2017-2018 Canadian Road to the Olympics

[nadster]

one of the things that JMCL cannot do is PCS training... her skaters are pretty rough... Eman was a ballet dancer so she didn't have to worry about that with him.

Eman's ballet background certainly helped him in line and interpretation. However he was a slow skater compared to the other top guys at the time.

Conrad Orzel needs skating skills and needs to get the overall sloppyness out of his skating. I can see he is working on it but he has far to go. Joanne is the wrong coach for that.

One thing I noticed as that it seems tough for other coaches to erase bad habits to Joanne taught her students looking at Nam and Eric Liu ( 2 skaters that used to be taught by Joanne }. Nam is finally getting on the right track again after going backwards with the growth spurt. Liu has made little progress since his days with Joanne.

 

[4everchan]

Yvan Desjardins is so much better. Look at jo and nic. I want concon to move to montreal.

 

[mrrice]

How is Nam looking these days? I feel like I haven't see him in a while and the last time I saw him, he had grown quite a bit. It will good to see how things go when he and Keegan go head to head this weekend.

 

[kenboy123]

Fabbri/Pietrantonio don't appear to be splitting and will have to move up to seniors. Lajoie/Lagha should also move on to seniors next season. In pairs Walsh/Michaud will have to move up. Though Kirsten & Michael along with Julianne & Charlie will be leading the pairs. I except to see pairs as our strongest discipline, actually. Nicolas, Joseph, Nam, etc. should also be a factor...and more men & ice dancers will be coming through on the JGP. If W/P and G/P don't retire then then that will give some time for the younger ice dancers to develop without as much pressure to move up.

Kristen and Michael along with Julianne & Charlie have potential, but haven't really stepped up and it's not like they haven't had the time to develop either as they aren't young...Hopefully, they breakthrough next season and prove to be a contender when Duhamel & Radford are no longer competing...Hopefully, Weaver & Poje and Gilles & Poirer don't retire as the former are still contenders to this day...none of the top Canadian ladies are retiring, so we don't have to worry about that...The men????...i'm struggling here......have any of the young guys proved they have the potential to be the next Patrick Chan???, well...i don't know who that could be...give my names??..anyone??...maybe Nam, Nicolas, Joseph like you said, but their results haven't been too great...at least yet...i don't know...i'm just a natural pessimist...as it seems like all the good ones are retiring after this season...

 

[4everchan]

Kristen and Michael along with Julianne & Charlie have potential, but haven't really stepped up and it's not like they haven't had the time to develop either as they aren't young...Hopefully, they breakthrough next season and prove to be a contender when Duhamel & Radford are no longer competing...Hopefully, Weaver & Poje and Gilles & Poirer don't retire as the former are still contenders to this day...none of the top Canadian ladies are retiring, so we don't have to worry about that...The men????...i'm struggling here......have any of the young guys proved they have the potential to be the next Patrick Chan???, well...i don't know who that could be...give my names??..anyone??...maybe Nam, Nicolas, Joseph like you said, but their results haven't been too great...at least yet...i don't know...i'm just a natural pessimist...as it seems like all the good ones are retiring after this season...

Joseph this weekend skated a clean LP... it included 4t-2t, 3a, 4t... and his skating skills are better than any of the current senior men in Canada except for Patrick and Liam.

To me, he is the future. Nicolas has HUGE potential as he had one of the best 3A in the world. He needs more stability on his quads though. He is a great showman but his in between are not as smooth as Jo... However, he does project much more than Jo.

Then, we have Conrad Orzel. This boy has landed all quads (not the axel) in practice. He is a big jumper but he is rough. He landed the 4s for the first time this weekend... he is a great competitor... for instance, after popping is 3a, he simply decided to upgrade his combo and did 3a-1/2loop/3s.... and got it done... At Junior worlds last year, he was by far the best Canadian boy THOUGH his skating lacks polish and refinement.. he would benefit from a bootcamp with Patrick or with a good coach.. but he seems quad hungry for now... His choreo is not great either... it's like he is emulating the style of others (yuzu, medvedeva, boyang) instead of finding his own... sorry concon for being so harsh on you... it's simply because I think you have infinite potential and I wish you develop it... HOWEVER : if he gets things under his belt, he has a lot of potential to get to the highest level... I would say that right now, he is the Canadian junior with the most potential... a raw diamond.

GOGO : do not forget about him. I try not to think too much about Stephen because he is still so short and could have a Nam situation.. However, his technique is much mor sound and his skating skills have more solid bases... So, perhaps his upcoming growth will help him acquire power instead of setting him back....

Then we have Roman... huge talent... very lyrical skater... some issues with growth.

We also have some guys in between : like Bennet...I love his style. His 3a is very straight and gorgeous to look at... his quads are < though...but he does attempt 2 of them.

