Entries

reaal1 said:

can we say Tanith Belbin? She is from Canada............

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Tanith started skating with Ben when she was about 13 years old. Since she NEVER skated for Canada, Skate Canada had no say as to what she could or couldn't do (thank goodness). Skate Canada had NO investment in her training, as Tanith had moved to the US to train.

Kaitlin Weaver, OTOH, with Charles Clavey, won silver at US Nationals as Novices in 2005 and pewter as Juniors in 2006, and they competed in two 2005 JGP events, finishing 5th in both. USFS could easily have refused to release Kaitlin in 2007 to skate with Andrew Poje, but they didn't.

Canada is like a dog in the manger with some of their skaters. They may not want to send certain skaters out to international competition, but they won't release them to skate elsewhere.

Joffrey Bourdon from montenegro is off from the entrylist!

Does anyone know why?

Maybe France refused to release him?

I don't think all the blame should be put on Skate Canada. He competed at Canadian Nationals only two months ago.

Also, I don't think if the consensus is that Skate Canada doesn't release skaters, then that simply isn't true. Erica Risseuw (Canadian) teamed up with Robert Paxton (British) in July 2008 and are now competing for Great Britain in pairs. According to tracings.net, they even competed in Central Ontario Sections! Also, there is Terra Findlay (Canadian) is skating with Benoit Richaud (French) in dance. Apparently they teamed up in 2007 and started competing this year together.

I was quite surprised to read that Fedor was on the entry list for Aze , but now that he was not given the permission its a bit disappointing. I don't blame a skater for trying if they love the sport so much and cannot seem to get a place at a high level international from their own country. I think they should have let him. Though iam not sure if there was suppost to be a waiting time. Hope he continues next season at least.

Maybe France refused to release him?

Ptichka said:

Just to play the devil's advocate here - you've got to see SC's side of this as well. They invest resources to develop a skater - only to have the skater turn around and compete for another country. I think they just don't want to continue setting the precedent of it being OK to just use SC's resources and then cut and run.

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It seems doubtful that $ is the issue. Andreev has only made National Team three times in his career, and then he was away from the sport for 3 years. Since his return, he has only competed at two Canadian Championships where he finished 8th and 9th. SC hasn't invested a penny in him in ages, so you can't really say that he "stole" any of their resources recently.

museksk8r said:

Another factor to consider is that it sounds like maybe Skate Canada doesn't want to let go of their cash cow. Andreev is very popular with the straight female/gay male demographic, also known as the majority of figure skating viewers. Skate Canada losing him would be like the equivalent of Stars On Ice losing John Zimmerman. They sell tickets and get butts in the stands and in front of the television.

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This thought did occur to me, but I've noticed that the Canadian media rarely uses Fedor's natural charisma to try to attract a larger audience. CTV chacked his 2001 and 2005 Canadians LP (I'll never forgive the network for doing that! ), he's almost never interviewed, no fluff pieces which focuses solely on him were ever produced, and there was absolutely no mention of him during the CBC television broadcast of the 2009 Canadians. His fans always find it difficult to know what's going on with his career because so little is ever reported.

I understand that focusing on the more successful athletes is usually the best strategy, but somehow those TV execs fail to realize that Andreev has a devoted cult following despite his mediocre results. If they had bothered to "sell" him better, there would be more eyes glued to the screen. The guy added glamour to Canadian men's figure skating.

SC is probably aware that Fedor sells some tickets. (I know a few poor souls who bought seats for the men's event in L.A. when his name appeared on the Entries List, but now they've completely lost interest because he won't be there.) However, the only major event he has appeared in the last two seasons is the Canadian Championships, and I have to wonder if the $ he brings (which can't be that much---those skating rinks haven't been packed since Stojko retired) truly justifies keeping him chained to the dog house. :scowl:

museksk8r said:

This could backfire on Skate Canada though if Fedor decides to stop competing altogether now, which was my immediate thought upon reading this rumor. I certainly hope that doesn't happen, but it's possible.

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I'm terrified of this, too. He knows he's not in SC's good books, and he was undermarked on PCS at this year's Nationals. Now that he has tried to defect to another country, I think they'll be VERY cruel to him when the 2010 Canadians come around.

museksk8r said:

IF there's any truth to this rumor, I can't think of too many people who would want to willfully play the role of a weak puppet . . . I know I wouldn't.

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The person who told us that SC refused to release Andreev has been a member of FSU for 7 years and posts frequently, so s/he seems to be a serious fs fan (and not a troll who's trying to cause mischief). That in itself doesn't make it true (it's possible s/he heard the wrong thing), but we don't have much to go on at this point. Adding Fedor to the Entries List, completely reworking his bio, and announcing his name during the practice session might suggest that the ISU was willing to let him compete for Azerbaijan.

skatingbc said:

He competed at Canadian Nationals only two months ago.

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As others have already pointed out on this thread, national events don't count. Andreev hasn't represented Canada at an international competition since 2003 Trophée Lalique, so having to wait out for an entire season to skate for another country wouldn't apply in his case.

chuckm said:

Maybe France refused to release him?

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Why did you post the same statement twice within a 2-hour period?