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The videotaping we are seeing, so clear and closeeup, is wonderful for us watching here, but you do see EVERY tiny mistake and bit of awkwardness.
2021 Skate Canada Challenge: Senior Pairs
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I liked Matte/Ferland, they have good chemistry and have really improved over the years. Unfortunate lift there but otherwise good.
Stellato/Deschamps are still lacking in chemistry (understandably), but I like their mature style and their lifts. those throw falls though oof.
Moore-Towers/Marinaro are not up to their standard, but I'm not concerned about that since they were recovering from injury at the time of filming. Their elements, when done well, are great though
Stellato/Deschamps are still lacking in chemistry (understandably), but I like their mature style and their lifts. those throw falls though oof.
Moore-Towers/Marinaro are not up to their standard, but I'm not concerned about that since they were recovering from injury at the time of filming. Their elements, when done well, are great though
I really enjoyed watching all the skates today. Well done to all the skaters! Many programs need more mileage but it was wonderful to check in with the competitors and virtually cheer everyone on in their progress this year. I had my doubts about this format but Ted did a great job in stitching it all together. The camera work was great too. More please!
I was really impressed with McIntosh/Mimar. I have no recollection of them before this, but thought they looked really promising here.
Matte and Ferland were good, but she needs to work on her line and stretch. In one of the lifts I wanted to yell at her from the boards to stretch through her toe, lol.
Stellato/Deschamps - I like their style. There were a lot of great details in this program. The throws were a problem. The falls looked painful.
Moore-Towers/Marinaro were clearly the class of the field here, even with the mistakes. I hadn't realized they had an injury. That explains what I thought were some of the strange errors, like the problems on the throws, where Kirsten is usually rock solid. It was really too bad about that lift coming down, since it looked really interesting and beautiful up to that point. Kirsten is someone who has really worked on her stretch and line over the years and it shows. Beautiful program, though I think I still like last year's free better (one of my favourite pairs choreographies of all time). One of the things that really set them apart immediately was their speed over the ice. The rest of the teams really need to work on that. And aside from the problem lift, I didn't find Michael scary in any of the lifts anymore.
I also really like Brasseur/Daleman. They just need miles together.
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Like fishing, I enjoyed watching them all as well. Great to finally see these skaters (as well as yesterday of course) this season. Ted did his usual good job. Kirsten and Michael have a lovely programme. Oh, it needs working, but you can just see the potential and I'm sure they will improve further along. Still a runaway victory for them (app. 30 points difference with the numbers 2 and 3). Deanna and Maxime are still my favourites, but two falls cost them the silver. I loved Deanna's costume. And respect for her getting up so quickly after those falls. I enjoyed watching Lori-Ann and Thierry as well and it was close with the other two, but this time they were slightly better (yesterday is was the other way round). Brooke and Benjamin look very promising indeed. A pity Justine and Zachary are still into the doubles, because I really liked them on the whole. Great evening of pairs skating!
yes, Evelyn sprained her ankle (fluke) around the time of filming so they opted to take the bye and let her heal better
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Press Release:
Ottawa, ON: It was a long wait between performances, but Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro picked up right where they left off Friday during the opening day of the 2021 Skate Canada virtual competition.
Competing at a national event for the first time in almost a year, the two-time Canadian pair champions set the early pace at the competition showcasing the top junior and senior skaters from across Canada.
Ontario’s Moore-Towers and Marinaro performed their short program to Gimme All Your Love by Alabama Shakes, scored 71.04 and lead Deanna Stellato and Maxime Deschamps of Quebec by nearly 10 points (61.19).
Quebec’s Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland, the fifth-place finishers at last year’s national championships, are in third spot at 59.03.
Skate Canada Challenge is being held virtually and marks the first national figure skating event held in Canada since last January’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Mississauga, Ont. The event is being staged over two weekends, with the senior pair, junior pair, junior men’s and junior women’s competition being held this weekend. The junior ice dance, senior ice dance, senior men’s and senior women’s events are scheduled for next weekend.
