Canadian Pairs 2018/2019 Season News and Updates

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Gabriella Marvaldi / Daniel Villeneuve...... Does anyone have any info on this team? I see they have withdrawn again from their latest competitions. Saw some of their throws on Instagram which looked promising. Curious to know why they WD
 
cgh_11 said:
Gabriella Marvaldi / Daniel Villeneuve...... Does anyone have any info on this team?
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I'm told Villeneuve is dealing with an injury.

Vancouver JGP pairs entries/subs published today on the ISU site:
1 Patricia ANDREW / Paxton FLETCHER CAN 1
2 Gabrielle LEVESQUE / Pier-Alexandre HUDON CAN 1
3 Brooke MCINTOSH / Brandon TOSTE CAN 1
4 Camille PERREAULT / Bryan PIERRO CAN 1
Chloe PANETTA / Benjamin MIMAR CAN 1 S
Marine POULIOT / Alexandre SIMARD CAN 1 S

Re-posting from the JGP thread:
RoseRed said:
... Benjamin Mimar posted last night that they were being sent to the Vancouver JGP https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmbp1Apl2_O/
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Panetta/Mimar placed 2nd in the Quebec Summer Championships behind Levesque/Hudon so maybe that was how they got the Vancouver assignment? Perreault/Pierro and Pouliot/Simard were 4th and 5th, respectively.
 
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shutterbug said:
They are currently training at the Canadian Ice Academy with Andrew Evans and Paul Parkinson: https://www.websta.one/media/BmIwts8hMPn.
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They are not assigned a JGP yet and they are not on any of the substitution lists either so I was beginning to wonder. They were named to the Next Gen team though. Reading the caption on the video, it seems they are taking the time to rework things with their new coaching team. I like this team and hope they will have better sbs jumps now that they have switched coaches.
 
million$momma said:
They are not assigned a JGP yet and they are not on any of the substitution lists either so I was beginning to wonder. They were named to the Next Gen team though. Reading the caption on the video, it seems they are taking the time to rework things with their new coaching team. I like this team and hope they will have better sbs jumps now that they have switched coaches.
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Andrew and Paul look to be doing some really good work at their school. I enjoy watching their social media postings. Both are really nice young men and I'm sure their students are learning lots and having fun. A great combination!
 
Looks like we're wide open for Pairs #2 spot after watching summer comps.

I'm not banking on Seguin or Bilodeau being around until next year, so we have R/W, W/M and now B/B, who have enough senior elements to make a pitch.

Right now I'm going to put my money on W/M. My gut tells me they have the best chance of doing what they can do under nationals pressure. Summer skate was messy but it's all elements they can do (except maybe 3FTh). Also their packaging is seriously upgraded this year (thank you, sweet baby Jesus) so they look the part. Speaking of looking the part, Evelyn's pair skills are coming along and she looks more comfortable competing. I expect more progress.

Regardless, MT/M gonna have to pull an heroic feat at world's again to keep 2 spots for Montreal. I'll be watching them closely #nopressure




#OKyestherespressure
 
Rock2 said:
Regardless, MT/M gonna have to pull an heroic feat at world's again to keep 2 spots for Montreal. I'll be watching them closely #nopressure
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I wouldn't saying placing in the top ten requires heroic effort from them, barring when, as with last year, they were skating hampered by an injury. They've placed in the top ten both times they went to Worlds, and frankly, the pairs field is not looking more competitive next season than it was at 2018 Worlds.

All the usual variables apply, but they're a de facto top ten team right now.
 
Colonel Green said:
I wouldn't saying placing in the top ten requires heroic effort from them, barring when, as with last year, they were skating hampered by an injury. They've placed in the top ten both times they went to Worlds, and frankly, the pairs field is not looking more competitive next season than it was at 2018 Worlds.

All the usual variables apply, but they're a de facto top ten team right now.
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Totally agree in terms of their level. I think the heroism comes from skating under the pressure of being THE team that needs to score. They did that once and yes with an injury. Now they have the whole year to think about the reality they will face in Japan.
 
