Canadian Pairs 2018/2019 Season News and Updates

[Colonel Green]

Is this a new coaching team for both of them? I am not familiar enough with pair coaches in Canada.

Yes. Charlie previously trained with Josee Picard (who I'm pretty sure would rather feed him ground-up glass in a bowl of chili at this point), while Liubov was at the TCC with Bryce Davison et al.

 

[fsfann]

I hope she can learn to land some jumps. That should be their #1 priority.

 

[Wyliefan]

Yes. Charlie previously trained with Josee Picard (who I'm pretty sure would rather feed him ground-up glass in a bowl of chili at this point)

. . . So you're saying they didn't get along?

 

[Colonel Green]

. . . So you're saying they didn't get along?

Julianne is very near and dear to her heart, by all accounts.

 

[barbarafan]

Is this a new coaching team for both of them? I am not familiar enough with pair coaches in Canada.

yes

 

[jkl]

Will Charlie and Lubov be eligible for the Grand Prix as a returning team?

 

[chantilly]

Will Charlie and Lubov be eligible for the Grand Prix as a returning team?

Not sure about the rules. But it happened with a dance team last quad and MTM2

 

[kwanfan1818]

Will Charlie and Lubov be eligible for the Grand Prix as a returning team?

They don't qualify as a return couple, because they've never skated together, took time off, and plan to return.

Whether they qualify under to Split Couple rules isn't clear, because skaters/teams who placed 1-6 with their previous partners haven't been listed in the GP Announcement for years, only those who placed 7-12. If Split Couples work like return skaters, then it's a placement of 1-6 at Worlds in the last 10 years, and they'd qualify through Ilyshechkina from I/M's 6th from 2016-17. If it's the same as 7-12, then neither qualify, because his 11th with Seguin came the same year, and the only two seasons considered will be 2017-18, where S/B were 22nd at Worlds, and 2018-19.

 

[Colonel Green]

They would regardless be eligible for an SCI host spot, though. Which, it's not like they're immediately going to start winning everything, so having only one Grand Prix in the fall wouldn't be a huge missed opportunity if it came to pass.

 

[aftershocks]

I hope Meagan is a part of this team. (I suspect a union of Meagan and Lubov could rule the world.)

Good luck to Charlie and Lubov, as I said in the other thread finally announcing their pairing.

Your observation may have some bearing, if Meagan can help Lubov figure out consistently landing those sbs jumps. That's Lubov's major weakness. And then Charlie & Lubov will need to define their style and really find the right music and choreo to set themselves apart. Always easier said than done. But as fs fans, we can hope. How it all works out remains to be seen.

Hope they go that way

Is Julie Marcotte the choreographer of record for most of G/M's pairs teams. I agree I/B should be allowed to explore with more than one choreographer.

That is one of the reasons I preferred training just with Bruno. Not sure if she helps Gauthier's rink at all.

What do you mean? G/M train skaters at separate rinks, and Meagan is helping out at Gauthier's rink and not at her husband, Bruno's rink?

 

[Sk8mom123]

Good luck to Charlie and Lubov, as I said in the other thread finally announcing their pairing.

Your observation may have some bearing, if Meagan can help Lubov figure out consistently landing those sbs jumps. That's Lubov's major weakness. And then Charlie & Lubov will need to define their style and really find the right music and choreo to set themselves apart. Always easier said than done. But as fs fans, we can hope. How it all works out remains to be seen.



Is Julie Marcotte the choreographer of record for most of G/M's pairs teams. I agree I/B should be allowed to explore with more than one choreographer.



What do you mean? G/M train skaters at separate rinks, and Meagan is helping out at Gauthier's rink and not at her husband, Bruno's rink?

Gauthier and Marcotte train skaters together at St Leonard. Marcotte also has some pair teams in Sainte Julie that he trains. Megan helps at Sainte Julie I believe sometimes.

 

[Rafter]

Worst kept secret.

I’m not sure about this partnership but really there was no one else for him to skate to. He’ll get a balletic looking partner (complete opposite of Séguin) but she can’t land the SBS jumps.

No doubt she wants to try to get to an Olympics so it’s not surprising she’s come back.