Prior to the start of the competition, skaters declared their performances from either their respective sectional championships or a section-organized challenge skate. Videos of these performances were submitted to Skate Canada to be judged in real time during the event.
Skate Canada Challenge serves as a qualifying competition for next month’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, scheduled to be held in Vancouver, B.C.
Audrey Carle and Gabriel Farand of Ontario lead the junior pair event with a 50.54 total, followed by Quebec’s Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier at 49.24. Meghan Fredette and William St-Louis of Quebec hold down third spot at 45.49.
The junior women’s short program wrapped up the opening day of competition, with Ontario’s Fiona Bombardier in top spot after scoring 53.03. Leah Lee of the BC/YK section (51.01) and Ontario’s Michelle Lee (50.48) round out the top three.
Competition resumes Saturday at 12:00 noon ET with the Junior Pair free program, followed by the Senior Pair free program and Junior Men short program
Ottawa, ON: It was a long wait between performances, but Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro picked up right where they left off Friday during the opening day of the 2021 Skate Canada virtual competition.
Competing at a national event for the first time in almost a year, the two-time Canadian pair champions set the early pace at the competition showcasing the top junior and senior skaters from across Canada.
Ontario’s Moore-Towers and Marinaro performed their short program to Gimme All Your Love by Alabama Shakes, scored 71.04 and lead Deanna Stellato and Maxime Deschamps of Quebec by nearly 10 points (61.19).
Quebec’s Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland, the fifth-place finishers at last year’s national championships, are in third spot at 59.03.
Skate Canada Challenge is being held virtually and marks the first national figure skating event held in Canada since last January’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Mississauga, Ont. The event is being staged over two weekends, with the senior pair, junior pair, junior men’s and junior women’s competition being held this weekend. The junior ice dance, senior ice dance, senior men’s and senior women’s events are scheduled for next weekend.
Prior to the start of the competition, skaters declared their performances from either their respective sectional championships or a section-organized challenge skate. Videos of these performances were submitted to Skate Canada to be judged in real time during the event.
Skate Canada Challenge serves as a qualifying competition for next month’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, scheduled to be held in Vancouver, B.C.
Audrey Carle and Gabriel Farand of Ontario lead the junior pair event with a 50.54 total, followed by Quebec’s Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier at 49.24. Meghan Fredette and William St-Louis of Quebec hold down third spot at 45.49.
The junior women’s short program wrapped up the opening day of competition, with Ontario’s Fiona Bombardier in top spot after scoring 53.03. Leah Lee of the BC/YK section (51.01) and Ontario’s Michelle Lee (50.48) round out the top three.
Competition resumes Saturday at 12:00 noon ET with the Junior Pair free program, followed by the Senior Pair free program and Junior Men short program
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Well, of course I'll always love my gal Deanna's style, but I was peeking through my eyes at those falls
. She had some hard ones with Nate too, but she always gets up, she's a trouper.
And I think she and Maxime have a lovely "flow", but maybe I'm prejudiced.
But of course Kristen and Michael deservedly ahead
. She had some hard ones with Nate too, but she always gets up, she's a trouper.And I think she and Maxime have a lovely "flow", but maybe I'm prejudiced.
But of course Kristen and Michael deservedly ahead
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It's a new partnership. Brooke was with a different partner last season (Brandon Toste), they were successful on the JGP and showed great promise, he retired to go to school I believe.
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Mimar has one more junior season.
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Thanks for your responses @Koatterce. I disagree with you regarding comparing what Deanna 'got when she was skating with Nate Bartholomay.' That was a completely different partnership representing a different country. Deanna's partnership with Nate was interesting, entertaining and worthwhile. She learned a lot, and then they both moved on (partly due to Nate having to take time off to rehab an injury). I feel they each moved on to even better match-ups! And unexpectedly so too! Nate looks very good with his current partner, Katie McBeath -- their dynamic and their rapport together is quite different, as should be expected.
