that often seemed to reward what judges wanted to see over what actually happened on the ice.

Watching Patrick this weekend, I was surprised by how much I had missed him. His pure blade-to-ice ability is unmatched by perhaps anyone in the history of figure skating. The way he effortlessly glides across the ice at breakneck speed is jaw-dropping. Despite the quality and refinement, Patrick is not a natural artist. He presents well, but it’s very surface level, and he often looks forced and uncomfortable. The “Mack the Knife” short program captures the worst of Patrick’s performance qualities. Too much winking and nudging for my taste – like his 2011 short program in which he portrayed a drunken night on the town. The Chopin long program is more suited to Patrick’s strengths. The simplicity of the music and the costuming accentuates the purity of Patrick’s skating quality. I find it interesting that Patrick’s one-quad long program soundly defeated Yuzuru Hanyu’s three-quad skate. The six point gap in program components is a bit of a head scratcher. One judge even found it appropriate to award Patrick a perfect 10 in four of the five component categories. I could justify giving Patrick a 10 in skating skills, but he does not deserve to beat Hanyu in choreography and interpretation in my humble opinion. The triple axel remains a problematic jump for Patrick, and he missed it entirely in the short. This is clearly a strong start to Patrick’s season, and he is on track for a great showing at the Grand Prix Final and Worlds. The judges are already back in his corner.

This has to be considered a disappointing competition for Yuzuru Hanyu. After Patrick Chan fell on a triple axel in the short program, the door was open for Yuzu to build an insurmountable lead heading into the long program. He proceeded to double out of his quad toe and the back half of his lutz+toe combination. It was a disaster of a short program, forcing the judges to scramble to give him enough points to even come in sixth place. Yuzu is by all accounts an exceptionally hard worker, but focus is an issue when the big lights are on. I can’t remember the last time he delivered two clean performances in the same competition. He was on track to having the performance of a lifetime in the free skate after nailing three quads, only to miss a triple lutz at the very end of the program.

Yuzu does not have the refinement of Patrick Chan. There are often bizarre lapses in posture that are odd to see from an Olympic Champion. But Yuzu has star quality in spades, and his pure passion is a striking contrast to Patrick’s calculated attempts at artistry. The “Seimei” long program is powerful and has the potential to be a signature piece for Yuzu. I often worry for his well-being. He looked positively exhausted at the end of his long program here. It is not unusual to see the Olympic Champion huffing, puffing, and collapsing at the end of a competitive program. Stamina will never be a strong suit for Yuzu, and it does have an impact on performance quality in comparison to Patrick Chan. I am happy to see this rivalry renewed, and it will really drive the rest of the top men to up their game heading into Worlds.

Daisuke Murakami put in solid performances here to take the bronze medal. He actually led after the short program by virtue of not embarrassing himself on a day when almost everyone fell. Daisuke can do the quads, but his skating is not particularly memorable. Literally any music could be playing in the background of that long program, and it wouldn’t matter. It is strange to see a Frank Carroll skater with absolutely no sense of interpretation. His extreme display of emotion after a fairly clean long program was comical in contrast to how stone-faced he was for the previous four minutes. I kind of loved how salty he got in the Kiss and Cry when his marks came up. Like….he skated well, but did he really think he was going to beat Patrick Chan and Yuzuru Hanyu?? I do love my slightly delusional skaters who aren’t as good as they think they are. In a crowded Japanese men’s field with only two spots available for Worlds, Daisuke is going to have to create more of an impression to contend with the likes of Shoma Uno. This boy used to skate in America, and I don’t know why we let him go. We could use some more men who consistently land quads. The Japanese have enough of those.

