This is Davis and White's competition to lose. They had some problems at Skate America with their programs and even had an uncharacteristic fall. They have also received low levels for their Golden Waltz. Even with these problems, they still easily have the top scores this season. If they've corrected these problems, they should have an easy lead and take home the gold. Pechalat and Bourzat are having a great season, winning gold at both their events and have set themselves up as Davis and White's top competition. I don't think they can overtake the Americans here but they should easily be able to take the gold medal.
Crone and Poirier have emerged as the top Canadian team with Virtue and Moir out for at least the first half of the season, but they are still a ways from the top two teams. I think they need to work on adding more fluidity to their programs and to up their performance value if they want to challenge for the top spots on the podium. Bobrova and Soloviev are another team that have come into their own this season, winning their first career Grand Prix medals. Their scores are very close to Crone/Poirier's and they will challenge for the 3rd podium spot. Bobrova and Soloviev have slightly higher technical and program component scores in their free dance, and if they can repeat this in their short dance, they'll medal here.
Weaver and Poje are one of my favorite teams and are a delight to watch and their technical scores are on par with the other teams, but they fall behind in their program components. This is not unusual in a younger team, and this score should come up as they continue to improve. They had a fall in their program at Skate America yet still managed to improve their score over NHK Trophy. Their scores should be higher here, but it will be difficult for them to get onto the podium. Hoffman and Zavozin are having a break out season winning the silver medal at Rostelecom Cup with a score 12 points higher than Cup of China. The Final will be a chance for them to solidify their place among the top teams if they can maintain their scores but they are still a long way from the podium.
My predictions in order of finish:
Gold: Davis/White
Silver: Pechalat/Bourzat
Bronze: Crone/Poirier
4th: Bobrova/Soloviev
5th: Weaver/Poje
6th: Hoffman/Zavozin
My USFSA Fantasy Team is:
A) Davis/White
B) Bobrova/Soloviev
The teams in order of qualification:
Meryl Davis/Charlie White, USA: They won silver at Olympics and Worlds. They are the 2009 Four Continents champions and 2008 silver medalists. They are the 2006 World Junior bronze medalists. They won gold at NHK Trophy and Skate America. They are the defending GPF champions. This is their 3rd trip to the Final.
Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat, FRA: They placed 7th at the Olympics and 4th at both Worlds and Europeans. They won gold at Cup of China and Trophee Eric Bompard. They took home bronze from the GPF last season. This is their 3rd trip to the Final.
Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier, CAN: They finished 14th at the Olympics and 7th at the World Championships. They won gold at Skate Canada and silver at Skate America. They placed 6th at the GPF last season. This is their 2nd trip to the Final.
Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev, RUS: They placed 15th at the Olympics, 8th at Worlds and 9th at Europeans. They are the 2007 World Junior Champions. They won silver at Cup of China and gold at Rostelecom Cup.
Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje, CAN: Weaver and Poje are the reigning Four Continents champions. They are the 2007 World Junior Bronze Medalists. They won silver at NHK Trophy and finished 4th at Skate America.
Nora Hoffman/Maxim Zavozin, HUN: Hoffman and Zavozin placed 13th at the Olympics and 10th at the World and European Championships. Zavozin used to compete for USA and won the World Junior title in 2005. They finished 4th at Cup of China and won silver at Rostelecom Cup.
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