2023 Canadian Nationals Sr. Men's Short Program

[4everchan]

Santa should bring a 3a to Jack ! I am so happy for him because he connects with the music so well and he skated very well here ! Bravo !

 

[4everchan]

ok.. i am commenting on almost every skate ! HA !!!! Matthew N. was go good...

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

This!!
(not from too close of course)

Yep, I thought the same. But it's the height mostly. Clements doesn't move the same smooth, elegant way that Roman moves over the ice, which is unique to him, to his wingspan, and to his sensitivity to the music.

I haven't read other's comments yet about the sp results. I went with the status quo picks, where normally with a few exceptions, the results tend to end up true to form. But after this sp, my goodness, a lot of guys are hungry and they aren't gonna be giving way or taking 'No' for an answer in their desire to make the World team.

Hopefully, Keegan will hold onto the #1 spot. After that, if Conrad remains strong and settles himself, he has a good opportunity to make the team. Ideally, with his huge talent, Roman should be the #2 man to go. However, I doubt SC has faith in him at this point, and he seems to have lost faith in himself too, sadly. Never say never, though. Roman has the talent to fight back. But will he be able to dig himself out of this sp hole?

I had seen some of the sp, but I missed a bit of it. Thus, I was looking at the leaderboard for Stephen Gogolev's name. I wondered whether he had to WD. Then I saw him all the way down near the bottom with 49 pts. I know that can happen, but I was surprised. He must have popped all his jumps. I hope he's okay physically and mentally. Wesley Chiu is also in a bit of a funk. But he too has way too much talent to not eventually turn things around.

For Roman though, he just has to change things drastically, after first deciding what he truly wants. The problem may be that he's too comfortable with his coaches and his training rink. I haven't wanted to say, 'change coaches,' but at the same time, they don't seem as if they know what to do to help him break out of these brain freezes. Roman appears to have a very close relationship with coach, Tracey Wainman, which seems almost like mother and son. There's nothing wrong with that. But at this stage, I would imagine SC would counsel Roman to make significant changes. I wonder whether SC has offered any intervention advice to date?

 

[4everchan]

So happy for Matt Markell !!!!!!!! Very nice quality throughout and very emotional skating. LOVED the last spin. So intricate and unusual. Another one who deserves a visit from Santa for a new toy = 3a.

 

[4everchan]

So after the first couple flights... I have to say that it's not as bad as it looked on protocols... I guess it's just that when i checked the pdfs online, i had to scroll down so low to find Roman, Stephen and Wesley...but the middle pack is not underperforming at all, quite the opposite.

 

[auser]

I want to stay up and watch what I missed but this darned Covid is knocking me out.

Hope you feel better soon @moonvine .

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I too am thoroughly enjoying Kevin Reynolds and Ted Barton. So much more class and insight than our gaudy American commentators.

LOL. Most of the time, we get zero commentary in the U.S. on Peacock, which is a waste of bandwidth when it comes to fs coverage in the U.S. Personally, I rarely get to see or hear Tara, Terry & Johnny, because I don't have the needed subscriptions. I'm paying enough to Peacock and getting no fs worth a d* this season. I will have to make some changes. Sigh

BTW, Johnny is much better, in terms of providing insights, than we get to hear because he gives in to the silly, superficial way NBC thinks the sport should be covered. Tara &Johnny are good friends and everyone generally seems very protective of Tara, so she gets catered to in the booth. She hasn't grown or improved in terms of giving helpful commentary. It's just all about hype, cliches, and trivial superficialities. Terry does his job well, but again, the whole T, T & J show is done the way NBC erroneously thinks the sport should be covered, i.e., superficially and inadequately.

 

[4everchan]

Bruce =


Is Bruce done with ice dance or is this a "gap year" Does anyone know?

 

[auser]

I am watching on CBC so the archives are already there... watching pairs now... Cannot wait to see my son

Thanks for the tip. Switched to streaming RD on CBC gem because Dailymotion stream audio and visual out of sync on archive.

 

[4everchan]

It seems to me that all the talented boys from Quebec are in Juniors or in Dance or Pairs... Quebec has never had much success in the men's discipline... I find that interestingly weird since it's a great place for all the other disciplines... with worlds and Olympic medalists in pretty much every discipline (except men)...

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I have to say that it's not as bad as it looked on protocols

What's not as bad? I'm not sure what you mean. Roman continuing to perform beneath his abilities is certainly not good. What's the magic key to unlock his brain freezes and help free him to relax and believe in himself?

For sure, Gogolev, Roman, and Wesley have the talent to dig themselves out of their sp trenches. But we'll have to wait and see what happens. They will need 'underperforming' help from the guys currently ahead of them.

Meanwhile, it's cool to see these lesser known guys performing so well. I enjoyed Canada's junior men too. Many of them need to up their jump arsenal, but all the other skills are there, and sublime.

 

[Ladskater]

This is the kid Johnny said would never be successful? Johnny is an idiot.

Wow, thanks for this. Johnny was wrong. Glad Keegan's mom was Canadian. USA's loss was Canada's gain. Were going to miss his brilliant skating and beautiful smile.

