Canadian Pairs 2017/2018 Season News and Updates

Rock2 said:
Meg discussed this more in here TSL recap of the Olympic pairs event. Some highlights:

*She liked keeping her singles skills up. So if she's feeling good and had extra ice time to burn she'd do some singles after the pairs training
*3L is her favorite triple and she can do 3L+3L+COMBO in practice. But the loop is Eric's least consistent jump so they never competed it.
*Meg was seriously considering going for the 3rd CAN ladies spot for Korea. What stopped her was not being 100% sure her body would hold up training two events and the lack of a 3/3 that she could skate the short with to qualify for the free. 3T is too painful for her foot (loose bone fragment in her foot causes shooting pains) and 3L/3L isn't reliable enough.
*IIRC she said she had choreo done for a singles short, but I don't know what music she was planning.
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Meagan is a superhero. I'll never be convinced otherwise.
 
it was great to watch live the Canadian pairs - really like Wolfe - lots of potential there but I don't think his current partner is quite up to his level yet especially in the jumping department. Mike Marinaro has really improved, he is not scary at all now watching him live - his core doesn't move now when he has KMT in a lift and his feet are way more solid! Congrats to them both improving so much. I'm excited for next season and to watch what others we have moving up.
I really hope Julianne's health improves, concussions can finish a career and not being able to train can be devastating to an athlete. My own daughters athletic career ended with concussions because you need your brain for the rest of your life and some of the side affects can last a life time.
I was sad watching them in Milan, Julianne looked lost. Charlie is such a good partner though - I hope they can rest and decide what it is they both want moving forward. A healthy Seguin and Bilodeau is a world class pairs team with lots of potential as they are both still young - if they are healthy.
 
Rock2 said:
I think there are other individuals out there who might not have completely given up skating and might be open to finding a partner if the right fit comes. I think Chudak is back to training and I'd like to see Boudreau-Audet skate for Canada. Perhaps someone like Purich comes back to life yet again....

I sincerly hope Choinard and Ostiguy develop real well over the summer. They have such a long way to go; they need to make big strides having aged out of junior. They don't even yet look like a solid junior team yet they have to compete in senior. Crossing my fingers.

I have been disappointed with Matte and Ferland. Lots of personality but if you don't have big tricks you have to be consistent with what you do. They can't seem to get anywhere close to a clean program. Don't know what their plans are but I'd be surprised if they continue. I haven't seen any progression from them in two years, it seems.
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Can teams that have aged out of junior still compete junior? Does anyone know how that works?
 
mag said:
I didn’t think they could in Canada. I know singles Skaters can’t.
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Honestly, I'm just going off of my memories of Rachael Dobson and Alexander Sheldrick competing junior when he was over the junior international age (I think??). I could be wrong!
 
Mariah McCaw and Steven Adcock competed as juniors nationally this season though Adcock is ineligible internationally (turns 23 in April).
 
jmtfti said:
Mariah McCaw and Steven Adcock competed as juniors nationally this season though Adcock is ineligible internationally (turns 23 in April).
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Okay then, I guess they can. Could be because there are so few pairs SC wants to encourage as many as possible. Makes sense really.
 
Yes, many people complete nationally (Canada) in Pairs even when they have aged out of Int'l competition.
Dance and Singles have age limits set either by SC or ISU depending on level of competition.

Pair's:
https://info.skatecanada.ca/index.p...8-pairs-competition-program-requirements.html
Novice Pairs No age requirement
Junior Pairs No age requirement for Junior Pairs in Canada
Senior Pairs No age requirement

Dance:
https://info.skatecanada.ca/index.p...e-dance-competition-program-requirements.html
Novice Dance ISU age criteria – maximum age limit only applies Women must not have reached the age of 19 before July 1 preceding the event Men must not have reached the age of 21 before July 1 preceding the event

Junior Dance ISU age criteria – maximum age limit only applies Women must not have reached the age of 19 before July 1 preceding the event Men must not have reached the age of 21 before July 1 preceding the event

Senior Dance No age requirement
 
Rock2 said:
Meg discussed this more in here TSL recap of the Olympic pairs event. Some highlights:

*She liked keeping her singles skills up. So if she's feeling good and had extra ice time to burn she'd do some singles after the pairs training
*3L is her favorite triple and she can do 3L+3L+COMBO in practice. But the loop is Eric's least consistent jump so they never competed it.
*Meg was seriously considering going for the 3rd CAN ladies spot for Korea. What stopped her was not being 100% sure her body would hold up training two events and the lack of a 3/3 that she could skate the short with to qualify for the free. 3T is too painful for her foot (loose bone fragment in her foot causes shooting pains) and 3L/3L isn't reliable enough.
*IIRC she said she had choreo done for a singles short, but I don't know what music she was planning.
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Wow, seriously?!!! That would have been interesting and I think she might've made the free with 'just' a 3-2. Plus the singles event just would've been gravy, given the bronze in pairs (unless they didn't end up with that due to her spending too much time on singles training).
 
manhn said:
How I viewed the interview, Duhamel was only planning to do singles if Eric never recovered from his injury. So, no bronze in pairs.
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I understood it as she was planning to do both because she made comments that she discussed it with Eric and that he was supportive of her going for it. She wouldn't need his support if he was injured and they weren't doing pairs. Also I don't think there was ever any question of him not recovering from the injury, was there?

