Canadian Pairs 2017/2018 Season News and Updates

[manhn]

Are Charlie and Julieann okay? Ugh, pairs in Canada the next few years.....

 

[coppertop1]

It seems like some people are writing off S/B because of one disastrous outing. It's not like it's indicative of their team. Fans are way too fickle sometimes.

 

[manhn]

I feel it is the other way around. They have been given more hype than their results call for.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

TERRIBLE IDEA.

That would be horrible...I do not see Charlie as a partner jumper. They are both terrific and they will rise again.

It seems like some people are writing off S/B because of one disastrous outing. It's not like it's indicative of their team. Fans are way too fickle sometimes.

Clearly some of you don’t have a second degree of thoughts... and have a scarce world of fantasy, unicorns and fairies. My world is much brighter and playful than yours!

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

It seems like some people are writing off S/B because of one disastrous outing. It's not like it's indicative of their team. Fans are way too fickle sometimes.

I love Julianne and Charlie and I am not writing them off, just in case the message was aimed at my comment. I just have that love for KMT as a skater and I think, in a parallel world, Charlie would be a great partner for her. Do I want Séguin and Bilodeau to split? No. Breathe in, breathe out.

 

[fan]

What about KMT and Drew Wolfe?

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

What about KMT and Drew Wolfe?

Could be... but he is not cooked yet, not the way Charlie is. The thing with Bilodeau over Massot is all that citenzenship saga we could avoid...

 

[Rafter]

Are Ruest & Wolfe an off ice couple?

 

[Rafter]

This is what Sequin & Bilodeau looked like in the fall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAnjhP6aZ4o

The regression is shocking. Especially the 3twist.

 

[CassAgain]

Not sure what purpose piling on Julianne and Charlie serves at this point.

 

[Rafter]

Not sure what purpose piling on Julianne and Charlie serves at this point.

I don't think it's piling on, more of trying to figure out what's happened/happening.

Has any secret source seen Justine Brasseur and her new Ukrainian partner? Hoping they might be a team with a decent 3twist because he is not.....from Canada.

 

[RoseRed]

This is what Sequin & Bilodeau looked like in the fall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAnjhP6aZ4o

The regression is shocking. Especially the 3twist.

What's the point of talking about how they were in the fall? Just a month ago at the Olympics they were skating very well.

 

[coppertop1]

What's the point of talking about how they were in the fall? Just a month ago at the Olympics they were skating very well.

Exactly. They had a meltdown and now people are writing them off. Let's see him they do next season.

 

[oleada]

Has any secret source seen Justine Brasseur and her new Ukrainian partner? Hoping they might be a team with a decent 3twist because he is not.....from Canada.

Since you bring it up, how come so many of the Canadian teams struggle with the 3Tw? Maybe struggle isn’t the right word but it’s certainly not an impressive element for any of the teams at worlds and junior worlds. Is it something with the coaching? Even D/R rarely if ever got a level 4 in the twist. Because all the Chinese teams, Aliona and Bruno, most of the Russians, even the Australians and Croatians have a much more impressive twist. Ruest/Wolf don’t even have a triple twist.

Maybe Canada should import Stanislav Morozov for twist coaching.

 

[JasperBoy]

What about KMT and Drew Wolfe?

I don't think I could ever come to terms with KMT as the last great hope for Canadian pairs skating.

 

[Rafter]

I don't think I could ever come to terms with KMT as the last great hope for Canadian pairs skating.

Why not?! She’s great! Awesome knee bend and edges, good lift positions, good throws (they get more height and distance on throws than Seguin/B do, plus better air position), and she can sell the hell out of a program.

ETA and most importantly, she can land SBS jumps, a rarity!

 

[nimi]

Since you bring it up, how come so many of the Canadian teams struggle with the 3Tw? Maybe struggle isn’t the right word but it’s certainly not an impressive element for any of the teams at worlds and junior worlds. Is it something with the coaching? Even D/R rarely if ever got a level 4 in the twist. Because all the Chinese teams, Aliona and Bruno, most of the Russians, even the Australians and Croatians have a much more impressive twist. Ruest/Wolf don’t even have a triple twist.

Maybe Canada should import Stanislav Morozov for twist coaching.

Meagan talks about the 3Tw issue on this episode of TSL: https://youtu.be/46n5zz_5mZE

According to what I posted here a while back, the twist technique discussion should start around the 1:14 mark

 

[Catherine M]

Has any secret source seen Justine Brasseur and her new Ukrainian partner? Hoping they might be a team with a decent 3twist because he is not.....from Canada.

If you check Justine's instagram (its public) you'll see her WAY UP IN THE AIR, over Bardei's head doing twist work on the floor so that leads me to believe that it will be ok.

And yes we need them to skate somewhere in public sooner than later as I'm dying to know how they look too.

