Kurt Still The Greatest!!

Wow just when I thought I had seen everything Kurt can do on the blade he comes up with another show stopping amazing performance. Last night on the CBC Battle of the Blades show Kurt did the impossible - quick, intricate moves on hockey skates. Kurt was brilliant as he dazzled the audience and I am sure the hockey players. He skated to a Frank Sinatra piece as this was the theme for the pair teams the night before. Wow! Way to go Kurt.

He was amazing!! I loved it as well....very impressive that he did a double sal! I think everyone was speechless after seeing that

you make it sound like he's never done a routine on hockey skates before... Snowden on Ice 1, Stars On Ice, and I believe at least one of his tv specials all showcased his fast feet in hockey skates

but I do agree he is simply the best.

Tonichelle said:

you make it sound like he's never done a routine on hockey skates before... Snowden on Ice 1, Stars On Ice, and I believe at least one of his tv specials all showcased his fast feet in hockey skates

but I do agree he is simply the best.

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IIRC he did one of his Improv Ice numbers on hockey skates too. What a joy he is to watch!

Yay, Kurt!

I agree that he's the once and future king of the ice. I've never found anyone else who has the combination of sizzle and grace he possesses. I hope this performance is on YouTube soon.

And he's turned out to be an object lesson in terms of career trajectory. He's never won an Olympic medal of any color, but he's still the top of the heap, with no asterisks or qualifications. He's inventive, artistic, powerful, charismatic, humorous--a superb embodiment of skating and of Canadian sports.

Couldn't agree more with everyone. Amazing how he simply gets better and better with age... like a fine wine.

merrybari said:

IIRC he did one of his Improv Ice numbers on hockey skates too. What a joy he is to watch!

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yes, he did, but I didn't want to cause a potential spoiler

and yes, while he didn't win an olympic medal, he did win four world titles, three consecutively...

Tonichelle said:

you make it sound like he's never done a routine on hockey skates before... Snowden on Ice 1, Stars On Ice, and I believe at least one of his tv specials all showcased his fast feet in hockey skates

but I do agree he is simply the best.

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No, Kurt is no stranger to hockey skates. He started off as a jr Hockey player and thank goodness changed to figure skating. I don't think Kurt has ever skated in front of hockey players though wearing their gear. It really impressed the guys. They have a lot of respect for Kurt and now for figure skaters in general like never before.

Seems to me a lot of the Canadian players from Kurt's day knew figure skating was not for wimps... and IIRC he has skated with big name hockey players before in some charity event or something... *shrugs*

not saying he doesn't deserve the praise, it's just not something that is *new* for him

As Ron MacLean has mentioned a couple of times, Kurt was the Honourary Captain of the Edmonton Oilers and even used their training facilities. He's performed before NHL hockey games in Vancouver, Edmonton & Toronto in both figure skates and hockey skates, appeared twice at the NHL's annual televised award ceremony & played in NHL softball tournaments, golf tournaments and other charitable events. Many of the hockey players on Battle of the Blades have known him for years, and I wouldn't be surprised if he talked some of them into signing up for the show ;-)

Tonichelle said:

Seems to me a lot of the Canadian players from Kurt's day knew figure skating was not for wimps... and IIRC he has skated with big name hockey players before in some charity event or something... *shrugs*

not saying he doesn't deserve the praise, it's just not something that is *new* for him

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hmmm... this is turning into one of "those" discussions. My comments were merely to bring fans who may not be able to view the program via the CBC up to speed on the show and of course some bantter about Kurt. Of course, we Canadians know Hockey players in general look upon figure skating with some tongue in cheek as we always have to vie for ice time at our rinks with the hockey players. Many of the hockey players learn to skate from some of our greats - like Karen Magnussen - for example. Hockey is still the number # 1 sport in Canada especially with the male populace.

Many of our top male skaters started out playing hockey - like Kurt - and discovered figure skating along the way. No Kurt, nor David nor Elvis are strangers to the hockey world and are pretty good players themselves.

Sorry I mentioned any of this. Oh well.....

