Hello Managers,
As promised, here’s a quick update with a look at some
of the recent events that are relatively important for the league. Since the
last World Cup, a lot has happened. With real international racing starting up again
in just a few days, I think it’s best that we make sure we’re all on the same
page heading into World Cup 3.
A Look Around the League
Canadian Trials
Biggest story from this event with fantasy speed skating
implications was probably Blondin defending her mass start spot, which was (shockingly)
up for grabs after her DQ at World Cup 2. Another interesting storyline was Laura
Hall taking down Blondin and Maltais in the 5000m and claiming the silver
medal. This will only have World Championship implications if Canada somehow
earns two spots in the 5000m at Worlds without Blondin or Maltais finishing top
8 in the LD classification (which is pretty unlikely), but in this case Hall and
Weidemann would be our two representatives at Worlds in the women’s 5000m.
Japanese Trials
The Japanese federation has incrementally been
watering down their World Championship trials event over the last few years.
Qualification is now a relatively complicated mix of the trials event they held
just before Christmas along with results from the World Cup circuit (including the
yet-to-be-raced parts). If you’re trying to figure out if your skater is going,
the simplified priority list is 1) if they are the top ranked athlete
internationally in a distance, 2) if they won the event at trials, 3) if they
got second at trials behind an athlete who fills the first spot on this list,
4) if they have three spots at Worlds in a distance then the final contestant
will most likely be selected based on World Cup results.
Now, admittedly, the selection process is much more
complex than this, but it’s all written in Japanese and a bit hard to follow so
this is the best short summary I could come up with. At the very least, this
means that skaters who narrowly missed out (like Sato) or who sucked a fat one
at trials (like Nonomura) still have a chance to qualify in distances like the 1500
if they put together a couple of strong World Cup races over the next month.
Kok In, Roest Out
Femke has been given a spot in the 500m at World Cups
3 and 4 at the expense of Naomi Verkerk. This was based on her performance on
the first day of Dutch Sprints. Kok has a wildcard and a gold card in the 500m,
meaning she will start in A Group at World Cup 3 and, if she finishes outside
the top 6 at any point this season, she will be able to stay in A Group for one
extra race.
Unlike Kok, Roest has not been giving a spot, which
checks out considering how bad his races at Dutch Allrounds were. He has been
quoted saying that he is happy to stay home and keep training, with his eyes clearly
set on World Championships. If he makes it onto the World Cup circuit for WC5
or 6, he will be wildcard and gold card eligible as well.
Dutch World Championship Trials
All the Dutch skaters will have to compete for spots
at World Championships at a trials competition scheduled for between World Cups
4 and 5 (mid-February). The Dutch have always held their trials event after
World Cup 4 (along with most other countries) but seem to be the only country
willing to do this during a season with the weight of the World Cup circuit
shifted to the winter half. This means we won’t know which Dutch skaters will
be at Worlds until the last month of the season, and gives most Dutch skaters a
relatively short turnover between tapering for trials and tapering for Worlds.
Dutch Allrounds/Sprints
The Dutch did have a trials event right after Christmas,
though this was just to qualify spots for European Championships (an event that
our league has almost zero interest in). Some of the biggest takeaways from
this competition (aside from Kok being back and being fast) were the dominance
of Merijn Scheperkamp and Merel Conijn.
Scheperkamp put together not just a pair of great 500s
but also showed that he can hang with the big boys in the 1000m. This definitely
makes things even more interesting heading into the 1000m event at Dutch World
Championship trials.
Conijn put together a pretty incredible weekend,
easily holding Marijke Groenewoud off the podium and taking what many would
have assumed would be Groenewoud’s spot at Euros. Her 5000m was dominant but
her 1500m and 3000m races showed she can be competitive in a lot of different
events.
European Championships
The format this year was a sprints/allrounds competition.
Overall, the depth of the event felt pretty weak. The Dutch had their way with
everyone in every category except for the Men’s Allround. Unsurprisingly, that was the one event that was arguably worth watching.
To me, the biggest standouts from this competition were
the two Noregian hunks in the Men’s Allround event. Sander Eitrem had a
fantastic weekend (first Norwegian winner of the Allround classification in a
very long time), particularly his 6:06.20 in the 5000m. He’s looking like he will
be in great form for the remainder of the season. Peder Kongshaug also had an
incredible weekend, earning the silver medal and posting a shockingly good time
in the 5000m to go with his 1500m victory.
