2022 MK John Wilson Trophy Men's Free Skate

[BlissfulSynergy]

Listening to Roman's YouTube video is somewhat concerning, as are some of the fan comments. Roman seemed to feel he was ready and he was surprised by not landing the quad. But it's not really about landing or not landing the first jump or the first or only quad. Skaters are taught to get up, shake it off and not let a mistake determine the rest of your program. If Roman felt fine physically, then he needs to focus on his competitive thought process, and get the help he needs to do that effectively.

Of course, only Roman can decide what he wants and needs. It's good to have positive fan support, but it's not helpful to hear, "You'll do it next time. You're a beautiful skater. We still love you. The results don't matter." Nope, Roman needs to decide what matters to him. What are his coaches saying? What is SC saying? Again, if your results continue to be poor and not indicative of your talent and the work you put in, then something needs to change or your results will stay the same.


ETA:
Of course, Roman has had highs, lows, and some general inconsistency this season. So not completely poor results. Still, not a lot of forward progress. He seems so uncertain about what happens when things go wrong during a performance, so that seems to be what he needs to address, by developing some mental strategies.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I was just thinking too about Nam Nguyen, who has retired. Roman used to train with Nam. Also Trennt Micheau is not around on the senior competitive circuit at the moment. I believe Trennt and Roman are good friends. So things change, and adjustments are necessary. It may not always be obvious as an athlete regarding how change affects you mentally. Or, none of this might be relevant for Roman competitively.

Also, Roman and his coaches may have discussed different strategic approaches. So my thoughts are just speculation from the sidelines. I wish Roman luck, and success addressing his performance challenges.

Honestly, at this point, SC needs Roman. It's not like they have a lot of top male contenders to rely on. They have a lot of promising up-and-coming male skaters who haven't yet broken through, aside from the veteran, Keegan Messing, who is usually a reliable top 8 or so competitor internationally. Keegan is generally a medal contender on the GP circuit. That's probably why SC wanted Keegan back for at least another season during this post-Olympics transitional phase.

Wesley Chiu and Conrad Orzel appear to need more time and more growth experience. So far, Stephen Gogolev's comeback appears to be promising. Corey Circelli also needs time to develop competitively. And Joseph Phan has been lost to retirement.

Thus, it looks like Roman will continue to be given opportunities to work things through.

 

[lariko]

I was just thinking too about Nam Nguyen, who has retired. Roman used to train with Nam. Also Trennt Micheau is not around on the senior competitive circuit at the moment. I believe Trennt and Roman are good friends. So things change, and adjustments are necessary. It may not always be obvious as an athlete regarding how change affects you mentally. Or, none of this might be relevant for Roman competitively.

Also, Roman and his coaches may have discussed different strategic approaches. So my thoughts are just speculation from the sidelines. I wish Roman luck, and success addressing his performance challenges.

Honestly, at this point, SC needs Roman. It's not like they have a lot of top male contenders to rely on. They have a lot of promising up-and-coming male skaters who haven't yet broken through, aside from the veteran, Keegan Messing, who is usually a reliable top 8 or so competitor internationally. Keegan is generally a medal contender on the GP circuit. That's probably why SC wanted Keegan back for at least another season during this post-Olympics transitional phase.

Wesley Chiu and Conrad Orzel appear to need more time and more growth experience. So far, Stephen Gogolev's comeback appears to be promising. Corey Circelli also needs time to develop competitively. And Joseph Phan has been lost to retirement.

Thus, it looks like Roman will continue to be given opportunities to work things through.

As long as it’s not at the expense of Gogolev or Chiu, it’s fine. He can keep trying. Also, if Shiryaeva’s transfer goes ahead, fingers crossed there will be more.

 

[4everchan]

As long as it’s not at the expense of Gogolev or Chiu, it’s fine. He can keep trying. Also, if Shiryaeva’s transfer goes ahead, fingers crossed there will be more.

As I said, I am willing to adopt Aliev or Ignatov

 

[Sackie]

Even with Keegan staying in for this year and the way the other CAN men are performing this season Canada may go back to one man entry for worlds 2024 in Canada. I think Keegan's best years are behind him. He may have been top 8 in the past but lately his skating would have him fighting to make the top 12. There are just too many other countries with some great skaters popping up each year. Look at the number of top men skaters in Italy at the moment. That gave me a thought - does any of them have any connections to CAN and can skate for Canada since they can't all go to worlds. ;-)

 

[lariko]

As I said, I am willing to adopt Aliev or Ignatov

I am thinking of the guys who will benefit from actually starting their career, like Yablokov, Popov or Kutovoy, even Zonov and Ugozhaev… heck, Kolesnikov too. They are really in a bind, most without even junior competitions.

