Igor Shpilband fired

Didn't see that one coming.

And which two teams does Igor want to devote himself to? Tobias & Stagniunas and Chock & Bates?

Or R&T who are supposed only to be there for the summer? In which case, which other team?

I hope this drama doesn't negatively affect any of the teams involved.

dorispulaski said:

Didn't see that one coming.

And which two teams does Igor want to devote himself to? Tobias & Stagniunas and Chock & Bates?

Or R&T who are supposed only to be there for the summer? In which case, which other team?

I hope this drama doesn't negatively affect any of the teams involved.

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Seems it already has: (see comment by I assume Charlie White's mother)
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...on-Figure-Skating-Club&template=pluckcomments

Sad for all the teams but I really feel for V&M. They've been on such a rollercoaster lately.

Yes that's Charlie White's mother.

I feel bad for all skaters at Canton. You also have to wonder if Johnny Johns - will stay at Canton. Johnny Johns has played a pivotal role in lifts for both D/W and V/M.

Johnny Johns is dating Marina. I have a feeling he will go wherever she goes.

all that said:

Johnny Johns is dating Marina. I have a feeling he will go wherever she goes.

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Hmmm okay another little complication....

Well the skaters do have the talent but their whole environment will be changed dramatically with no Igor. I'm sure a kind of balance had been created and its all smashed!! Maybe this will be just a blip and they will all get back together. A lot is at stake for all the teams. If its just a fight between Marina and Igor no way skaters will not try to get them back together unless some conduct by Igor was repulsive.

Like Doris said....I hope the skaters get through this....watching the coaches at nats should be interesting.....
Well, what would dance be without a bit of Russian drama... take Sasha and Pasha...or Mr. Morozov.....please.....

On a lighter note....
But what about the big cover story about Zoueva and Shpilband (Skating Magazine, Feb 2012) "No Secrets"....????????
Stay tuned for "Blades of Glory II, this time, its personal"

I almost dropped my laptop when I read the original article a couple hours ago...and only just regrouped after convincing myself that this wasn't some crazy April Fool's joke...so to sum it up best (seemed like the best moment to use that emoticon) I'm not really bringing anything new to the board in terms of opinions/insights, but I just needed to get a lot of my thoughts out of my head and I figured it'd be good to share with people who actually cared...
I got the feeling toward the end of the most recent season that everything wasn't great in the land of ice dance up in Canton...the interactions between the both D/W and V/M weren't as "friendly" and even the skaters themselves seemed removed from the coaches - just look as K&C clips...everyone looks uncomfortabl. While this is figure skating (and ice dance in particular), and the likelihood of us fans actually getting the full scoop is unlikely, I really want to know what went wrong. I'm sure Igor has been offered money countless times by other clubs and the Russians, but I highly doubt he would ever do anything to jeopardize his relationship with the teams that he coaches. Furthermore, I cannot imagine any of the top teams in Canton pushing Igor out of the picture as all of them have expressed, rather genuinely, how important Marina as well as Igor are individually in regards to what they bring to the table. This leads me to believe that the issue here is truly a personal issue between Marina and Igor (but with that statement by Marina in the article - even if it is a PR-friendly statement - I can't imagine that Marina would play the blame game by involving the skaters directly...which makes me think that yes, Igor might have been pushed out b/c he was over-committed/didn't seem committed enough to his current teams. From Igor's statements, it appears as if he's being intentionally pushed out. BUT with the way the management is making remarks, I'm lead to believe that the management is to blame for actually pulling the rug out and possibly making a decision too rashly. Yes, Marina and Igor might not have been able to work out whatever problems they had, but I'm sure from a professional standpoint, with world-championship teams, you don't just bail when there are problems. While personal conflicts are never good to be around in such a competitive environment, and would have had to come to an end - either with a resolution or a coaching split - I'd like to believe that Zoueva and Shpilband know better than to let their skaters get caught in the middle of this in such a public and ugly manner). I doubt the the top 3 teams themselves would ever "get together" and make such a drastic (and bratty) decision like wanting Igor out of the picture at the club. I'm most intrigued my the Igor's meeting with Meryl and Charlie. Correct me if I'm wrong but Zoueva always preferred V/M and Shpilband favors D/W, right? That would means Igor has a closer relationship with D/W and feels he's going to get the most honest answers from Meryl and Charlie...but regardless, I sincerely hope that V/M, D/W, S/S, and the plethora of other teams that were under the joint-tutelage of the Zoueva/Shpilband "school" get out of this off-season drama relatively unscathed...In a way, change might not be a bad thing for the V/M and D/W rivalry (as i felt both teams were struggling to find inspiration...and were starting to feel a little flat - even as they improved technically and artistically), but I was certainly shocked that it had to come to this.