She also said the reason she decided not to go for it after all was because she realized she is 32 and her body gets sore and can't handle all of that training and needs downtime. So it sounds like she was training both disciplines for a while. But eventually wised up and realized she had limits. Which is smart. I think she could have jeopardized their pairs bronze if she was doing both.

I do think it would be cool to see her go for it now, but I also think she seems content with the idea of retirement so I'll be surprised. But you never know.
 
Erin said:
I understood it as she was planning to do both because she made comments that she discussed it with Eric and that he was supportive of her going for it. She wouldn't need his support if he was injured and they weren't doing pairs. Also I don't think there was ever any question of him not recovering from the injury, was there?

She also said the reason she decided not to go for it after all was because she realized she is 32 and her body gets sore and can't handle all of that training and needs downtime. So it sounds like she was training both disciplines for a while. But eventually wised up and realized she had limits. Which is smart. I think she could have jeopardized their pairs bronze if she was doing both.

I do think it would be cool to see her go for it now, but I also think she seems content with the idea of retirement so I'll be surprised. But you never know.
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It did have something to do with his injury though. She said she started planning to do singles when he was injured and she was training on her own, IIRC. I think it was partially a back-up plan in case Eric's injury preventing them from going. But it did sound like she considered doing both.
 
I really enjoyed Meagan's interview and although her comments about eating and strength were with regards to single skaters, I thought they were spot on. Food is fuel - so necessary for everyone but especially athletes expending so much energy. It just can't be stated enough.
 
4rkidz said:
it was great to watch live the Canadian pairs - really like Wolfe - lots of potential there but I don't think his current partner is quite up to his level yet especially in the jumping department. Mike Marinaro has really improved, he is not scary at all now watching him live - his core doesn't move now when he has KMT in a lift and his feet are way more solid! Congrats to them both improving so much.
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Drew definitely has issues, but his SS and movement are awesome. Cammy can definitely jump so I'm less worried about that. It's purely all about the 3Tw right now.

Small, but touchy point on commentary relative to pairs elements, as it relates to Mike in this case. We tend to hold the man responsible for too many things. Yes, Mike has improved a lot but I attach much of their improvement to KMT being fit and in shape to center lifts properly and fulfull her side of the equation. As I have pointed out in past posts, much of the twisting issues are hers.
Recall how many lifts were wobbly in the air with Dylan who is super strong on his own but they almost lost a few.
They are both improving.
 
Rock2 said:
Drew definitely has issues, but his SS and movement are awesome. Cammy can definitely jump so I'm less worried about that. It's purely all about the 3Tw right now.

Small, but touchy point on commentary relative to pairs elements, as it relates to Mike in this case. We tend to hold the man responsible for too many things. Yes, Mike has improved a lot but I attach much of their improvement to KMT being fit and in shape to center lifts properly and fulfull her side of the equation. As I have pointed out in past posts, much of the twisting issues are hers.
Recall how many lifts were wobbly in the air with Dylan who is super strong on his own but they almost lost a few.
They are both improving.
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True...I was guilty at first at pointing blame on elements at Mike because I did not understand the exact process. He has really improved mostly this last year but they have had problems on their last lift in the long which I thought might be him but David Pelletier when commentating said that Kirsten wags her leg on the lift and any movement on the pair ladies part after she has hit her position can bring a lift down. She must remain tight and motionless.
 
barbarafan said:
True...I was guilty at first at pointing blame on elements at Mike because I did not understand the exact process. He has really improved mostly this last year but they have had problems on their last lift in the long which I thought might be him but David Pelletier when commentating said that Kirsten wags her leg on the lift and any movement on the pair ladies part after she has hit her position can bring a lift down. She must remain tight and motionless.
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I was really happy when Dave made that comment. The girl needs exceptional core strength to lock in a lift. Otherwise the man has got issues to deal with because her weight and centering continue to shift a little.

Paige Lawrence was an exceptional example of a strong pair girl. A judge once told me she pretty much puts the lifts up herself such that Rudy just had to hold her. Super strong to stabilize her lifts as well, making those elements outstanding when they skated together.

