2014 Skate Canada Pairs FS 11/01

[gold12345]

It looked like such an "early in the season" event, extremely messy, but Duhamel/Radford were pretty strong and impressive. She really muscled her way through it, but that LP suits them.

 

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

Meagan and Eric did a great job today! I much prefer this long program over last year's FS. Their technical difficulty level is incredible!

That program was amazing! Did you see the gold maple leaf on the flag?

Like the Eurosport commentators said that music is strange but it suits them very well.

I'm glad they switched to triple toes for the sbs jumps. I always wondered why they did triple salchows when they were her nemesis. Were they trying to keep a well-balanced program by having one set be a toe jump and one set an edge jump? And now with the quad Sal, they can do two toe jumps?

 

[Blades of Passion]

I'm not buying Duhamel/Radford's quad throw. It is SO pre-rotated. He doesn't let go of her until she's a full rotation into it. There needs to be < calls for throws and twists.

 

[gold12345]

I'm glad they switched to triple toes for the sbs jumps. I always wondered why they did triple salchows when they were her nemesis. Were they trying to keep a well-balanced program by having one set be a toe jump and one set an edge jump? And now with the quad Sal, they can do two toe jumps?

Also they were probably trying to squeeze out as many points as they could by doing 3S instead of 3T. It's slightly higher in points. Her 3S was fine sometimes, but yeah, the 3T are working better so far.

 

[ice coverage]

Yeah, I think its well known that Max was great at hockey. No one said he was twiddling his thumbs at home. Ballet and figure skating notoriously are not seen as macho, but it does take having a macho work ethic to excel as an all around skater, and taking ballet training truly helps. People don't realize how strong ballet dancers are, not to mention how flexible.

Exactly! :thumbsup:

Art&Sport and Dr. Jenn:

I think you have missed my point. We are on the same page in that I agree that it's great that Max embraced ballet after the end of his hockey career. ('Cuz I do realize how strong and flexible ballet dancers are. With a sister like Maddie, Max surely has long been aware of the same.)

Obviously Max's work ethic always has been very strong.
It is pretty darn amazing that for most of his teen years, Max was competing at the national level both in figure skating and in hockey (after getting serious about both sports at an even younger age). Plus all along he was going to regular school (no home-schooling or online classes for the Aarons).

All credit to Maddie for her devotion to ballet, but my point was simply that Max already had a very full plate. Last I checked, only twenty-four hours in a day.

 

[Ice Diva]

Quite a patchy competition but of course early in season. Didn't care for Mt/M's program but they are a new partnering. Loved T/M and thought they should've been above S/H. IMO S/H were way overmarked. I supposed I've never cared for them - they have the tricks but so sloppy in their posture, no connection to a beautiful piece of music & I don't see anything exciting about them. The Americans were overmarked too -- it was like watching the hunchback and the ballerina together -- didn't work. Loved D/R's program; a few mistakes but really well skated & the music's really worked. It's true she doesn't have the most lyrical of styles but she's improving every year and Eric is hot so it kind of balances things out

 

[slider11]

Aaron and Settlage did great! But Settlage makes me a little nervous when he picks her up. She'd be a dynamic partner for a strong counterpart. No offense to Settlage, maybe he was just tired and "done" as he kept saying in the k and c. Madeleine really impresses me with her outstanding carriage and artistry. Another thread mentioned the disastrous skate that Adam Rippon had and wondered if he should be an ice dancer. How about Madeleine and Adam? They'd look good together and both have such style! Not loving Duhamel and Radford's LP. Music is weird and just feels like trick to trick exhibition. Ending was cool. I miss Aliona and Robin.

 

[yyyskate]

just watched cong/tong, jump mistakes aside, I love what I saw, this lp WILL only get better :yay:

 

[ice coverage]

just watched cong/tong, jump mistakes aside, I love what I saw, this lp WILL only get better :yay:

Whyyyyy do you keep calling them "cong/tong"???

If you have a justifiable reason, please explain.

Otherwise, seems disrespectful.

 

[Mao88]

PAIRS FREE SKATE - VIDEOS & RESULT - updated

1. Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD (CAN) - 210.74 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
2. Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN (CHN) - 184.64 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
3. Evgenia TARASOVA / Vladimir MOROZOV (RUS) - 175.45 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
4. Madeline AARON / Max SETTLAGE (USA) - 165.91 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
5. Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES (FRA) - 161.79 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
6. Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Michael MARINARO (CAN) - 158.82 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
7. Brittany JONES / Joshua REAGAN (CAN) - 146.77 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
8. Mari VARTMANN / Aaron VAN CLEAVE (GER) - 145.89 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy

 

[ice coverage]

LOL, will fourth-place finishers be invited to skate at the gala tomorrow?