 

[barbarafan]

Good luck to Charlie and Lubov, as I said in the other thread finally announcing their pairing.

Your observation may have some bearing, if Meagan can help Lubov figure out consistently landing those sbs jumps. That's Lubov's major weakness. And then Charlie & Lubov will need to define their style and really find the right music and choreo to set themselves apart. Always easier said than done. But as fs fans, we can hope. How it all works out remains to be seen.



Is Julie Marcotte the choreographer of record for most of G/M's pairs teams. I agree I/B should be allowed to explore with more than one choreographer.



What do you mean? G/M train skaters at separate rinks, and Meagan is helping out at Gauthier's rink and not at her husband, Bruno's rink?

The teams that have Gauthier/Marcotte as coaches train at Gauthier's rink. Marcotte also trains teams plus singles on his own at Ste. Julie. So seeing as I/B have both coaches they won't be at Ste.Julie but at Gauthier's rink. Meagan is at Ste. Julie or was. I have just not heard if she now does anything at Gauthier's rink. Maybe someone in the know could weigh in here.

 

[Colonel Green]

I’m sure if they want Meagan involved she’ll get involved, whatever rink they train at.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Which teams does Marcotte train alone?!

 

[Jislav]

Which teams does Marcotte train alone?!

At the Novice level, he trains Jamie Fournier and Gabriel Farand, 2nd at Nationals and 1st at Canada Games this year.
I don't think he coaches any junior or senior team alone.

 

[sk8girl]

No, they're going to Pierrefonds, and will be coaching singles and pairs there starting in April.

Source: An article in my local newspaper from a few days ago (Annabelle is originally from my hometown)

Interesting that Annabelle and Cody would choose the Montreal area, with Gauthier/Marcotte so well established and successful there for pairs. That's got to be hard to compete with. (Kind of like if Wing and Lowe suddenly moved to Montreal to start their own dance school to compete with Gadbois.)

 

[barbarafan]

Interesting that Annabelle and Cody would choose the Montreal area, with Gauthier/Marcotte so well established and successful there for pairs. That's got to be hard to compete with. (Kind of like if Wing and Lowe suddenly moved to Montreal to start their own dance school to compete with Gadbois.)

It makes a bit of sense. There are 4 rinks there. (Although tons of hockey there). There are hundreds of pre-novice singles female skaters. numbers drop drastically after and males even before. Maybe they want to steer some young singles into pairs before they quit.

 

[clairecloutier]

I think Langlois/Hay also coach singles.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

At the Novice level, he trains Jamie Fournier and Gabriel Farand, 2nd at Nationals and 1st at Canada Games this year.
I don't think he coaches any junior or senior team alone.

That is what I thought. Accordng to some posters, Marcotte has a huge pair program in Ste. Julie. I thought Ste. Julie was more the place where he taught most of his singles skaters.

 

[Rock2]

I hope she can learn to land some jumps. That should be their #1 priority.

I would have that fairly far down the list. Not at all to say they won't work on it. They should and they will.

You are bringing two immense talents together. Your top priority should be to develop your pairs skills, starting from stroking and tracking right through to lifts and twists. You want them to be seen sooner than later as a real team. As far as elements go, the twist is the most important element in pairs IMHO. More than any other element, the quality of your twist can slot you internationally. You want to make solid progress on that early.

Second is to find your 'secret sauce' - something that's going to get the judges' attention and, will in turn, cascade a positive halo onto the other marks. For them, it might be lifts or unique and appealing packaging. Some early exploration there would be in order.

If I'm a betting man, I will say Richard downplays the importance of the sbs jumps. They are important but no more than a death spiral or pairs spin. You want to put your skaters' mindset in a more positive frame of showcasing their strengths to build marks rather than obsessing over weaknesses. You do that by making it to them just one of many elements.
Particularly in the last year with Dylan, her jumps became the focus to the point of almost dysfunctional training habits. The result - she got worse and worse. He, in turn, became noticeably more distracted and started to miss as well. Reverse psychology is likely their more promising path.

 

[Colonel Green]

They might start out just doing planned doubles for one of the two free skate passes, while they focus on gelling and maybe trying to improve the technique on jumps. Heck, Peng/Jin won silver at the GPF with side-by-side double Salchows.

