...because we all need a place of more angst and hand-wringing! 
We can look at the 2014-15 season in two ways. The first: it's a solid rebuilding year. Russia had two men at GPF, two men on the podium at Europeans, and a bunch of GP medals. In juniors, they have medals from the JGP and JGPF. It's certainly an improvement over the lean years of 2006-2010.
On the other hand, the season could be described as, "started with a roar, ended with a whimper." None of the top men were able to peak at the key events of the season: Worlds, Europeans, or Jr. Worlds. Russian maintains its two spots at Worlds, which is either blessing or disappointment depending on how you look at it.
The Top 2:
Maxim Kovtun: Stormed onto the scene by winning two GPs (albeit under exceptional circumstances), over World/Olympic medallists Yuzuru Hanyu, Tatsuki Machida, and Denis Ten. He defended his Nationals title by a hair due to a strong SP. Cracks started showing at Europeans, where he won silver but made major errors in both programs. At Worlds, he finished a somewhat disappointing seventh after a meltdown SP and a solid LP.
For next year: Show some personality and genuine enjoyment of skating. And land the 4-5 planned quads--because without a loop or a flip, he has little to fall back on when the big tricks fail.
Sergei Voronov: Impressed with his consistency early in the season--medalling at both his GPs and at GPF (on his first time qualifying, no less). Skated quite well at Nationals, winning the LP and losing the title only due to his less ambitious SP and some lower PCS. However, he made costly mistakes in his LPs at Europeans (1S) and Worlds (Zayaking, among other things), dropping him down to bronze in the former and a very disappointing 13th place in the latter.
For next year: Continue showing charm and personality, while getting more transitions/field moves. Make up his mind on that second LP quad--it hasn't been clean all year and could put him face-to-face with Zayak when he pops it.
Fighting for a Top Spot:
Kontantin Menshov: A solid run on the GP (5th and 4th), where he delivered a two-quad SP for the first time. However, his unstable free skates eventually caught up to him, and he was off the podium (and off the European team) at Nationals.
For next year: Deliver a solid LP. Whether it contains one, two, or three quads is almost irrelevant. He just has to show some stability in the segment, or else making teams in the future could only get harder...
Adian Pitkeev: The World Jr. silver medallist had an fine but not spectacular debut on the senior GP series (6th and 6th), where he attempted quads for the first time, with mixed success. His strongest performances came at Nationals, where he medalled and earned a trip to Europeans. However, illness and injury derailed him, leading to lower-than-expected placements at Europeans (7th) and Jr. Worlds (5th).
For next year: Learn how to handle the quad along with the rest of his repertoire. Come out of his shell more as a performer.
Alexander Petrov: This promising junior was flying high for the first half of the season: medalling at his JGPs and at JGPF, plus winning several Senior B's with impressive marks and strong performances. However, his consistency seemed to disappear for the second half of the year. Perhaps due to an unfortunate slew of illnesses, he bombed his LP at Nationals, Jr. Nationals (lost the segment but won overall), and Jr. Worlds.
For next year: Find his consistency again. Make sure the height and quality of his triples get back to where they were at the start of this season (vs. how they looked at Jr. Worlds). The quad will also be needed if he moves up to seniors.
The Wildcards:
Artur Gachinski: The former World/European medallist made a high-profile coaching change, moving from Alexei Mishin to Tatiana Tarasova('s group). So far, his results have seen no uptick (his worst finishes on the GP series to date + 6th at Nationals + 3rd at Universiade). Perhaps his issues will take time to sort out.
For next year: Find his love for skating again. That's all.
Evgeni Plushenko: Says he will compete again. And I'll leave it there.
This is the place to discuss these men (and others) on Team Russia. What are some promising signs, and what are some things they need to work on? Can Russia improve the men's results next year--what are some realistic goals? Can they ever "regain their past glory"
drama, or did a few greats simply produce more prestige for the discipline than Russia's actual depth could handle?