I don't know, the future of Canadian pairs looks pretty rough right now... I get that these kids may all be very happy skating together, and that's awesome, but if the goal is to win World/Olympic medals I think sometimes you need to consider pulling an Aljona (or Charlie Biledeau, I suppose :duh:) and going to get that *perfect* partner to help you achieve your goals. Ruest/Wolfe have really stagnated, but we all saw how good Wolfe can be with a stronger partner - how great would he look with Brasseur/Seguin??? Same goes for Trennt. Evelyn is a strong skater, but realistically is just too tall for them to ever achieve those wow elements. Brasseur may also be too tall for him, but Seguin would probably be a dream match.

A national pairs team of MT-M/M, Brasseur/Wolfe and Seguin/Michaud would probably be our strongest based on current abilities and potential IMO...

But of course, this is just an observation, and these kids all do look very happy in their current partnerships, so maybe that's most important thing :slinkaway
 
jlmart said:
I think perhaps the stress of the first competition in a new country with a new partner was a bit overwhelming.
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Also getting used to not being distracted by your partner and simply knowing where she will be in the jumps and the timing. It often takes a while before there is that ease.
 
jlmart said:
I don't think you should write off Brasseur/Bardei too quickly. I watched 6 competition videos of Mark and his last partner.For the most part he had lovely, secure jumps. I think perhaps the stress of the first competition in a new country with a new partner was a bit overwhelming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRAi_5C6xu0
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Does anyone know if Brasseur/Bardei's SP from last weekend is online anywhere? I saw the FS, but not the SP.
 
Have there been any developments with either Bilodeau or Seguin? Any rumours of try-outs? Surprised a male pairs partner like Bilodeau could be hanging for this long?

As for keeping 2 spots, at least there are more spots for the free skate so one mistake in the SP isn't completely fatal like it has been in the past. The field is also more wide-open now. We may get some teams stepping up, but I certainly think a top 10 finish to keep the second spot is quite realistic (and probably expected) for Kirsten and Michael.
 
starrynight said:
Have there been any developments with either Bilodeau or Seguin? Any rumours of try-outs? Surprised a male pairs partner like Bilodeau could be hanging for this long?
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From Charlie's interview on the subject it sounded like he didn't want to rush anything.
 
starrynight said:
Is it unusual for skaters to split with no one else in mind? (When it's not a personality or funding issue)
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I'd say it's rare to break up your partnership purely on artistic/competitiveness grounds to begin with, at least at this level, but for those that do they don't typically have somebody else already lined up.
 
jlmart said:
I don't think you should write off Brasseur/Bardei too quickly. I watched 6 competition videos of Mark and his last partner.For the most part he had lovely, secure jumps. I think perhaps the stress of the first competition in a new country with a new partner was a bit overwhelming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRAi_5C6xu0
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Sure Bardei looks fine (although the 3sal in this video is << :slinkaway), and yes their twist is gorgeous, I guess I was coming at this more from the guy's perspective. I think Drew Wolfe is the best male pair skater we have in Canada at the moment and I think he should be given a stronger partner to reach his full potential. Camille has nice qualities, but her late start to pairs is still quite evident in their pair elements, and now her singles elements are declining. I know they are a couple off the ice now though, so I suppose it's unlikely they will split on ice while that holds true.

I guess just if I were Mike Slipchuck, I'd be looking at the current state of our pairs, looking at our strongest pair boys (IMO Drew and Trennt), and teaming them up with the strongest partners available (IMO Brasseur and Seguin). Heck, I'd even put KMT with one of them, although she and Mike are doing fine (I just wish they'd seek outside choreography, I don't think Marcotte understands their strengths - that new SP, yikes). But this is Canada, not old school USSR, and we don't tend to encourage mixing and matching here :(
 
Ruest actually has more competitive pairs experience than Wolfe, having skated pre-novice with Marc-Antoine Laporte before returning to singles for a few years. Wolfe started in 2014-15, the same season Ruest resumed pairs; he finished sixth nationally with Natasha Purich, she finished sixth at juniors with Samuel Morais. Notwithstanding the added international experience of a Challenger and a GP with Purich, it's hard to say Wolfe has a distinct advantage over Ruest such that with a new partner he'd skyrocket up the ranks and cease to be an inconsistent competitor. He's primarily developed with her.
 
