Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue, 2012 Skate Canada International (Getty Images)
The Grand Prix assignments for the 2013-14 season are upon us, and this year’s dance line-up offers more than a few storylines to watch.
1. The Elite
There are no surprises in the assignments for World one-two Meryl Davis & Charlie White and Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, both slated to compete at their traditional international haunts (NHK Trophy, Trophee Eric Bompard) in addition to their home events. For Canton-trained Davis & White, of course, the Detroit-hosted Skate America is almost literally a home event, while Skate Canada International will mark Virtue & Moir’s first time competing a major event in Saint John, New Brunswick, which last hosted this competition in 1999.
Three other teams from the U.S. and Canada also achieved solid top ten finishes at Worlds, granting them each two assignments. Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje will also be competing at Skate Canada, along with final event Rostelecom Cup. In Russia, the two will compete against Madison Chock & Evan Bates in their own second event, and will be accompanied by fellow Canadians Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (also competing at NHK Trophy, though having been guaranteed only one event). Maia & Alex Shibutani will be joining Davis & White at both Skate America and NHK Trophy, events that have proven very successful for the siblings in previous years.
Additionally, Canadians Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams, who competed alongside Virtue & Moir last year at Rostelecom Cup, will be joining the team this year in Paris.
2. The Returning Teams
This category is dedicated to Skate Canada’s host pick of Alexandra Paul & Mitch Islam, set to make their first appearance on the Grand Prix since 2011 and their first at Skate Canada International since the 2010 event in Kingston, Ontario. They’ll be joined by two pairs of Detroit Skating Club training mates in fellow Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje, and Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue, who are making their second straight appearance at this Grand Prix stop and are the only American team selected for the event.
3. The Newcomers
Two-time American junior national champs, and current World Junior bronze medalists Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton make their senior Grand Prix debut at Cup of China, where they’ll be joined by fellow Americans — and Michiganders — Madison Chock & Evan Bates.
Given the youth of the other top juniors in both the U.S. and Canada, teams like Madeline Edwards & ZhaoKai Pang — who will be moving to senior nationally in Canada this season — and Americans Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker will likely be continuing their push on the Junior Grand Prix, making Aldridge & Eaton the lone North American team to move up to the senior Grand Prix. Though they’re not alone in their debut — reigning World Junior gold and silver medalists, Russia’s Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin and France’s Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron, will make their own Grand Prix debuts at Skate Canada International and Rostelecom Cup.
4. The TBAs
The TBA to watch, for our purposes, is Skate America’s. The USFSA has made a tradition of waiting on the summer competition season to determine at least one of its Grand Prix host picks. Last year, strong results at July’s Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships gave Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus their first trip to the Grand Prix, and that same event seems likely to serve as this year’s trial as well. This year the competition is tighter; with a season’s best just two spots out of the top 24, Lynn Kriengkrairut & Logan Giulietti-Schmitt, who finished a personal-best fourth at last year’s Skate America, were this year not guaranteed a Grand Prix assignment, and thus, like Cannuscio & McManus, are certainly in the running for that pick, especially in the wake of their post-Nationals relocation to Igor Shpilband’s up-and-coming training base at Novi.
The complete list of Grand Prix entries is available here. The Grand Prix begins October 18 in Detroit, Michigan, with Hilton HHonors Skate America.