 

[Rafter]

I would have that fairly far down the list. Not at all to say they won't work on it. They should and they will.

You are bringing two immense talents together. Your top priority should be to develop your pairs skills, starting from stroking and tracking right through to lifts and twists. You want them to be seen sooner than later as a real team. As far as elements go, the twist is the most important element in pairs IMHO. More than any other element, the quality of your twist can slot you internationally. You want to make solid progress on that early.

Second is to find your 'secret sauce' - something that's going to get the judges' attention and, will in turn, cascade a positive halo onto the other marks. For them, it might be lifts or unique and appealing packaging. Some early exploration there would be in order.

If I'm a betting man, I will say Richard downplays the importance of the sbs jumps. They are important but no more than a death spiral or pairs spin. You want to put your skaters' mindset in a more positive frame of showcasing their strengths to build marks rather than obsessing over weaknesses. You do that by making it to them just one of many elements.
Particularly in the last year with Dylan, her jumps became the focus to the point of almost dysfunctional training habits. The result - she got worse and worse. He, in turn, became noticeably more distracted and started to miss as well. Reverse psychology is likely their more promising path.

The problem is not landing your SBS jumps impacts your PCS. If you land the SBS jumps you get higher PCS.

A big example of this is the Knierim’s. Massive 3twist but no consistent SBS jumps means their PCS never goes up.

 

[Rafter]

Any news on Mark Bardei? There’s got to be some Montrealer on this board with some insider info!

 

[hoptoad]

The problem is not landing your SBS jumps impacts your PCS. If you land the SBS jumps you get higher PCS.

A big example of this is the Knierim’s. Massive 3twist but no consistent SBS jumps means their PCS never goes up.

But OTOH, their huge twist is what made them get noticed. I doubt consistent jumps but second-rate pair elements would serve them any better.

 

[fsfann]

I would have that fairly far down the list. Not at all to say they won't work on it. They should and they will.

You are bringing two immense talents together. Your top priority should be to develop your pairs skills, starting from stroking and tracking right through to lifts and twists. You want them to be seen sooner than later as a real team. As far as elements go, the twist is the most important element in pairs IMHO. More than any other element, the quality of your twist can slot you internationally. You want to make solid progress on that early.

Second is to find your 'secret sauce' - something that's going to get the judges' attention and, will in turn, cascade a positive halo onto the other marks. For them, it might be lifts or unique and appealing packaging. Some early exploration there would be in order.

If I'm a betting man, I will say Richard downplays the importance of the sbs jumps. They are important but no more than a death spiral or pairs spin. You want to put your skaters' mindset in a more positive frame of showcasing their strengths to build marks rather than obsessing over weaknesses. You do that by making it to them just one of many elements.
Particularly in the last year with Dylan, her jumps became the focus to the point of almost dysfunctional training habits. The result - she got worse and worse. He, in turn, became noticeably more distracted and started to miss as well. Reverse psychology is likely their more promising path.

All good points, especially from the "bigger picture" development of the team. And I totally agree with you. However, I think the point that they will *never* be contenders on the world stage if she can't land her jumps is still a valid point. It is one thing to miss a jump every now and then, but I would be hard pressed to count more than 10 times that she landed clean jumps in her career with Dylan. Yes - they certainly need to develop their 'pairs' skills, and I hope that comes together well for them... At the end of the day though, without her jumps, they won't challenge to be in the top 10.

 

[Colonel Green]

At the end of the day though, without her jumps, they won't challenge to be in the top 10.

Dylan and Liubov placed in the top 10 two of the three times they went to Worlds.

 

[fsfann]

Dylan and Liubov placed in the top 10 two of the three times they went to Worlds.

True enough. I suppose when lots of teams falter with their elements top 10 is achievable..

I'm hopeful they'll be competitive, but I wish he would have paired up with someone who has proven that they can land jumps. I'm sure their elements will be lovely. She is a beautiful skater.

 

[puglover]

I hope their goals are higher than top 10 if other teams falter. They both have been successful with other partners. I want to believe that they have real potential together and can be competitive.

 

[Scrufflet]

I want videos! I'm trying to imagine what they will look like and failing.