My extreme love of Adam Rippon is not a secret. I live for his beautiful lines, killer spins, and lovely interpretation. The jumps are always a nailbiter, but he does have the best triple lutz in the world. I don’t know who he thinks he’s kidding with these quad lutz attempts. I don’t think I have ever seen that jump come close to complete rotation. I know Adam thinks he needs a quad to be taken seriously, and his triple axel has never been reliable. Still, I think he’d be better off owning his lack of quad and playing up the artistry. He is getting almost no points for the quad lutz attempts. We need to talk about the long program. Adam is an artistic soul. Why is he doing a Beatles medley? The music edits make no sense and do not coalesce into a coherent program. The choreography is hokey, and Adam doesn’t have the charisma to sell it. You can’t give me blue hair and gay fantasia costuming and then do a Scott Hamilton in Stars on Ice program. I’d love to see Adam do something more avant-garde, like his gorgeous “Afternoon of a Faun” program from the Olympic season. Adam is now officially out and proud, and we need something 100% more fabulous than what he is currently serving. Still, this was a solid early season outing for Adam, and it keeps him in the conversation for the Worlds team. I’m always rooting for him. NOTE: all videos of Adam's long program have been taken down due to copyright claims. The Beatles ruin everything!

Nam Nguyen is always a solid “B” pick for fantasy figure skating. You know he’s going to deliver those quads, and he will get through the programs without major mistakes. Frankly, I was stunned that he stumbled on a triple axel in the short program, but I knew he wasn’t going to make the same mistake in the free skate. Nam is focused and determined. Despite a very good long program on home ice, Nam got lowballed here, and he seemed confused by his scores. Program components were low for a skater who just came in 5^th at the World Championships. Nam is very slow across the ice compared to the other top men. Less speed means lower skating skills scores, and judges tend to anchor the other four components to the skating skills mark. Nam has improved his expression, but he is not in the same league as Yuzuru Hanyu, or even Adam Rippon. Spins are still a weakness, and I have not seen any improvement on that front. Nam is likeable and easy to root for, but Brian Orser and co. really need to work on the details. Landing the jumps won’t be enough. I appreciate the attempts to make Nam look more mature, but the sheer oversized top in the long program has to go. It’s a little too ‘90s boy band for me and not in a good way.

Color me pleasantly surprised by the 7^th place finish for Tim Dolensky. Tim has long been an unsung favorite of mine on the U.S. circuit, and this is his first Grand Prix appearance. He bombed the short program, but nailed the free skate. Tim has gorgeous spins and nice lines. He needs to up the technical content and get a bit more power across the ice to really contend at this level. I very much enjoy his deep-vee tops. Our boy is not shy about showing off his body.

This was a bit of a disaster for Michal Brezina, but what else is new? My favorite Czech skater has amazing natural jumping ability, but he can’t keep the focus up for a whole long program. He looked ready to dominate after Vancouver, but it just never happened for him. In true Czech fashion, Michal’s team always succeeds in making him look as ridiculous as possible. I found it difficult to concentrate on his skating when I was too distracted by his billowing hip sash and red tights stretched over his boots.

Ladies

If you heard screaming and crying from Oakland, CA this Halloween, that was me losing my mind over Ashley Wagner winning her first Grand Prix event in two years. My girl showed up to Skate Canada in amazing shape and ready to serve some sass. After many seasons of searching for a style that works, Ashley has found the perfect short program in “Hip Hip Chin Chin.” It’s flirty, fun, and believable. It feels like an exhibition program in a good way. The jumps are just an afterthought. Miss Wagner often gets accused of skating empty programs and serving a lot of face in place of actual choreography. No such criticism could stand this weekend. That short program had transitions galore. Ashley Wagner, the “almost girl,” actually outscored the reigning World Champion in program components in both programs, and it was 100% deserved. Ashley talks a big game, but her on-ice performances are often plagued with self-doubt. That short program convinced me that she really believed and owned her hype, and it was perfect. Even the spins were good. It was a living room standing ovation moment.

