Igor Shpilband fired

SkateFiguring said:

^^^ So far the rift and tension has seemed to be between Shpilband and everybody else, not between the skating teams. According to Zoueva and O'Neill, V/M will stay where they are.

Click to expand...

Let's look deeper. Igor is Ok, not upset, has teams here, and invite to Russia. China or Japan would likely offer him carte blancge to start an ice dance school. Or S. Korea. At this point, he has options. I have just one for fun conspiracy theory to use a phrase not quite right but for lack of better, SF.

Here it is. Canton Ice indeed is too small for Scott and Tessa (mostly Scott) as this season is coming fast and really affects the Olympic season. Scott knows he has a chance to be in the history books. The brits didn't manage 2 Olympic ice dance golds and pasha grishuk was disliked a lot-tarnished her two golds, plus everyone thought that second win was very political due to her mistakes. Scott really wants Voir to be in the same breath as Torvill/Dean or even better. They will be called best team in history if they pull off a gold with an amazing program like Fd Mahler which people loved. Non fans were mesmerized tuning in. Everyone knew this team was special and very beautiful. So he is very ambitious to end his career. Charlie and Meryl badly want that gold. I think Meryl is very ambitious and they want to prove they are not second rate. They are WC's and silver medalists. They would be gone to school if the gold were not very possible. This will likely be the hottest rivalry. I have a feeling they might, just not now, but Voir might leave when things heat up this season. Igor is the only one they'd leave for and he has made it possible now for them to go down the street. Who knows who Voir really values most? Igor is better liked than Marina despite the defection. Marina gets a bit of a kick in "My Sergei." Seems she had the jones for Sergei and after he died blurted all to Katia who was upset enough to write about it. Yes, they are friends, but she felt it was awful timing to confess Sergei was " her (Marina's) dream." So I think maybe there is a bigger, better story. Igor is thinking, yes, I will coach this team to glory and I will be called the best ice dance coach in history. Igor becomes the highest paid coach/his school is the world magnet, he can pick and choose from the best, not have to share the money with Marina.

I think Scott will leave Marina (and Tessa follows his lead it looks like-he talks, she listens usually) if things do not go his way at competitions. Maybe Igor and Voir cooked up a situation where Igor takes heat and leaves with no real big deal reason - looks to be the victim of Zoueva, the kids say nothing, looking pristine, no criticism for them, and they all get what they want...Marlie get Marina and Voir get Schpilband. There is nothing bad here, a "firing" due to business and personal interaction between two coaches. A little he said, she said, forgotten by all until next coach/skater split.

So, who do you think wins Sochi? Marlie or Voir? That's all that matters here, and maybe the media is just being manipulated. I do not believe the three teams wanted Igor gone to the point he should be fired. The whole thing smacks of a plan to be unfolded. I bet 1.00 ( I am poor) that Voir go to Igor before long. Maybe after Marina has done the choreography for both programs. Maybe Igor has better connections to some key players in Russia. I think this little dust up is all about Sochi and i will be surprised and amazed if the two teams can stick it out together until Sochi. That is a big test of their friendship. I don't have a clue who does what in that pair. I don't follow anything besides watching ice dance and would never know unless someone posted it in the Edge. Anyone know about who does what and any Canton insiders want to fill us in on the real facts as opposed to press releases, spin, etc?

I wondered how Scott was going to get away from the irritation of Marlie winning from time to time. Igor's "firing" just solved that problem if Igor is in fact more valuable to Voir than Marina. They have a choice now.

Serious Business said:

I'm also reminded of Steve Jobs being fired from Apple, as another pioneer visionary who gets fired by the company he co-founded. In that case, things worked out horribly for everybody involved. Apple floundered, Jobs' NeXT computer went nowhere. Fortunately, the two entities later reconciled and went on to remake the world. Of course, Igor vs. Marina is a much different situation on a far smaller scale. But potentially, we may also see both the Arctic Figure Skating Club and Igor ending up worse off than they were.

Click to expand...

Not at all. I think we are being fed a crock of.... Igir will land on his feet very nicely even if all this is true. I listed options off the top of my head and he likely has many more. He is just moving down the street with the teams that follow. And any team is free to go or stay where they feel most supported or best positioned for OLY for the top 2 -3 teams in the USA.

13 pages is because ice dance is very wonderful again thanks to these two Russians who brought it to North America and realized what people want to see. I don't think anyone gets hurt by this. Really, only insiders who are close are going to have any really negative feelings about either coach. The top 3 teams all can go anywhere really. They are seasoned pros and athletes at the top of their game. If the reports are accurate I think Igor has been treated badly, but he might be the one who exits smelling like a rose. I really wonder what marina Zueva is like. All I know is that she is a very talented, experienced choreographer and that she made such lovely G&G programs. For that and her work with the ice dancers, i am grateful to watch her body of work. She may not be a nice person, but skating world seems a lot like Ballet world at the top. It surely gets cut throat at times. I'm glad this isn't bad news a la Igor gets fired for bad behavior.

