It is pretty substantial seeing how many athletes and people within Skate Canada are either quietly (in the form of likes supporting anything not J/R) or loudly (well Duhamel was obvious, but even Barton was heavily pushing it and of course Weaver flat-out saying it) pushing for Walsh/Michaud making the team.
Skate Canada as an organization has been problematic for the top athletes in the last year. I explained in more detail when Worlds was coming around, but I had talked to enough of the high-level skaters following canceled Nationals last year to know that there was really no plan set in motion, no organization, no communication, almost like they were sitting around waiting for Worlds to be canceled so they didn't have to deal with anything. There are Canadian journalists on this board that will also back this up. It was a mess, and David Wilson came out in an interview stating a lot of the problems. I'm not expecting them to immediately figure out how to fix problems, but they really weren't doing much of anything last year. So, in short, the athletes were already
at the Federation.
Radford burned a lot of bridges by coming back, which is of course the nature of the sport and his choice to do so. He had composed the short program music of Moore-Towers/Marinaro, and they got rid of that program real quick. She did an interview with Cafecito Con Masha and very definitively said 'Not anymore!' to that, but people here overlooked that and insisted on Kristen and Meagan hating each other and having rink drama. He had choreographed for Walsh/Michaud this year, and they went and got new choreographers. Another thing is that Eric was very vocal about he
himself having 'more opportunities' arise by skating with Vanessa; he said it himself and Duhamel relayed it as a reason he gave her on TSL. I think a little bit of all of that is what we are seeing now. The 2018 gold medal-winning team was all pretty close, as well, so whether you agree with him finding a new partner or not, I think the revelations of them working behind the scenes for so long assuring she would be released probably rubbed Virtue the wrong way, too. Whether Skate Canada assured them of anything when they partnered up, I don't know but I wouldn't be that surprised. And actually, even though those overall numbers have to count somewhat, Walsh/Michaud, albeit not by much, also beat James and Radford in the short in Zagreb. It wasn't an overwhelmingly consistent fall for any of them.
As far as the team event, I would think Skate Canada is going to allow Moore-Towers/Marinaro to select whether they want to do both programs or not. The men likely have to be split unless Keegan wants to do a ton of work. I don't think Canada will be a factor for a medal after the short programs, anyways, so let Sadovsky have the off-chance that he hits everything and surprises in the LP
Teams that grow together from a young age and stay together are a rarity. And when it happens, it does in a way perpetuate a myth that these things happen without any input from someone. In a lot of cases, there is someone who sees the potential and guides things along. We just don't know it.