What's amazing is that our junior boys or emerging seniors all have quads and 3a... a lot of the juniors from the circuit don't have either or barely rotate their 3a.... Two or three of them made it to the JGPF with much less content than Jo and Concon... but these guys were more consistent.

I think that Canada usually has skaters develop a bit later... especially ladies... so right now, our juniors show potential but don't have the confidence to land everything on a regular basis... give them a year or two and we will have a better idea about all of that....

I will miss Patrick so much.... i have been watching him for 10 years. And to me, he will always be the best ever skater hence my username (i thought that about kurt and jeff before but Patrick surpassed them IMHO).... but I find the new crop of junior boys we have to be super exciting to watch develop. It could be a terrible hot mess or it could be just like our ladies.. they push each other and then bang... suddenly they hit it hard at a big event and earn medals and the hate of many forum users ...

 

[eyeballlickinggecko]

One thing I noticed as that it seems tough for other coaches to erase bad habits to Joanne taught her students looking at Nam and Eric Liu ( 2 skaters that used to be taught by Joanne }. Nam is finally getting on the right track again after going backwards with the growth spurt. Liu has made little progress since his days with Joanne.

To be fair to Joanne, I've seen Nam skate before he went to her and all I can say is that I don't think his issues started with her. Joanne just hadn't fixed Nam's issues. Even as a little kid, he relied heavily on rotation to land his jumps. What really made him stand out was his showmanship and being more consistent that his competitors.

 

[4everchan]

To be fair to Joanne, I've seen Nam skate before he went to her and all I can say is that I don't think his issues started with her. Joanne just hadn't fixed Nam's issues. Even as a little kid, he relied heavily on rotation to land his jumps. What really made him stand out was his showmanship and being more consistent that his competitors.

well.... so she didn't fix him? a good coach is there to take a student and make them improve. For me, the biggest issues came with Mira Leung.... and then Kevin... both... huge potential but never improved.... I gave her slack because apparently Mira had her family very involved in her skating and that's always tough for a coaching team....but then kevin... what a waste... and now I am worried for Sarah. Another huge potential.. I have seen her skate live twice. She has something special... but meh...
Mind you, we are critical of Joanne but we are also critical of many other coaches... I think to be fair we could mention that we don't like Alaine's coaching situation either...

 

[Mango]

Kristen and Michael along with Julianne & Charlie have potential, but haven't really stepped up and it's not like they haven't had the time to develop either as they aren't young...Hopefully, they breakthrough next season and prove to be a contender when Duhamel & Radford are no longer competing...Hopefully, Weaver & Poje and Gilles & Poirer don't retire as the former are still contenders to this day...none of the top Canadian ladies are retiring, so we don't have to worry about that...The men????...i'm struggling here......have any of the young guys proved they have the potential to be the next Patrick Chan???, well...i don't know who that could be...give my names??..anyone??...maybe Nam, Nicolas, Joseph like you said, but their results haven't been too great...at least yet...i don't know...i'm just a natural pessimist...as it seems like all the good ones are retiring after this season...

4everchan covered the men so let me address the pairs.

Kirsten & Michael got together after Sochi. They were progressing with issues as a new pair, adjusting to different techniques, but still fighting, especially after that horrific fall Kirsten took at 2016 Nationals. They had some good performances and were solidly Canada's 3rd/4th pair. What set them back for a while was a concussion that Kirsten suffered in the beginning of the 2016-17 season. However they came back, went to 4CC, and put in solid performances at WTT. Now their PBs compared to Lubov/Dylan aren't far off and they are pushing themselves into the conversation to be sent to the Olympics.

As for Julianne & Charlie the story has also been injury riddled but a bit more serious. Julianne has had a bone bruise and a concussion. Charlie had a surgery this summer. They've been the most injured pair in Canada for the past few seasons. Despite that they made the GPF last season. They have had the most success of any Canadian junior pair recently, and that momentum did carry for a while when they turned senior. Missing as many competitions as they have (Worlds 2016, 4CC 2017 to name a few) has hurt them. They also had to change their SP last season. Still, they've put in some good performances, more in the FS than the SP. Their PCS should improve as they get back into things. They had some good skating in Russia but the marks weren't there. We really need Julianne & Charlie to keep going and getting back to the level they were at so we can continue to see improvements in pair skating within in Canada. Because of the top 4 teams they are the youngest.

We have some novice teams that may eventually becomes stars too but need quite a bit of time to develop. And they need to go through growth spurts too. So we say the buns are in the oven.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

I know that Gabby really likes her Gladiator program, but.......

What’s going on with Alaine?? I still say she’s going to the olympics because who else can challenge for the spot?

 

[mrrice]

I know that Gabby really likes her Gladiator program, but.......

What’s going on with Alaine?? I still say she’s going to the olympics because who else can challenge for the spot?

I didn't see her SP in Japan but she is sitting in last place....There has to be a skater in Canada that bring it under pressure. At this point, they should send their top Junior if Alaine can't pull herself together. Didn't Cynthia Phaneuf win Nationals as a junior?

