Canadian Pairs 2018/2019 Season News and Updates

[Catherine M]

Starting the new season thread as with the news that the Harbin JGP has been moved to Vancouver, this is big for all the young Canadian pair teams that are age eligible.

Those that were on the bubble of getting sent to a JGP this fall, might now get to go with the lower travel cost plus there can be an "unlimited" number of them. So instead of 12 spots, Canada now has "unlimited" number of JGP spots to spread around.

Great for the development of the next generation of pair teams.

Here's my attempt to list the age eligible teams:

Levesque/Hudon
Marvaldi/Villeneuve
Panetta/Mimar
Pouliot/ Simard
McIntosh/Toste
Perreault/Pierro
Boys-Eddy

Any more?

 

[RoseRed]

@Catherine M The only ones I can think of are Patricia Andrew/Paxton Knott. But I think she might still be too young. She was 12 at Nationals.

 

[DFO]

I think Patricia Andrew is the same age than Pouliot, McIntosh and Perreault. So I guess they will compete in junior this year. But I maybe wrong, 1 month of difference could change everything.

I agree with @Catherine M for the remaining of the list.

I think Brasseur/Bardei will be Seniors because of Bardei being too old for Jr International.

Unknown are:
-Audelin-Dubé/Éthier, QC, (PN1) They got the minimum age and they would have done well in Novice, completely dominating Pre-novice at the Challenge.
-Ripley/Brawley, Ont. (N6) I expected them to stay in Novice but the opening in Jr maybe too interesting to ignore.(Edit: No, they will remain in Novice)
-O’Brien-Doerksen / Venema AB (N4). Still together? Also not sure about Josh age.
-Senses / Andjorin QC (N5). Still together?
-Swanson / Eberl SK (N7) Still together? (Edit: Eberl is witn a new Partner. Not ready for Junior yet)

I would guess 1 or 2 of these 5 will try Junior this year since there will be some spots to fill at the JGP.

 

[RoseRed]

I think Patricia Andrew is the same age than Pouliot, McIntosh and Perreault. So I guess they will compete in junior this year. But I maybe wrong, 1 month of difference could change everything.

I agree with @Catherine M for the remaining of the list.

I think Brasseur/Bardei will be Seniors because of Bardei being too old for Jr International.

Unknown are:
-Audelin-Dubé/Éthier, QC, (PN1) They got the minimum age and they would have done well in Novice, completely dominating Pre-novice at the Challenge.
-Ripley/Brawley, Ont. (N6) I expected them to stay in Novice but the opening in Jr maybe too interesting to ignore.
-O’Brien-Doerksen / Venema AB (N4). Still together? Also not sure about Josh age.
-Senses / Andjorin QC (N5). Still together?
-Swanson / Eberl SK (N7) Still together?

I would guess 1 or 2 of these 5 will try Junior this year since there will be some spots to fill at the JGP.

Or they could just give those listed 2 each. There are 7 teams on that list. Last season we had 12 spots and used 10 I believe. Walsh/Michaud, Matte/Ferland, Panetta/Lapointe, Choinard/Ostiguy with two spots and the Boys-Eddys and Levesque/Hudon with one. Six teams.

But hopefully they take advantage and get as many teams as possible out there.

 

[barbarafan]

Or they could just give those listed 2 each. There are 7 teams on that list. Last season we had 12 spots and used 10 I believe. Walsh/Michaud, Matte/Ferland, Panetta/Lapointe, Choinard/Fabbri with two spots and the Boys-Eddys and Levesque/Hudon with one. Six teams.

But hopefully they take advantage and get as many teams as possible out there.

choinard and Ostiguy

 

[RoseRed]

choinard and Ostiguy

I have NO idea where Fabbri came from there.

 

[DFO]

choinard and Ostiguy

I think Ostiguy is too old for Junior international.

 

[Sk8mom123]

I think Ostiguy is too old for Junior international.

Yes I think your right. I think he just turned 21 this year but his birthday is before July 1st. To bad for them.

 

[barbarafan]

Yes I think your right. I think he just turned 21 this year but his birthday is before July 1st. To bad for them.

