2015-2016 Men's Power Rankings

[wonderlen3000]

They don't bomb frequently. They make some mistakes, which is very different, it's part of what makes them some of the best in the field. The don't bomb constantly, they go for difficult elements and don't end up falling all over the place (as in several falls because really, one fall is to be expected nowadays). Yuzuru hadn't got a score that low in a SP since 2010, it's not usual to see Javier have a SP like he did at at last year's GPF.

ITA. Clean SP+ Cleanish LP are expected of men these days. All men will have at least one pop (clean in the eyes), stepout (minor), fall (cleanish) these days. Since 2011, no world/olym champ skated totally clean SP+LP and run away with title.

 

[Ice Dance]

I think, for Denis, the injury is the real concern. If he is healthy and has enough time to train, I fully expect him to be in that final group at Worlds. But more importantly, I want to see him heal and able to continue through 2018.

That said--he is incredibly consistent.

He consistently does not medal at Skate America.
He consistently does not make the Grand Prix final.
He consistently gets discounted from men's predictions early in the season (and generally is still discounted after 4CC's).
He consistently medals in the most important competition of the year.
And he consistently has the cleanest free skate among the medalists during that most important competition.
He has won as many World free skates as Patrick, more than Hanyu, and Fernandez has yet to win any.

 

[Ice Dance]

Just bumping this up for those people who might wish to discuss the international men's field--post GPF--without being limited to the Chan vs. Hanyu thread. Or feeling compelled to argue whether the Chan vs. Hanyu thread should even exist.

 

[Interspectator]

Fernandez has put 2 quads in his SP. Not clean yet, but a definite step towards Yuzu's Club-300.

My Power Rankings:

1 Yuzu
2 Fernandez
3 Denis (he'll make his way up, but Shoma may take his spot)
4 Shoma
5 Chan
6 Boyang
7 Max Aaron
8 Murakami
9 Jason Brown ?? I don't know how his training has been lately, he could be higher.
10 Adam Rippon/ Grant / Vornov they are too close to decide.

 

[xibsuarz]

Fernandez has put 2 quads in his SP. Not clean yet, but a definite step towards Yuzu's Club-300.

My Power Rankings:

1 Yuzu
2 Fernandez
3 Denis (he'll make his way up, but Shoma may take his spot)
4 Shoma
5 Chan
6 Max Aaron
7 Murakami
8 Jason Brown ?? I don't know how his training has been lately, he could be higher.
9 Adam Rippon
10 Grant / Vornov

I'm probably missing someone important.

Boyang, perhaps?

 

[Interspectator]

Boyang, perhaps?

RIGHT! heheh, thanks, I'll add him. Oooh, and Nam, but Nam has fallen off the top 10 List for me. Go Nam, fix your programs!

 

[karlowens2]

What does this mean - power ranking? Weight lifting? Pity many on this site see ice skating as a trick sport. Like, moguls or surfing.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Time for a after-GP revisiting of this :dance2:

1.) Yuzuru Hanyu - the main challenge now is to stay healthy (something he never managed so far going into worlds...) and keep his focus. GPF was a good sign regarding the latter. If he manages to land the big tricks, he can even beat everyone else in completely clean with minor mistakes on the other jumps or even a fall. We'll have to wait and see if he can keep his form until worlds, but for now, he's the heavy favorite to win pretty much anything.

2.) Javier Fernandez - I have to admit I didn't see that coming. After his amazing 2013 europeans LP, I thought Javi stagnated a bit. There were little improvements here and there, but I wouldn't have put him completely into the Hanyu/Chan league. But it seems the world title really fired him up, and he's been skating like a world champ all season. Even after the GPF SP he said in an interview with PJ Kwong that he'd skate for the gold in the LP. And then he did. Add in the 2 quad SP and it's obvious he's not going to give up his title without a huge fight, no matter how well Yuzu has been skating.

3.) Patrick Chan - it's not just the BV (although obviously, his BV difference to my top 2 is huge, and even a 2nd 4T in the LP isn't going to change much about that). But IMO, the other guys have reduced the gap in PCS too (or in Yuzuru's case, arguably closed it completely). His basic skating is still very strong, but it looks the same as in 2013-14 to me, whereas the other guys have worked on that and improved. As of now, both Yuzu and Javi are packing in more transitions. Patrick still gets huge GOE, but so do the others. I think he'll get back into the game more until worlds and finally manage a good SP, but the question is how much can that do for him now?

