Canadian Pairs 2013/2014 - News and updates

[Cant Skate]

I couldn't see a thread for this yet, so I hope I have it in the right spot. With Canadians come and gone, what will the future bring for Canadian pairs for the upcoming season? Any confirmed splits? New teams? Please share!

Senior Pairs

1 Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford
2 Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch
3 Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers
4 Brittany Jones / Ian Beharry
5 Margaret Purdy / Michael Marinaro
6 Taylor Steele / Simon-Pierre Côté


Junior Pairs

1 Hayleigh Bell / Alistair Sylvester
2 Natasha Purich / Sebastian Arcieri
3 Mary Orr / Anthony Furiano
4 Shalena Rau / Phelan Simpson
5 Dylan Conway / Dustin Sherriff-Clayton
6 Alexandra Young / Matthew Young
7 Naomie Boudreau / Maxime Deschamps
8 Julia Mercer / Wesley Killing

Novice Pairs

1 Rachael Dobson / Alexander Sheldrick
2 Judith Murtha-Anderson / Trennt Michaud
3 Taylor LeClaire / Christopher Mostert
4 Kendra Digness / Eric Thiessen
5 Robyn-Lynn McGrath / Matthew Power
6 Renata Wong / Henry Su
7 Sarah-Jade Latulippe / Alex Leak
8 Sabrina Vigneault / Cedric Savard

[Sylvia]

Was 2013 the Nationals with the least number of pair teams competing?

Here's a local article on Novice Pairs champ Alexander Sheldrick, age 22: http://www.parisstaronline.com/2013/...-title-bursary

From the article:
"Last season, Sheldrick fell while skating and injured his right wrist. The move effectively took him out of competition."

The article doesn't mention that he skated with an American named Kaitlin Budd last season (they didn't end up competing in U.S. qualifying competition (Junior Pairs at Midwestern Sectionals). However, their split worked out well for both of them, as Budd won the 2013 U.S. Novice Pairs silver medal with her new partner.

[Dave of the North]

Was 2013 the Nationals with the least number of pair teams competing?

1977 had two senior pairs competing, and that was the year neither got sent to worlds - CFSA sent a junior pair IIRC.

[sk8rmomma]

Split - Shalena Rau and Phelan Simpson, she posted on her Facebook wall. What a shame

[NorthernDancers]

Split - Shalena Rau and Phelan Simpson, she posted on her Facebook wall. What a shame

For real??? That is an absolute shocker to me!! This team has all the goods to be future champions. They are perfectly sized for one another. She is never going to outgrow him, that's for sure. But he's not so big as to look ridiculous next to her. They are the right ages for each other. They can spend 6 or 7 years at Junior, for goodness sake! They have a ton of great tricks, including a beautiful triple twist, and I heard they've done a quad twist in practice. They seemed well-matched in temperament. They struggle with consistent jumps, but these would come with time. They are so young. This is so sad! Wow....first Bobak/Beharry and now Rau/Simpson? What an absolute shame and waste of talent. (I still think Bobak/Beharry are a MUCH better team than Jones/Beharry..... maybe we'll see Bobak have a try with Tran....sigh....)

[minx]

This doesn't make any sense, but then I don't have any insight into the workings of pair partnerings. This was a seasoned pair even at their young ages and had a great future. I am worried about pairs in Canada. For all of Witzes success in having senior category teams, they have nothing in the pipeline.

[Daniskates93]

I'm sure it makes sense to the team though.

[laceup]

For all of Witzes success in having senior category teams, they have nothing in the pipeline.

And they can't seem to keep good teams together - Bobak/Beharry after an incredible season, Steel/Schultz after making national team in a strong 12 team year, now Rau/Simpson with their great track record, all breaking up within one year. Makes me wonder.

[HeatherC]

Split - Shalena Rau and Phelan Simpson, she posted on her Facebook wall. What a shame

Oh how sad. I've enjoyed seeing them the last few years at the Indy Challenge. Hope she finds another partner because she's a fantastic pair girl and I'd love to see her mature and grow with the right partner.

[Cant Skate]

Split - Naomie Boudreau / Maxime Deschamps She is on Ice partner search.