Aside from the usual suspects, other skaters with
great weekends were Suzanne Schulting, Kaja Ziomek-Nogal, and Hendrik Dombek.
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong, who was favoured to do well, did surprise me a bit
by beating out Beune and Wiklund as the overall winner (for something like her 4
th
title in a row).
Notably, Ghiotto was held off the podium in the 5000m
despite the smaller field at Euros. Likely he is just training through this
time of the year and working toward the bigger events later in the season, but this
was the first time in a while that he’s fallen that far from the top spot.
Injury Tracker
Patrick Roest
–
After
a terrible re-start to his season at Dutch Allrounds, some legitimate concern about
Roest’s season is creeping in. He’s training until Dutch Trials in mid-February
and then we’ll know for sure how bad things are.
Femke Kok
–
Not
sure what the whole fuss was this fall, clearly Kok is in great form. She is
back on the circuit and ready to shred. Now time for Dad to go get himself some
herpes and make his speed skating comeback…
Laurent Dubreuil –
I’ve
heard his groin is back in working order, so we can expect Larry to actually
race some A Group races in the near future rather than just skate off the line.
Qishi Li –
Don’t
think I’ve forgotten about this one. Still dead? Probably.
Isabelle Weidemann –
Whatever
ailed her at WC2 is clearly done with. Her 5000m at Canadian Trials was wicked quick.
Weidemann will now be removed from the injury tracker.
Stefan Emele –
He
has an issue with his butt, so he’s been struggling a bit. And, before anyone
asks, he claims he’s still straight.
Alessio Trentini
–
He has announced he’ll be missing the next two World Cups (3 and 4) but should
be healthy enough to return to the circuit back in Europe.
“Two Polish Girls”
–
Two mysterious and unidentified Polish girls fell at the Olympic Oval on
Saturday. One of them was down for a while. Cross your fingers it isn’t the Polish
girl on your team! (and, ahem, I hope they’re ok).
Naomi Verkerk –
She
has been diagnosed with a mild case of
frustration
after having her 500m
spot ripped out of her gnarly fingers to make room on the team for Femke Kok.
Free Agent Tracker
Bart Hoolwerf
–
He’s essentially a lock for the rest of the season, regardless of what happens
at Dutch trials in a few weeks. He is still free in one pool.
Andrea Giovannini
–
Looking for a solid mass start skater but Hoolwerf isn’t available in your
pool? Maybe Gio is! He’s arguably a step down in value, but still better than
most free agents.
Livio Wenger
–
Looking for a solid mass start skater but both Hoolwerf and Gio are taken in
your pool? This Swiss Freak is still available in a couple of pools, so maybe
you could just settle for this guy.
Indra Medard
–
Looking for a solid mass start skater but Hoolwerf, Gio, and Wenger are all taken
in your pool? Guess you’ll have to keep looking. Surely this guy isn’t worth
picking up.
Jun-Ho Kim
–
This steady points-getting Korean sprinter is still available in one pool. With
Thomas Krol likely to pick up zero points at Worlds, well studied theories
suggest that Kim is set to earn his managers a generous haul.
Merijn Scheperkamp
–
We all doubted him – as evident by the zero teams that picked him up on Draft
Day. But he has quietly been posting some great results and has thus been taken
in three pools.
Andzelika Wojcik
–
Is there a relationship between success on the World Cup circuit and looking
like you’ve killed someone with your bare hands? The Woj is walking evidence of
this relationship. She has now been taken in every pool.
Kaja Ziomek-Nogal –
After
a super impressive start to the season, it’s wild to see this Polish sprinter still
available in one pool.
Rio Yamada
–
After starting the season on five teams, she’s been dropped by over half of
these and is now a free agent in three pools.
Ted-Jan Bloemen
–
Want to add a Dutch skater to your roster but are worried they might not make it
through Dutch Trials? Look no further – this is your guy!
That’s it for today. Racing starts this Friday for
World Cup 3 in Calgary, so make sure you get your roster changes in by 11:59 PM
Mountain Time this coming Thursday. For those of you in the Calgary area, I
hope to see you faces at the Oval this week!
Best,
Dad