 

[oleada]

If you check Justine's instagram (its public) you'll see her WAY UP IN THE AIR, over Bardei's head doing twist work on the floor so that leads me to believe that it will be ok.

And yes we need them to skate somewhere in public sooner than later as I'm dying to know how they look too.

IIRC, he had a pretty high twist with Oganesian though I’m not sure how it looked when Oganesian grew quite a bit.

 

[Erin]

Since you bring it up, how come so many of the Canadian teams struggle with the 3Tw?

It's interesting because it used to be a good element for many Canadian teams - most notably, it was one of the stronger elements for Sale & Pelletier and Brasseur & Eisler. I don't have an answer but I do find it interesting.

Josee Picard seems to be able to teach twist technique, as she was an early coach of David Pelletier and she also coaches Seguin & Bilodeau, who have one of the better twists of the Canadian teams. She did also coach Brasseur & Eisler, although Lloyd claims he learned all of his pairs technique from Kerry Leitch and learned absolutely nothing from Picard, but I also roll my eyes at a lot of what Lloyd says, so I'm not sure whether to credit her with their good twist or not. It certainly didn't deteriorate under her. At a minimum, Isabelle's technique, which is also important, would have come from her.

 

[barbarafan]

It's interesting because it used to be a good element for many Canadian teams - most notably, it was one of the stronger elements for Sale & Pelletier and Brasseur & Eisler. I don't have an answer but I do find it interesting.

Josee Picard seems to be able to teach twist technique, as she was an early coach of David Pelletier and she also coaches Seguin & Bilodeau, who have one of the better twists of the Canadian teams. She did also coach Brasseur & Eisler, although Lloyd claims he learned all of his pairs technique from Kerry Leitch and learned absolutely nothing from Picard, but I also roll my eyes at a lot of what Lloyd says, so I'm not sure whether to credit her with their good twist or not. It certainly didn't deteriorate under her. At a minimum, Isabelle's technique, which is also important, would have come from her.

Josee Picard sent s/b to Lynden Johnson in the US for several elements. The twist and throws I believe. Prior to this yr it really showed. When Dylan and Lubov got together they had problems as she had a russian twist and he had a cdn one. So canada has its own technique ..not so good. They sorta mixed the 2 together but Dylan should have learned the Russian one (IMO). The Czech team that trains with Gauthier/Marcotte have a great twist ...Maybe they can teach it.

 

[Rafter]

Is Seguin getting her concussions on throws? I actually think their throws are their weakest element. Not enough height and distance on them. Their twist used to be pretty good until the last few competitions.

I just watched the Czech couple and their twist is huge. Did they learn this from Gauthier or did they already have it prior to him coaching them? The Austrian couple has gorgeous big throws, yet most Canadian teams don’t. Is it technique? Are the girls too scared? Are they going into pairs too late?

I think some of the Canadian skaters are not getting good pairs coaching from an early age. Ie. Trennnnnt Michaud and Mike Marinaro. Both have twist/lift issues and were coached by Purkiss.

 

[Katta]

I feel it is the other way around. They have been given more hype than their results call for.

I agree completely I also find them as bland as Wonderbread... completely lacking personality, but I'm still hoping that will improve with maturity.

I don't think I could ever come to terms with KMT as the last great hope for Canadian pairs skating.

Me neither... I have never been able to warm up to KMT and I keep going back to how she handled (at least publically) the split with/dumping of Dylan and I get

 

[barbarafan]

I feel it is the other way around. They have been given more hype than their results call for.

Seriously???????????????? before this yr they were amazing. They both had a year of injuries.

 

[dramagrrl]

It seems like some people are writing off S/B because of one disastrous outing. It's not like it's indicative of their team. Fans are way too fickle sometimes.

Exactly. After last year's Worlds, everyone was all "I/M are the solid Canada #2 and will have a chance to be Canada #1!" and totally discounting that S/B had been solidly Canada #2 pre-concussions and in international results up to that point. Then I/M had a terrible GP season and pretty awful programs and people started dumping them immediately. S/B came back with a strong Canadians and a very strong Olympics (esp. in the LP) and people were counting them as solidly Canada #2 again and posting things like, "They will obviously be the new Canada #1 and the team for the future."

They had one disastrous outing and now they are overhyped, something is drastically wrong, and KMT is the new future of Canadian pairs. Skating fans are so fickle and bandwagon jump-y.

I feel it is the other way around. They have been given more hype than their results call for.

They were junior world medalists and made the GPF in their first season as international seniors. In their first full season as seniors, they pretty much outskated D/R at Canadians (seriously - watch the LPs back to back), but were unable to follow that up at 4CC and Worlds due to Julianne's concussions. The next season, they won Skate America and made the GPF for the second year running. Again, their season got derailed due to both more concussions and Charlie's ankle surgery. This season, they had a rough early season since they had barely gotten back on the ice after the summer concussion, but had a great LP at Canadians and placed in the top 10 at the Olympics.

