Recapping Skate Canada 2013

It’s hard to believe the Olympics are less that 100 days away! Our Halloween here in KY got postponed due to severe weather, so I caught up on watching Skate Canada from a makeshift shelter of sorts. Needless to say, I survived the storm and didn’t even have to break into the Halloween candy from stress. This year has been my first experience with Ice Network and the jury is still out as to whether or not I think it’s worth the money, only time will tell I suppose!

The United States was represented in the Pairs event by Denney/Frazier and Davis/Brubaker who finished 5th and 6th in that order. While 5th place is not too shabby in the grand scheme of the international scene, I’m not sure that is where anyone wants to place in one of the few events leading up to the Olympics. More disconcerting is the fact that Denney/Frazier who finished one place ahead of Davis/Brubaker were still about 35 points behind the winners, Berton/Hotarek of Italy.

The Ice Dance event was won by Virtue/Moir, followed by Weaver/Poje and Hubbell/Donahue of the United States. Virtue/Moir are very clearly the Canadian favorites heading into Sochi. I was very happy to see Weaver/Poje perform so well! Weaver seems to have recovered quite well from an ankle injury during the last season. Hubbell/Donahue seem to be a more cohesive team on this ice this year which is always a good thing to see heading into this Olympic season from any US dance team.

In the Ladies event, the U.S. was represented by Gracie Gold who finished 3rd, Christina Gao who finished 4th and Courtney Hicks who finished 6th. The event was won by Lipnitskaia of Russia, followed by Akiko Suzuki of Japan and Gracie Gold of the United States. I was very impressed with the technique of Lipnitskaia, the energetic 15 year old from Russia whose Artistry will only improve with time.My favorite program was skated by Akiko Suzuki who had a wonderful Free Skate to Phantom of the Opera. Gracie Gold was leading after the Short Program and ended up finishing 4th after the Free.

As soon as I went to watch the Men’s Skating my frustration with Ice Network grew. They didn’t have videos posted of the Mens Free Skate Programs and I don’t understand why. This event was won by Patrick Chan of Canada followed by Yuzuru Hanyu and Nobunari Oda both representing Japan. The United States was represented by Joshua Farris who finished 5th, Jeremy Abbott who finished 6th and Ross Miner who finished 10th. Farris moved up from 8th in the short to finish 5th. Abbott moved from 4th after the short down to 6th.

This weekend I will be found in front of the television watching the Cup of China. I will definitely be trying to watch as much of it as I can live because it sure beats hoping the feed works on the computer, especially when you are trying to watch it during a severe thunderstorm! Cup of China will be on NBC from 1:30-3:30 ET on Sunday November 3rd.