With assignments for the 2014-15 Grand Prix series to be determined today and Friday, where can the top teams from Canada and the U.S. expect to book a trip?
As a summary review, each host nation — the U.S., Canada, China, Russia, France, and Japan — may invite up to three home entries per discipline; likewise, three is the max number of entries overall per nation per event. Teams who finished at least in the top 10 at the 2014 World Championships automatically guaranteed themselves two Grand Prix assignments, while medalists at the 2014 World Junior Championships are guaranteed one assignment. Also guaranteed one are teams sitting within the top 24 World Standings or Season’s Best total score, while teams in each category stand a reasonable chance of obtaining two spots, either outright or through a high position on the Grand Prix alternates list, filling in as substitutes or as late picks for those countries which ultimately opt against selecting a third host pick.
For additional reference:
2013-14 Grand Prix of Figure Skating, announcement
2014 World Standings: Dance | Pairs
2013-14 Season’s Best: Dance | Pairs
Skate America – Oct. 24-26, Hoffman Estates, IllinoisAs a host federation with a fairly broad pool from which to draw, U.S. Figure Skating has traditionally selected leading skaters in each category, either national champions or top international finishers. Rendering the federation’s job more challenging this year is the fact that dance champions Meryl Davis & Charlie White have committed to sit out the 2014-15 season, while two-time pairs champions Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir have split, with Castelli, additionally, now entered in a
cross-national partnership with Canadian Mervin Tran that will require the team to forgo the Grand Prix circuit while Tran’s release is pending. That established, 2014 dance silver medalists Madison Chock & Evan Bates, who also finished a U.S.-best fifth at the 2014 World Championships, seem a probable selection, while in pairs, national silver medalists and Olympians Felicia Zhang & Nate Bartholomay would also appear a likely lead pick. Making the pool of potential host pairs slightly smaller beyond splits is the recent news that 2014 bronze medalists Caydee Denney & John Coughlin (#21 in World Standings and #14 in Season’s Best) will
skip the 2014-15 season due to injury.
Among U.S. teams in each discipline, only Maia & Alex Shibutani are, like Chock & Bates, guaranteed two assignments thanks to a sixth-place Worlds finish, meaning the federation may opt to boost two teams who might need the host selection. Madison Hubbell & Zach Donohue were such beneficiaries last year, but with both a #10 WS and #11 SB, they may obtain two slots in the selection process regardless. As reigning World Junior champions, their young training mates Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker could serve as an appealing addition, with a host pick also nearly assuring the team two spots. One international team lacking an assured selection, though, is Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus, who finished seventh nationally and won 2013 Ice Challenge, and who could see some extra support with a pick here. Consider a similar possibility for 2014 junior national pairs champions Madeline Aaron & Max Settlage, whose #32 WS and #38 SB also keep them from the immediate Grand Prix selection pool despite a fifth-place World Junior finish.
The Pool:
Madison Chock & Evan Bates (2 guaranteed, fifth at Worlds, seeded);
Maia & Alex Shibutani (2 guaranteed, sixth at Worlds, seeded);
Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue (1 guaranteed and 2 likely, #10 in World Standings and #11 in Season’s Best);
Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker (1 guaranteed and 2 likely, first at Junior Worlds; also #22 WS and #12 SB);
Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton (1 guaranteed, #21 WS and #22 SB)
Wild Cards:
Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus (#71 WS)
The Pool:
Felicia Zhang & Nate Bartholomay (1 guaranteed, #21 SB);
Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim (1 guaranteed, #11 WS);
Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier (1 guaranteed, #14 WS and #24 SB);
Tarah Kayne & Daniel O’Shea (1 guaranteed, #15 SB)
Wild Cards:
Madeline Aaron & Max Settlage (#32 WS and #38 SB);
Jessica Noelle Calalang & Zack Sidhu (#44 WS);
Simon Shnapir & DeeDee Leng
Skate Canada International – Oct. 31-Nov. 2, Kelowna, British ColumbiaAs Canada’s leading dancers on the Grand Prix circuit, Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje are a virtual lock for invitation, while fellow World competitors Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier and Alexandra Paul & Mitch Islam also finished in the top 10 at that event, thus earning two guaranteed assignments apiece. This success means that Canada has room to share the wealth at their host event, but a reduced senior national dance field, in the wake of Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir’s time off and Kharis Ralph & Asher Hill’s split, also means a decent possibility for one of those teams to take up a home spot as well. British Columbia-based Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams, however, have a regional interest on their side, and a strategic pick here as host selection could also net the team two assignments overall. But a good faith selection could also come for Elisabeth Paradis & Francois-Xavier Ouellette, who finished an impressive fourth in the free dance at 2014 Canadian Nationals. The team made their first international appearance last year with a fifth-place result at Cup of Nice and could receive a promotion here.