gmyers said:

Well the skaters do have the talent but their whole environment will be changed dramatically with no Igor. I'm sure a kind of balance had been created and its all smashed!! Maybe this will be just a blip and they will all get back together. A lot is at stake for all the teams. If its just a fight between Marina and Igor no way skaters will not try to get them back together unless some conduct by Igor was repulsive.

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IMO, even if the skaters can't get Marina and Igor to work together, I cannot imagine all the teams abandoning Igos all together...i'd imagine some will either try to continue working with both coaches - just not together, go with Igor out the door, or leave the "school" altogether...this affects sooooooo many teams (more than just the top 3 teams), and it'll be very interesting following this story in the coming days/weeks/months (and until Sochi, frankly)

I can see where this is going , he is moving back to Ru$$ia
or maybe stay in NYC and coach one of R/T or C/L

I always thought Shilipband was teh better over Zoueva

SkateFiguring said:

Next one to be fired, Phil Hersch?

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that would be a dream, lol

dorispulaski said:

Didn't see that one coming.

I hope this drama doesn't negatively affect any of the teams involved.

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Shocked to wake up to this news , but Doris, you've summed up my reaction.

CAS said:

Seems it already has: (see comment by I assume Charlie White's mother)
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120603/SPORTS18/120603037/Coach-Igor-Shpilband-Canton-Figure-Skating-Club&template=pluckcomments

Sad for all the teams but I really feel for V&M. They've been on such a rollercoaster lately.

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I can't seem to pull up the comment. What does it say?

sillylionlove said:

I can't seem to pull up the comment. What does it say?

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Her statement is:
Gary, I'm afraid you don't know what you are talking about. This wasn't initiated by the skaters, they are obviously only trying to hang on by the skin of their teeth to continue training while the coaches battle to the death and when convenient, use them as pawns in the fight. This is an old story of "who has control", where egos come into play and team cooperation erodes. The skaters in this scenario are not brats, but victims caught in the crossfire.
Reply · 18 ·
· 8 hours ago
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My comment now:

There have been three major coaching dumps post-season (Patrick, Yuzu and now this one), and in not one case, do the skaters' stories add up or make total sense to the outside. The only thing that is clear is the parting, but what sets this one apart from the other two is that there is not even an attempt to make it appear amiable. One thing that I have noticed is that the stories which come from the skaters especially seem to defy credibility (Yuzu's story that he changed his coach on the basis of a magazine article was especially hilarious). It just defies common sense that the club would dare let go this coach without D&W's approval. But because this parting promises to be a particularly nasty one with the fired coach talking, we might be able to get at least one really raw version of what happened.

This is sad news for everyone involved. I am still gulping my coffee and reading in disbelief.

The one discipline where we in North America had it going for us, and the top two teams get poleaxed in one blow. Why don't I love football or auto racing? I'd sleep better if I did.

The only thing on reflection that signaled trouble to me this year was that no new junior team had signed up in Canton.

Marina/Katia's side of the story is in Katia's book.

http://www.gg-corner.de/?p=223

For those wanting Zhuk's side of the Zueva/Zhuk/Gordeeva & Grinkov story.

Whatever really happened, it was not pretty.

Zhuk says:

En passant, I helped Zueva get a job at CSKA. Nobody wanted to hire her after the conflict between her and Yelena Chaikovskaya where Zueva spit on her face. I asked management to hire her to work with a group of kids. As it turned out, I did it for my own headache…She wrote many complainants against me.

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Later, there was agitta between Stanislaus Leonovich & Marina as well, AFAIR?

I'm sick of all the 'I hope the poor students get through this.' It was their responsibility to speak up and if they did not then they are complicit in Igor Shpilband's firing. I also do not get why the current running joke is that he was fired for giving all the teams the same choreography since he's the technician and Marina is the one responsible for the vapid choreography we've seen from Canton this year-- I hope this was just an attempt at a bad joke.