Patrick Chan won the event, which is something I didn't imagine he could do. I was sure he would finish in second going into the event, but Yuzuru Hanyu bombed the short program. Patrick had surprisingly good programs, especially the free. He managed two clean triple axels, which we know has always been his problem jump. I like his programs, but they don't necessarily have the impact that he can have. The programs are nice, but are so similar to the style he's done in the past, so they lose a little bit of the impact in the comeback.
Yuzuru Hanyu finished the event in second, but was 6th in the short program. His technical score in the short was 10th. Yuzuru was saved entirely by his PCS. Without the PCSs, there's no way he could've recovered from the short. I like his programs well enough, but that short program was a complete trainwreck. He did very well in the freeskate, and he definitely needed to to save himself.
Diasuke Murakami won the freeskate, in large part because the top skaters had a rough day. He skated well, but his skating skills is not quite as good, and he doesn't have the flow or ease of edge skaters like Chan or Hanyu have. So, despite his clean jumps and good spins, he couldn't hold onto his place at the top. He's a very good skater, and between him, Hanyu and Shoma Uno, Japanese nationals will be very interesting.
Adam Rippon finished in 4th place, he had two good skates, but the quad lutz is still pretty far off clean. If I were his coaching staff, I would take that out of the short, because he doesn't do the footwork into the jump, which is a required -3 GOE. He's also not getting around in competition. His programs are pretty good, but the Beatles medleys are already getting a little bit old. Also the hair. I know he likes it, but I am really not a fan. His costuming is also a little strange, as it always is.
Nam Nguyen finished in 5th, which was due in large part to the way Skate Canada set up the event. By having Canada's top 2 men compete against Yuzuru Hanyu essentially ensured that Nam wouldn't make it to the GPF. It is really disappointing that Nam didn't have the chance to end up on the podium. The best case scenario for Nam going in was third place. He definitely needs to work on his skating skills and spins, but at just about any other event he would've been basically guaranteed a place on the podium with skates like he had.
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