From what I read, the mean Mr Zhuk was really destroyed by the allegations. I hope they were untrue, and I hope he is at peace regardless. I remember reading about him in katia's book. Life in Russia in every era is hard, and trying to be a good communist and please the higher ups was very hard. Reading that story was unsettling, as I felt that there was some scapegoating going on. Marina Zuevea is an interesting character. I wish she would write her memoirs.

Charlie White tweeted back a response to someone who had tweeted a link to Huffington Post coverage of the story.
But White's tweet is just two words, "oh hey".
http://twitter.com/CharlieaWhite/status/210181549864390656

[And the Huff Post article doesn't have any original reporting; it's just a mash-up of stuff from freep.com and the AP.]

Olympia said:

It's right up there with Michelle's leaving Frank Carroll practically on the eve of the Olympics, and YuNa's split from Orser.

Click to expand...

Even bigger, since the articles are reporting that the top 3 teams pretty much said "we are not skating here unless he goes". I find that very shocking and strange to say the least.

I'm not much of an ice dancing person, so take this for what it's worth. I actually live less than 3 miles from Arctic Edge, coincidentally. One of my colleagues has had Tanith Belbin in his philosophy classes at EMU.

At any rate, I'm a bit astounded at the Marina-blaming that I've seen on this comment thread. It's not univocal, by any means. But I can't believe how many people are so eager to blame her for what's happened to Igor. Prima Facie, he is at fault. He is the one who got fired. Maybe it was undeserved, but of course none of us knows. As so many have commented, how could you fire one of the greatest ice dancing coaches ever? Well, *perhaps* that is a measure of the wrongdoing involved. Just sayin'.

Pepe Nero you make a very good point. Igor Shpilband is the most successful coach in figure skating right now, or even possibly of all time. For him to get fired at the apex of his coaching career very likely means he did something wrong enough to precipitate this drastic decision. Quite a number of different people, including the top skaters at the club, has to be comfortable with this firing for it to happen. So piling the blame on Marina and her evil politicking ways may be wrong.

On the other hand, it doesn't necessarily mean he did something unethical, or worse, illegal. Maybe he has some grand vision for the club, or even the sport itself, that most people aren't comfortable with. Maybe he kept odd hours. OK, I'm just going by what led to Steve Jobs ouster at Apple in the 80s and applying it to Shpilband. Business relationships break apart all the time without either side being immoral. I hope that's what happened here, at least. I really don't know and I would like to know.

I don't want to say anything against anyone because I'm completely clueless, but that's an interesting point. It has been my observation that skaters will do anything to train with a great coach, especially one who has brought them good results--and an ice dancer can't get a better coach than Shpilband. So how can it be possible for skaters to say en masse "Either he goes, or we go"? Something is very strange here, and it's as unsettling as anything I've ever heard about in skating.

It's disgusting how many here are piling on Marina and blaming her for this firing. On what evidence? We've been told nothing really and I'm not going to speculate as to the reasons.

I also think that those who believe that Scott Moir initiated this so he can have Igor all to themselves are just dreaming in technicolour, or maybe it's wishful thinking. Their loyalty has always been with Marina. She is the one who is with them at all times and who choreographed their Mahler program. I will be even more shocked than I was on hearing about the firing if they were to go with Igor.

I can't believe how many people don't like the idea of Tessa and Scott training with Charlie and Meryl. I don't think either team would be as good as they are or have accomplished as much as they have, without the other to push them.

Dragonlady said:

It's disgusting how many here are piling on Marina and blaming her for this firing. On what evidence? We've been told nothing really and I'm not going to speculate as to the reasons.

Click to expand...

The reason people are questioning Marina is because this isn't her only coaching partnership that has ended like this..However who knows I have no doubt that Igor didn't have his own hand in this.

I really did not find the comments regarding Marina disgusting. Fans speculate on a lot of issues and the blame game gets played out by fans when coaching changes occur but you have to admit the firing of Igor was big news and it has gone viral on the skating boards. I have no opinion as to who is to blame and I only know what has been printed in the articles. Clearly the Canton group was dissatisfied with Igor and he was fired. Other than that I am in the dark like everyone else except those folks that were intimately involved.

I found that the comments about the Yuna/Orser split much nastier than the comments in this thread.

Go back and read my comments in post #195.

demarinis5 said:

I found that the comments about the Yuna/Orser split much nastier than the comments in this thread.

