Canadian Pairs 2019/2020 Season News and Updates

barbarafan said:
It is not that skaters are not trying...It is the countries that need to step up. Russians are state funded if they show promise. And mercy schooling. In most other countries you do not get funding until you are almost there and by that time it is almost bankruptcy. In Canada only 3 senior girls were funded by Skate Canada. And the funding is about a quarter of the cost in general to continue.
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Absolutely that is the underlying issue I think what I'm trying to say is if they want to attract new fans/viewers back or to the sport some new talent needs to be there from Canada
 
Everything goes in cycles. Take the longer view @Janef and also look back at the sport's history in Canada, in North America, and as whole, and gain perspective. Yes, there are many issues in the sport which need to be examined and solutions explored. That such efforts don't appear to be happening in a very focused, productive and beneficial way for the sport and the skaters is troubling. But maybe we should all find something to do in a contributory way, rather than staying stuck in complaining and shortsightedness.

Just because things don't look bright from where you are glancing at the moment, does not mean everything is worrisome for Canadian figure skating. Quite the contrary. Why not be proud of all that Canada has accomplished and take time to remember fondly the 2018 Team Gold Olympics medal in figure skating for Canadian athletes.
 
I guess I am always caught somewhat between the desire to fund elite athletes that earn medals and glory for the country - and funds going to increase sports and fair play in general to benefit a wider range of Canadian youth. CanSkate seems to be second to few, if any, in teaching love of the ice and fun as well as skills that are the foundation of solid skating skills. Thousands of skaters never make it to the national level but skating plays a major role in their personal development and their coaches, fellow skaters and trips to competitions make up a lot of their fond memories in adulthood. Kind of a balancing act.
 
So much more could happen if funding was higher and take a lot off the parents/athletes in the sport. Plus I agree, some string talent may bring some new skate fans, though Ice Dance maybe able to do that, I really like some of the junior teams, they entertain an audience.
But I am sure we’ll lose a few talented athletes to University this coming season, always seems to happen and a few Juniors are that age.
I am excited to see Nationals, Worlds and the upcoming season. I enjoy watching the newer teams try and make things work. I don’t like to invest too much in the young, but I applaud their grit, but growth has became an issue with a few in the past.
But last Nationals Andrew/Fletcher seemed set to head to worlds, and finished 8th at Nationals, I remember she looked devastated and look at her now, at only 14 she overcame that ‘crash’ and out there smiling with her new partner and looks more determined each time they step on the ice.
I enjoy our senior teams and really wish MTM skated at the Final like they had all season
 
Vase said:
I enjoy our senior teams and really wish MTM skated at the Final like they had all season
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Had they skated cleanly and lights out, there's an outside chance M-T/M could have won :eek: given the backing into medals by all three of the top teams at GPF. OTOH, the judges may have been loath to unseat S&H. Still to be honest, Peng/Jin won the fp with a less than stellar free skate (placing second overall), so had M-T/M been clean and lights out in both GPF programs (having already nearly unseated S/H at 2019 4CCs) they would possibly in hindsight have been rewarded. But 'what ifs' are always a dime a dozen.

While watching GPF, I had almost forgotten Tarasova/Morosov failed to make the cut. Had T/M or J/C been there, it surely would have been a more interesting and entertaining battle. The three young Russian teams did not do anything to enhance their reputations vs T/M ahead of Russian Nationals.
 
Brooke & Brandon could medal at YOG, depending on how things go. They're one of a few teams bunched in around the 140 range in terms of PBs, below the two Russians who will clearly be 1-2.

The biggest question mark for them will be the Chinese team, who have much higher scoring potential than they've presently been able to demonstrate (I still shudder thinking about their Lake Placid free program).
 
Colonel Green said:
The biggest question mark for them will be the Chinese team, who have much higher scoring potential than they've presently been able to demonstrate (I still shudder thinking about their Lake Placid free program).
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Sure. It always takes a bit of time to coalesce in pairs. Are you talking about the third young Chinese team who have an ambitious free skate to The Greatest Showman?
 
aftershocks said:
Are you talking about the third young Chinese team who have an ambitious free skate to The Greatest Showman?
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No, it's this team:

www.youtube.com

Yuchen Wang / Yihang Huang (CHN)| Pairs Free Skating | Lake Placid 2019

Visit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Courchevel, France - August 21 to 24 Lake Placid, ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Just about everything went wrong in this performance, but if they could, y'know, not have that happen, their scoring potential is much higher.
 
^^ Ah, I'm not familiar with China's junior teams. This team doesn't look very steady at the moment. Seemingly, it was an off day, in particular for Yuchen. There doesn't appear to be any very precociously talented young Chinese pairs on the level of Shen/Zhou, Sui/Han, Zhang/Zhang, or Pang/Tong, despite the number of teams coming up. I wonder how the former U.S. skater, Chelsea Liu, is faring with her new Chinese partner so far. But that's for the Chinese news thread.

Good luck to Brooke and Brandon at YOG!
 
It was reported that Ruest had a labral tear in her hip in the fall, so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that they had to withdraw. I assume she needs surgery, so hopefully this means she is getting it in a timely manner.
 
