Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
I agree with some of what caitie said, although I do think they are better than HD. I do not particularly like HD's programs, so if HB have something good I think they could surpass HD. HD's first competition scores this year were not even close to CB's scores at Nebelhorn and that was with HD competing in the US. So.... I have hope for HB. We'll see their programs soon enough and will be able to draw some conclusions then.

The Shibs scores so far this year weren't any good either- their total score was less than a point better than H/D. Of course it's early in the season and either or both teams could improve, and of course we have no idea how H/B are about to score this weekend, but I'd argue the door is at least somewhat open.
 

tvuckic16

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
True. Nothing left to do now but wait and see how HB do this week end.

Btw: HB have taken over the US figure skating Instagram with Jean-Luc promising Kaitlin won't let him post too many pictures of food...lol
 

Hyena

Tous les whiskys
Medalist
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
That lift is really incredible looking. Can't wait to see it in their programs.
 

tvuckic16

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
They just scored a 55.6 on their SD, which I think is not a bad starting score for them for the season. Good SD, I liked it.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Unlike some people I did really like the SD in general, but I do think the score was pretty low actually if they really want to push for the World team. Fortunately though it's the beginning of the season and there is a lot of room or improvement and time to do so!
 

tvuckic16

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Unlike some people I did really like the SD in general, but I do think the score was pretty low actually if they really want to push for the World team. Fortunately though it's the beginning of the season and there is a lot of room or improvement and time to do so!

Yes, it doesn't seem they will make the World team this year, but we'll see their FD and the SD will improve over time. This is pretty much the score they started with last season and ended up improving significantly in scores by the end of the season for the SD. I think they are still a junior team in many ways and are seen as such, but I have high hopes for them in the next couple of years as they mature and progress. I still consider this a relatively good score for them at the beginning of the season.

Skate America may look exactly like I predicted a couple of months ago with Chock/Bates, GP and possibly SK if they even skate or have gotten their act together at all as first three and then HB and YM fighting it out as the "junior" teams.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Yes, it doesn't seem they will make the World team this year, but we'll see their FD and the SD will improve over time. This is pretty much the score they started with last season and ended up improving significantly in scores by the end of the season for the SD. I think they are still a junior team in many ways and are seen as such, but I have high hopes for them in the next couple of years as they mature and progress. I still consider this a relatively good score for them at the beginning of the season.

Skate America may look exactly like I predicted a couple of months ago with Chock/Bates, GP and possibly SK if they even skate or have gotten their act together at all as first three and then HB and YM fighting it out as the "junior" teams.

I wouldn't count on S/K being able to beat H/B OR Y/M necessarily- their PB SD so far is only 57.96 and especially with his having been injured who knows if they will be able to top it... I think it's basically a 3-way run for third place between these three unless S/K have shown SHOCKING development.
 

tvuckic16

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
I wouldn't count on S/K being able to beat H/B OR Y/M necessarily- their PB SD so far is only 57.96 and especially with his having been injured who knows if they will be able to top it... I think it's basically a 3-way run for third place between these three unless S/K have shown SHOCKING development.

You're probably right, but if SK have gotten their act together at all (last year I think a lot of their low scores were also due to some mistakes they made, twizzles...LOL dropping your partner..., ok not funny she could have been really hurt... I don't really remember all their scores or why they scored so low, I didn't actually watch them very closely), I have a feeling the judges would favor them over the two younger teams. Just my feeling. I could be wrong. I hope so, because my preference would be for either HB or YM.
 

chameleon

On the Ice
Joined
May 29, 2014
S/K did make some mistakes last season, but if I remember correctly the 57.96 SD score was a pretty clean skate, maybe a bobble or two, but otherwise clean. Nikita has a stress fracture that prevented them for showing up at the test skates. Add in Marina's level troubles and I wouldn't necessarily say that S/K will beat either Y/M or H/B.
 

icedinn

wishing ksenia/kirill happiness 4ever
On the Ice
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Just saw the sd and liked it a lot. For sure it'll get better as the season progresses. I know people criticized Kaitlyn for not being a pwetty ballerina like Alexandra Paul (who isn't all that tbh) but I think she did well and like how everything is focused on her.
On a sidenote his hair looked ridiculous and gross looking. Not important I guess but he needs a haircut or gel to tidy up a bit.
 

lauravvv

Medalist
Joined
Jun 19, 2012
Country
Latvia
I know people criticized Kaitlyn for not being a pwetty ballerina like Alexandra Paul (who isn't all that tbh) but I think she did well and like how everything is focused on her.
Well, I personally don't think that Alexandra Paul is like a real ballerina (no skater is that, including ice dancers), and neither did I say that. But, in my opinion, she did look much better and closer to a ballerina in the SD than Kaitlin.
 
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caitie

Medalist
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Just saw the sd and liked it a lot. For sure it'll get better as the season progresses. I know people criticized Kaitlyn for not being a pwetty ballerina like Alexandra Paul (who isn't all that tbh) but I think she did well and like how everything is focused on her.

I mean... I uber for them but I can admit that Kaitlin's arms can be just shy of flaily. The idea of tackling a waltz SD with a ballet theme is interesting in that it could help Kaitlin (and Jean-Luc as well) refine this aspect of their skating. But I'm not sure it's the best strategy if they want to pass one of the top three teams this season. I really expected them to come out in either generic waltz apparel or a Nutcracker military uniform/party dress. I was very surprised to see them in ballet costumes.

Speaking of which, Jean-Luc's costume actually look very cheap to me (although it's hard to tell from the pictures), and I think he could benefit from a costume change if possible.

What concerns me about this outing is that their first GP is in two weeks, and I honestly expected them to look a bit better here. They looked rather stiff (I actually wondered if Krylova is really working on their posture because I know that is a thing with her and they looked sooo focused on being ram-rod straight through everything?) and tentative. Their edges through the step sequence looked kind of shallow to me.

Anyway, last year it was obvious they had focused on the free dance a lot more than the SD and it seems like that is definitely the case this year as well with how they've been talking about it. Hope it's good!
 

icedinn

wishing ksenia/kirill happiness 4ever
On the Ice
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Well they have work to do. But honestly they are so much better than w/p who were overscored and sloppy. Had these two went clean they would have had a score close to the winners or surpassed them. At skate America, I bet they will be more focused.
 

humbaba

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 12, 2004
Maybe H/B just had a "Charlie White 2008 Cup of Russia" moment. All skaters have rough competitions where things go wrong. I love watching them skate and hope they do well at SA.
 
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