Canadian Ice Dance 2018-19 season news & updates

[skatingguy]

Chock and Bates skate on flats, not edges.

Also, I think you're discounting Evan's skating skills, and Madison performance skills.

 

[IloveFS]

G/P deserved silver

With Wea and Po the gold medallists??? I would agree with that!!!

 

[IloveFS]

Also, I think you're discounting Evan's skating skills, and Madison performance skills.

Awww, it's just their real life chemistry.. not performance skills....

 

[IloveFS]

Andrew can't twizzle.

His twiddles were perfectly fine today.

 

[skatingguy]

His twiddles were perfectly fine today.

He didn't make a mistake today - that is not the same as perfectly fine.

 

[IloveFS]

Shouldn't the competition be judged on what he did today?????

And btw, isn't it Chock and Bates that are known for freak mistakes when it matters most?????

 

[VGThuy]

Both WeaPo and Chock/Bates are capable of making mistakes. It happened. WeaPo lost TES to Gilles/Poirier despite having a slightly higher BV. They need to work on that before trying to beat C/B and H/D (sans major mistakes).

 

[skatingguy]

Shouldn't the competition be judged on what he did today?????

And btw, isn't it Chock and Bates that are known for freak mistakes when it matters most?????

Yes, and in which case the GOE that they received on the twizzles was too much - they are slow, & cautious.

 

[skatingguy]

I can't believe I'm defending Chock/Bates - up is down, right is wrong. Sorry to everyone else who came to read about Canadian Ice Dance.

 

[believed]

With Wea and Po the gold medallists??? I would agree with that!!!

Well in that case, G/P for gold

 

[puglover]

I have a question about twizzles. Piper and Paul seem to go into theirs without much set up, have interesting variations, and they seem fast and together. I thought the judges had a whole tutorial on how to judge them but it seems to me that level 4's are given out with plus GOE for quite average ones or even inferior. Any insights?

 

[skatingguy]

I have a question about twizzles. Piper and Paul seem to go into theirs without much set up, have interesting variations, and they seem fast and together. I thought the judges had a whole tutorial on how to judge them but it seems to me that level 4's are given out with plus GOE for quite average ones or even inferior. Any insights?

Well to get the level all the couple has to do is meet the technical requirements, which doesn't require that the twizzles be as intricate or innovative as Gilles/Poirier. Sinitsina/Katsalapov got level 3 & 4 on their twizzles at Europeans and they both were credited with falls. The issue with the GOE in Ice Dance this season is that there are so many ways to get positive GOE that unless you have a real serious problem - like a stumble or fall - you'll probably get positive GOE.

 

[Rafter]

I prefer W/P as a team but G/P definitely have a great FD this year. The music is awesome. It will be a very hard program for them to top in future years. That said, I can’t get into their skating. They are strong with all the elements but I find them both stiff in the upper body and some of the skating looks choppy to me.

W/P looked nervous in the FD at 4CCs I thought (esp her) and I’d like to see more speed in the program. I noticed their GOE for their dance spin wasn’t great, more speed needed there too.

 

[Andora]

I prefer W/P as a team but G/P definitely have a great FD this year. The music is awesome. It will be a very hard program for them to top in future years. That said, I can’t get into their skating. They are strong with all the elements but I find them both stiff in the upper body and some of the skating looks choppy to me.

W/P looked nervous in the FD at 4CCs I thought (esp her) and I’d like to see more speed in the program. I noticed their GOE for their dance spin wasn’t great, more speed needed there too.

Completely agreed re: G&P. They really do have a FD to remember, their best work ever, and I still can't get too jiggy about them. I do think they finally seem to be skating bigger than they ever have, with more flow instead of constant choreography that could sometimes choke their programs (and probably hide weaknesses), particularly with lifts. The stationary lift at the end still feels jarring and sometimes awkward, but the rest really sing.

Regarding W&P... what are the odds they could go to Igor full time? Would he not be best to help clean up their technical misses? They could really be up there this year and capitalize on any miscues if they are at their best.

 

[puglover]

Wow - love W/P and their "Tennessee Whiskey". I do hold my breath when they go into the twizzles though and I have done that for years. I have been a big fan of theirs but I can't say I think they have had too many memorable programs. This year, I like the program, their lines and they do so much so beautifully, I just don't love the music and aside from a tribute to Dennis Ten, I don't really get the theme. Her dress, her hair, everything is just sensational but the music just doesn't stay with me.

 

[Dobre]

W&P's twizzle sequence in their FD was my favorite one after H&D's. W&P didn't perform it as well as possible (the sync was a bit off), and at a glance it looks like they earned lower GOE for it than all their other elements so I think it was deducted accordingly. However, it is very well placed on the ice and in the performance. Works as a highlight within the program rather than being buried early on while the music is slow. I quite like it.

G&P have a beautiful FD this season. One of the strongest free dance programs, I think, along with Guignard & Fabbri. And G&P skated it well here. Performance/components/interpretation-wise, I think you could have argued for them above other FDs here. (It's hard because, really, any dance team in the top ten truly has top notch performance skills). TES wise, I'd have gone with W&P and C&B ahead myself (and most of the time H&D). On top of which, there is the RD, which is stronger for W&P, H&D, and C&B, IMO. Still, I think this was the best performance of Starry Night for G&P this season, and I'm glad I had the chance to see it live.

C&B had the strongest attack overall at this event. And they really brought in the levels in the RD, which merits a lot of respect this season, IMO. I think W&P have the strongest basic skating of these three teams, and they have my favorite RD among any of the dance teams this season; but in these particular skates, I've no arguments about the top 4 overall results at all. Though I could argue details and/or how we got there.

 

[Scrufflet]

Canada goes 2-3 at 4CC.

And looks like G&P are getting some respect for that brilliant free skate!!!!