Canada also enters with a deeply altered pairs field. While 2014 national champions and perpetual selections Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford are near-certainties, no other Canadian team who competed on last year’s Grand Prix circuit remains intact, including 2013 Skate Canada competitors Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers and Margaret Purdy & Michael Marinaro. Of those four skaters, however, Marinaro is now teamed with 2014 national silver medalist Kirsten Moore-Towers, and the event could serve as their Grand Prix debut, though with Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch frequent Skate America attendees, don’t count them out as an international option for the other North American event.
The Pool:
Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (2 guaranteed, second at Worlds, seeded);
Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (2 guaranteed, eighth at Worlds, seeded);
Alexandra Paul & Mitch Islam (2 guaranteed, tenth at Worlds, invited);
Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams (1 guaranteed, #19 WS)
Wild Cards:
Elisabeth Paradis & Francois-Xavier Ouellette (#95 WS)
The Pool:
Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford (2 guaranteed, third at Worlds, seeded);
Kirsten Moore-Towers & Michael Marinaro (split couple status; Moore-Towers & Moscovitch finished fourth at Worlds)
Wild Cards:
Lubov Iliushechkina & Dylan Moscovitch (split couple status; contingent upon Iliushechkina’s release from Russia);
Natasha Purich & Drew Wolfe
Cup of China — Nov. 7-9, Shanghai, China2013’s event included two U.S. entries apiece in dance and pairs and no Canadians; 2012’s a Canadian team in each field and one set of U.S. dancers. There is little pattern to discern as federation interests in North American duos goes, but of possible note is the back-to-back appearance for Chock & Bates in those years. Is a threepeat in the cards?
Rostelecom Cup — Nov. 14-16, Moscow, RussiaA strong event for North American entries last year on surface, with Weaver & Poje, Chock & Bates and Moore-Towers & Moscovitch all medaling in a crowd that featured six American and Canadian teams overall. As top three World finishers alongside Russia’s Ksenia Stolbova & Fedor Klimov, who seem likely to compete the home event, Duhamel & Radford are essentially removed from competing here. In dance, assignment options remain wide-open, though Russia’s large field could mean limited selections from competing nations.
Trophee Bompard — Nov. 21-23, Bordeaux, FranceWith the retirement of 2014 World bronze medalists Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat and split of pair Daria Popova & Bruno Massot, France offers only two dance couples and one pair with senior international experience. This can provide for a little extra international variation in assignments, though the event has trended more towards one North American nation over another: in the last three seasons, nine Canadian teams have competed versus four for the U.S., with five Canadian medals to one American. Lay better odds on the maple leaf than stars and stripes when preparing that mock GP Assignment table with all your friends.
NHK Trophy — Nov. 28-30, Osaka, JapanProbably the most unpredictable event as team assignments go, with the host nation holding only one pair and dance couple eligible for host selection. Typically, the dance field at this event has tended towards the up-and-coming, though the Shibutanis are popular regular picks given their own connections with the nation. But among Canadians, in the last three seasons, each of Paul & Islam, Orford & Williams, and Gilles & Poirier has made one appearance here; which will win the sweepstakes for this well-liked assignment? In pairs, meanwhile, U.S. teams have been common guests, outright or as a result of substitution, with a maximum three landing in the final roster at the 2012 event and two appearing in 2011 and 2013; given comparative field sizes, a repeat occurrence is not at all unlikely.
Finally, the top six finishers in each discipline will meet at the
Grand Prix Final — Dec. 11-14, Barcelona, Spain
where, in an overall field with so far few obviously dominant teams, prediction is best left to the fall.
Related