 

[4everchan]

I am thinking of the guys who will benefit from actually starting their career, like Yablokov, Popov or Kutovoy, even Zonov and Ugozhaev… heck, Kolesnikov too. They are really in a bind, most

I am too old to foster the juniors...lol but yes, i see your point

 

[lariko]

I am too old to foster the juniors...lol but yes, i see your point

Well, it’s also that neither Aliev nor Ignatov ain’t going to be like Messing. Rukavitzin picked up Danielian too…

 

[4everchan]

Well, it’s also that neither Aliev nor Ignatov ain’t going to be like Messing. Rukavitzin picked up Danielian too…

4 quarters for a dollar...

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

As long as it’s not at the expense of Gogolev or Chiu, it’s fine. He can keep trying. Also, if Shiryaeva’s transfer goes ahead, fingers crossed there will be more.

Well, that's why I brought up this point. Right now, with Roman's exquisite talent, it would seem that he could be the one leading the charge for Canadian men. But so far, it's not working out that way. Thus, Gogolev and Chiu seem to have the most talent (in terms of quad abilities and general consistency technically) to possibly be the ones Canada can rely on if Roman can't get his mental focus together.

There isn't a Patrick Chan waiting in the wings. Ironically, Chan in 2011 was the one to heed Plushy's 2010 Olympics macho quad pronouncement. Chan had exquisite aesthetics and SS to-die-for. So adding one or two quads to his repertoire ended up changing the men's discipline forever. For a lot of guys internationally, the challenge of mastering quads mentally and physically can hamper their development. That's not Roman's problem. He embraced the quad challenge, and he can land beautiful quads and 3-axels. It seems to be the competitive mental challenges that are holding him back. Just goes to show how difficult figure skating is. All of these athletes deserve respect for getting out there on the ice and tackling this complicated sport.

Even Hanyu, Chen, and Shoma with their incredible abilities have faced challenges and setbacks that they each had to overcome, with the necessary support of mentors, coaches, family, friends, etc. But ultimately, it all came down to them and the ice and putting it all together through strength of will and desire. Shoma has said he's motivated not just to do it for himself, but to do it for his coach. So, he was lucky to find the perfect coach for him in Stephane Lambiel, who has guided and inspired Shoma to dedicate himself to live up to his talent, to improve his tech weaknesses, and to compete at the high level he's so capable of, more consistently.

Again, good luck to Roman! If he doesn't pull it together, SC is not going to think twice about supporting other guys who prove they can be more consistent. My point is that, right now, the situation is in flux for Canadian men. Keegan is probably the most reliable at the moment, no matter that he's not top level dominate, he's still top-level competitive on any given day.

 

[lariko]

Well, that's why I brought up this point. Right now, with Roman's exquisite talent, it would seem that he could be the one leading the charge for Canadian men. But so far, it's not working out that way. Thus, Gogolev and Chiu seem to have the most talent (in terms of quad abilities and general consistency technically) to possibly be the ones Canada can rely on if Roman can't get his mental focus together.

There isn't a Patrick Chan waiting in the wings. Ironically, Chan in 2011 was the one to heed Plushy's 2010 Olympics macho quad pronouncement. Chan had exquisite aesthetics and SS to-die-for. So adding one or two quads to his repertoire ended up changing the men's discipline forever. For a lot of guys internationally, the challenge of mastering quads mentally and physically can hamper their development. That's not Roman's problem. He embraced the quad challenge, and he can land beautiful quads and 3-axels. It seems to be the competitive mental challenges that are holding him back. Just goes to show how difficult figure skating is. All of these athletes deserve respect for getting out there on the ice and tackling this complicated sport.

Even Hanyu, Chen, and Shoma with their incredible abilities have faced challenges and setbacks that they each had to overcome, with the necessary support of mentors, coaches, family, friends, etc. But ultimately, it all came down to them and the ice and putting it all together through strength of will and desire. Shoma has said he's motivated not just to do it for himself, but to do it for his coach. So, he was lucky to find the perfect coach for him in Stephane Lambiel, who has guided and inspired Shoma to dedicate himself to live up to his talent, to improve his tech weaknesses, and to compete at the high level he's so capable of, more consistently.

Again, good luck to Roman! If he doesn't pull it together, SC is not going to think twice about supporting other guys who prove they can be more consistent. My point is that, right now, the situation is in flux for Canadian men. Keegan is probably the most reliable at the moment, no matter that he's not top level dominate, he's still top-level competitive on any given day.

Men with no quads or single quad have their bad days too. I dunno if I would call Sadovsky exceptional or exquisite, because landing impressive jumps consistently is a part of a beautiful program. And Sadovsky didn’t have enough clean programs in his career so far, and it’s getting late for him to be a late bloomer. Plus, I sure want someone else to get out of Russian mire and skate for Canada. If they do that left and right in ice dance, they can do it in men and women singles too.