They are entered in Quebec summer skate as Junior so maybe they will not compete internationally this year unless they get sent to a small competition to get their Senior mins.

 

[dramagrrl]

Charlie Bilodeau just posted a pic on Instagram confirming that their new SP was choreographed by John Kerr. I like the sound of that and am excited to see what he came up with!

 

[DFO]

Steven Lapointe and Cody Wong are both on IPS in Senior and Junior, even if neither of them are still eligible for Junior international.

Also in pairs Senior, Francis Boudreau-Audet and David-Alexandre Paradis.

 

[barbarafan]

Steven Lapointe and Cody Wong are both on IPS in Junior, even if neither of them are still eligible for Junior international.

Steven Lapointe was paired up with Shalena Rau. Wonder what happened?

 

[RoseRed]

Steven Lapointe was paired up with Shalena Rau. Wonder what happened?

It says his bio was last updated February 24th, so maybe he just never took it down.

 

[Rock2]

The fact that Boudreau-Audet is still out there says a lot about the dearth of pair girls in Canada (and elsewhere). Tall, capable guy with two triples and international experience. Also helps explain why a few other talented guys in Canada had to settle for what they could get.

SC needs to hire Meagan Duhamel stat to work in the high performance group (and then replace Slipchuk asap, please) to identify and develop young talent. Pairs and dance would be a great place to start scouting.

 

[DFO]

Championnats québécois d'été.

In the Senior pairs, there is now the registration of :
Brasseur/Bardei
Ruest/Wolfe

No changes from my last post in Juniors and Novices pairs.

 

[aftershocks]

Episode 69 of the soon-to-be defunct IceTalk, featured Kirsten & Michael being interviewed by Jackie Wong -- a great listen.

http://web.icenetwork.com/fans/icetalk scroll down for episode 69

 

[DFO]

Championnats québécois d'été.

Senior pairs, 1 new, 1 old, 1 from junior. Interesting combo.
Matte/Ferland
Brasseur/Bardei
Ruest/Wolfe

Can't find my last post about Juniors and Novices pairs.

So here we go again:
Juniors
Levesque/Hudon (J3)
Marvaldi/Villeneuve (WD)
Panetta/Mimar. Panetta was J6 with Steven Lapointe. Mimar was N5 in 2016 with Marjolaine Ouimet.
Pouliot/ Simard (N2)
Choinard/Ostiguy (J5) no longer ISU eligible
Perreault/Pierro (N3)

Novices
Cormier/St-Louis. Cormier is new to pairs. St-Louis was N8 with Véronique Turbide
Fournier/Farand. PN2

 

[DFO]

Audelin-Dubé/Éthier PN1. Split.

 

[Sk8mom123]

Audeline-Dubé/Éthier PN1. Split.

That is to bad. They had lots of potential. Wonder what happened.

 

[DFO]

I think Camille (Audelin-Dubé) wanted to focus on her single. I hope Loucas (Éthier) will find a new Partner.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

I think Camille (Audelin-Dubé) wanted to focus on her single. I hope Loucas (Éthier) will find a new Partner.

Wasn’t she in a cast not so long ago?

 

[DFO]

Championnats québécois d'été. Less than 24 hours to register. No changes in Junior or Novice pairs.

Senior pairs:
Matte/Ferland
Brasseur/Bardei
Ruest/Wolfe
Moore-Towers/Marinaro
Séguin/Bilodeau

 

[DFO]

Championnats québécois d'été.2 hours before deadline. One more couple in Senior pairs.

From the US:
Wang/Howe

No changes in juniors. One new couple in Novice, but only one Partner registered yet:
.../Riccio

 

[DFO]

Minto Summer skate final entry list.
http://skateontario.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Minto-18-Confirmation-List-Final.pdf

McCaw/Adcock are the lone senior pair (up from J4 last year)

But plenty of juniors to watch. First encounter between the 3 best very promising Novices from last year and most of the remaining best Juniors.