I was initially not thrilled with Ashley’s decision to keep the Moulin Rouge! long program. It suits her well, but repeated programs can get stale. It didn’t work for Michelle in 2002. Ashley is at least keeping it fresh with a new (gorgeous) dress and beefed-up transitions and choreography. She put in a strong performance here, but it lacked the magic of last year’s U.S. Nationals tour de force. Jump rotations continue to be an issue for Ashley, and underrotation calls kept her from winning the long program outright. I’m not sure what can be done at this point, other than hope for a kind technical panel. Her triple flip+triple toe was ratified in the short, but not in the long. That combo is make or break for Ashley’s confidence, and we should all be praying for it. Ashley’s performance quality is unmatched in the current ladies’ field. Nobody should be outscoring her in interpretation at this point in time. Skate Canada proved that the judges are in Ashley’s corner if she delivers, and I hope she keeps the momentum going through Worlds in Boston. She’s already proven that she’s not giving Gracie Gold the National Title without a fight.

This was a rough event for Elizavata Tuktamysheva. Our reigning World Champion can be entertaining, but she is not what we want in a ladies’ champion. Her presentation is straight-up Slutskaya with some extra face thrown in for good measure. The posture is a bit truck driver for me, and her spins are unacceptable for a ladies’ skater at this level. I believe that I am capable of hitting a better layback position than the current World Champion. However, this girl has bigger jumps than many of the top men, and I have to respect her. The short program was a disaster. Liza usually pummels down the ice like a runway freight train, but she was looking positively sluggish here. The jumps were not present. After nailing the triple axel at Worlds last year, that jump is giving her fits. She knows she needs it to win. She chickened out in the short program and proceeded to botch her other two jumping passes. The judges felt comfortable awarding the World Champion 7’s in program components. I could have gone lower.

The long program was a much stronger showing, but I would have put her behind Ashley Wagner. She at least rotated the triple axel even if the landing was bad, and the other jumps were impressive. There was nothing else happening in that program. Lots of crossovers and circling around the ice until the next jump. Literally any music in the world could have been playing. She finally started to perform in the last 30 seconds of the program, but it was too late. I was bored. In a ladies’ field where Mao Asada is back, the American ladies are looking fit and ready to contend, and there are a slew of talented Russian youngsters ready to strike, it will be hard for Liza to hold on to her World Title. This weekend did not give me much confidence in her ability to pull it off.

The surprise bronze medalist of this event was Yuka Nagai, one of many up-and-coming Japanese ladies with buckets of talent. Yuka had a killer short program and found herself in a surprising 2^nd place on a day when not many ladies skated particularly well. She has a lovely, soft quality to her skating, and she is pleasant to watch. She wilted under pressure in the long program, but that’s to be expected from a young skater in an unexpectedly high position at a big contest. She got negative interpretation points from me for choosing music from August Rush for the long program, complete with musical sirens and car horns. It was a flashback to Shawn Johnson’s floor routine in Beijing that none of us were asking for. I thank Yuka for skating well for the sake of my fantasy figure skating team, though she should work on projecting more and really selling those programs. In a deep Japanese ladies’ field, she needs to be more memorable.

Kanako Murakami has historically not been one of my favorites, but I think she is moving in the right direction artistically. Gone are the memories of Kanako dressed in hot pink looking like got lost on the way home from the Sanrio store. New short-haired Kanako is a striking, ladylike presence on the ice with much more mature and sophisticated presentation. It is a shame that her busted jump technique has only made her less consistent with age. She can still survive a short program, but you know the underrotations are coming in the free skate. Her short program here was superb until she popped the double axel. The free skate…..I don’t feel great about the score for Memoirs of a Geisha as skating music. Every Japanese-American skater has attempted it at least once. Now even the Japanese ladies are succumbing to its hollow temptations. In the words of Dick Button……it was a bit of a refrigerator break moment for me.

