Off-season news 2016: Retirements, coaching changes, music selections

It's all here, folks - the repository of all things off-season. Come back to this page for more updates as the off-season continues. 

Competition location announcements

  • Full competition listing from ISU
  • GRAND PRIX SERIES
    • Skate America 10/21-23 - Chicago/Hoffmann Estates (Sears Centre), USA
    • Skate Canada 10/28-30 - Mississauga, CAN
    • Rostelecom Cup 11/4-6 - Moscow, RUS
      It is possible that Rostelecom Cup will be cancelled (and likely relocated, at least for this year) due to the International Olympic Committee's ruling on the Russian doping scandal. As stated by the IOC,       "Because of the detailed references to the manipulation of samples during the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 the IOC asks all International Olympic Winter Sports Federations to freeze their preparations for major events in Russia, such as World Championships, World Cups or other major international competitions under their responsibility, and to actively look for alternative organisers." The ISU has not confirmed the status of Rostelecom Cup.
    • Trophee de France 11/11-13 - Paris, FRA
    • Audi Cup of China 11-18-20 - Beijing, CHN
    • NHK Trophy 11/25-27 - Sapporo, JPN
    • Grand Prix Final 12/8-11 - Marseille, FRA
  • ISU CHALLENGER SERIES
    • Lombardia Trophy 9/8-11 - Bergamo, Italy
    • US International Figure Skating Classic 9/14-18 - Salt Lake City, USA
    • Nebelhorn Trophy 9/22-24 - Oberstdorf, Germany
    • Autumn Classic International 9/28-10/1 - Montreal, Canada
    • Ondrej Nepela Memorial 9/30-10/2 - Bratislava, Slovak Republic
    • Finlandia Trophy 10/6-10 - Espoo, Finland
    • Cancelled Ukrainian Open 11/9-13 - Kiev, Ukraine
    • Warsaw Cup 11/17-20 - Warsaw, Poland
    • Tallinn Trophy 11/20-27 - Tallinn, Estonia
    • Golden Spin of Zagreb 12/7-10 - Zagreb, Croatia
      •  Europeans 1/25-29 - Ostrava, CZE
  • Four Continents 2/15-19 - Gangneung, KOR
  • World Junior Championships 3/15-19 - Taipei City, TPE
  • World Championships 3/29-4/2 - Helsinki, FIN

