End of Grand Prix Power Rankings: 2014-2015

The Grand Prix series is over and we're moving into the second half of the season.  Based on what we've seen and what we can expect to see, here are my Power Rankings for the top 10 ladies of the 2014-2015 season so far...

10. Rika Hongo (JPN)

2014-2015 Grand Prix Final & Junior Grand Prix Final: Ladies Review

The "regular season" of skating all comes down to this: the Final.  We saw two great competitions and lots of amazing skating in both the senior and junior ladies' events.  I'll take a look at the seniors first...

2014-2015 Grand Prix Final

No Russian sweep this year!

Around the World in Skating: December 4, 2014

I was hoping I wouldn't need to post anything between now and the Final, only because when I do it's usually not good news...

Gracie Gold Out of the Grand Prix Final

2014 NHK Trophy: Ladies Review & 2014 Grand Prix Final Standings

This final event started off as a real nail biter but, like so many of the competitions this year, turned out to be a little less thrilling than I expected it to be.

Gracie is finally Golden!

2014 Trophee Eric Bompard: Ladies Review

After last week's disappointing competition, I could hardly wait to see what the ladies at Trophee Eric Bompard had in store.  The level of competition was higher than last week but it wasn't the throw-down I expected it to be.

The Russians are back on top

2014 Rostelecom Cup: Ladies Review

If there was one competition on the Grand Prix this season that should have been easy to call, it was Rostelecom Cup (aka Cup of Russia).  Boy, were we wrong...

The Russian reign of the GP ends...

Around the World in Skating: November 12, 2014

I haven't posted a single "Around the World in Skating" all season long.  With plenty going on this past week, now is as good a time as any.

Adelina Sotnikova Out of the GP Series

2014 Cup of China: Ladies Review

At first I figured they should've renamed this competition Splatfest 2014...it was that bad!  Luckily by the end a few skaters were able to step up and save the competition from being a total waste of time.

Apparently Julia missed the ceremony...hmmm

2014 Skate Canada: Ladies Review

The second event of the season, Skate Canada, once again had a young Russian squaring off against a top American.  The skating was a different but, ultimately, the outcome was mostly the same.

Russia is 2 for 2 so far...

2014 Skate America: Ladies Review

Skate America is the opening event for the Grand Prix series and is always a great one. This one was touted as "Gracie Gold versus the Russians" by most of the US media and in the end, that was more or less (mostly less) of what ended up happening...

The Russian Reign has begun

Top Ladies 2014-2015 Season Preview

It's almost time!  It has been a long summer full of speculation, rumors and rehashing (as it always is) but the light at the end of the tunnel is rapidly approaching: the 2014-2015 season is upon us!  The top names of the last era are gone and as much as I'll miss them, I am super excited to see what this new crop of post-Sochi ladies can do.  Here's my speculation-filled preview of what the top ladies have in store for us this season.

Julia Lipnitskaya (RUS)

Can she win it all this year?

2014 JGP Croatia Cup: Ladies Review & JGP Final Standings + Finlandia Trophy

Just like that, we're at the end of the Junior Grand Prix season! At this last event spots to the Final were on the line and it all came down to who could deliver.  I'll take a look back at the event as well as who has earned a trip to the Final.  Lastly I'll do a quick review of the ladies at this year's Finlandia Trophy

2014 JGP Croatia Cup

The final results

2014 Japan Open & JGP Pokal: Ladies Reviews

The season is gearing up!  Two more events to talk about this week. We saw the penultimate JGP event, JGP Pokal, as well as one of my favorite pre-season events, Japan Open.  I'll start with the ladies of Japan Open and then take a look at JGP Pokal.

2014 Japan Open

The overall final team result:

2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, JGP Tallinn Cup & Lombardia Trophy: Ladies Reviews

Lots of skating last week plus I'm behind from the week before, so there's a lot to catch up on.  I'll start with Nebelhorn Trophy before taking a look at JGP Tallinn Cup and wrapping up with a quick review of Lombardia Trophy.

2014 Nebelhorn Trophy

The final results:

2014 JGP Nagoya TV Cup & JGPF Standings + 2014 US International Skating Classic: Ladies Review

Two events this week: the fourth event in the JGP series, JGP Nagoya TV Cup, and the 2014 US International Skating Classic.  I'll take a look at the JGP event first (as well as the standings so far) and then give my thoughts on the ladies from the Classic.

2014 JGP Nagoya TV Cup 

Final results:

2014 JGP Czech Skate + 2014 Russian Test Skates (Finally!)

Just that fast, we're nearing the halfway point of the JGP season.  Pretty soon it will be time for the senior ladies to make their debut on the Grand Prix.  I'll take a look at the junior ladies from JGP Czech Skate and give my thoughts on the long awaited test skate videos from the top women in Russia.

Here are the final results:

2014 JGP Ljubljana Cup: Ladies Review

Again, not much of a surprise in the way this one turned out.  It's becoming increasingly easier to predict the outcome of the junior competitions.

The final results:

2014 JGP Courchevel: Ladies Review

The JGP season has officially started!  There were a few surprises at the opening event of the 2014-2015 JGP season but overall, I was not shocked with the results.