Click to expand...

Agreed.

Skater Boy said:

I would love to see Davis and White try another coaching direction - Zhulin or Krylova and Carmangelo or even Linichuk perhaps Yes, I do believe Zueva will need help technically especially with the yankee polka. I wish they wouldn't do the Finnstep for the Olympics - two years of fast paced skating but not the motion of the tango or waltz would be unfortunate though favour Davis and White as well as the Shibutanis.

Click to expand...

Linichuk maybe? Zhulin and Krylova prefer V/M more.

No way - Linichuk hasn't had any number of great teams under IJS

Virtue/Moir are still with Zoueva, per Skate Canada (Jun 6)

Nata ‏@cleoc12

Skate Canada ‏@SkateCanada

http://twitter.com/SkateCanada/status/210403276372459520

Now that it appears that all three teams are staying with Zoueva, I am hoping that they add a third coach in addition to Marina Zoueva and Johnny Johns. In a way, this puts pressure on Zoueva to come up with strong programs for her teams next year.
Personally the judging of the SD last year was all over the place during the Grand Prix season...hopefully the judges will be more consistent with the Yankee Polka...

As a side note - does anyone know whether Chock/Bates and Tobias/Stagiunas are staying with Zoueva?

Speculation as to the roles of the various parties involved in the Canton situation is a waste of time. Unless someone has some direct knowledge of what happened, the whole thing has been spun, rinsed and hung out to dry by all involved. I doubt the truth will ever be known and really, I don't care who did what to whom. What I do care about is the fallout, which will be considerable.

And people thought North American ice-dance was lacking in drama.

Dragonlady said:

Speculation as to the roles of the various parties involved in the Canton situation is a waste of time. Unless someone has some direct knowledge of what happened, the whole thing has been spun, rinsed and hung out to dry by all involved. I doubt the truth will ever be known and really, I don't care who did what to whom. What I do care about is the fallout, which will be considerable.

And people thought North American ice-dance was lacking in drama.

Click to expand...

My two cents here - the fallout will not be ridiculously considerable...first of all - D/W and V/M are the hardest working teams and since 2009 have shown that they deal with pressure very well and rise to the occasion. Marina Zoueva does believe in results and will have something to prove. Yes - Igor may politic against these teams but then again other teams have to rise to the occasion. As long as there is great skating and these teams are happy in their training environment in Canton - well that's fine with me. What this whole ordeal has shown us is that unfortunately there isn't many ice dance schools and that switching training environments is easier said than done.

Seeing the way how fans react to this news and such a lot of speculations, I just feel for skaters.

One of the things this time which was a bit of surprise to me was the first person among those involved to comment was not a skater him/herself, but a skater's parent. Even more of my surprise was it was not because s/he was asked for a comment by the media, but left an on-line comment on that news without even being anonymously (and no one was actually asking him/her for a comment, so rather voluntarily...)
Do not get me wrong but this is one of times I have to wonder how the culture or sense of values in one country differ from other countries. If this kind of thing were to happen to a Japanese skater, I would imagine the skater's parent(s) probably would comment just nothing in our culture...
A coach-skater relationship is almost equal as teacher(master)-student here; it probably weighs, say, 80%-20% on things related to skating. The skater or its parent(s) normally do not have a lot of say to coaches except, of course, some crucial/critical things. But in your culture, everything is based on contract; it weighs at least 50%-50% (or 25%-75% maybe?). Thus the skater and its parent(s) are simply a 'client' and pretty vocal to their coaches, clubs, federations, even to the media, aren't they?

It also reminds me of the news when YuNa parted ways with Orser, and Daisuke with Morozov. I did not like the way and still do not understand why both coaches constantly talked to media, with slightly different stories each time out. They looked to me as if trying to justify themselves... The more they talked to media, the less trustworthy they would become. Back then I liked the way Dai handled the situation by keeping his silence to avoid so-called 'mudslinging', the most favorite dish of nasty media, you know.

This time of 'firing' Shpilband (what a shocking word...) the above coaching changes and such, fans probably may not know what's behind these stories. As someone already said, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, too.

In either cases, I would have much preferred a joint press release by both parties, simply stating the end of partnership between a coach and its skater(s) (in this case, a coach and its club), thanking each other for all the contributions they together achieved so far, and wishing each other the best for further success of the the other half. Would have been more classy, I believe.

Very well stated heyhey.

I've always been of the opinion that Marina was really in the lead role of this partnership. I don't think it's any accident that teams she's worked with have now won 4 Olympic medals, 3 of them gold. I think that Igor built a good school, but the addition of Marina made it a great school. Whether she can continue the greatness without him, remains to be seen. She's certainly got the talent to built a dynasty.