This is the second of six articles detailing the Grand Prix assignments for the coming up season. As with the Skate America article, I will go through all the assignments. I will detail any new countries, any returns or debuts as well as any interesting thoughts. These are bound to change in the coming up months, but these are the initial assignments.
Next up, Skate Canada!
Men
Patrick Chan CAN
- First competition since the 2014 Sochi Olympics
Nam Nguyen CAN
TBA CAN
- There really isn’t too many options for Canada here, but here are my thoughts:
- Liam Firus – He’s the reigning Canadian bronze medalist, so if they’re going by rank in the country, he might be it.
- Elladj Balde – He was sixth at Canadian nationals last year, but he has a Grand Prix assignment – none of the other Canadian men (apart from Chan and Nguyen) can say that. He’s the most obvious choice, in my opinion.
- It might be awarded to either Keegan Messing or Andrei Rogozine, but I find this unlikely. They were fifth and eighth respectively at Canadian Nationals.
Michal Brezina CZE
- He’s had a bad past few seasons, so I wonder if this will continue or if he’ll rebound.
Peter Liebers GER
- He was great the Olympics but had a rough season last year with injuries. I hope he’s back.
- Lone German skater on the Grand Prix circuit this year.
Yuzuru Hanyu JPN
Daisuke Murakami JPN
Lee June-hyoung KOR
- Grand Prix Debut
Alexander Petrov RUS
- Grand Prix Debut
Joshua Farris USA
Adam Rippon USA
Ladies
Gabrielle Daleman CAN
Kaetlyn Osmond CAN
- First competition since the 2014 Sochi Olympics
- Rough couple of years due to injuries. I love her, and I hope she’s fully healed now.
TBA CAN
- Other than Daleman, Osmond, and Chrantrand, no other Canadian ladies have Grand Prix spots. Here are my thoughts about who might receive this one:
- Julianne Seguin - She is the only other Canadian lady who was on the top 75 scores last year. She didn’t compete at Canadian nationals as a singles skater, though, which makes me wonder if she hasn’t decided to concentrate on pairs.
- Veronik Mallet - She is the reigning Canadian bronze medalist, so this would also make a lot of sense.
Elene Gedevanishvili GEO
- I’m surprised that she didn’t retire, as she’s had a bad few seasons.
Kakano Murakami JPN
Yuka Nagai JPN
- Grand Prix Debut
Elizabet Tursnybayeva KAZ
- Grand Prix Debut
- First woman from Kazakhstan on the Grand Prix circuit.
Alena Leonova RUS
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva RUS
Joshi Helgesson SWE
Polina Edmunds USA
Ashley Wagner USA
Pairs
Miriam Ziegler / Severin Kiefer AUT
Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford CAN
Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro CAN
TBA CAN
- This is tough, because a lot of top up and coming Canadian pairs are already competing on the Grand Prix circuit. Here are my thoughts:
- Hayleigh Bell / Rudi Swiegers are a new pair. Both have competed with different partners, and have another assignment (Rostelecom Cup) already, so this is a possibility.
- Vanessa Grenier / Maxime Dechamps – They were fifth at Canadian Nationals.
- Natasha Purich / Andrew Wolfe – They were sixth at Canadian Nationals.
- Brittany Jones / Joshua Reagon – As they were seventh and last at Canadian Nationals, this is a bit of a stretch, but it is possible.
Valentina Marchei / Ondrej Hotarek ITA
- Grand Prix Debut as a pair. Both have competed on the Grand Prix circuit before – Marchei as a singles skater, and Hotarek with a previous partner.
Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov RUS
Ice Dance
Alexandra Paul / Mitchell Islam CAN
Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje CAN
TBA CAN
- All the top Canadian pairs are already competing, but here are my thoughts:
- Nicole Orford / Thomas Williams – They were fourth at Canadian Nationals, the highest ranked of the remaining pairs. They are the most likely possibility.
- Elisabeth Paradis / Francois Xavier Ouilette – They were a surprise last year, but did well. They are also a possibility.
- Those are really the only two even remotely possible, in my opinion.
Laurnce Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sorenson DEN
- Grand Prix Debut
- First dance team from Denmark to compete on the Grand Prix circuit, and the first Danish skaters to compete on the circuit at all since singles skater Michael Tyliesen in 1998.
Charlene Guignard / Marco Fabbri ITA
Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev RUS
- First competition since the 2014 Sochi Olympics
Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin RUS
Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani USA
- I would love to see them step it up more, because they are capable of so much. I just love them.
That’s it for now! Next up is the Cup of China.
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