As well, there's something very physically satisfying in the partnership between Deanna & Maxime. They have similar elegant presentation and movement qualities. Their on-ice dynamic and connection appears quite different than with any of their respective previous partners. There's no reason to reach back and consider scores Deanna got in a previous partnership. What counts is what we are seeing in Deanna's current pairing with Maxime! Let's hope the judges are judging based on what they're seeing now, instead of what Maxime and Deanna looked like and achieved with their former partners.
In turn, I disagree that there's no chemistry between Maxime & Deanna. I detect a mutual respect and a palpable joy. Of course they are a new partnership, which means they are still adjusting to each other's rhythms, etc. But there is still a noticeable connection there between them that speaks of them being comfortable together and having trust in each other. I definitely see that in the way they skate together. Sure it takes time to further build for any new partnership, but they are looking better together right off-the-bat than Kirsten and Michael did when they first partnered.
As we all know, K&M experienced a lot of challenges when they paired up after Kirsten's unpopular split with Dylan. Luckily for K&M, they stuck together and made the very necessary change in coaches which helped them tremendously. Kirsten has Meagan Duhamel to thank for agreeing to K&M's move to D/R's coaches. Meagan and Kirsten had been direct rivals when Kirsten was paired with Dylan. K&M have great courage and persistence, so of course it's their hard work and determination that plays the major role in their success. But we can't count out their exceeding luck in being able to go to Worlds twice due to being alternates for Julianne Seguin & Charlie Bilodeau (due to Julianne's concussion and loss of training time, etc.)
At their peak, Julianne & Charlie were a magical team together! Had things gone in the right direction for them, they could be the ones in the position that Kirsten & Michael now hold.
ETA:
Per spoilers, I can see that Deanna & Maxime must have ended up with problems getting through their fp, which is unfortunate. I haven't had a chance to view the free programs yet. I suppose it's similar to what happened for D&M in the 2019 Challenge event when they scored 63+ in the sp and were in first place. Perhaps both times they felt more pressure to prove themselves going into the fp portion*, which took them out of a comfort zone as a new partnership. So yep, the judges will not score them generously for their elegant and captivating presentation skills until they develop a more consistent track record together.
* Of course, they would not have known for the Virtual competition where they stood after the sp, but they did know that they'd skated clean. So the same dynamic existed in perhaps feeling more pressure to repeat a clean performance in the longer and maybe more difficult fp.
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Normally I'd look for what they get internationally but for obvious reasons those don't exist. I looked through a lot of international protocols and that's basically what the mid-tier teams get (around Walsh/Michaud, top Russian juniors last season). In normal years, that's absolutely a good spot to be as a newer team and one that can move up quickly. Here, I would've had them close to Matte/Ferland, which is what happened.
I never said they had no chemistry, because I absolutely agree that they are well matched stylistically and look good together, and have many great moments, but it's still clear to me that they are a newer partnership. They don't always have that sense of where the other person is without needing to look, which takes time to develop. They do seem to be aware of this, as their choreography is done in a way that allows them to look when necessary so it doesn't look awkward as it sometimes does in other teams. In general I think their choreography, while not as complex as teams like MTM, does well to show what they can do. Their PCS was similar today in the free (average 7, and no weird division between judges even though they were the same judges) despite mistakes, which bodes well for them moving forward. I don't think I would have been opposed to slightly higher scores but this was totally fine and reasonable compared to other teams.
I agree that K&M started off not too great and their scores at the time absolutely reflected that (they were getting like mid-6s in PCS). Since then they have improved so much. And yes of course there is an element of luck, as there always is, and they worked hard to be in a position where they can take advantage of that.
We've only seen D&M a handful of times so it's hard to say, but so far they seem to tend to make mistakes in the free, including here. I think more competition experience would be really helpful for them, but unfortunately that's not possible.
What were the two years of twice?
I see S/B withdrew from worlds in 2016 due to an injury, lack of training time, etc (in fact that injury was an ankle injury, NOT a concussion, but I'll count it as "once" anyway).
