2020-21 Canadian Pairs News & Updates

[Colonel Green]

A look at Coach Evans’ younger kids working on pairs training:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG7TtTln2Om/

 

[Sylvia]

Skate Ontario published their Sectionals entries on Oct. 30 (thanks to @shutterbug for the heads up in the 2020-21 Canadian competitions thread in Kiss & Cry):

Senior Pairs (6): https://skateontario.org/results/21SEC/21SECSeniorPairEL.pdf
Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro
Evelyn Walsh / Trennt Michaud
Cassandra Leung / Paxton Fletcher
Brooke McIntosh / Benjamin Mimar NEW (NextGen)
Justine Brasseur / Zachary Daleman NEW (NextGen)
Patricia Andrew / Steven Adcock (Bye) NEW

Junior Pairs (2): https://skateontario.org/results/21SEC/21SECJuniorPairEL.pdf
Audrey Carle / Gabriel Farand (NextGen)
Lily Wilberforce / Aidan Wright (NextGen)

Senior & Junior Pairs currently are scheduled to practice & tape their programs on Nov. 5-6 at the Sherwood Community Centre in Milton and more Senior Pairs on Nov. 9-10 at Iceland in Mississauga.

 

[Desperado]

Not sure if this deserves a separate thread. There’s a new Twitter thread summarizing an IFS article about Lubov and Bilodeau. He doesn’t come off well:

Thread

 

[barbarafan]

Not sure if this deserves a separate thread. There’s a new Twitter thread summarizing an IFS article about Lubov and Bilodeau. He doesn’t come off well:

Thread

He doesn't deserve to come off well.

 

[Jeschke]

Set up a deal to sell their long program music.

I think my brain is outta order here.
Someone help. How can he sell music?

 

[dramagrrl]

I think my brain is outta order here.
Someone help. How can he sell music?

I'm guessing they had some music specially composed for what would have been their new LP, or at least specially arranged.

I've said since the split with Julianne that Charlie seems like a selfish person who is only interested in promoting himself. The new info from Luba essentially confirms this. It is really disappointing to read about the way he treated his partners, especially since I loved Julianne and Charlie's skating so much.

 

[tony]

I don't typically follow the lives of the skaters outside the rink, but Bilodeau is obviously obsessed with trying to make a name for himself. I wrote about it one other time, but they way he kept dragging out the 'big' announcement of a new partner was so I mean, the guy has less than 4,000 Instagram followers and most of the Canadian skaters have huge followings as the sport is still thriving there. The way he made a huge deal about his retirement was no doubt another attempt at attention for when he moved out of the sport. I feel for people suffering through any kind of situation, but everything he has done has been self-serving including that letter itself, and those Tweets summarizing the article aren't that surprising.

 

[pachelbel]

Not sure if this deserves a separate thread. There’s a new Twitter thread summarizing an IFS article about Lubov and Bilodeau. He doesn’t come off well:

Thread

Jeez, what an asshole!

 

[fan]

Does anyone have a link to the article?

 

[Sylvia]

Does anyone have a link to the article?

The Lubov article is in IFS' December issue, so not online at this time unless you are a subscriber: https://www.ifsmagazine.com/ifs-december-2020/
(If it becomes available online in the future maybe we can have separate a thread for it? Too bad no one started a news thread when the Lubov/Charlie split was made official...)

 

[Alilou]

Does anyone have a link to the article?

I don't know if it's possible. I subscribe to IFS and I think that's the only way to access it, but I could be wrong about this. Anyway they don't make all their articles public.

Oops @Sylvia beat me to it. Of course she did

 

[Colonel Green]

Justine & Zach have done their first competition now, at Ontario Sectionals. Now we just have to wait to see it:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHRJ0UJr4AU/

 

[Catherine M]

Note to self: will not become an uber Brasseur & Daleman fan based upon one photo

 

[Colonel Green]

I would not have guessed when all these discipline-specific threads were started that the Canadian pairs would have as many posts as the other three disciplines combined.

Anyway, another Evans video of McIntosh/Mimar at Sectionals practice. We'll see how they develop as performers, but they've already got some of the best elements in our pairs field.

 

[shutterbug]

Instastory clip of MT/M at Toronto Sectionals: https://twitter.com/CanadianFSF/status/1327010191385255937?s=20

 

[Xsktrx]

Skate Ontario published their Sectionals entries on Oct. 30 (thanks to @shutterbug for the heads up in the 2020-21 Canadian competitions thread in Kiss & Cry):

Senior Pairs (6): https://skateontario.org/results/21SEC/21SECSeniorPairEL.pdf
Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro
Evelyn Walsh / Trennt Michaud
Cassandra Leung / Paxton Fletcher
Brooke McIntosh / Benjamin Mimar NEW (NextGen)
Justine Brasseur / Zachary Daleman NEW (NextGen)
Patricia Andrew / Steven Adcock (Bye) NEW

Junior Pairs (2): https://skateontario.org/results/21SEC/21SECJuniorPairEL.pdf
Audrey Carle / Gabriel Farand (NextGen)
Lily Wilberforce / Aidan Wright (NextGen)

Senior & Junior Pairs currently are scheduled to practice & tape their programs on Nov. 5-6 at the Sherwood Community Centre in Milton and more Senior Pairs on Nov. 9-10 at Iceland in Mississauga.

Just noticed Patricia Andrew is shown as skating with Steven Adcock. Didn’t know they had paired up but good partner for her. Anyone know why they would show as getting a bye when Kirsten and Mike don’t?