We can look at the 2014-15 season in two ways. The first: it's a solid rebuilding year. Russia had two men at GPF, two men on the podium at Europeans, and a bunch of GP medals. In juniors, they have medals from the JGP and JGPF. It's certainly an improvement over the lean years of 2006-2010.
On the other hand, the season could be described as, "started with a roar, ended with a whimper." None of the top men were able to peak at the key events of the season: Worlds, Europeans, or Jr. Worlds. Russian maintains its two spots at Worlds, which is either blessing or disappointment depending on how you look at it.
The Top 2:
Maxim Kovtun: Stormed onto the scene by winning two GPs (albeit under exceptional circumstances), over World/Olympic medallists Yuzuru Hanyu, Tatsuki Machida, and Denis Ten. He defended his Nationals title by a hair due to a strong SP. Cracks started showing at Europeans, where he won silver but made major errors in both programs. At Worlds, he finished a somewhat disappointing seventh after a meltdown SP and a solid LP.
For next year: Show some personality and genuine enjoyment of skating. And land the 4-5 planned quads--because without a loop or a flip, he has little to fall back on when the big tricks fail.
Sergei Voronov: Impressed with his consistency early in the season--medalling at both his GPs and at GPF (on his first time qualifying, no less). Skated quite well at Nationals, winning the LP and losing the title only due to his less ambitious SP and some lower PCS. However, he made costly mistakes in his LPs at Europeans (1S) and Worlds (Zayaking, among other things), dropping him down to bronze in the former and a very disappointing 13th place in the latter.
For next year: Continue showing charm and personality, while getting more transitions/field moves. Make up his mind on that second LP quad--it hasn't been clean all year and could put him face-to-face with Zayak when he pops it.
Fighting for a Top Spot:
Kontantin Menshov: A solid run on the GP (5th and 4th), where he delivered a two-quad SP for the first time. However, his unstable free skates eventually caught up to him, and he was off the podium (and off the European team) at Nationals.
For next year: Deliver a solid LP. Whether it contains one, two, or three quads is almost irrelevant. He just has to show some stability in the segment, or else making teams in the future could only get harder...
Adian Pitkeev: The World Jr. silver medallist had an fine but not spectacular debut on the senior GP series (6th and 6th), where he attempted quads for the first time, with mixed success. His strongest performances came at Nationals, where he medalled and earned a trip to Europeans. However, illness and injury derailed him, leading to lower-than-expected placements at Europeans (7th) and Jr. Worlds (5th).
For next year: Learn how to handle the quad along with the rest of his repertoire. Come out of his shell more as a performer.
Alexander Petrov: This promising junior was flying high for the first half of the season: medalling at his JGPs and at JGPF, plus winning several Senior B's with impressive marks and strong performances. However, his consistency seemed to disappear for the second half of the year. Perhaps due to an unfortunate slew of illnesses, he bombed his LP at Nationals, Jr. Nationals (lost the segment but won overall), and Jr. Worlds.
For next year: Find his consistency again. Make sure the height and quality of his triples get back to where they were at the start of this season (vs. how they looked at Jr. Worlds). The quad will also be needed if he moves up to seniors.
The Wildcards:
Artur Gachinski: The former World/European medallist made a high-profile coaching change, moving from Alexei Mishin to Tatiana Tarasova('s group). So far, his results have seen no uptick (his worst finishes on the GP series to date + 6th at Nationals + 3rd at Universiade). Perhaps his issues will take time to sort out.
For next year: Find his love for skating again. That's all.
Evgeni Plushenko: Says he will compete again. And I'll leave it there.
This is the place to discuss these men (and others) on Team Russia. What are some promising signs, and what are some things they need to work on? Can Russia improve the men's results next year--what are some realistic goals? Can they ever "regain their past glory"
drama, or did a few greats simply produce more prestige for the discipline than Russia's actual depth could handle?
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Obviously I'm one of the biggest fans of the Russian guys on here...