In 2017, the year of Seguin's first concussion, S/B missed Canadian Nationals, but recovered enough to go to Worlds instead of M-T/M. So just the opposite of what you described (if indeed you were thinking of that year as the second year in "twice").
Both teams medaled at Nationals and went to Worlds in 2018; M-T/M came 7th and S/B 22nd at Worlds.
In 2018 it was I/M who were left off the (Olympic) team because of a major (and career-ending) injury and 4th place finish at Nationals. They may have been offered Worlds when D/R didn't go and turned it down. bIn any event, Ruest/Wolfe, the 6th place finishers at Nationals, were the 3rd Canadian team at 2018 Worlds.
By the way, I was at Nationals in 2018, and there was much puzzlement in the audience when S/B placed ahead of M-T/M. I remember someone looking up the protocols on her smart phone while we were waiting in the inevitable ladies' room line to try to explain it.
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I disagree that S/D are 'lacking in chemistry.' Most of the teams we saw aren't exactly exhibiting a ton of chemistry in any case, let's be honest. Part of that is because as Ted Barton said, so much difficulty is required in pairs, which limits the chance to work on showing a connection with each other (that's even more the case ever since programs were idiotically shortened by the ISU).
Now that I've viewed the free programs, I must say that I really like this fp for Deanna & Maxime. It's a different take that works well. Plus, they upped the ante in incorporating more complexity into their elements in order to be as competitive as possible. Of course, this is a crazy season and they (as well as all of the competitors) need more training time and the opportunity to develop mileage through getting more competitions under their belts. None of that is possible obviously, because of the situation we are all in. All the skaters in figure skating have faced these unexpected challenges, so kudos to them all for persevering and accomplishing as much as they have based on the variety of limited circumstances and restrictions.
Eh, re the falls. Deanna landed a fabulous throw triple in the sp in the same spot where she fell on the first throw triple in the free program. So something was slightly off when Maxime threw her in the free program. She was leaning in the air, and that makes it hard to land, especially if you get disoriented during the revolutions, which it seems she did. Deanna may have had nerves on the second throw which caused that miss, or else she was over-rotated and couldn't hold the landing. Fortunately for D/S, they landed both jumping passes, which is huge, even despite not getting great GOE. I think they could have been given a bit higher GOE on more of their elements.
Overall, I agree with the placements. I expected D/S to drop at least one or two places. They only dropped one place because they skated so well in the sp, while other teams had made errors in their sps.
Yep, you did say that. See your bolded comments in the first quoted passage above. 'They have no chemistry,' and 'They are lacking in chemistry,' mean the same thing even if that's not what you intended to express.
D/S having to look for each other as new partners is a good point that maybe some judges take into account with their scoring. But obviously, that necessity of checking for each other is normal and simply part of learning and adjusting to your partner's habits and rhythms. It doesn't look awkward because these two competitors are experienced and determined. Deanna has an intense competitiveness. I recall that she also said how much strength Maxime has when he throws her, and that she's had to adjust to that and she's asked him to modulate his power.
It's certainly not a mystery to anyone that D/S are a new partnership. The bigger factor is that despite only being together for a short time, they've made significant progress. As I said, they've come farther in a shorter period than many other teams in a comparable period, including Kirsten & Mike. Maxime definitely looks better with Deanna than he did with his previous two partners. Deanna & Maxime have a similar physicality and an elegance to their skating that resonates with me. D/S's choreo was basic last season. They've stepped it up with more difficulty in both programs, and they have a very interesting fp that strikes a mood and a vibe I'm interested in seeing develop further.
As I said earlier, magic and chemistry can't be taught. D/S will continue to build on an expressive component as they become more comfortable skating together. Some teams just have that extra special pizzazz without even trying. For e.g., junior pair team Audrey Carle & Gabriel Farand, look fabulous together and they have a palpable something. Physically they match together gorgeously on the ice. They are a young team with huge potential. Their connection just is, without even a lot of trying from them that I can see. Their choreo helps bring out the vibe that exists, but they both still have to mature as people and as athletes.
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