Battle of the Blades is returning to CBC this Fall!

victorskid

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Battle of the Blades, CBC, and Sandra Bezic announced today that Battle will be on the CBC schedule for the Fall (Thursdays).

From BoB on Twitter:
We're still working on the details but #BOTB Season 6 will happen with some adaptations to make sure we all stay safe. Stay tuned for more info!

From Sandra on Twitter:
We are back for Season 6!! Our first priority is to stay safe, and I can’t wait to watch our @CBCbattle hockey and figure skating stars compete live across Canada all for charity!

The full schedule announcement: https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/pres...-programming-slate-including-1300-new-hours-f

In a sort of related announcement made today, Sheldon Kennedy (who won with partner Kaitlyn Weaver last season) will be part of the 2020/2021 "class" going into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, in the Builder-Ice Hockey category.
 

starrynight

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Both hockey players and figure skaters might find themselves with nothing better to do...

Yes. They might get some good castings.

I hope Andrew Poje and Kaitlyn Weaver are back. They had a lot of success with their partners last season. (I think they have good prospects of rejoining because Poje is tall and strong enough to lift the hockey girls and Kaitlyn showed talent as a coach for her partner).

I think Tessa Virtue was too expensive to be a cast member last year but who knows this time around (and there is no tour either). Doesn't she have a hockey player boyfriend? That would be pretty entertaining if she paired up with him. (But maybe that would incite chaos so perhaps not).
 

Sonata

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I think Tessa Virtue was too expensive to be a cast member last year but who knows this time around (and there is no tour either). Doesn't she have a hockey player boyfriend? That would be pretty entertaining if she paired up with him. (But maybe that would incite chaos so perhaps not).

Tessa Virtue was doing the Rock the Rink tour with Scott Moir.

I’m looking forward to any new skating! Logistically, this can only be done if there’s no self isolation measures in place, unless figure skater and hockey skater all want to isolate together. You can’t really practice pairs moves six feet apart or with masks.
 

manhn

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I thought Tessa is starting her MBA this fall. Would she have time for BOTB?
 

overedge

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I thought Tessa is starting her MBA this fall. Would she have time for BOTB?

She's doing an executive MBA program which IIRC only meets in person for a couple of weekends during the semester. So she would have more than enough time to do BOTB, as long as she keeps up with the readings and assignments (which can be pretty brutal time-wise).
 

Sonata

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I could see Scott Moir coaching a team. I got the impression from interviews Tessa Virtue was ready to move on and focus on a non-skating chapter of her life. She seems very excited about focusing exclusively on her studies. I actually think it’s more likely that we see her in a subsequent season rather than this one, once she’s had time to build other areas of her life.

Hope there will still be an international cast. I would love to see Gordeeva on the show again.
 

starrynight

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I'm not from North America, so I know NOTHING about hockey. I think these shows can be a bit of a popularity contest.
 

Katta

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Gordeeva posted something about BOTB on her Instagram yesterday. Maybe she will be invited again. cross fingers


I personally hope she's not included this year; I know I'm probably in a minority, but it is a CBC (Canadian Broadcast Corporation) production and I know there are many figure skaters in Canada....

I don't need to see Russians, Americans etc
 

manhn

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Is Gordeeva living in Canada? Is she a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident? How would she be able to come into Canada otherwise?
 

Skate Talker

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Is Gordeeva living in Canada? Is she a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident? How would she be able to come into Canada otherwise?
Well Sandra's tweet does specifically say, "... I can’t wait to watch our @CBCbattle hockey and figure skating stars compete live across Canada ...", so maybe they plan to have each team compete from a home base each week rather than having them all come together in the same city, whether live or pre-recorded.

Personally I have a soft spot for Canadian skaters and think there is a lot of talent that could be available, but CBC may be eying the potential of international sales so would need some international competitors.
 

starrynight

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It is a Canadian show, so I do think that if high profile Canadian figure skaters are keen, then they should be included.

I never watched any of these dancing shows until I watched Meryl on Dancing with the Stars. That showmance was epic. So nothing has really lived up to that so far.

The last season of BOTB was very professional with basically no drama at all. I think they barely even touched on Weaver and Poje competing against each other.
 

starrynight

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From a recent interview with Kaitlyn Weaver it seems they intend to continue show skating (whenever that starts up again)

At the moment I think skaters would be keen to do things with a pay cheque.
 
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Lemonade20

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I’m excited to see a new season return, but I do find it annoying that there are so many charities. I’d like to see each team choose a charity. It’d be easier to follow 7 charities vs 14.

For returning skaters, I would rather see new skaters than those like Gordeeva who has already skated three (or four?) seasons.

On a side note, as much as I am a Kurt fan, he is far better as a host than judge. Sandra Bezic is much better at commenting on how they skated and how to improve.
 

barbarafan

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I’m excited to see a new season return, but I do find it annoying that there are so many charities. I’d like to see each team choose a charity. It’d be easier to follow 7 charities vs 14.

For returning skaters, I would rather see new skaters than those like Gordeeva who has already skated three (or four?) seasons.

On a side note, as much as I am a Kurt fan, he is far better as a host than judge. Sandra Bezic is much better at commenting on how they skated and how to improve.
I love to watch Gordeeva skate as she is a beautiful legend. It takes extra skills to be able to use your experience and talent to compensate for the hockey players inexperience. You cannot grab just anybody who is quite good and won some medals and expect them to do a good job. It can be very dangerous. The focus is on the hockey player being able to evolve. And of course to bring in viewers big name figure skaters and hockey legends are a plus.
 

Lemonade20

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Gordeeva isn't the only one who can tame a hockey player. There are some fantastic pairs skaters out there that would surprise you if they got the chance.
 

barbarafan

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Gordeeva isn't the only one who can tame a hockey player. There are some fantastic pairs skaters out there that would surprise you if they got the chance.
is there a particular pairs girl or pairs guy you are heavily ubering who you hope they would choose if they decided to buy Canadian only?
 

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