 

[Colonel Green]

Just noticed Patricia Andrew is shown as skating with Steven Adcock. Didn’t know they had paired up but good partner for her. Anyone know why they would show as getting a bye when Kirsten and Mike don’t?

I imagine they were given a bye on the basis that they're such a new team and want more prep time.

I'm sure KMT and Michael could have gotten a bye (Piper & Paul, Roman and Nam all got them), presumably they didn't want one, competitive opportunities being scarce this year.

 

[Xsktrx]

I imagine they were given a bye on the basis that they're such a new team and want more prep time.

I'm sure KMT and Michael could have gotten a bye (Piper & Paul, Roman and Nam all got them), presumably they didn't want one, competitive opportunities being scarce this year.

That makes sense. Other than MTM&M being atop of the heap again this year followed by Evelyn and Trent if they can create the magic from last year’s Canadians, the senior pairs are interesting with 3 new pairings (Patricia/Steven, Isabelle/Zach, Brooke/Ben) plus the middle of the pack carryovers from Senior last year. Can’t wait to see if someone can challenge Evelyn and Trent and how the rest sort out.

 

[barbarafan]

That makes sense. Other than MTM&M being atop of the heap again this year followed by Evelyn and Trent if they can create the magic from last year’s Canadians, the senior pairs are interesting with 3 new pairings (Patricia/Steven, Isabelle/Zach, Brooke/Ben) plus the middle of the pack carryovers from Senior last year. Can’t wait to see if someone can challenge Evelyn and Trent and how the rest sort out.

Justine/Zack

 

[Colonel Green]

Justine/Zack

Heh, when I interviewed her at nationals two years ago she was very obviously tired of people mentioning her aunt.

 

[victorskid]

Gabby Daleman mentioned on PJ Kwong's Blade This! last evening that her brother Zach had "YNW" earlier this year (as did their mother).

 

[Xsktrx]

Gabby Daleman mentioned on PJ Kwong's Blade This! last evening that her brother Zach had "YNW" earlier this year (as did their mother).

Heh, when I interviewed her at nationals two years ago she was very obviously tired of people mentioning her aunt.

Apparently yesterday was throwback Thursday. Not only did I resurrect Isabelle’s career but I noticed I wrote MTM&M re Kirsten and Mike but given Dylan is retired not sure why I added him to their team. Glad I didn’t ask if Kurt Browning was skating at this year’s nationals.

 

[Sylvia]

Fun fluff:

Newlywed Game / Jeu des Nouveaux Mariés : Kirsten Moore-Towers & Michael Marinaro

www.youtube.com

 

[Colonel Green]

Note to self: will not become an uber Brasseur & Daleman fan based upon one photo

Here's a second photo of them with what looks like a cool ending pose:

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Only a few hours to know whether they look as good in live action as in somewhat blurry photographs!

 

[greenapple]

Brasseur and Daleman look pretty good together but they have a lot of work to do - a triple twist has to be high on the list.

 

[Colonel Green]

I wasn't expecting to see a triple twist at this point since they've only been together a month or two. I was pleased at how several of their elements look (synchronicity in the steps and choreo obviously needs work too).

Regarding the other notable new team, I saw flashes of more performance from Brooke in their skate. Benjamin stepped out of the toe loop, but everything else looked solid.

 

[Xsktrx]

I wasn't expecting to see a triple twist at this point since they've only been together a month or two. I was pleased at how several of their elements look (synchronicity in the steps and choreo obviously needs work too).

Regarding the other notable new team, I saw flashes of more performance from Brooke in their skate. Benjamin stepped out of the toe loop, but everything else looked solid.

I agree. What I saw in Justine and Zach that I expected was a nice look to their skating. She looked more comfortable on the throw triple than she did with her previous partner and as expected the jump was nice. A bit disappointing was the speed on the lift but like the twist that will hopefully come with more mileage. As for Brooke and Ben other than his miss on the jump certainly some nice senior level elements. I liked their speed and also agree she had more engagement in the program and with her partner than we have seen in the past but we can’t forget she’s still relatively young at 15 compared to several of the other senior pairs women so maturity will no doubt help that presentation continue to develop. Can’t wait to see what the freeskates have to offer.

 

[greenapple]

I wasn't expecting to see a triple twist at this point since they've only been together a month or two.

Brasseur and Daleman have been together since at least early August - four months - and since they both have previous experience it is surprising that they do not have a triple twist at this point.

 

[Erin]

Brasseur and Daleman have been together since at least early August - four months - and since they both have previous experience it is surprising that they do not have a triple twist at this point.

Since they were each with different coaches before they got together, they probably learned different techniques on the twist, so it takes longer for it to come together. Lots of teams take some extra time to figure out the triple twist, even if they have a lot of experience. I remember it was at least six months for Luba and Dylan, for example.

It’s also easy for forget how young they are since we have been watching them both for a while, but they are both still junior age-eligible. I’m willing to be a bit patient before writing them off.

 

[Colonel Green]

Brasseur and Daleman have been together since at least early August - four months - and since they both have previous experience it is surprising that they do not have a triple twist at this point.

To cite another recent example, Liubov and Charlie didn't have a triple twist when they made their competitive debut, and they'd been together several months longer. And that's before you to get into everybody having been off-ice for several months (which, in Zachary's case, literally meant having YKW).

It wouldn't surprise me if they're doing a triple twist in practices but don't feel the need to try it in competition yet.