[skatak]

Was 2013 the Nationals with the least number of pair teams competing?

Here's a local article on Novice Pairs champ Alexander Sheldrick, age 22: http://www.parisstaronline.com/2013/...-title-bursary

From the article:
"Last season, Sheldrick fell while skating and injured his right wrist. The move effectively took him out of competition."

The article doesn't mention that he skated with an American named Kaitlin Budd last season (they didn't end up competing in U.S. qualifying competition (Junior Pairs at Midwestern Sectionals). However, their split worked out well for both of them, as Budd won the 2013 U.S. Novice Pairs silver medal with her new partner.

he can compete in novice at 22 ??

[yfbg722]

he can compete in novice at 22 ??

There are no age restrictions for competition within Canada at Novice or Junior. ISU age restrictions apply only to international events.

[Catherine M]

Article about Duhamel & Radford heading into Four Continents:

http://www.globalnews.ca/canada/spor...222/story.html


Makes me teary reading about Eric's problems with bullying in the past but glad he got some closure a couple of years ago with that one guy.

[blue_idealist]

Article about Duhamel & Radford heading into Four Continents:

http://www.globalnews.ca/canada/spor...222/story.html


Makes me teary reading about Eric's problems with bullying in the past but glad he got some closure a couple of years ago with that one guy.

Nice article about D/R but I noticed there's a mistake at the end.. they say Kaetlyn Osmond is the only woman going to 4CC when I'm pretty sure Lacoste and Julianne Seguin will also be there!

[Ziggy]

Very nice article!

(And yes 3 Canadian skaters are going to 4CC)

he can compete in novice at 22 ??

It never fails to make me .

[Cant Skate]

Whatever happened to Krystel (sp?) and Charlie (junior)? They did not skate at Nationals....did they split? Injured? I enjoyed watching them skate at Nationals last year.....

[geoskate]

I'm curious too. You're talking about Krystal Desjardins/Charlie Bilodeau, who were 2nd in juniors last season. This season they skated at the JGP Lake Placid and the JGP in Crotia, but haven't skated since. (They missed sectionals and Challenge as well as Canadians). Neither one is listed on ice partner search, so hopefully that means that they are still skating together and are simply dealing with an injury right now.

I particularly liked the fact that they were coached by Patrice Archetto. It was nice to see him in the kiss and cry, and to see that he has continued to contribute to the skating world.

[geoskate]

David Struthers is on IPS. Is that new?

He skated with Alexie Gelinas, and they were 11th in seniors at Canadians in 2012. This season they only skated at one competition (Souvenir Georges-Ethier), as far as I know.

In any case, I'm glad he wants to continue skating pairs.

[shutterbug]

David Struthers is on IPS. Is that new?

He skated with Alexie Gelinas, and they were 11th in seniors at Canadians in 2012. This season they only skated at one competition (Souvenir Georges-Ethier), as far as I know.

In any case, I'm glad he wants to continue skating pairs.

No, David has been on there for a while. His last update was done in November. Unfortunate that he’s reverse jumper, makes it so much more difficult to find a partner. There is one new entry, Félix-Antoine Garneau-Picard. He’s a very good size for pairs (6’ 1”, 200 lbs) but not willing to relocate from QC as he’s planning to go to med school. Possibly Tara Hancherow for him? Her bio says she now has a 3sal and a 2A.

I know this won’t be a popular opinion, but I hope Purich & Arcieri don’t split. They have a cute chemistry together and are making very nice progress. It’s good to see Gauthier & Marcotte taking the time to make sure both skaters have solid pair basics. Natasha may be fearless, but she doesn’t have much pairs experience either. They’re only 17 & 18, lots of time to build a great pair team, IMHO. Plus, Sebastien is totally adorable.

[Rock2]

Article about Duhamel & Radford heading into Four Continents:

http://www.globalnews.ca/canada/spor...222/story.html


Makes me teary reading about Eric's problems with bullying in the past but glad he got some closure a couple of years ago with that one guy.

Well, yeah, but pretty much any guy that goes into skating is faced with this....especially if you are gay or suspected of being gay. Double whammy. Triple whammy if you're in a small or blue collar town with few other guys involved in the sport to spread some of the burden.