Ben Ferreira

[Verna]

I see he placed 7th at Thornhill, losing to a bunch of juniors. Is there a possibility he could lose one of his Grand Prix assignments??? I mean, I know it's just a summer comp but there's no way he should be 7th here.


Also, anyone know what's up with Jayson Denomme?

[roogu]

I think skaters are entitled to a bad competition every now and then, my god, no ones perfect. Maybe he has a nagging injury, or maybe he just didn't feel 'on'. Everyone has those days. It's not exactly easy to go out and nail a quad each and every single time. Ben's always been the type of skater who's been able to rely on his conditioning and good work ethic ..... and he's got no where to go but up as the season builds.

[Verna]

Did I say in my post that he had to land quads? No. I was simply asking a question about his GPs and asking about Jayson Denomme's status. I didn't think I'd offend anyone. Sorry I offended you. I just thought a seasoned veteran such as Ferreria wouldn't be losing to the likes of Smith, Mabee, Yik.

[shopper]

ben is skating really much better. looking much more relaxed and happy out on the ice and skating lots better in betweens.
yesterday and today, the jumps weren't there .

[haribobo]

Both Ben and Roth/McPherson have more than 2 months to smooth things out before their first GP event. I am neither's biggest fan but I will say they deserve their assignments no matter how they do in the summer comps. Those are just to test the waters-- results should be used to determine who is strong who has not YET received assignments and give them leftover spots, and not to take away assignments from skaters that aren't at the top of their game during the summer. Many of the skaters who don't do their best during the summer are attempting more difficult jumps and choreography than some skaters that finish above them-- things can, and often do, change drastically around midseason and the end of the season.

[Dragonlady]

I knew Ben fans would look at those results and get worried. There is no reason to worry and a great deal to be very happy about. Doug Leigh is reworking Ben's skating from the ice up. The scratchy edges are gone, his edges are now smooth and much more secure. His spin positions are much improved and his posture was gorgeous. Only once the whole weekend did I see him hunch his shoulders and that was a very brief lapse.

Ben's long program choreography has a lot of little in-between stuff which uses his edges, something he wouldn't have been capable of last season. He still needs more speed, which is why his placements were low this weekend, but that will come as he develops confidence and muscle memory on the new stuff.

Lots of people had problems with the jumps this weekend, including Takeshi and Jeff Buttle. It is a summer comp, after all, and the purpose of a summer comp is to try out the new programs in a competitive situation.

And let's give a lot of credit to Ben for working so hard to make the changes. As a long-time fan, what I saw this past weekend made me want to cheer.

[Bailey]

I imagine that Doug Leigh is also reworking the timing and technical elements of Ben's jumping which could be another reason why his jumps are off. Anytime you start breaking apart the elements it is very easy to loose jump - but it will come back...

[CherylS]

Yeah, everyone I talk to that's seen Ben this summer agrees that he's really improved even though the results don't show that. Between everything Doug's been working on and getting the quad down it's bound to throw things off a little. Sometimes you have to take a step back to improve but once it's there the results will be worth it.
It's early so there's still time to fix things. The guys that placed ahead of him that wouldn't have been expected to really did skate pretty well.
Trying the quad in the short hurt the results for both Ben and Jeff since they didn't get it but the long pulled Jeff back up and Ben was 6th in the free. It was good for them to try it in competition because the results here really didn't mean much. It's all about learning and testing out the new programs.

[KittyKins]

I just went to a novice/jr. competition, and some of those younger skaters are pretty good! Canada has such a depth of talent in the men's discipline. Also, it's early in the season. Who knows that he doesn't have a small nagging injury that he's not talking about.