Music selections

Bonus points for Feelin Good

  • Max Aaron USA - Nessun Dorma (SP), The Lion King (FS)
  • Mao Asada JPN - Ritual Fire Dance (SP, Lori Nichol), Ritual Fire Dance (FS, Lori Nichol)
  • Kristina Astakhova/Alexei Rogonova RUS - Onegin (SP)
  • Mariah Bell USA - Chicago (SP), East of Eden (FS)
  • Jason Brown USA - The Writing's On The Wall (SP, Rohene Ward), The Piano (FS, Rohene Ward)
  • Alexei Bychenko ISR - Chambermaid Swing (SP), Pagliacci (FS)
  • Ashley Cain USA - Skinny Love (SP), Carmen (FS)
  • Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus USA - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), Run Boy Run (SD)
  • Emily Chan USA - Je Suis Malade (SP), Nocturne, Bohemian Rhapsody (FS)
  • Patrick Chan CAN - Blackbird (SP, Pasquale Camerlengo), A Journey (original composition by Eric Radford) (FS, David Wilson)
  • Alaine Chartrand CAN - Sway (SP, Shae-Lynn Bourne), Rome (FS, David Wilson)
  • Karen Chen USA - On Golden Pond (SP)
  • Nathan Chen USA - Le Corsaire (SP, Marina Zueva), Polovtsian Dances (FS, Nadia Kanaeva)
  • Madison Chock/Evan Bates USA - Under Pressure (FD, Christopher Dean)
  • Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland GBR - Rolling Stones (SD, Christopher Dean)
  • Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier USA - Somewhere In Time (FS)
  • Andrew Dodds AUS - Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (SP), Warsaw Concerto (FS)
  • Jordan Dodds AUS - The Feeling Begins (SP), Io Ci Saro (FS)
  • Timothy Dolensky USA - Awake My Soul (SP)
  • Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford CAN - Non, Je ne regrette rien by Patricia Kaas (FS)
  • Anna Duskova/Martin Bidar CZE - Tango (SP), La leyenda del beso; Historia de un amor (FS)
  • Javier Fernandez ESP - Malaguena (SP), Elvis Presley medley (FS)
  • Amber Glenn USA - Send In The Clowns (SP), Rhapsody in Blue (FS)
  • Gracie Gold USA - Assassin's Tango from Mr. & Mrs. Smith (SP), Daphnis & Chloe (FS)
  • Yuzuru Hanyu JPN - Let's Go Crazy, Prince (SP, Jeff Buttle), View of Silence, Asian Dream Song, Joe Hisaishi (theme: Hope & Legacy) (FS, Shae-Lynn Bourne)
  • Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker USA - Feelin Good, How I Feel (SD)
  • Jorik Hendrickx BEL - Silence (SP)
  • Courtney Hicks USA - (SP, Rohene Ward)
  • Tomoki Hiwatashi USA - Big & Bad (SP)
  • Grant Hochstein USA - Rhapsody in Blue, Duke Ellington (SP), Pagliacci (FS)
  • Marin Honda JPN - Smile (SP, Marina Zueva), Romeo and Juliet (FS - but which one?)
  • Rika Hongo JPN - Carmina Burana (SP, Shae-Lynn Bourne), Lawrence of Arabia (FS, Akiko Suzuki)
  • Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue USA - Feelin Good (Nina Simone), U Can't Touch This, and other songs TBA (SD) 
  • Alexander Johnson USA - Gipsy Kings (SP, Tom Dickson), La Strada (FS, Tom Dickson)
  • Tarah Kayne/Daniel O'Shea USA - Back to Black (SP, Judy Blumberg), A Song of India; Marche Slave (FS, Judy Blumberg)
  • Brendan Kerry AUS - Singing In The Rain (SP, Mark Pillay)
  • Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto JPN - Bohemian Rhapsody (FD)
  • Maxim Kovtun RUS - L.O.V.E; Sing, Sing, Sing (SP), Ruled By Secrecy (FS)
  • Vivian Le USA - Hero, Mariah Carey (SP)
  • Hannah Miller USA - Arabesque (SP), Spring Wind, The Unbending Chinese Tree, Ad Martem (FS, Nadia Kanaeva)
  • Satoko Miyahara JPN - Waltz from La Boheme (SP, Lori Nichol), Star Wars, Jupiter (FS, Tom Dickson)
  • Takahito Mura JPN - Flamenco (SP, Massimo Scali), Rach 2 (FS, Charlie White)
  • Daisuke Murakami JPN - Bring Him Home (SP), Pagliacci (FS)
  • Kanako Murakami JPN - Tosca with vocals (FS)
  • Mirai Nagasu USA - Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (SP), The Winner Takes It All (FS, David Wilson) 
  • Kaetlyn Osmond CAN - Milord (SP)
  • Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam CAN - Big Spender, Sing Sing Sing (SD)
  • Cheng Peng/Yang Jin CHN - My Drag (SP)
  • Anna Pogorilaya RUS - (SP, Misha Ge)
  • Sean Rabbitt USA - East of Eden (SP), Mambo Medley (FS)
  • Elena Radionova RUS - (SP, Shae-Lynn Bourne)
  • Nicole Rajicova SVK - Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (SP, Jeff Buttle), Rain in Your Black Eyes (FS)
  • Javier Raya ESP - Pure Imagination (SP), Swing (FS)
  • Ivan Righini ITA - Elvis medley (FS)
  • Adam Rippon USA - Let Me Think About It (SP, Jeff Buttle), Bloodstream (FS, Benji Schwimmer)
  • Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot GER - That Man (SP), Lighthouse (FS)
  • Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim USA - Unchained Melody (FS)
  • Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau CAN - (SP, Shae-Lynn Bourne)
  • Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani USA - That's Life (SD)
  • Olivia Smart/Adria Diaz ESP - Proud Mary (SD), Experience (FD)
  • Adelina Sotnikova RUS - Suite Festiva (SP, Peter Tchernyshev), (FS, Peter Tchernyshev)
  • Shoma Uno JPN -  Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (SP); Buenos Aires Hora Cero, Balada Para un Loco (FS)
  • Ashley Wagner USA - Sweet Dreams (SP, Jeff Buttle), Exogenesis (FS, Shae-Lynn Bourne)
  • Angela Wang USA - Somewhere over the Rainbow (SP); In The Mood, The Notebook (FS)
  • Xiaoyu Yu/Hao Zhang CHN - Eternal Flame (SP)
  • Vincent Zhou USA - Writing's on the Wall (SP), Johnny Staccato (FS)