McIntosh/ Toste (N1)
Perreault / Pierro (N3)
Boys-Eddy / Boys-Eddy (J-WD, but were J3 at the Challenge)
Panetta / Mimar (new) Panetta was J6 with Steven Lapointe. Mimar was N5 in 2016 with Marjolaine Ouimet.
Gillett / Freedman (new). Freedman was N4 in 2017.
Marvaldi / Villeneuve (J-WD)
Pouliot / Simard (N2)
Levesque / Hudon (J3)
Andrew / Fletcher (? Paxton Fletcher? Patricia Andrew was with Paxton Knott... Guess it's the same, there aren't that many Paxton in figure skating!!!) Andrew/Knott were J2 last year.
Dana / Mayr (new?) (Livio Mayr... from Austria??)

And some good Novices to Watch too:

Derenisky / Eberl (new) Eberl was N7 with Sophia O’Brien-Doerksen
Ripley / Brawley (N6... but could do much better)
Cormier / St-Louis (new) Cormier is new to pairs. St-Louis was N8 with Véronique Turbide

 

[aftershocks]

Charlie Bilodeau just posted a pic on Instagram confirming that their new SP was choreographed by John Kerr. I like the sound of that and am excited to see what he came up with!

I'm sure many pairs teams would love to work with John Kerr after the work he's done for Savchenko/Massot and James/Cipres. Isn't Kerr also working with Della Monica/Guarise?

Since Meagan D sought the opportunity to collaborate with Kerr last season, she may have been instrumental in suggesting S/B try working with Kerr. I was recently watching vids of Milan Worlds again. I happen to have enjoyed both of S/B's programs this past season, even though some felt their sp wasn't their style. It's not always the best idea to stay locked into one type of skating style.

It was sad seeing Julianne so out of shape and missing her elements at Worlds. She likely wasn't fully recovered from injuries and she may not have had enough training time. They surely did not want to miss Worlds again, as they've been forced to do a couple of times over the past few years. Julianne seemed okay in the warm-up, but she just couldn't make it through the sp. I do think the judges were rather overly harsh, as they could have given S/B more credit for their skating skills, connection and program construction (albeit the mistakes disrupted the program's flow). Still, they are clearly a much better team than a number of the teams they were placed behind, even despite so many teams skating fairly well. It was a tough field. Taking a closer look though, a few teams were overscored and some were underscored. I don't argue with the tech points S/B were given, as much as the skimping on PCS. On the tech, they did lose two points from the falls, and that adds up to disaster. Otherwise, S/B should have at least been in front of the Croatian team (who while they have an amazingly excellent throw 3-twist, they don't have good skating skills, connection, or good quality flow over the ice). It doesn't matter in the end of course, since S/B were not going to make the stingy ISU cut-off the way they skated in that deep field.

So turning the page and moving on, I really hope that Julianne is recovering from her injuries and getting into better shape. Julianne & Charlie have such a special magical quality that I hope they can tap back into and find their way forward again. They lost a lot of momentum.

Meanwhile, M-T/M have been coming on strong, slowly but surely. I posted awhile ago the episode #69 IceTalk interview with Kirsten and Michael. http://web.icenetwork.com/fans/icetalk * It's a great interview that gives a lot of insight into their personalities and the growth of their partnership. The key to their success has been the move they made to Gauthier/ Marcotte with choreo by Julie Marcotte, and to the fact that they hung in there under some dire circumstances. It seems a huge turning point was at Canadian Nationals two seasons ago when they had a lift mishap, but bounced back tough. Kirsten I believe had a foot injury at Milan Worlds. I don't know how she was able to grit out the pain and get through both programs. Canada really needed that boost. K&M have been charming their way right into my heart. Michael still has some work to do of course, but they have come together as a team very nicely, and he's been steadily improving his partnering skills. One could argue that K&M skated well enough and have quite superior programs that they arguably should have landed in 5th place overall in Milan. They actually placed 4th in the fp! But since the judges were overly magnanimous points-wise in the sp to some teams, that's one reason why K&M came in 6th overall.

I also really enjoy watching Cami & Drew, and Walsh/Michaud. Are Evelyn & Trent staying in juniors another year? I think Cami & Drew have got to go for that throw 3-twist sooner than later if they hope to be competitive. If it's only two Canadian pairs teams eligible for Worlds, it's likely to be M-T/M and S/B, if both teams remain healthy over the course of the season.