The final results:

Off Season Fun: 2013-2014 Season Photo Album

And now, for the last bit Off Season Fun.  It's time for my second annual Season Photo Album.  Here are some of the pictures and moments from the past season:

Off Season Fun 2013-2014: Top 5 Favorites From the Past 4 Years (2010-2014)

Off Season Fun continues with me attempting the impossible! Okay, I'm exaggerating but still, attempting to condense four long years of skating down to only five favorite things per season wasn't an easy task.  So much has happened over the last quad but these are the things I will remember the most.

2010-2011 Season

1. Yu-Na Kim's "Homage to Korea" FS

Off Season Fun 2013-2014: Favorite Free Skates

Off Season Fun pushes onward! I usually love this part of OSF, but I found myself struggling to complete my favorite FS list this year.  To be honest, none of the top skaters' programs stood out to me this Olympic season.  Everyone had good programs but I think nearly all of them had better programs last season.  As a result, I have a shorter list of favorites this year and then quite a few honorable mentions.

3. Julia Lipnitskaya - "Schindler's List"

Off Season Fun 2013-2014: Favorite Short Programs

Continuing on with Off Season Fun, now it's time to take a look back at the programs that made last season great.  First up, my favorite Short Programs...

5. Ashley Wagner - "Shine on You Crazy Diamond"

Off Season Fun 2013-2014: Fashion Review - Free Skate

The Off Season Fun Fashion Review continues!  Time for my favorite Free Skate looks from the  2013-2014 season...

5. Samantha Cesario: "Carmen"

Off Season Fun 2013-2014: Fashion Review - Short Program

Off Season Fun is back!  This is one of my favorite ways to waste time during the off-season.  I've come up with a bunch of new posts for Off Season Fun for this year and I'm excited to share them with everyone.  So I'm going to start off with my 3rd Annual Fashion Review!  I'll start with my top 5 favorite Short Program looks and then move on to the Free Skate.  Here we go!

5. Gracie Gold: "Grieg Piano Concerto"

Goodbye, Farewell & Thank You: Akiko Suzuki

It's time for me to gush about the one and only Akiko Suzuki.

Goodbye, Farewell & Thank You: Yu-Na Kim

With so many of my favorites bowing out of the sport this year, I thought it'd be a good idea to give my thoughts on each one and why I'll miss them so much.  Being that she was the first to announce her retirement officially, I'm going to start with the Queen herself...Yu-Na Kim.

2014 World Championships: Ladies Review

It has been one long exhausting season for everyone.  To be honest, I wasn't expecting to see good skating at this event but some of the world's best turned in some amazing performances to close out this Olympic season in style.

The 2014 World Championships medalists

2014 World Championships: Ladies Preview

Oftentimes the World Championships are glossed over in a Olympic year.  After the high of the Olympics, going to worlds is a bit like stepping down.  Well, gloss or no, the World Championships are still a huge deal and winning a medal here, even if it's in an emotionally/physically depleted field, is also a huge deal.

The top ladies vying for gold

2014 Junior World Championships: Ladies Review

And the Russian domination continues!  For the second year in a row the Russian ladies made it a clean sweep, nabbing all three spots on the podium.

Back-to-back titles for Elena, and back-to-back sweeps for Russia

2014 Junior World Championships: Ladies Preview

Lordy, this has been one busy year for figure skating! After a very long season we're down to the final events: the World Championships.  Junior Worlds takes place in Sofia, Bulgaria from March 10-16.  Let's take a look at the top contenders on a team by team basis...

Team Russia

Elena Radionova, Serafima Sakhanovich, Evgenia Medvedeva

L to R: Medvedeva, Radionova, Sakhanovich

2014 Sochi Olympics: Ladies Review

The ladies' event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics was full of highs, lows and some of the most controversial scoring we've seen in a very long time.

Whether you like it or not, here's the 2014 Olympics ladies' podium

2014 Sochi Olympics: Team Event - Ladies Review

We saw some of the top skaters from each discipline take the ice to battle in the team event.  There weren't any surprises in the overall standings but there was a rather large shift that took place in the ladies event...

The Russians reigned supreme

2014 Sochi Olympics: Top Teams of Ladies

It's a dream come true or a life's goal for some, and a chance to do it all again for others.  The 2014 Sochi Olympics are right around the corner.  The ladies won't begin their quest for gold until February 19 (though some of them will take part in the team event which starts this Thursday).  Here's a look at the countries with the top entrants for these Games.

2014 Four Continents Championships: Ladies Review

Even though the Sochi Olympics are right around the corner, life in the skating world must go on.  This week was the last major competition before the Olympics kick off next week on February 6.  Four Continents is usually a warm up event for many of the top skaters before they head to worlds; this year it served as an Olympic warm up for some, and a final season appearance for others.

The changing of the guard has begun...

2014 European Championships + Canadian and Korean Nationals Round Up

I barely had time to process the results of last weekend's US national championships before I had to turn my attention to these European championships.  Let's just say after all of the feels, I'm very grateful for the distraction. I'll take a quick look at Euros and also a look at Canadian nationals and end with a very belated look at South Korean nationals.

2014 European Championships

The Russian ladies are in it to win it!

2014 U.S. National Championships: Ladies Review

This year's competition was like an amazing television drama.  There were so many story lines going on and everything played out in a shocking/unexpected way.  Tears, surprises, disappointments, revelations, heartbreak...this year's nationals deserves a Golden Globe for Best Drama!

Congrats to the medalists! And congrats to the blonds for making the team!