I could have sworn that yesterday or the day before Camille posted an instagram story with a picture of the rink and the caption "another day at the office". I guess that doesn't necessarily mean skating, could be coaching...too bad the field is down to 9 now :(
 
Skate Canada has been posting brief Q&A Athlete Spotlights ahead of next week's Nationals:

skatecanada.ca

Athlete Spotlight: Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro

Q: How old were you when you first started figure skating? Kirsten: 2 years-old Michael: 2 years-old Q: If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Kirsten: Pizza Michael: Pizza Q: If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Kirsten: Teleportation Michael: To...
skatecanada.ca skatecanada.ca

skatecanada.ca

Athlete Spotlight: Lubov Ilyushechkina and Charlie Bilodeau

Q: How old were you when you first started figure skating? Lubov: 4 years-old Charlie: 3 years-old Q: If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Lubov: Cheese Charlie: Meatballs Q: If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Lubov: Being able to fly Charlie...
skatecanada.ca skatecanada.ca

ETA:
Erin said:
It was reported that Ruest had a labral tear in her hip in the fall, so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that they had to withdraw. I assume she needs surgery, so hopefully this means she is getting it in a timely manner.
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After Skate America was over it was Camille who posted about her "fresh hip labral tear from a fall" before the start of that competition:

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CBC article (FP video included): Canadian pair skate to season-best performance at Youth Olympics
The crowd of thousands inside the Lausanne Skating Arena roared wildly as the young Canadian skating stars took a bow at centre ice, smiling uncontrollably.
It's been inspiring to be here. To skate this well at such a high-level event makes me feel really proud of us," Toste said. "It felt really great out there. The energy from the fans was amazing. I want to thank them for all the cheering. It's really helped us."
Never before had the two skated on this grand of athletic stage with so much at stake. To be able to deliver their best performance when they needed it most is something McIntosh will never forget.
"This has been such a great experience and I'm so thankful," McIntosh said. "It's so cool to skate in front of big crowd. Switzerland has been amazing."
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Aww, so glad they they've enjoyed their experience and were able to lay it down when it counted. :cheer2: This will be good for their confidence going forward.
Watching it all unfold from the edge of the rink was the duo's coach, Andrew Evans. He's been their coach since they first started skating as a pair six years ago, bursting with pride after their skate.
"They mean a lot to me," Evans said. "Placements aside we came into a this large new forum and the volume alone was way louder than anything we're used to. They laid it down. They did their job."
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Happy for Andrew too. He's learning right along with them. :)
 
Will Skate Canada send anyone to the Bavarian Cup in Germany? Did they send anyone last year?
 
Vase said:
Will Skate Canada send anyone to the Bavarian Cup in Germany? Did they send anyone last year?
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Post-nationals senior B assignments are relatively rare with Skate Canada, generally only if somebody needs minimums. I don’t think there are such instances at the moment, other than Stellato/Deschamps, and I don’t think Deanna has been released yet.
 
Brooke & Brandon were fourth in the individual YOG pairs event and then fourth for their fourth-place team in the team event; in the latter they had their best free skate probably ever.

www.youtube.com

Brooke McIntosh & Brandon Toste - 2020 Winter Youth Olympics Team Event FS

January 15, 2020 Youth Olympic Team Event. Commentary by Chris Howarth. Music: "Say Something" by A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera; Choreography by: Ma...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
It’s Novice and Juniors free tomorrow, I hope to see some personal bests. It’s developing levels but Lily and Aiden looked good today and Patricia and Zachary much improved, not even a year together. I like what I saw from Alison Purkiss teams, I hope to see Trennt and Evelyn at their best.
 
Competition for silver and bronze will be interesting in Junior. The Carle/Pharand team is my favorite for silver. Bronze to Levesques/Hudon.
 
Vase said:
Will Skate Canada send anyone to the Bavarian Cup in Germany? Did they send anyone last year?
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What I've heard is there will be spring time development assignments, the Bavarian being a favourite. Chris Howarth mentioned more than once that Canadian skaters have next to no International experience. We are entering year 3 of the 4 year OG cycle. Surely it's time?
 
beaver_fan said:
What I've heard is there will be spring time development assignments, the Bavarian being a favourite. Chris Howarth mentioned more than once that Canadian skaters have next to no International experience. We are entering year 3 of the 4 year OG cycle. Surely it's time?
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Other than Catherine Carle, the rest did 2 JrGP this year. The pair also went to Jr World’s.
 
Also, the new team of Audrey CARLE / Gabriel FARAND were sent to Volvo Open Cup in Riga, Latvia this past November, placed 6th and got their Junior Worlds minimums there.

ETA that 7 pairs are eligible for 2 Junior Worlds spots:

Patricia Andrew/Zachary Daleman
Audrey Carle/Gabriel Farand
Kelly-Ann Laurin/Loucas Éthier
Gabrielle Levesque/Pier-Alexandre Hudon
Brooke McIntosh/Brandon Toste (pretty much guaranteed one of the spots, I assume)
Chloé Panetta/Benjamin Mimar
Camille Perreault/William St-Louis
 
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