4.) Shoma Uno - I even thought about putting Shoma 3rd! He has really managed to crack into the absolute top of the senior men with his showings so far, the GPF bronze only being the last step of that. He is really consistent, puts quads in the 2nd half and can sweep an audience like there's no tomorrow. Without the edge call on the lutz, he'd have beaten Patrick in the GPF LP, and just look what that SP score could have been - 86+ with an URed quad fall! With a clean quad that would have been around 94-95 at least! The judges are clearly willing to give him big medals, he only needs to keep his consistency up.

5.) Denis Ten - Denis is mainly 5th due to "I have no idea what to do with you" syndrom. While I expect him to show up in better form again at 4CC/worlds, his troubled GP showings have definitely hurt his momentum, and I'm not sure how the judges will welcome him back. He could potentially overtake Shoma and Patrick, and obviously Javi and Yuzu with mistakes too, but I'll just have to admit it's a big question mark to me how he will fit in with the other men.

6.) Boyang Jin - because quads, and a pretty good consistency with them!

Everything after that is pretty difficult...

7.) Max Aaron - looks like the front runner for nationals this season, very improved overall. And he's in attack mode.

8.) Daisuke Murakami - although thanks to Japan only having 2 spots for worlds, we'll likely won't see him there.

9.) Jason Brown - as long as he's completely healthy again by nationals, I'd expect him to have a good showing there. Even with the quad now I'd say he's still one of the more reliable skaters.

10.) Kovtun or Voronov, depending on who does better at russian nationals (and potentially even one of the "new" russians, if they make a splash at nationals)

PS: I'm taking a moment of silence for no Hanee on this list, and no Josh either... not even Nam :sad21:

 

[Rissa]

1. Hanyu
2. Fernandez
3. Chan
4. D10
5. Uno

Well, unlike Li'Kitsu, this is the point where it gets really difficult (but on the other hand, I think we've got Fab 5 instead of Fab 4!)

6. Boyang Jin - those quads can do the trick any and there's always a chance that he'll get on the podium but if he's scrachy and others do ok, he'll drop.
7. Kovtun - If he gets himself together, he would do better than any other guys down on the list.
8. Daisuke Murakami - if he gets consistent, he could go as far up as 5th or even 4th given the inconsitency of D10
9. Nam Nguyen - I'm not writing him off yet, I think he'll end up in to 10 at Worlds. Programs aren't the best ever for him, but more training time and an excursion to 4CC could put him back on the map.
10. Max Aaron - he's got the quads but his programs are empty and don't suit him, so if the quads fail, there's not much to save him.

Jason Brown hovers beneath as an anti-Max Aaron, apparently without a clean quad but with much that could save him.

 

[Silvia451]

1. Yuzuru
2. Javi
3. Patrick
4. Shoma
5. Denis (but better talk about him after 4CC and worlds)
6. Boyang
7. Murakami
8. Nam
9. Pitkeev (I have a feeling he'll do very well at nationals)
10. Kovtun

 

[MaiKatze]

It's almost funny how Denis Ten is an absolute disaster in the Grand Prix, even 4CC...and then suddenly he delivers at the biggest stages of them all, like Worlds and Olympics. I had to check wikipedia to see who was third last year at the GPF as I'd forgotten...Voronov....what the heck happened to Voronov?

 

[Jammers]

It's almost funny how Denis Ten is an absolute disaster in the Grand Prix, even 4CC...and then suddenly he delivers at the biggest stages of them all, like Worlds and Olympics. I had to check wikipedia to see who was third last year at the GPF as I'd forgotten...Voronov....what the heck happened to Voronov?

Voronov had a career year last season but his skating has a lot of holes in it when he doesn't land the jumps. A bit like most of the Russian Men right now. They can land quads but their skating skills and artistry is lacking.

 

[Ice Dance]

I had to check wikipedia to see who was third last year at the GPF as I'd forgotten...Voronov....what the heck happened to Voronov?