Ladskater

I'm not sorry you mentioned this.....Kurt is great and thanks for reminding us!

Once I saw him at Stars on Ice, he did a stop which sprayed a little ice on one of the lucky viewers in the first row. After the number, he went over to him and apologized!

what a sweetie! And I honestly think he is my favorite male skater of all time. And he is a fun interviewer as well.

Ladskater, please mention Kurt anytime! We non-Canadian fans don't get to hear as much as you do about him, let alone see him on TV as often as you lucky ducks all do. I'm still feeling deprived that his first TV special (wasn't it called "Tall in the Saddle" or somesuch?) never made it here, and I treasure my battered videotape of "You Must Remember This," which was shown here on one of our public broadcasting stations. To me, as I said earlier in this thread, he's at the top of the ladder, technically and artistically. And from all reports, he's a great sport as well. He's one of those rare skaters who will leave the sport better than it was when he came into it.

As far as the figure skating vs. hockey thing, I've noticed that Canada seems to have less of a chasm between the two than the U.S. does. I knew that Kurt started on hockey but had forgotten that Elvis and David had too. What with those three guys, and Orser making such a wonderful mark as YuNa's coach these days, Canada's got a lot to be proud of in terms of its male skaters. (And its female skaters, too, of course! Go, Joannie! Go, Tessa!)

Olympia said:

As far as the figure skating vs. hockey thing, I've noticed that Canada seems to have less of a chasm between the two than the U.S. does. I knew that Kurt started on hockey but had forgotten that Elvis and David had too. What with those three guys, and Orser making such a wonderful mark as YuNa's coach these days, Canada's got a lot to be proud of in terms of its male skaters. (And its female skaters, too, of course! Go, Joannie! Go, Tessa!)

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Oh the figure skating vs hockey debate has deep roots here - don't be fooled! Young boys who skate face extreme teasing and are berated by their peers. The fight over ice time also causes a deep rift among the two as well - especially in small towns. Battle of the Blades is doing a great job at bringing together the two sports and showing that male figure skaters aren't "sissy's" or "pussies" but there is still a lot of work to be done to completely break down the sterotype.

i love to skate said:

Oh the figure skating vs hockey debate has deep roots here - don't be fooled! Young boys who skate face extreme teasing and are berated by their peers. The fight over ice time also causes a deep rift among the two as well - especially in small towns. Battle of the Blades is doing a great job at bringing together the two sports and showing that male figure skaters aren't "sissy's" or "pussies" but there is still a lot of work to be done to completely break down the sterotype.

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Well said i love to skate, and IMO, I think all of those little boys who have to go through Hell every single day at school just because their sport is Figure Skating, are the real winners of Battle of the Blades being created and shown. After all, if Bob Probert and Tie Domi can go out there and not only do this, but also comment on just how hard it is and that's it's a real sport, does more good than any PR campaign of Skate Canada's.

yes, of course, Lad, that's exactly what I meant. No Kurt mention at all.

I just pointed out that Kurt has done this stuff before. :sheesh: It read very misleading like it'd never been done, this is somewhat of a trademark for him. More power to him...

and I find it amusing that I'm being labelled - somewhat - as a non-fan of Kurt... he graduated high school the year I was born and I'm completely infatuated with him. No one is more genuine than he is on and off the ice.

Tonichelle said:

and I find it amusing that I'm being labeled - somewhat - as a non-fan of Kurt... he graduated high school the year I was born and I'm completely infatuated with him. No one is more genuine than he is on and off the ice.

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You are one of Kurt's biggest fans around!

Kurt is incredible on the ice and is such a pleasure to talk to off the ice too!

iluvtodd said:

Kurt is incredible on the ice and is such a pleasure to talk to off the ice too!

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my brother grew up idolizing Kurt in a lot of ways... promised him if I ever met Kurt I'd tell him so... Kurt was apparently touched because he sent Duane an amazing bday gift back with me...

I've never seen him skate live, it's definitely a dream of mine (I've seen Scott skate twice, why can't Kurt get up here and do a show?)

