Delmaestro and Lum prep for seniors

[gsk8]

As the Canadian Jr champs moves into the next season as seniors, along with Madeline Edwards/Zhao Kai Pang (training partners) and Mackenzie Bent/Garrett Mackeen, it is not lost on them that they will be entering a new stratosphere of ice dance. [More]

Canada has been be allotted three slots in ice dance at the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships, and assuming that 2010 Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir do not make a return, the third one is now up for grabs.

 

[Mathman]

A promising team. :yes:

 

[NorthernDancers]

Really looking forward to seeing what this team will bring next year at Seniors. They did make tremendous progress year over year, and I think they finished the season stronger and better skaters and dancers than both B/M and E/P. They had the goods to win a medal at Junior Worlds, and it was a real shame there were not enough spots to go. I think 3rd at Senior next season is not such a realistic goal. The 3rd spot, even with V/M not competing is more than likely going to go to either P/I or G/P. W/P are the clear #1 in Canada now, but spots 2 and 3 are anyone's guess from year to year. Olympic year it was P/I over G/P, this year it was the other way around. If P/I come out of the gate strong and ready at the beginning of the season, they could be back in the top 10 in the world (they should have been this year, in my opinion). Either way, 2nd and 3rd are pretty much done. So the battle is really for the national team (top 5). And that is definitely a realistic goal, although it will be quite the battle.

 

[cjmorton29]

Wait, what does "the third one is up for grabs" mean?

 

[4everchan]

yeah… i wouldn't think P/I are out of the game for 3rd????

Wait, what does "the third one is up for grabs" mean?

 

[chuckm]

I don't see any of the junior teams edging Paul/Islam out.......

From the SEASONS BEST list:

16 152.59 Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM World FS Championships 2015
24 144.51 Mackenzie BENT / Garrett MACKEEN ISU JGP Tallinn Cup 2014
34 135.12 Madeline EDWARDS / Zhao Kai PANG World Junior FS Championships 2015
42 131.30 Brianna DELMAESTRO / Timothy LUM ISU JGP Ljubljana Cup 2014

Note that Bent/MacKeen hit their SB in the JGP; their later JGPF (128.61) and JW (140.30) scores were lower.

 

[Jammers]

It seems to me though that P/I are treading water again.

 

[chuckm]

Delmaestro/Lum had only two JGP seasons and never made it to JW. Their problem now is gaining senior experience. It's going to be tough for them to get a GP slot this year, since they have low WR and SB ratings. With several senior teams ahead of them, even getting a host pick seems out of reach. Their only possibility is a B assignment, and Skate Canada isn't generous with those. So it seems just a tad premature to suggest they are in line for a trip to senior worlds....

 

[4everchan]

Thanks... that's what I thought too... there's quite a difference with P/I and the next teams... and, of course, I don't think they did very well at the WC... they could have scored higher... What about the Paradis-Ouellette team? Where do they stand?

I don't see any of the junior teams edging Paul/Islam out.......

From the SEASONS BEST list:

16 152.59 Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM World FS Championships 2015
24 144.51 Mackenzie BENT / Garrett MACKEEN ISU JGP Tallinn Cup 2014
34 135.12 Madeline EDWARDS / Zhao Kai PANG World Junior FS Championships 2015
42 131.30 Brianna DELMAESTRO / Timothy LUM ISU JGP Ljubljana Cup 2014

Note that Bent/MacKeen hit their SB in the JGP; their later JGPF (128.61) and JW (140.30) scores were lower.

 

[NorthernDancers]

From what I can see, there is just a whole lot of depth and talent in Canada, and it's going to be a full on fight to get to the National team. I really hope Skate Canada does not play favourites, and is really careful to judge the rules and pick the best team. They should look at the Summer competitions results, send the strongest teams to a couple of Senior B's, and then decide the host pick for the GP.

1st - belongs to W/P

2nd/3rd - belongs to G/P and P/I in some order

4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th - anyone of P/O, P/S, D/L, B/M, E/P

also in the mix S/T, and another team coming up from Junior: Collins/Firus

 

[nadster]

From what I can see, there is just a whole lot of depth and talent in Canada, and it's going to be a full on fight to get to the National team. I really hope Skate Canada does not play favourites, and is really careful to judge the rules and pick the best team. They should look at the Summer competitions results, send the strongest teams to a couple of Senior B's, and then decide the host pick for the GP.

Just checked some scheduling issues and I noticed that Minto Summer Skate and Lake Placid Ice Dance competitions are on the same weekend.

July 30 - Aug 2 for Minto ; July 29 - Aug 1 for Lake Placid ice dance competition

That is too bad as Minto is usually the most important summer competition for Canadian ice dancers ( pretty much has 100 % of the junior dancers compete there each season). It would have been nice for these teams to be able to do both competitions. That would have given them 2 competitions against high quality fields.

As for other competitions where these teams may show up

August 6 - 9 Quebec Summer Skate ( not normally as strong as Minto or even Thornhill but this might change this year IMO )

August 13-16 Thornhill and BC summerskate are on same time ( which unfortunately dilutes both competitions )

I left out the other summer competitions in Canada as ice dancers generally don't show up there

I just hope all the teams in the mix for senior B's can somehow compete against each other or at least against a strong field. It is difficult to compare scores from different competitions and it is very dangerous to put at the top a high score from an otherwise weak field as it is much easier to compete when the competition is weak.