Pop! He was fourth at Worlds, behind Denis, after the short. Looked like the pressure of the final warm-up group and being the top Russian guy and the appearance of opportunity got to Voronov. The free was just an epic implosion. He might have been better off if Denis had skated first and effectively shut the door before Voronov had to skate. Then again, that didn't help Han Yan (who seemed to have the final warm-up group + the home-country pressure implosion).

 

[Sabrina]

In boys there is no winner for sure as a few men really have the potential of great skating. Yuzuru is clearly the favourite and if he stays healthy he could win by a great margin.
Shomo Uno - I find him amazing and in my books he may be ahead of Patrick, especially if Shomo makes no mistakes and Patrick misses some big guns. There are some ifs as Patrick SS are difficult to match especially in the judges eyes. I think that Shomo has better transitions than most other skaters including Chan. But he is still young, and pays a price for that. Shomo can do quadruples and 3A in the second part of the program a thing I've never seen with Patrick.
Boyang TES is out of this world. I wonder for how long is he going to do that amazing 4Lz. He benefits from a super slim body. Teenagers could be like that, but lose that when they mature. I know Asians could have slimmer bodies by rule, at least when compared to the other races (caucasian or African coloured). This belong to the statement : we are not born equal.
I love Jason, but without quads he could only hope to a honourable top 10.
I love Javier. If he does't do mistakes at all he could end up un the podium. He looks more consistent than Patrick, but they are not equal in SS, though Javier transitions are amazing.
Adian, Voronov, Menshov are great skaters, and who ever comes to the Worlds could be top 10.
Denis Ten is a great skater, but I don't know what's on his mind.
Nam Nguyen could be great...he's still growing.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Those three bomb frequently.

:shocked: I would LOVE to hear who you would consider in the men's field doesn't "bomb" frequently.

 

[Ophelia]

^True. Most of the top men aren't reliably consistent.

Does Nam Nguyen count? Is he still consistent? Or Boyang Jin?

 

[Ice Dance]

^True. Most of the top men aren't reliably consistent.

Does Nam Nguyen count? Is he still consistent?

His performances this season would argue otherwise. More big jumps + higher expectations + more PRESSURE.


As for Boyang, too soon to tell. (Nothing to lose yet). On the plus side, having this "kid" put up giant numbers sure seems to have kicked Javier & Hanyu into a higher gear.

 

[Interspectator]

I'm interested to see who will be sent to 4CC. Last season it was the BEST men's event. Who might be sent this year?
Highlight for 4CC might be: Yuzu, Denis, Patrick, Shoma, Boyang, Max Aaron, Jason

And in Euros, will Javi have any competition at all? Or will he skate off with another record win?

 

[StitchMonkey]

I'm interested to see who will be sent to 4CC. Last season it was the BEST men's event. Who might be sent this year?
Highlight for 4CC might be: Yuzu, Denis, Patrick, Shoma, Boyang, Max Aaron, Jason

And in Euros, will Javi have any competition at all? Or will he skate off with another record win?

Euros might be more interesting if Javi skipped it and let everyone else duke it out. I think Adian Pitkeev will be there and could make a mark. I kinda think we are going to see a shift of Russia's number one guy from Kovtun to Adian so i could see Adian making a splash this year.

4CC - I am not sure Max will go - I think he will take the save up for world's approach.... unless the math works out that a 4CC reasonable placement could get him in a better group at worlds, other than that, I think he will rest up.

I think Jason will go. I actually think we may see a 4S attempt from him at 4CC this year. The 4T attempt was not great last year, but it got it out there and he learned from it and if nothing else the quad this season was less scary and less a big deal. 4CC is a good chance to try new stuff and I would not be surprised if Kori wants to use it again as a testing ground. It may not be a 4S, but i could see a "let's see what happen when Jason tries 2 4Ts" experiment too.

I think we may see Nathan Chen getting send to 4CC and junior worlds. I think Nathan is going to junior worlds even if he ends up at 4CC and senior as well. But I could see USFSA giving him 4CC and junior worlds.

That leaves us with Ross, Grant and Adam - who are our other likely contenders. Adam went last year, but he had a new program to test out. He also is a former 4CC champion, so i could see him skipping it if there is not a need for him to be there. Grant and Ross might feel they need the points.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

That was what Shoma did last year- Junior Worlds and 4CC as a 'debut' for Seniors - so it might be a good strategy for USFS and Chen.