Yes! I think Paul Poirier has been underappreciated for years now! I have always watched him when they skate but now I'm watching Piper too.

 

[sharsk8s]

Canada has some really strong junior teams this season and i know some of them are moving up to senior next year. Do you think they can mix up the top team standings within Canada next season or will it take a few years for them to become top teams?

 

[barbarafan]

Canada has some really strong junior teams this season and i know some of them are moving up to senior next year. Do you think they can mix up the top team standings within Canada next season or will it take a few years for them to become top teams?

I think a few should be sent to GP's and if they do not get a GP should be sent to B competitions. L/L could end up placing higher than some of the higher ranked teams if their team comes up with programs as brilliant as this years or if they keep and modify this years programs.

 

[Colonel Green]

Canada has some really strong junior teams this season and i know some of them are moving up to senior next year. Do you think they can mix up the top team standings within Canada next season or will it take a few years for them to become top teams?

I think Lajoie/Lagha have a strong chance of placing fourth next year at senior nationals, but moving onto the podium in the next couple of seasons is probably going to be a challenge unless a team retires (or has a fluke disaster, but that wouldn’t shake up the normal order).

 

[euterpe]

Lajoie/Lagha aren't in the top 24 on the SB list (they'd need a total score 10 points higher at JW to make the current list, but then some Senior teams at Worlds might move up to displace them).

They aren't in the top 24 on the WR list either, some 600 points back. That might change, however, when the WR list is purged to remove older data after Worlds. Some of the split, retired and teams inactive due to injury are still high on the list and will drop way down after the purge.

If they are still not top 24 on one of the lists, they would need to win JW to get a guaranteed GP spot (other than a host pick, of course).

 

[Colonel Green]

Lajoie/Lagha aren't in the top 24 on the SB list (they'd need a total score 10 points higher at JW to make the current list, but then some Senior teams at Worlds might move up to displace them). They aren't in the top 24 on the WR list either, some 600 points back. They would need to win JW to get a guaranteed GP spot (other than a host pick, of course).

My suspicion is that Skate Canada will give them the SCI host spot, since they’re very high on them as a team, and there’s a good chance that all of our Worlds teams will be seeded but in such a way that prevents them from all being assigned to the same event anyway.

 

[sharsk8s]

I actually wouldn't mind if l/l reuse their FD from this year. It is definitely mature enough to be a senior program with some minor adjustments. I think it would be good for them if they spend the summer strengthening this program for their senior debut rather than learning 2 whole new programs. I don't remember if any gadbois teams have ever reused a program though so I don't know how likely it is that they will.

 

[Colonel Green]

I don't remember if any gadbois teams have ever reused a program though so I don't know how likely it is that they will.

Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen’s program this year was also used last year (albeit revamped to include the new elements).

 

[sharsk8s]

Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen’s program this year was also used last year (albeit revamped to include the new elements).

So hope is not lost! Of course if they want to do a new program I am sure it will be great too but I really am a fan of their FD this year

 

[Moustaffask8r]

My suspicion is that Skate Canada will give them the SCI host spot, since they’re very high on them as a team, and there’s a good chance that all of our Worlds teams will be seeded but in such a way that prevents them from all being assigned to the same event anyway.

MF said in an interview at Nationals that they would move senior if they have a podium at Junior World. So I guess we have to wait and see what hapenned there...

 

[sharsk8s]

MF said in an interview at Nationals that they would move senior if they have a podium at Junior World. So I guess we have to wait and see what hapenned there...

Are they eligible for junior for another year anyway? I think she just said that the reason they didn't move to senior last year was because they want to medal at junior worlds this year first. I think if they skate well they have a good chance.

 

[Andora]

I actually wouldn't mind if l/l reuse their FD from this year. It is definitely mature enough to be a senior program with some minor adjustments. I think it would be good for them if they spend the summer strengthening this program for their senior debut rather than learning 2 whole new programs. I don't remember if any gadbois teams have ever reused a program though so I don't know how likely it is that they will.

It's funny, I love, LOVE their FD this year, but I also hope they come up with something new next year. I can see value in keeping this, but I'm just so excited to see what else they can do. I'm greedy, I can't help it.

I also think they'll need to make a big splash if they don't want to get slotted in to 4th for the next few years. It's a nice problem to have in Canadian ice dance, but there's too many promising teams to break through the top-two loggerhead.

Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen’s program this year was also used last year (albeit revamped to include the new elements).

Asterisk missing, because they really only competed half of the season with it last year. I guess Euros/4CC would have been the only "overlap," all things considered.

 

[RoseRed]

Lajoie/Lagha aren't in the top 24 on the SB list (they'd need a total score 10 points higher at JW to make the current list, but then some Senior teams at Worlds might move up to displace them).

They aren't in the top 24 on the WR list either, some 600 points back. That might change, however, when the WR list is purged to remove older data after Worlds. Some of the split, retired and teams inactive due to injury are still high on the list and will drop way down after the purge.

If they are still not top 24 on one of the lists, they would need to win JW to get a guaranteed GP spot (other than a host pick, of course).

Not sure what list you're looking at, but this is wrong. The 24th team on the SB list is Shevchenko/Eremenko with 170.66. Lajoie/Lagha are 30th with 166.52. So currently they'd need a SB by just over 4 points (of course other teams can get new SB too).

Also, winning JW doesn't guarantee you a GP spot.

 

[sharsk8s]

I really hope to see l/l on the podium at nats next year. They are young and have so much potential. I know its probably unlikely for next year but with the retirement of weapo (probably after 2020 worlds) I think they will quickly move up the ranks in Canada. They have the bonus of training at gadbois and I personally think better SS than G/P (correct me if I'm wrong). I think G/P are strong but only if they have good content like their FD this year.