 

[Seren]

Are there any junior skaters eligible to compete seniors who are eligible for the third spot? Or who might compete seniors at nationals?

I feel for Alaine, she doesn't look like she is enjoying herself at all.

 

[kenboy123]

4everchan covered the men so let me address the pairs.

Kirsten & Michael got together after Sochi. They were progressing with issues as a new pair, adjusting to different techniques, but still fighting, especially after that horrific fall Kirsten took at 2016 Nationals. They had some good performances and were solidly Canada's 3rd/4th pair. What set them back for a while was a concussion that Kirsten suffered in the beginning of the 2016-17 season. However they came back, went to 4CC, and put in solid performances at WTT. Now their PBs compared to Lubov/Dylan aren't far off and they are pushing themselves into the conversation to be sent to the Olympics.

As for Julianne & Charlie the story has also been injury riddled but a bit more serious. Julianne has had a bone bruise and a concussion. Charlie had a surgery this summer. They've been the most injured pair in Canada for the past few seasons. Despite that they made the GPF last season. They have had the most success of any Canadian junior pair recently, and that momentum did carry for a while when they turned senior. Missing as many competitions as they have (Worlds 2016, 4CC 2017 to name a few) has hurt them. They also had to change their SP last season. Still, they've put in some good performances, more in the FS than the SP. Their PCS should improve as they get back into things. They had some good skating in Russia but the marks weren't there. We really need Julianne & Charlie to keep going and getting back to the level they were at so we can continue to see improvements in pair skating within in Canada. Because of the top 4 teams they are the youngest.

We have some novice teams that may eventually becomes stars too but need quite a bit of time to develop. And they need to go through growth spurts too. So we say the buns are in the oven.

I realized I made a mistake...Seguin/Bilodeau are a lot younger than I thought they were, in that case...they are doing pretty well in my opinion...maybe they won't breakthrough next year, but they are somewhat competitive for being young for a pairs team...

 

[kenboy123]

I know that Gabby really likes her Gladiator program, but.......

What’s going on with Alaine?? I still say she’s going to the olympics because who else can challenge for the spot?

Maybe a Japanese skater can come here and get their citizenship super fast and get a spot...lol...that's not happening....

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Are there any junior skaters eligible to compete seniors who are eligible for the third spot? Or who might compete seniors at nationals? .

Allison and Aurora are the best Canadian Ladies on JGP. Neither have cracked 100 in the FS this season and Aurura is yet to crack 50 in the SP. I think Aurora is age eligible by a few days where as Allison is too young maybe.

 

[mrrice]

I don't know what's up with Nam but, he just wasn't good today. Maybe they'll need to put Nic or Conrad on the team instead.

 

[chuckm]

Neither Allison nor Aurora has had any senior international competition experience. They would first have to compete Senior internationally and attain the required minimum TES for both SP and FS to be eligible to compete in the Olympics.

 

[kenboy123]

I don't know what's up with Nam but, he just wasn't good today. Maybe they'll need to put Nic or Conrad on the team instead.

It's mostly Patrick and Keegan though...

 

[chuckm]

I don't know what's up with Nam but, he just wasn't good today. Maybe they'll need to put Nic or Conrad on the team instead.

Nic has the required minimum TES for SP and FS, but Orzel has never competed Senior internationally and he'd have to do that and get the required TES minimums.

 

[mrrice]

It's mostly Patrick and Keegan though...

I certainly hope so. Patrick has given so much of himself and I just hope he's healthy enough to make an attempt. After seeing Kevin and Nam implode, I don't know where else to turn.

 

[4everchan]

well, let me continue on the men situation...

to me, since the summer, it's always been Patrick, and ...Keegan. He has worked very hard to learn a 4lutz and has good programs. This is his year... I feel it. However, he needs to land his jumps. He is not as consistent as he should be. Lots of speed power and flair though... This is a skater one MUST see live.

I never discard Kevin because of his quad potential. However, his last GP showing disappointed me. He is about 1 month behind schedule I would say... Kevin is uber smart. He usually manages to deliver when it REALLY counts. A 9th place at worlds last year is a huge achievement.

Regarding Nic : yup... He does have his minimums.

Joseph and Conrad (we think) will be sent to a senior B to reach those scores.

We need to keep in mind that 4cc is just around the corner as well and the top two men will most likely NOT go to 4CC. So, that gives men 3-4-5 or even 4-5-6 if they tell guy #3 to be on hold for Olympics as a sub, a spot at 4cc....

Nam : I think Nam will come back but not this year. He loves his new training center... he seems to have a lot of fun there... perhaps too much... His focus during competition is off... I saw him at ACI and he was much better focused in the practice. Came warm up and competition... bang.. all over the place... but I don't mind if he messes up jump for now as he is increasing his speed a lot.. his footwork in the SP was finally good.