I am also enjoying the new, sophisticated Gabby Daleman. The Canadian ladies’ champion had a rough short program, but her long program was my 2^nd favorite performance of the event (behind Ashley Wagner of course). Gabby has superb skating skills, and this program is very intelligently choreographed. Her interpretation matches the intensity of the music, which is difficult to do in a solo tango. I am glad Brian Orser has been called in to save the Canadian ladies from themselves – ladies’ skating has long been a weak point for the Canadians. I am excited to see how the rest of the season goes for Gabby.

I’m at a loss as to what’s happening with Polina Edmunds. There were positives this weekend. The “Moonlight Sonata” short program is a great vehicle for her. Polina often draws criticism for looking too juvenile, and the more mature packaging suits her well. Rudy Galindo finally found a way to use Polina’s impossibly long limbs to her advantage. She transformed from gangly teenager to statuesque ice princess very convincingly over the summer. The jump quality is a big problem. I have watched the short program a dozen times, and I think the triple lutz+triple toe was fully rotated. The technical panel disagreed. Once you have a reputation for underrotating, you don’t get the benefit of the doubt. The double axel was clearly short of rotation, and the triple flip was wonky. That is still a bad jump for her, and I don’t know why she insists on keeping it in the short program. She also had a spin invalidated. What looked like the 2^nd best short program of the day to the untrained eye was ranked fifth by the judges. Polina’s absolute bewilderment at her low marks did not go unnoticed.

The long program is a total snooze. Skaters are inordinately drawn to the soundtrack to Gone With the Wind. The main theme is memorable, but the rest of that score is nothing to write home about. This long program feels like it lasts eight minutes. Polina tries to give us the performance, but the vehicle isn’t there for her. The dress is silly. I almost appreciate the sequined bow on the front, but it looks too girlish. If you are portraying Scarlett O’Hara on the ice, you need to give me some Southern Belle realness. I need the dress to be 100x poofier, and I need a more striking color. While Polina is looking more sophisticated, she is still slow and lacking in power. Her program components will continue to be on the low end if she doesn’t skate faster. Grades of execution on the jumps are still low, and deservedly so. She needs to move away from her stage mother and get a real coach. There is too much talent to waste on iffy jump technique and weak programs. I worry for her chances this year with so many strong U.S. ladies gunning for that third Worlds spot.

I have to give a shout out to my girl Elizabet Tursynbaeva for giving us some competitive grit. She totally bombed the short program, but she clawed her way out of that hole in the free skate. Despite finishing fourth in the free skate in a strong field, Elizabet was not impressed with her performance. She was not happy with her program components, and she told Brian Orser what she thought about it in the Kiss and Cry. This girl is a winner at heart, and she is going to go far. 

I continue to root for Alena Leonova for bringing us the camp. I live for her Charlie Chaplin drag short program, even though she really bombed here. It’s always amusing to see what Eastern Europeans think American audiences will appreciate, and we’re getting lots of bizarre programs in preparation for Worlds in Boston. Alena served us a medley of every single golden oldie she could think of while dressed as a Catholic schoolgirl. The former World Silver Medalist continues to get pushed further and further down the Russian ranks by talented youngsters, but she refuses to give up. I’m always here for my plucky old gals in figure skating, even if I question why they are continuing to compete. I was actually impressed that she landed as many jumps as she did in the long program. Alena always gives us the Russian drama in the Kiss and Cry, and I enjoyed her pretending to blow her brains out after the long program. 

The drama of Kaetlyn Osmond continued at Skate Canada. After taking a year off due to injury, Canada’s it-girl came back looking ready to go at early season events. Kaetlyn is in the shape of her life, and she is looking very strong and well-trained. She twisted her ankle in practice last week, but she refused to withdraw from this event. After nailing her first two jumping passes in the short program, she wiped out on a spin and missed her double axel. She then proceeded to land almost nothing in the long program. Kaetlyn has the talent to be the World Champion. She has great basic skating skills, and she has so much star quality and performance ability. The jumps are huge and impressive when she lands them. Someone needs to put this girl in a bubble. I worry that she will never fulfill her true potential, or even make it through a single season without getting injured.