#gp 2018

The Swan has landed ❤️

@yuzuspiration

A grand prix by any other name smells just as sweet but also has no sponsors.

Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier CAN

RD FD

Season's Best: 194.12 (186.97 at Skate Canada)

Their GPF chances hinge on being able to beat Sinitsina/Katsalapov here. They're more than capable, but they'll have to nail everything-- no more falls in the pattern. They have a very strong pair of programs that the judges have responded well to, they just have to deliver.

Adelina Galayavieva/Louis Thauron FRA

RD FD

Season's Best: 149.69

God bless these two for eschewing the wishy-washiness of their peers instead of stretching out their drama dumpster fire for eternity AKA any time past May. Imagine, orchestrating your splits in a timely manner, quickly finding a new partner without drama or fuss, and just putting your heads down and working to get ready for the new season. See what having your shit together gets you? It gets you a GP event in your first season together, and probably a berth to Euros. Bless em. What it doesn't get you is a working free dance link but you win some, you lose some. In all seriousness, they really are winning just by being present and getting experience. If they can deliver two solid skates at home, they might even place #notlast, which is all they can ask for at this juncture. What will really be important is getting the experience for the future.

Marie-Jade Lauriault/ Romain Le Gac

RD FD

Season's Best: 180.32

Lauriault/ Le Gac have a pretty quick turnaround from the Inge Solar Challenge in Austria where they placed third, beating McNamara/Carpenter in the free dance. They came in fourth at Skate Canada, beating their trainingmates Smart/Diaz, and will be looking to do so again here. Their free dance is great fun and should set them apart from the field, and they could place a lot higher than you might expect.

Gabriella Papadakis/ Guillaume Cizeron FRA

Historical Personal Best: 207.20(Historical World Record)

Normally we lead these brief intros with some kind of explanation as to the team's history and abilities, but quite frankly if you're here you know exactly who Papadakis/Cizeron are and probably have Opinions on their skating that a quick blurb is unlikely to sway for better or worse, so we're not going to bother. We are extremely interested to see what their programs look like this season, however-- their tango rhythm dance choreographed by Christopher Dean, but especially their free dance by Stephane Lambiel who will be making his debut as a top level competitive ice dance choreographer(you can see his choreography for the Shibs 2016/17 exhibition here).

Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius LTU

RD FD

Season's Best: 158.03

Reed/Ambrulevicius surprised a lot of people this past weekend with their appealing choreography and high levels in the rhythm dance. While they face tougher competition here, what they'll be looking for is to have another decent outing to continue to build confidence and experience.

Betina Popova/Mozgov RUS

RD FD

Season's Best: 170.47(157.56 at GP Helsinki)

Popova/Mozgov always bring drama, personality, and great lifts. What they don't always bring is their levels. They're so intent on delivering an unforgettable performance that they miss their edges, and get sloppy enough that they can't make it up with GOE either. If they can restrain themselves just enough to keep themselves from flailing their TES away, they could surprise a number of teams here.

Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov RUS

RD FD

Season's Best: 196.42( 195.17 at Skate Canada)

Sinitsina/Katsalapov have been a team on the rise for awhile. While injury at Nationals last season set them back, this year they've been more on the money, especially with rule changes in their favor. As long as they stay on their feet, they should qualify to their first GPF as a team.

Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz ESP

RD FD

Season's Best: 180.07(176.57 at Skate Canada)

Smart/Diaz were third in the rhythm dance at Skate Canada, but lost ground in a lackluster free dance performance to place fifth overall. Their rhythm dance has been their strength this season, and if they can deliver a strong free dance performance to match they can be a major threat. They shouldn't make the podium if the top teams stay steady, but they have a great opportunity to make a statement prior to their fight with Hurtado/Khaliavin at Nationals.

Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker USA

RD FD

Season's Best: 184.63

Hawayek/Baker kicked off their season two weeks ago with a win at NHK Trophy, and now they have the chance to qualify for GPF. They'll be looking to bring some more levels to the event, which is stacked enough that every point counts. They'll have a hard time medaling this week, but a fourth place finish will be enough to book them a ticket to Vancouver.

Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons USA

RD FD

Season's Best: 180.95(178.64 at NHK Trophy)

When a random challenger event in Austria is arguably more stacked. We're great fans of midtier ice dance, and several of these teams in particular, but good grief.

Anna Yanovskaya/Adam Lukacs HUN

RD FD

Spotlight

Season's Best: 140.25

We have a soft spot for these two and are very happy that they have a GP event. Their rhythm dance is a little Paso-y for us, much like their training mates Stepanova/Bukin, but they bring a lot of flair to it. Their free dance is delightfully weird-- we have no idea what's happening, but we're having fun. They teamed up less than two years ago, and have made significant progress in that time. We hope their first GP as a team gives them the experience they need to keep developing at the pace they've been. Move! Dance! BE BORN.

Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto JPN

RD FD

Season's Best: 154.75(154.27 at NHK Trophy)

#TeamKoKo are competing again with back-to-back assignments, but now with their first GP experience under their belt. They managed a #notlast finish last week, and have the opportunity to do even better and gain some more world standing points. They even have a shot at a top five finish, and regardless this experience will be invaluable to them leading up to Worlds at home.

Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius LTU

Historical Personal Best: 148.30(scored 153.78 at Volvo Open)

RD FD

Reed/Ambrulevicius made their debut as a team last season and this will be their first Grand Prix event. She was dealing with an injury and so they've stayed away from Challengers, instead debuting their programs at a handful of small, lower profile events. They've made a lot of progress in their time together, making the FD cut at worlds in their first season together, and we hope to see them continue to develop together. And for those of you who have been missing Marina's choreography, Reed/Ambrulevicius are here to deliver.

Natalia Kaliszek/ Maksym Spodyriev POL

RD FD

Season's Best: 163.05

Spotlight

Kaliszek/Spodiriev opened their season at Nebelhorn with disaster skates, and followed it up with much better performances at Skate America, although still below their ability. We hope to see that upward trend continue here-- they bring so much energy and personality to ice dance. And if we're lucky maybe she'll slap him before the rhythm dance again.

Sofia Evdokimova/Egor Bazin RUS

RD FD

Season's Best: 159.67

Evodkimova/Bazin are the poster children for perseverance, an admirable trait for ice dancers and one that has kept earning them opportunities. They have an unusual hip hop rhythm dance, which runs into our constant grumbling about mixing rhythms. Their lifts are great though, and they've really worked hard. They deserve this host spot, and we hope the experience goes well for them!

Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin RUS

RD FD

Season's Best: 200.78(200.09 at GP Helsinki)

With Chock/Bates making their second withdrawal of the season(again, get well soon!) the path to the gold and to the final is clear for Stepanova/Bukin barring some unforeseen disaster. More important than the placement are the performances-- with some of their domestic competition being known to be a little up and down, showing their consistency will be an important confidence booster not only for GPF, but for Nationals.

Annabelle Morozov/Andrei Bagin RUS

RD FD

Season's Best: N/A, this will be their international debut

Look. This blog is a place for positivity where we try to see the good in every team, but we are men of action and lies do not become us. We cannot pretend to think that this host pick is a good idea for anyone, and perhaps for Morozov/Bagin themselves least of all. It's not that they have no qualities or potential-- they're fairly expressive, have a decent amount of power, some nice lifts, and they could really build on this for the future. But they're a pretty new team who has, to the best of our knowledge, never had a completely clean competition, struggle with their levels, and will be making their international debut at the biggest possible stage that allows you to enter without a TES minimum. But what's done is done, and while we, obviously, have serious doubts that this will be good for this team's growth, we are hardly all knowing. The only cure for inexperience is experience, and while we think a few challengers and senior bs would have done the trick at this stage of their development, perhaps they will gain a lot from being thrown in the deep end. Some skaters flourish under adversity, perhaps Morozov/Bagin are one of them. We wish them luck on their debut!

Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin ESP

RD FD

Season's Best: 172.09

Following a strong fourth place finish in Finland they will be looking to capture their first GP medal here. They held off Carreira/Ponomarenko two weeks ago, and if they manage to do it again could even go for the silver now that Chock/Bates have withdrawn. A great outing here could set them up very well in their battle with Smart/Diaz for the lone world spot.

Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko USA

RD FD

Season's Best: 177.49(167.28 at GP Helsinki)