European Championships- Ice Dance

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron seem to have come out of nowhere this season, after a less than stellar record last season. This season they have been on a spectacular streak. Their programs are a great mix of classic and innovative, and the choreography by Marie-France Dubreuil's team is some of the most interesting on the ice this season. Their freedance is a fantastic balance of classic styles with modern movements, and has great technical content. These two are on the up and up, and it seems like this fantastic streak is going to continue. I wouldn't put it past them to land on the podium at this year's worlds.

World champions, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte have not had a strong season. After a disastrous start to the season and this second place finish it seems that the coaching switch to Marina Zoueva has not worked in their favour. There really isn't anything all that special about their programs, and it seems that Zoueva has too many teams and is spread too thin to give all of her teams enough time and energy to ensure she will continue to have the top ice dance teams skating with her. Overall, their programs are fine, but compared to some others, there really isn't anything that helps them to stand out, unlike last year. These programs also aren't as polished as they could be, though they've come a long way since the beginning of the season.

Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin finished in third place after a lower finish, but with a significant mistake from their teammates, Ilinykh and Ziganshin, Stepanova and Bukin were able to step through the door left open for them onto the podium. This is a strong finish for the new senior level team. This being their first year as seniors, this was a spectacular finish for them.

Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Ziganshin may become a stronger team over time, but at the moment, they are not one of the stronger teams. People seem to be partial to them simply because of Elena Ilinykh's name and past accomplishments with her former partner. However their free dance, in particular, is rough and not as technically difficult as many others. It's also not particularly interesting. Their programs are fine, but not really anything special. Maybe in the future they will get better, but at the moment, these two are not my favourites.

European Championships- Pairs

The pairs event at the European Championships were the big surprise in Stockholm. Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov took the gold, ahead of Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov. The downfall of Stolbova and Klimov was a stupid mistake, tripping over his toepicks.

The rest of the event was extremely tense, with the cameras cutting to Stolbova and Klimov off ice after their skate.Though Russia dominated the pairs podium Ksenia Stolbova looked anything but pleased.

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Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov took the third spot on the podium behind their teammates, completing the Russian dominated podium. The had solid skates but in the grand scheme of the event a little forgettable.

Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek were the surprise of the event. Valentina has just made the transition from singles to pairs and has made a splash with Hotarek. They took me by surprise with their incredibly strong pairs element. They also have side by side triple lutzes, becoming the second pair to compete them.

European Championships- Ladies

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva won the ladies event in Stockholm. She has really next to no competition. It seems right now the only person with any chance of beating her is Elena Radionova. However Tuktamysheva has been working on the triple axle, and if she decides to add it to her program she will be unstoppable. I for one thought that after the short program Tuktamysheva would be willing to throw in the 3A to secure the win, but it's clear now that she doesn't need it, at least as long as they both continue to skate the way they did in Stockholm. However, the more ladies that start to add the 3A to their arsenal, the better for women's figure skating.

Elena Radionova has the typical Russian flair. Her short program is wonderfully tacky, but her freeskate lacks the fun and energy of the short. As such a young skater, we can only hope that she maintains the technique she has and that physical changes do not impact her skating like they did Lipnitskaia . She is always entertaining to watch, but I have to say, she should have stuck to the free skate dress from Russian nationals.

Anna Pogorilaya is not the most consistent of the Russian ladies, but she finished strong in third place behind her teammates. However she doesn't seem to have a connection to the music she skates to. The Firebird as her choice of freeskate music does not work in her favour. She doesn't connect with the music. She seems to be skating with music in the background. Like Max Aaron, the music should engage the crowd but doesn't because of the skating. Her personality doesn't come through, so when the jumps don't work, almost nothing works. It is time for her to focus on improving her relationship with her music, which will help her to improve that second mark and make up for potential mistakes in the jumps.

Joshi Helgesson and Viktoria Helgesson had a home crowd advantage, skating on home ice. The crowd was clearly behind them both, and this worked in their favour. They skated well and finished strong in fourth and fifth, better than many expected of them.

European Championships- Men

Javier Fernandez is one of the skaters in the men's event who has been one of my favourites, however I might be biased with his training in Toronto and the North American style to his skating. However, as great as his short program is, when the jumps don't work he loses some of the performance quality.

There is a huge difference in this skater and the one we saw at some of the grand prix events. However, his style is still my preference, and when the jumps work he is a force to be reckoned with.

Maxim Kovtun is not one of the skaters I prefer. The Russian style is certainly not my favourite, however of the Russian skaters, Kovtun is not my least favourite. Like many of the men this season, he isn't particularly consistent, and unfortunately, with his style of skating, when the jumps aren't there, there isn't a whole lot left to make up for it. Even with the significant mistakes in Kovtun's short program, the technical score was still significantly higher than the program component score, leaving him in fourth going into the freeskate.

Kovtun's freeskate brought him up significantly. He had significantly fewer mistakes and the ones he did make did not have as great an impact on his overall score.

Sergei Voronov and Alexei Bychenko are two other skaters who are not my favourites, but when their jumps are good, they have the ability to certainly make the podium here and depending on the way others skate, could stand that chance at worlds. Bychenko made a signifiant comeback after a 7th place finish in the short to finish fourth overall, and Voronov slipped from 2nd to 3rd in the freeskate. However, their programs lack the artistry of some of the other men, and can begin to feel like jump drills rather than fully formed programs.