Tonichelle said:

you make it sound like he's never done a routine on hockey skates before... Snowden on Ice 1, Stars On Ice, and I believe at least one of his tv specials all showcased his fast feet in hockey skates

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True enough--and I think the other TV special where Kurt performed in hockey skates was Tara Lipinski's "From This Moment." But I think Kurt's "Battle of the Blades" performance was even more impressive than any of the above. First of all, it was much longer than his SOI "Moby Dick" performance (which was only a minute long, at the most, IIRC). Second of all, unlike the performances done for the TV specials, Kurt's "Battle of the Blades" routine was skated live with no retakes!

When I first heard Kurt would be performing a routine in hockey skates for "Battle of the Blades," I envisioned something along the lines of "Moby Dick" or his Snowden routine, but like I said, this was even better! :agree:

Ladskater said:

No, Kurt is no stranger to hockey skates. He started off as a jr Hockey player and thank goodness changed to figure skating. I don't think Kurt has ever skated in front of hockey players though wearing their gear. It really impressed the guys. They have a lot of respect for Kurt and now for figure skaters in general like never before.

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I know one of the main reasons Kurt chose figure skating over hockey was his height--or lack thereof compared to most pro hockey players--but I never realized just how much of a height difference there was until actually seeing Kurt stand next to the hockey players on "Battle of the Blades!"

Now I'm curious as to how many of the Battle of the Blades hockey players also took figure skating in their younger years. I'm really impressed with just how quickly most of them picked up all those skating moves...and that the hockey players really are taking this seriously and treating the figure skaters with respect.

I admit when I first heard about Battle of the Blades, I imagined it would be much cheesier and pictured something along the lines of the "Cutting Edge" movie. I'm very happy I've been proven wrong about that!

Tigger said:

Well said i love to skate, and IMO, I think all of those little boys who have to go through Hell every single day at school just because their sport is Figure Skating, are the real winners of Battle of the Blades being created and shown. After all, if Bob Probert and Tie Domi can go out there and not only do this, but also comment on just how hard it is and that's it's a real sport, does more good than any PR campaign of Skate Canada's.

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I couldn't agree more! Ironically enough, the last time I remember sooo many non-diehard figure skating fans watching a figure skating-related show was during Kurt's rivalry with Elvis Stojko in the early 90s!

This is also one of the reasons why I'd like to see a US version of this show someday. I realize neither hockey nor figure skating are as popular among the general public down there as they are here, but it seems to me like young American boys who figure skate have an even tougher time than Canadian boys because there aren't as many household-name male American figure skaters as there are in Canada. I'm sure most hockey players wouldn't mind their sport becoming more popular down there, either.

I also couldn't agree more with all of the other comments about Kurt in this thread, either! :agree:

Wow I haven't logged in here forever. Nice to see a good discussion on Kurt, though!

Not only did Kurt start out playing hockey, but he kept playing hockey into his adult life. I got the chance to chat with a friend of his recently who used to play hockey with Kurt in an adult league in Toronto. Evidently he usually played center or wing. He's no stranger to hockey skates, that's for sure.

Funny thing is, Kurt wore the hockey skates for his Improv number partly because he was actually feeling more comfortable in them, due to Battle of the Blades, than in his figure skates, which were brand new and not breaking in well. And also to prepare for his Battle program. That one is a full program as well, though you won't get to see it on TV until Christmas Day. What impressed me about both the Improv and Battle programs, over and beyond what he did in Snowden and CSOI, were the jumps he pulled off - definitely the salchow, and I'm pretty sure the axel as well. I don't remember him doing actual jumps in his previous hockey skate performances, though it's been a while since I watched them.

Of course, don't forget, he also can do a fair amount of tricks and footwork and perform beautifully in rollerblades, which IMO are far more cumbersome than hockey skates. I'm just waiting for him to do something in speed skates now .

Aside from Kristi's show airing on Sunday Nov. 1 from 4-6PM ET/1-3PM PT, you Canadians will get to see Kurt skate again at the final results show for Battle of the Blades on Nov. 16. Don't forget to tune in!