2017-2018 Off Season Fun: Top 5 Favorites From the Past 4 Seasons (2014-2018)

I'm going to wrap up the 2017-2018 Off Season Fun with a look back at the past four seasons.  There have been so many amazing moments over the past four years but I've narrowed it down to my top 5 favorite things from each season.

2014-2015 Season

5. Samantha Cesario's "Carmen" FS

"Carmen" is so overused but Sammie's amazing program breathed new life into this battered old warhorse.  This is my all-time favorite "Carmen" program.

2017-2018 Off Season Fun: Top Fashion Looks + Top 5 Favorite SPs & FSs

Hi all!  It's time for Off Season Fun, YAAAY!  Given it's a bit late this year, I'm only doing two posts.  Still, it should be fun.  First up, Fashion Review and Top 5 Favorite programs for both the SP and FS...all in one!

2017-2018 Fashion Review - Top Looks

Short Program

Winner - Ashley Wagner

2018 World Championships: Review

This was by far the most surprising World Championship competition I've seen in a long long time.

If you predicted this I'll give you a million dollars

2018 World Championships: Preview

The 2018 World Championships are just a few days away.  Post-Olympic Worlds are a good place for those who struggled at the Olympics to have a shot at redemption and for new talent to stake their claim for the coming quad.  Here's a quick look at who we'll see this week...

Alina Zagitova (RUS)

2018 Pyeongchang Olympics: Review

I don't know about you but I am officially wiped out.  I didn't think it was possible to have a figure skating overload but that's where I am.  It's been two weeks of basically nonstop skating and I watched about 90% of it.  Thus, I am burned out.  So rather than my usual in-depth review, I'm just giving my overall thoughts about each skater.

2018 Olympic Medalists

2018 Pyeongchang Olympics: Team Event - Review

The team event gave us an opportunity to look at a number of the headliners before the individual competitions get under way later this week.  Some of the events were skated rather poorly (*cough* men's SP *cough*) but others stepped it up and made it a memorable (and in some cases historic) event.

"Oh (hell yeah!) Canada..."

2018 Pyeongchang Olympics: Top Skaters to Watch

It's hard to believe that nearly four years have passed!  But they have and here we are yet again, just a couple of days away from the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics.  The women won't compete for gold until later in the month but I'll look at the top skaters we can expect to see battling for a spot on the podium.

2018 European Championships + 2018 Canadian National Championships: Review

We're getting down to the final few competitions before the Olympics take center stage.  This week was the Eteri student showdown:  Evgenia vs. Alina.  I'll take a quick look at the 2018 European Championships and also catch up on what happened weekend before last at the 2018 Canadian National Championships.

2018 European Championships

The Queen has been dethroned!

2018 National Championships Round-Up

I usually wait to post this round-up until the New Year but with U.S. nationals starting in a few days, I wanted to make sure to get this post up so I don't fall too far behind.  Several countries have already crowned their national champions for 2018, including Japan and Russia.  I'll take a quick look at the results from those events and give the results for a few other countries.

2018 Japanese National Championships

Four in a row for Tiny Queen

End of Grand Prix Power Rankings: 2017-2018

We've made it through the Grand Prix and the first half of the season.  Based off of what we've seen so far we have a decent idea of where everyone is as we head into nationals.  As usual, I will take a look at the top 10 ladies of the season so far and give an idea of what we can expect as we move into the second half of the season and the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

10. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN)

2017-2018 Grand Prix Final & Junior Grand Prix Final: Review

I'm back!  My vacation was great and I had a blast but now it's time to play catch up.  While I was in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico the Grand Prix Final and Junior Grand Prix Final took place.  I'm all caught up on what happened and ready to give a quick review of both events.

2017-2018 Grand Prix Final

A new Russian takes the crown

2017 Internationaux de France: Review

This competition started off roughly for just about everyone.  By the end most people were able to redeem themselves...

Remember when this used to be called Trophee Eric Bompard?

2017 Cup of China: Review

Every year there is one competition where the judging is so deplorable it makes me want to quit watching the sport.  Cup of China is that event for this season (so far anyway).  If you're not in the mood for a rant on how f**ked up the judging was at this event, you might want to skip the review this week...

I can't even...

2017-2018 Season Preview

Is it just me or did those last three and half years fly by?  The Olympic season is here!  This is going to be an exciting season full of drama and tension.  There are so many skaters all aiming for the same target: a trip to the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.  For some, the way should be easy; for others it's going to be a season long battle.  Here's where the top competitors stand as we head into the 2017-2018 season...

Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS)

Can she go undefeated 3 seasons in a row?

2017 Japan Open + 2017 Finlandia Trophy + 2017 JGP Baltic Cup: Review

Plenty of skating last week.  We've got three events to cover so here we go!

2017 Japan Open

Team Europe takes back the gold!

2017 U.S. International Classic + 2017 Lombardia Trophy: Reviews

With the JGP series on hiatus for this week the Challenger Series (also known as "Senior B" events) took center stage.  We have two competitions to get through so let's go...

2017 U.S. International Classic

The newbie takes the gold!

2017 Russian Test Skates + 2017 JGP Riga Cup: Review

Like most fans I look forward to seeing the Russian test skates.  The Russians are at the forefront when it comes to women's skating so it's always a good idea to see where the bar is being set for the upcoming season.  There weren't as many participants this year but we'll take what we can get.  After we check out the Russians we'll take a look at the results of JGP Riga Cup.

I Like...

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

2017 Junior World Championships: Review

Okay, so...yeah.  This was not what I expected at all but I can't say I'm disappointed.

Not the podium I was expecting but yay!

2017 Junior World Championships: Preview

The junior season is SO long!  It started way back in August of 2016 and will finally wrap up at the Junior World Championships which will take place in Taipei City on March 15-19.  As usual the major battle for the podium will be between Russia and Japan but there are a few others who could shake things up.

Team Russia

Alina Zagitova, Polina Tsurskaya, Stanislava Konstantinova

L to R: Tsurskaya, Zagitova, Konstantinova

2017 National Championships Round Up

Late Happy New Year everyone!  I'm still playing catch up after the holidays and being sick with the flu but I definitely wanted to get my review in before U.S. Nationals kick off.  I'll take a quick look at the two major national championship competitions from December (Russia and Japan) and give some updates on a few of the other countries.

2017 Russian National Championships

Team Tutberidze for the win!