* Note that a number of Canadian skaters were interviewed over the course of IceTalk's tenure, including Seguin/Bilodeau and Gabby Daleman in Episode 12. There are also episodes with Duhamel/Radford, Brian Orser, Kaetlyn Osmond, Patrick Chan, Bruno Marcotte, Joannie Rochette, Gilles/Poirier, Luba/Dylan, Jeff Buttle, and Weaver/Poje & Kurt Browning are featured in Episode 13...

 

[fan]

Anyone know if Zach Daleman is still training pairs? He has potential

 

[Cant Skate]

From the Wildrose entry list

Novice Pair: Lauren Proskurniak / Andrew Sernecky

Junior Pair: Marin Ono / Matthew den Boer (not sure if they are representing Japan, Ontario, or Alberta)

 

[barbarafan]

Anyone know if Zach Daleman is still training pairs? He has potential

I was wondering as well. He doesn't seem to be doing singles at all. I do not see him registered.

 

[Rock2]

Anyone know if Zach Daleman is still training pairs? He has potential

Definite potential.

Athletic guy, but there are a bunch of those looking for pair partners. If he's currently in limbo I would advise him to continue (singles) training and work on his speed/SS. Get some tips from his sister!! Until that happens he's sort of on a 'Sam Morais' path - big fit guy with a bunch of triples but can't really skate = stalled career.

 

[Katta]

It was sad seeing Julianne so out of shape and missing her elements at Worlds. She likely wasn't fully recovered from injuries and she may not have had enough training time. They surely did not want to miss Worlds again, as they've been forced to do a couple of times over the past few years. Julianne seemed okay in the warm-up, but she just couldn't make it through the sp. I do think the judges were rather overly harsh, as they could have given S/B more credit for their skating skills, connection and program construction (albeit the mistakes disrupted the program's flow). Still, they are clearly a much better team than a number of the teams they were placed behind, even despite so many teams skating fairly well. It was a tough field. Taking a closer look though, a few teams were overscored and some were underscored. I don't argue with the tech points S/B were given, as much as the skimping on PCS. On the tech, they did lose two points from the falls, and that adds up to disaster. Otherwise, S/B should have at least been in front of the Croatian team (who while they have an amazingly excellent throw 3-twist, they don't have good skating skills, connection, or good quality flow over the ice). It doesn't matter in the end of course, since S/B were not going to make the stingy ISU cut-off the way they skated in that deep field.

So turning the page and moving on, I really hope that Julianne is recovering from her injuries and getting into better shape. Julianne & Charlie have such a special magical quality that I hope they can tap back into and find their way forward again. They lost a lot of momentum.

Meanwhile, M-T/M have been coming on strong, slowly but surely. I posted awhile ago the episode #69 IceTalk interview with Kirsten and Michael. http://web.icenetwork.com/fans/icetalk * It's a great interview that gives a lot of insight into their personalities and the growth of their partnership. The key to their success has been the move they made to Gauthier/ Marcotte with choreo by Julie Marcotte, and to the fact that they hung in there under some dire circumstances. It seems a huge turning point was at Canadian Nationals two seasons ago when they had a lift mishap, but bounced back tough. Kirsten I believe had a foot injury at Milan Worlds. I don't know how she was able to grit out the pain and get through both programs. Canada really needed that boost. K&M have been charming their way right into my heart. Michael still has some work to do of course, but they have come together as a team very nicely, and he's been steadily improving his partnering skills. One could argue that K&M skated well enough and have quite superior programs that they arguably should have landed in 5th place overall in Milan. They actually placed 4th in the fp! But since the judges were overly magnanimous points-wise in the sp to some teams, that's one reason why K&M came in 6th overall.
.

I really, really want to like S/B - i do! But I just can't find their "special magical quality" I find them so bland, like white sliced bread (which can be great toasted with marmalade, but generally is just blah...)

I was a hard-core "Team Dylan", but i have to admit that I'm starting to warm up to M-T/M. What she did at worlds deserves a medal! I really hope they have an international break-through this season!!