Maybe Kelowna will be treated to one more skate from the wonderful Maddie and Max. And I'm sure that they would be happy to oblige.

--------------

Thank you for your many, many GP video links, Mao88.

 

[Art&Sport]

I love Meagan and Eric. They are way cool and tremendously talented. As BBC announcers said, D/R are the only pair team to do sbs 3 lutzes, plus their program is chock full of tech difficulty. Nearly nailed that throw quad too. A good "statement" skate by D/R. Hope their season continues to build to great things. They deserve all the best.

 

[rvi5]

I'm not buying Duhamel/Radford's quad throw. It is SO pre-rotated. He doesn't let go of her until she's a full rotation into it. There needs to be < calls for throws and twists.

Do they start counting throw rotations when the guy lets go, or when her foot leaves the ice (as in singles)?

 

[yyyskate]

Whyyyyy do you keep calling them "cong/tong"???

If you have a justifiable reason, please explain.

Otherwise, seems disrespectful.

cong/tong are their nickname from Chinese board, Sorry If I offended you, I will change it back to S/H from now on. They are my fav Chinese pair team currently.:yay:

 

[ice coverage]

cong/tong are their nickname from Chinese board, Sorry If I offended you, I will change it back to S/H from now on. They are my fav Chinese pair team currently.:yay:

Thanks for the reply, and sorry that I was clueless as to the origin of the nickname.
Glad to know that you are their fan.

 

[yqs100]

Russian pairs. Beautiful posture but they need to feel the music more. It's their senior debut, the pcs is overrated. But consider they are from royal Russia! Then it's understandable.

Respect D/R for their brave to set a new bar for pairs tech difficulties, wish they had a better program tho

Looks like S/H's program could be a master piece if they skate well... They have improved a lot since last year.

 

[Mao88]

PAIRS FREE SKATE - VIDEOS & RESULT - updated

1. Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD (CAN) - 210.74 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy, 5th Copy
2. Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN (CHN) - 184.64 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
3. Evgenia TARASOVA / Vladimir MOROZOV (RUS) - 175.45 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
4. Madeline AARON / Max SETTLAGE (USA) - 165.91 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
5. Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES (FRA) - 161.79 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
6. Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Michael MARINARO (CAN) - 158.82 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
7. Brittany JONES / Joshua REAGAN (CAN) - 146.77 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
8. Mari VARTMANN / Aaron VAN CLEAVE (GER) - 145.89 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy

 

[emma]

I love Meagan and Eric. They are way cool and tremendously talented. As BBC announcers said, D/R are the only pair team to do sbs 3 lutzes, plus their program is chock full of tech difficulty. Nearly nailed that throw quad too. A good "statement" skate by D/R. Hope their season continues to build to great things. They deserve all the best.

Yes to all of this. I really enjoyed watching them; such power and charisma; the tech; and the unison. really nice!

 

[loop9497]

Amazing job by Duhamel/Radford! They really attacked that program. It is well suited to them and it was great to see them on fire so early in the season. They seem very prepared and well conditioned. I actually like Sui/Han's program very much as well. I think as time goes on in the season it will only look stronger. Kirsten and Michael, though they made mistakes, looked much better gelled together than I thought they would at this point. And I think Tarasova/Morozov have great potential - their triple twist is gorgeous!

 

[Ice Dance]

Overall thoughts:

S&H--There is nothing these two can't perform. The music just storming away, missed the jumps (I think she got nervous after missing one at the last minute in the warm-up), but still they sold every minute of this program. They have everything D&R don't have.

D&R--Had the technical by a mile today. (And kudos for the black instead of the tissue/lavender dress from the short).

T&M--Ooh! Tons of potential. First time I have seen them (live or otherwise), and I liked what I saw from them in practice & competition. Lots of mistakes today, but great lifts & phenomenal twist. She didn't look ready to handle the height he gave her in the throw today, but in the future . . . Not sure about the jumps yet. TBD.

A&S--About as well as I could have hoped. They should be proud. Better presentation than last week, though I think Coppelia suits them better. They don't have the performance ability to pull off Anna & the King.

The French--Sigh. Thought their short was great! (I love her expression). But this long is a mess. Music wise, choreography wise, and today they were rough on almost every element.

M-T&M--Well, a lot closer to what I expect from a brand new team than during their short, which I thought was quite good considering. (That said, I am so MAD about the split! 4th in the World and I was so routing for her & her former partner to take the top Canadian spot. Sigh.)