Where is the "more hype than their results call for" in all of that? No one was saying they were going to win World medals yet or anything like that.

This is what Sequin & Bilodeau looked like in the fall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAnjhP6aZ4o

The regression is shocking. Especially the 3twist.

They were the only team to get a level 4 on the 3twist in the SP at Canadians, including D/R, so the "shocking regression" definitely hasn't been a consistent thing of late.

There was a fluff piece about Elladj Balde during Canadians coverage where he talked about how concussions almost forced him to quit skating. In his comeback, he would try to skate for a day of training and would get nauseous after fifteen minutes. If he did manage to train for 10-15 minutes, he would end up back in bed for three days. I think he had four or five concussions over 3-4 years. Julianne has had at least three concussions over only two years, if not more that we are unaware of. The fact that she has been able to still compete fairly consistently and place so well at the biggest competition of theirs lives is pretty damn remarkable.

 

[barbarafan]

Exactly. After last year's Worlds, everyone was all "I/M are the solid Canada #2 and will have a chance to be Canada #1!" and totally discounting that S/B had been solidly Canada #2 pre-concussions and in international results up to that point. Then I/M had a terrible GP season and pretty awful programs and people started dumping them immediately. S/B came back with a strong Canadians and a very strong Olympics (esp. in the LP) and people were counting them as solidly Canada #2 again and posting things like, "They will obviously be the new Canada #1 and the team for the future."

They had one disastrous outing and now they are overhyped, something is drastically wrong, and KMT is the new future of Canadian pairs. Skating fans are so fickle and bandwagon jump-y.


They were junior world medalists and made the GPF in their first season as international seniors. In their first full season as seniors, they pretty much outskated D/R at Canadians (seriously - watch the LPs back to back), but were unable to follow that up at 4CC and Worlds due to Julianne's concussions. The next season, they won Skate America and made the GPF for the second year running. Again, their season got derailed due to both more concussions and Charlie's ankle surgery. This season, they had a rough early season since they had barely gotten back on the ice after the summer concussion, but had a great LP at Canadians and placed in the top 10 at the Olympics.

Where is the "more hype than their results call for" in all of that? No one was saying they were going to win World medals yet or anything like that.


They were the only team to get a level 4 on the 3twist in the SP at Canadians, including D/R, so the "shocking regression" definitely hasn't been a consistent thing of late.

ITA...and Julianne did not look well..In closeups her hands looked swollen as well. They were exceptional Juniors and their coach sent them to other coaches to make a few elements spectacular. I know they will come back in the off season & I am totally in their court.

 

[Rafter]

I agree completely I also find them as bland as Wonderbread... completely lacking personality, but I'm still hoping that will improve with maturity.




Me neither... I have never been able to warm up to KMT and I keep going back to how she handled (at least publically) the split with/dumping of Dylan and I get

But she’s allowed to do whatever she wants with her career!

 

[manhn]

You don't even need me to start on I&M. But which team got to Worlds even without competing at Nationals? BOW based on a GP victory and a GPF qualification. Okay, better than Chartrand, at least. But if you are going to request a bye to Worlds and then not place well at Worlds, I won't have that much sympathy when posters use that very same injury as an excuse.

I like them a lot. Their LP at Canadians is the one I rewatch the most from that event. But I don't think anyone is ganging up on them. I think at least qualifying for the free is not asking for much. Criticism will occur. This is not exactly a freak occurrence, like Gabby in Korea.

 

[wickedwitch]

You don't even need me to start on I&M. But which team got to Worlds even without competing at Nationals? BOW based on a GP victory and a GPF qualification. Okay, better than Chartrand, at least. But if you are going to request a bye to Worlds and then not place well at Worlds, I won't have that much sympathy when posters use that very same injury as an excuse.

I like them a lot. Their LP at Canadians is the one I rewatch the most from that event. But I don't think anyone is ganging up on them. I think at least qualifying for the free is not asking for much. Criticism will occur. This is not exactly a freak occurrence, like Gabby in Korea.

Not a freak occurrence, when any of their other SPs from this season would have qualified them (IIRC)?

 

[Rafter]

You don't even need me to start on I&M. But which team got to Worlds even without competing at Nationals? BOW based on a GP victory and a GPF qualification. Okay, better than Chartrand, at least. But if you are going to request a bye to Worlds and then not place well at Worlds, I won't have that much sympathy when posters use that very same injury as an excuse.

I like them a lot. Their LP at Canadians is the one I rewatch the most from that event. But I don't think anyone is ganging up on them. I think at least qualifying for the free is not asking for much. Criticism will occur. This is not exactly a freak occurrence, like Gabby in Korea.

Yes, there’s going to be questions and comments when you don’t even qualify for the LP at worlds.