 

[4everchan]

Gogolev... sigh..fall, then, le pop.. then .. le pop... Lucky for him, everyone qualifies for the FP at Nationals He could have tagged a triple toe after the 2salchow and still earn a few points... but he looked completely done by then.

Conrad : so elated !!!!! fought after the touch down on the 4s but then gorgeous axel and toe. WOW !!!! Bravo.. Spins and steps were better too.. What I liked is that he was patient and took his time. Usually he looks so nervous but he was calmer. This is awesome ! So happy for my son !

 

[Chantilly]

Roman needs to make a change. Whether it’s a coaching change, psychological coaching, working with a B210 group who cover all aspects of an athlete’s career.

Or he should consider whether competitive ice skating is for him.

I’m all about his his potential and praising his beautiful skills. But he’s imploded too many times for me not to think something really needs to be addressed.

It’s not enough in skating anymore to just have a quad or two that you can’t even rely on to be competitive. Not for top 5 and possibly not even top 10.

I’m just so disappointed in the implosion or underperforming of our Canadian men.

It’s been happening for a long while now.

 

[4everchan]

very nice skate by corey too ! i dislike the music so much but he does justice to it

 

[4everchan]

Roman needs to make a change. Whether it’s a coaching change, psychological coaching, working with a B210 group who cover all aspects of an athlete’s career.

Or he should consider whether competitive ice skating is for him.

I’m all about his his potential and praising his beautiful skills. But he’s imploded too many times for me not to think something really needs to be addressed.

It’s not enough in skating anymore to just have a quad or two that you can’t even rely on to be competitive. Not for top 5 and possibly not even top 10.

I’m just so disappointed in the implosion or underperforming of our Canadian men.

It’s been happening for a long while now.

i don't disagree about Roman.. but as i am watching, it seema that Roman, Stephen and Wesley underperformed... a couple of the lower level guys too but there were good performances by many. I guess we have been spoiled over the years with Orser, Browning, Stojko, even Sandhu, Buttle and then Patrick... and this is the low point... Let's see what happens tomorrow.

 

[4everchan]

after seeing wesley and how tight it was last year with Jo for 3rd... it just makes me miss jo so much

 

[4everchan]

Seeing Keegan's emotion after his performance was worth watching all of this event... despite the disappointment on some of the top contenders.
Thank you Keegan !

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Wow, thanks for this. Johnny was wrong. Glad Keegan's mom was Canadian. USA's loss was Canada's gain. Were going to miss his brilliant skating and beautiful smile.

Wait a minute now. AFAIK, Johnny Weir never said that Keegan Messing would not be successful. @moonvine, Where's the source for that, and what's the context? Johnny's commentary at 2012 U.S. Nationals was absolutely superb. He was widely praised, even by the skaters, for his competence and his witty insights. Famously, Johnny called Keegan, the Honey Badger, meant with respect and affection.

Back then, Keegan was still an up-and-coming skater in the U.S. He fortunately had the option of switching to Canada because his mother was born there. The U.S. has had talented depth in the men's discipline for a long time. It was going to be very difficult for Keegan to break through for an opportunity to make the World team. So Keegan made the smart move to Canada. I was happy for him when I heard about it, because there was greater opportunity for him to flourish there. That doesn't mean that Keegan could not achieve success in the U.S. Back then, it just would have been very difficult and time-consuming. The U.S. was knee-deep in top level men's talent.

Still, it's not as if Keegan shot to the top in Canada. It took time. I remember. He had to prove himself, and finally be accepted as Canadian. Once everyone saw his talent and got to know him and his great personality, he was fully embraced. Don't think Keegan wasn't missed by his U.S. fans. We have all been happy for his success up North!

In any case, Keegan's home state of Alaska is closer to Canada than it is to mainland U.S. We can run down a list of skaters who found success in Canada, in addition to transplants in the opposite direction. In regard to figure skating, Canada and the U.S. are connected in many ways.

 

[4everchan]

i don't think anyone on here would have predicted that both Stephen and Roman would skate the LP in the first flight...

The final flight : Keegan did well.. not perfect but very good. I hope he calms down as there is a LP tomorrow.
Conrad did the best he has ever done and landed two quads.
The other guys placed 3-6...even 3-8 or so all did the best they could. If the ones we expected to rise to the occasion had done so, all these guys who did so well and will be in final flight would have been lower... but we cannot be unsatisfied about them rising to the occasion and doing the best they can, quadless or without a triple axel... they did well.

In any case, I learned a lesson tonight after all these years of looking at protocols... I was dreading to watch the men SP and in the end, yes, I am sad for a couple guys, but it was a very good event. If i had watched this live, as the men who had issues were all at the end, I would have enjoyed myself a lot, until the brief moment of chaos before the exalting performance by Keegan.

I have finally caught up with all the skating today... except for Synchro. I am baffled at that one : world champions from last year, les suprêmes finished last at Canadian Nationals... tells you how costly mistakes can be in synchro and how good the other two teams are.