Retirements

  • Florent Amodio FRA - retired after Europeans in January 2016
  • Hayleigh Bell/Rudi Swiegers CAN - June 2016 
  • Matthew Blackmer USA - September 2016 (partner of Alexandra Aldridge)
  • Joshua Farris USA - July 2016
  • Artur Gachinski RUS - December 2015
  • Carly Gold USA - July 2016
  • Vanessa Grenier CAN - June 2016 (partner of Maxime Deschamps)
  • Takahiko Kozuka JPN - March 2016
  • Denis Margalik ARG - July 2016
  • Konstantin Menshov RUS - May 2016
  • Zhao Kai Pang CAN - July 2016 (partner of Madeline Edwards)
  • Nan Song CHN - April 2016
  • Federica Testa SVK - July 2016 (partner of Lukas Csolley)
  • Xun Zheng CHN - April 2016

Splits

  • Madeline Aaron/Max Settlage USA
  • Gretchen Donlan/Nathan Bartholomay USA (IceNetwork)
  • Misato Komatsubara/Andrea Fabbri ITA
  • Kavita Lorenz/Panagiotis Polizoakis GER (Facebook) ... and then back together again (sport.de)
  • Ksenia Monko/Kirill Khaliavin RUS
  • Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang CHN
  • Anna Yanovskaya/Sergey Mozgov RUS (sportbox)
  • Xiaoyu Yu/Yang Jin CHN

New Partnerships

  • Sarah Arnold/Thomas Williams CAN (two for the ice)
  • Ashley Cain/Timothy LeDuc USA (Instagram)
  • Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin ESP (Khaliavin released by Russia to represent Spain)
  • Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto JPN
  • Lucie Mysliveckova/Lukas Csolley SVK
  • Cheng Peng/Yang Jin CHN
  • Betina Popova/Sergey Mozgov RUS (sportbox)
  • Olivia Smart/Adria Diaz ESP (hieloespanol)
  • Deanna Stellato/Nathan Bartholomay USA (Twitter)
  • Narumi Takahashi/Ryo Shibata JPN (Nikkan)
  • Zoe Wilkinson/Christopher Boyadji GBR
  • Anna Yanovskaya/Ivan Guryanov RUS (rsport)
  • Xiaoyu Yu/Hao Zhang CHN

Coaching Changes

  • Michal Brezina CZE - to Rafael Arutyunyan
  • Patrick Chan CAN - new coaching team Marina Zoueva, Oleg Epstein and Johnny Johns (SkateCanada); Kathy Johnson resigned as coach (Twitter)
  • Maxim Kovtun RUS - from Elena Buyanova to Inna Goncharenko (sport-express.ru)
  • Zijun Li CHN - from Haijun Gao to Qing Pang and Mingzhu Li (Twitter)
  • Nam Nguyen CAN - from Brian Orser to David Glynn
  • Deniss Vasiljevs LAT - to Stephane Lambiel
  • Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje CAN - to Nikolai Morozov
  • Han Yan CHN - from Shuguang Jia to Qing Pang and Mingzhu Li (Twitter)
  • Vincent Zhou USA - from Tom Zakrajsek to Tammy Gambill

Other news

  • Javier Fernandez USA - underwent minor surgery in June 2016
  • Nikol Gosviani ITA - released by Russia to represent Italy
  • Yuzuru Hanyu JPN - off the ice for two months (from late April) due to ligament injury in his left foot, which is his free foot, not landing foot; back on the ice as of late June
  • Carolina Kostner ITA - returning to competition
  • Moris Kvitelashvili GEO - released by Russia to represent Georgia
  • Qing Pang to be the national singles coach for the Chinese team
  • Eric Radford CAN - underwent minor surgery in June 2016
  • Wenjing Sui/Cong Han CHN - in recovery for four months after surgery on right ankle
  • Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir CAN - returning to competition
  • Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov RUS - skipping all of 2016-17 season, just announced that they are having a baby February 2017 (source)!