Right
@Peepsquick @VIETgrlTerifa @TanithandBenFan. I don't remember the program or the specific season. I think all of you are right. There were problems with both programs you guys have cited. Doing a quick WIKI check, it was the 2015-2016 season during which C/B struggled a bit with both programs. They ended up dropping the
Dark Eyes SD program for a medley:
More by Andrea Bocelli and
Unchained Melody covered by Il Divo. Plus, they endured a lot of work retooling their FD by Rachmaninoff. Then it was the following season (the Hip Hop SD season) where they worked with Rohene Ward on the very good SD,
Bad to the Bone, and with Christopher Dean on the competent and interesting, but less successful FD to
Under Pressure.
During the 2017-2018 season, they may have worked with Rohene again, but that's not listed in the WIKI bio. It may have been Shpilband who choreographed their somewhat cheesy but entertaining Rhumba SD that season. It wasn't a particularly compelling SD. And Christopher Dean returned to choreograph their lovely
Imagine FD.
It looked like C/B and Shpilband had run out of energy and ideas. Maddie suffered the foot injury, which may in some ways have been a blessing in disguise. The forced layoff gave them time to rest and retool, as they geared up to join Gadbois. MF Dubreuil and team have worked their magic, and the rest is history, I guess.
I think it's interesting that sometimes injuries (while unfortunate) can give athletes a chance to slow down and get in better touch with their minds, emotions and bodies, as well as refocus their drive and intentions. Adam Rippon comes to mind -- he has indicated how much it helped him to have that time off rehabbing his foot injury and preparing for his final Olympic season. More recently, Ashley Cain mentioned how she and Timothy LeDuc worked through their forced time off as she dealt with the physical effects of her concussion. It wasn't easy for them because they didn't have a great deal of time between the injury and U.S. Nationals. But in the end, they supported each other and gained a chance to develop new tools and strategies which ended up helping them to be calm under the ultimate competition pressure: skating last with a chance to win it all. Not that anyone would likely recommend being injured. It's just about learning how to embrace what happens and make it work for you.
And weren’t they originally skating to La La Land last season and switched it very late to Imagine?
La La Land is not listed on their WIKI, but that's probably because they never competed it, or may never have even completed the choreo. As always, WIKI is not a definitive reference source.
ETA: ITA with
@Debbie S though that C/B did not switch to
LLL 'late.' They obviously saw it wasn't working and made the fortuitous switch to
Imagine very early in the off-season. That would be why
LLL is not listed on their WIKI program chart.