Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch, 2012 Cup of China (Getty Images)
1. The Elite
Canada’s top two teams also enter the Grand Prix as third and fourth in the world, putting each in prime position for podium finishes at their two events. As reigning medalists, however, assignment rules may offer Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford a slightly clearer road to gold than that faced by Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch. Duhamel & Radford enter as the top seeds in their fourth consecutive appearance at Skate Canada International and third at Trophee Eric Bompard. Moore-Towers & Moscovitch, meanwhile, will be taking on Skate America for the third time in their partnership, and Rostelecom Cup for the first, but at each event will face a key contender — Skate America includes reigning world champs Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov, while Rostelecom Cup is led by silver medalists and four-time champions Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy.
While far less established than either of Canada’s top pairs, Americans Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim have had a fast rise, finishing fourth at 2012’s NHK Trophy just seven months after teaming up, capturing national silver, and finishing ninth at Worlds, securing them two Grand Prix assignments. The young pair will be competing at Cup of China, alongside fellow Americans and national bronze medalists Felicia Zhang & Nathan Bartholomay in their first-ever Grand Prix appearance, and at Rostelecom Cup.
As reigning U.S. national champions, Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir will be kicking off their Grand Prix at Skate America. The pair has also secured an assignment to NHK Trophy, where they took bronze in 2012. Joining them in Tokyo will be three-time Canadian national bronze medalists Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers, who begin their Grand Prix series with a fourth straight trip to Skate Canada International, an event where the team placed fourth in 2012.
2012 U.S. champions Caydee Denney & John Coughlin captured bronze at both of their Grand Prix events in the 2012-13 season, which also marked the competitive conclusion of their year with Coughlin’s hip injury/surgery shutting down the remaining half of their season. The pair have picked up two more assignments this series: Skate America, marking their third time at the home event, and Trophee Eric Bompard.
2. The Returning
This category is about the individual: two elite men who last competed in the 2011-12 season will be making their Grand Prix returns with new partners.
With Narumi Takahashi, Mervin Tran won bronze for Japan at the 2012 World Championships. After a difficult year plagued first by injury to Takahashi and, later, the pair’s split, Canadian citizen Tran teamed with Natasha Purich, 2011 junior national champion with Raymond Schultz and 2013 junior silver medalist with Sebastien Arcieri. Though Purich has competed primarily at the junior level, she does bring senior Grand Prix experience, having competed at 2011 NHK Trophy with Schultz — an event at which Takahashi & Tran won silver. While the team has yet to make their competitive debut, they will be making their first Grand Prix appearance at Trophee Eric Bompard, and due to Tran’s split partner status and world medal, the team also sits atop the the alternates list, making a second assignment likely.
Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker’s sudden split in September 2012 was one of the later in the competitive cycle, creating new Grand Prix assignment openings for other teams and creating a complicated timeline for Brubaker’s search for a new partner. Before teaming with Mark Ladwig for the 2012-13 season, Lindsay Davis had also faced the challenges of the partner hunt, missing the 2011-12 season after splitting from Themistocles Leftheris late in the summer. After a season of middling results on the Grand Prix and a pewter at Nationals, Davis & Ladwig split in February — and, soon after, came the announcement that Davis & Brubaker had united. The new team has picked up one assignment at Skate Canada, an event where last year Davis finished seventh with Ladwig and where in 2008 Brubaker won bronze with Keauna McLaughlin, and may obtain a second as alternates.
3. The Newcomers
Three strong junior teams move up to the senior international ranks this year. This group is led by World Junior champions Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier of the US, who will be debuting at NHK Trophy. Competing at Skate Canada International will be Canadians Margaret Purdy & Michael Marinaro, who won both of their assignments on the Junior Grand Prix last year before eventually taking silver at Junior Worlds. And while their assignment to Rostelecom Cup will be the first senior Grand Prix event for the team of U.S. junior national champions Britney Simpson & Matthew Blackmer, it won’t be Simpson’s first appearance in the series; she competed at both Cup of Russia and Skate Canada with partner Nathan Miller in 2010, when only 14.
4. The TBAs
While Canada elected to fill all three pairs entries, the USFSA has left a TBA spot in their pairs event. A few teams are in the running, with summer competitions like Skate Detroit likely to settle the race. Gretchen Donlan & Andrew Speroff received last year’s host pick after some good outings in the 2011-12 season, but after disappointing results last year will need to come out strong in the pre-season. 2013 junior national silver medalists Jessica Calalang & Zack Sidhu will be moving to the senior ranks this year. After competing for three years on the Junior Grand Prix — which included a bronze medal at JGP Tallinn Cup in 2011 — and finishing ninth at this year’s Junior Worlds, the pair earned enough ISU ranking points to sit 28th in ISU world standings, making them the highest-ranked U.S. pair without an assignment.
However, the USFSA may also elect to use the spot to offer a second assignment to an especially promising team. While Zhang & Bartholomay will already be appearing at Cup of China, their strong performance at 2013 Nationals might inspire confidence for a second selection. Given their credentials, the same may also be true for Denney & Frazier or, depending upon early showings, Davis & Brubaker. However, given the small size of the international pairs pool and the better likelihood in this discipline than in others for ranked teams to pick up alternate spots, the TBA seems most likely to go towards a team who might otherwise remain out of the series.