Swiegers' transition to Bell didn't go as well. Yes, Bell was less tiny but didn't have Paige's ability, which in turn, exposed Rudy's limitations, having benefited from Lawrence's talent. It really does take two!
 
screech said:
Just because I'd just mentioned it - Kirsten landing triple loop, triple flip, double axel-triple salchow, and triple toe/triple toe (turn out) from May 2016 (from her Instagram), and MT/M landing side by side triple flips in March 2016.

Also, anyone know if she and Liam Firus are still together? Browsing through Instagram, neither of them has posted pictures with the other for a really long time.
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She appears to be in Vancouver right now according to Instagram. Has he moved back there?
 
barbarafan said:
True...I was guilty at first at pointing blame on elements at Mike because I did not understand the exact process. He has really improved mostly this last year but they have had problems on their last lift in the long which I thought might be him but David Pelletier when commentating said that Kirsten wags her leg on the lift and any movement on the pair ladies part after she has hit her position can bring a lift down. She must remain tight and motionless.
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Great point. This is a little off topic, but I think Wenjing Sui is one of the best when it comes to ladies holding their own in lifts. Watch her entering & exiting lifts--her core is so firm, so strong, and I think that's why she and Cong are able to have amazing lifts despite him being such a small guy.
 
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Erin said:
I understood it as she was planning to do both because she made comments that she discussed it with Eric and that he was supportive of her going for it. She wouldn't need his support if he was injured and they weren't doing pairs. Also I don't think there was ever any question of him not recovering from the injury, was there?

She also said the reason she decided not to go for it after all was because she realized she is 32 and her body gets sore and can't handle all of that training and needs downtime. So it sounds like she was training both disciplines for a while. But eventually wised up and realized she had limits. Which is smart. I think she could have jeopardized their pairs bronze if she was doing both.

I do think it would be cool to see her go for it now, but I also think she seems content with the idea of retirement so I'll be surprised. But you never know.
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She could always do Japan Open or something like that. :)
 
iirc Paige didn't exactly quit. Her partnership dissolved and Paige, a reverse jumper (again iirc), couldn't find a new partner. Okay, I think that's what happened.
 
Winnipeg said:
Why did Paige Lawrence quit?
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Paige shared her story with a group of us fans at the Lethbridge airport while waiting to head home after Skate Canada in 2015. After the 2014 season, she wanted to continue, but Rudi decided to retire to be with his mom who had been recently diagnosed with cancer. She had looked for another partner, but being a CW skater, wasn't able to find a suitable match. She heard little from Rudi after the the split, then was gobsmacked when he announced his partnership with Hayleigh Bell. She was pretty bitter about the whole thing. :(
 
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shutterbug said:
Paige shared her story with a group of us fans at the Lethbridge airport while waiting to head home after Skate Canada in 2015. After the 2014 season, she wanted to continue, but Rudi decided to retire to be with his mom who had been recently diagnosed with cancer. She had looked for another partner, but being a CW skater, wasn't able to find a suitable match. She heard little from Rudi after the the split, then was gobsmacked when he announced his partnership with Hayleigh Bell. She was pretty bitter about the whole thing. :(
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Interesting. There was clearly something acrimonious because there were a few messages on twitter that weren't pleasant (one of them said to the other something along the lines of "remember times before you used to block me on social media"), that does seem very weird the way it turned out. And unfortunate for Paige. It is odd that Rudi wouldn't have considered skating with her rather than getting a new partner if he wanted to skate again after his year off, as Paige was a much stronger skater than Hayleigh.
 
Erin said:
Interesting. There was clearly something acrimonious because there were a few messages on twitter that weren't pleasant (one of them said to the other something along the lines of "remember times before you used to block me on social media"), that does seem very weird the way it turned out. And unfortunate for Paige. It is odd that Rudi wouldn't have considered skating with her rather than getting a new partner if he wanted to skate again after his year off, as Paige was a much stronger skater than Hayleigh.
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Erin said:
Interesting. There was clearly something acrimonious because there were a few messages on twitter that weren't pleasant (one of them said to the other something along the lines of "remember times before you used to block me on social media"), that does seem very weird the way it turned out. And unfortunate for Paige. It is odd that Rudi wouldn't have considered skating with her rather than getting a new partner if he wanted to skate again after his year off, as Paige was a much stronger skater than Hayleigh.
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At the time he took the year off there were nasty twitter messages which finally were deleted by both parties. If there was bad blood between them it makes sense to find another partner. You spend too much time together in a partnership to have one with someone you have issues with.
 
Much better. I seem to remember at one time Rocky Marvel and Carla Urbanski of the US had such a bad relationship that he really appeared to throw her away on the throw jumps. I think it was maybe around '93 Worlds. I was in fear for her life. Things did calm down with them and they seemed to work well together as pros.
 
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