jmtfti said:
Ruest actually has more competitive pairs experience than Wolfe, having skated pre-novice with Marc-Antoine Laporte before returning to singles for a few years. Wolfe started in 2014-15, the same season Ruest resumed pairs; he finished sixth nationally with Natasha Purich, she finished sixth at juniors with Samuel Morais. Notwithstanding the added international experience of a Challenger and a GP with Purich, it's hard to say Wolfe has a distinct advantage over Ruest such that with a new partner he'd skyrocket up the ranks and cease to be an inconsistent competitor. He's primarily developed with her.
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ITA re: Ruest and Wolfe- they are coming into their own.

@blademate As far as Mike Slipchuck....he does not have the right to shuffle pairs..this is not China...even if he did have the skills to get it right.
As far as Marcotte is concerned maybe she understands KMT2 weaknesses and choreographs according to that. She gave them a beautiful free skate but it took 2 years for them to be able to perform it properly. Their short is beautiful and it will take time for it to be fully brought to how it is meant to look but it is worth waiting for.
 
starrynight said:
Have there been any developments with either Bilodeau or Seguin? Any rumours of try-outs? Surprised a male pairs partner like Bilodeau could be hanging for this long?
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No rumors on Charlie.

Julianne is having a rough go and has very little interest in being on the ice even to skate casually on her own. All indications are she's taking a step back and assessing where her heart is. Almost zero chance you see her at nationals, unless she makes a quick shift in perspective.
My guess with her is we get an announcement next spring, either of a new partnership (my money goes on Deschamps) or a retirement.
 
barbarafan said:
ITA re: Ruest and Wolfe- they are coming into their own.

@blademate
As far as Marcotte is concerned maybe she understands KMT2 weaknesses and choreographs according to that. She gave them a beautiful free skate but it took 2 years for them to be able to perform it properly.
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KMT was concussed for that first year and then out of shape when she did return to competition as her off ice training was limited.

I saw the skate at high performance camp the year it was choreographed, so it was like 1-2 months old. I was rivetted by it, even without most of the risk elements inserted. I complimented the program to Mike afterward. IMHO it looked good on them right from the get-go.

I've said this before, but I find Julie to be an outstanding choreographer. Being a stylist -- finding the right package for a skater or pair, which is more a strategy decision -- is less her strength. In fairness, she has had tough couples to choreo for, such as D/R who have such different styles.

Most choreographers have comfort zones I'm finding. You can pick out a Nichol, Marcotte, Bourne, Wilson, Pillay program fairly easily, so that's not a criticism. Few choreographers, just like few skaters, can do 'anything'. For Julie, it's French music, ballads, and contemporary renditions of pop tunes, mixed in with spritzes of jazz, classical. If her music preferences don't fit the skaters she has, then it's immediately apparent. Her style fit Mervyn with both Takahashi and Castelli. It worked IMHO for the Knierims. It's working less for MT/M and R/W along with some others. It's how it goes.

I'm also mindful of the issue that the elite athletes have much more influence on their music than the younger ones. So what we see in music choices could also be what the athletes are most comfortable with. I mustered up the courage to tell an elite skater once how I hated the SP music used in a certain year. How awful it was to listen to. The answer that came back was "yeah I get it, but I skated clean on that music almost every time." Results that season backed up the claim....so there is so much to the choices.
 
Rock2 said:
No rumors on Charlie.

Julianne is having a rough go and has very little interest in being on the ice even to skate casually on her own. All indications are she's taking a step back and assessing where her heart is. Almost zero chance you see her at nationals, unless she makes a quick shift in perspective.
My guess with her is we get an announcement next spring, either of a new partnership (my money goes on Deschamps) or a retirement.
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It's a very tough world for pairs girls. My heart goes out to her. I loved her the first time I saw her skating with Andrew Evans. Such a sparky personality on ice. Makes me sad to think she's lost that.
 
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