EDIT: Joannie Rochette skated a free program that was far and away better than her short. We would have revised our expectations, but that would be cheating…but we were neither surprised nor disappointed in her scores.  Hurray for Joannie!

We’d like to do Joannie Rochette a favor, and discuss her skating. K?

Nobody was talking about Rochette before her mom’s tragic death a few days ago from a heart attack.  This is not because she’s not a good skater–she finished fifth in Torino, ahead of Kimmie Meisner–but because…well, we hate to say this right now, and clearly so does everyone else, but short program just isn’t on the level of the other medal contenders.  She IS a good skater, and we feel terrible about her mom, but her choreography isn’t at the level  Her footwork sequences in the short were pretty good, and her jumps weren’t under-rotated or anything, but comparing her spins to Mirai Nagasu’s or the rest of her choreography to Mao Asada’s is silly…they’re just not on the same plane. She did have by far the best dress, though. By far.

If Joannie pulls off a clean freeskate, she’ll have won the hearts of the judges and the crowd, especially since she represents Canada.  But she won’t make the podium, even though she’s currently ranked #2 in the world. We just don’t see it.

Our guess: fifth? seventh? in there.