Scott Moir on the difficulties of sharing a coach with their chief rivals

vinganca · Feb 27, 2014

Ryan O said:
I kind of wish P&B weren't going, actually. They said after Sochi that they were done and made quite a few jealous comments about some of their competitors.

what?! they are going to worlds? it was on their facebook that they weren't going and would be doing ice shows instead.

i hope they do go to worlds and medal. everyone's going crazy over the ladies' results but imho the score inflation that kept P/B off the podium was beyond unfair. i don't "hate" I/K or any other FS'ers but come on, there is no way their FD magically became 10 points better in less than a week from team to individuals.

also in addition to admiring their talent, i am a shallow fangirl and Fabian Bourzat is incredibly attractive.

WeakAnkles · Feb 28, 2014

NorthernDancers said:
It is true that P/I have had some major disasters, some self imposed/confidence and others completely not their fault, in the past. This year has been a very good one for them, and they have showed tremendous progress with judges generally paying attention and rewarding them for their efforts. They had an error on the twizzle at the Olympics, but I would not categorize it in the same ballpark as their previous disasters. P/I had 2 strikes against them at Olympics before they stepped on the ice: the judges did not come prepared to judge ice dance and the things that put the dance in ice dance (witness V/M results), and P/I are Canada #3 and did not rate as important with this group of judges who clearly already had the competition results predetermined. W/P, Canada #2, were even low-balled at this competition. I don't think it is right to compare the results of 4CC to Olympics. Entirely different competition full of a whole lot of questionable judging. P/I deserved a much higher placement, even with the error on the twizzle.

The competition for #3 in Canada is like a small version of the debate about ice dance on a broader level. G/P are entertaining, fun, and emphasize cool tricks. They like to skate fast. They do not have matching lines, edges, or basic skating skills together. They do not have the things that put the dance in ice dance. While there has been some improvement in this, I do think they were set back by Paul's really unfortunate injury early in the season. When G/P have put in the time and work, likely over years (think about W/P since just barely missing the last Olympics), to develop their basic skating skills together as a team, matching lines, matching deep edges, better body lines together, etc, I think they will be in a much better place. I personally think a G/P that develops good quality matching skating skills with their creativity and innovation would be incredible, and going back to basics would be more than worth it for them. P/I, on the other hand, ooze dance - matching lines, close skating, matching deep edges, softness, musicality that is more pure dance. They moved to Detroit to work on their weaknesses, and to train with other high level athletes, and it seems to be working. This year they look stronger, more confident, are more consistent, and are faster. They also still have work to do, and I think it will take some time to build their confidence and presence on ice consistently. They are not the "in your face" flash of G/P, but their substance and quality captures the attention. At Nationals, P/I skated 2 great programs with confidence and speed, and with great quality. They earned their spot to Olympics and Worlds.

Hmm, I feel the opposite. P/I are "nice" skaters. Yes, they have nice lines and musicality and the rest. But frankly, they don't interest me--or at least haven't so far. There has been, at least so far, nothing that would distinguish them from several other "nice" ice dancing teams around the world. I don't dislike them, but so far they haven't done anything to make me really take notice of them (which is exactly what I said before the Olympics--they would have a "nice" but forgettable skate).

G/P are certainly NOT as smooth are P/I, they lines are often mismatched (and choreographed so that they need to match a minimum of times--which I thought was clever of their choreographers). They don't have the skating skills of P/I as of this year. I thought their SD this year was an attempt to carbon copy the Voir style, and was a complete mismatch. And Piper absolutely needs to work on her stretch and extension (if you are going to criticize Meryl for 'bent leg syndrome'--which she largely corrected the last three years, then you absolutely must say the same about Piper). Even with those criticisms, however, I find them exciting to watch. I thought the Hitchcock program was brilliant, and their previous programs have always had at least some elements, some lift or spin, that made you sit up and take notice. If they can work on their basics I definitely think they'll be a force the next quad. Alas, I'm not sure I feel the same way about P/I.

Ryan O · Mar 1, 2014

P&I have been together for twice as long as G&P so I would hope that they would have good unison and line. But P&I are one of the most inconsistent dance teams in Canada. Despite skating together for about 5 years and being around 23 years old, this month will be their first trip to a World Championships. Many other ice dance teams make it to Worlds long before that, which shows how hard it has been for them to skate consistently. G&P have already been to a Worlds, and V&M and W&P were at Worlds at younger ages as well. Crone & Poirier went to Worlds and Olympics when they were only teenagers. I agree that P&I probably got hit a bit hard in the marks in Sochi, but even if that is the case, they once again found it hard to skate 2 clean programs and skate as well as they had at Nationals.

P&I did skate cleanly at Nationals when the pressure was on to qualify for the Olympic team, but so did G&P. As mentioned by others, the programs of P&I aren't as memorable as G&P, and they don't have as much chemistry or character. G&P's FD this year is one of the most talked about of the season, and they received great marks for both their SD & FD at 4 Continents. G&P also received pretty good marks at NHK in November (slightly higher than P&I's at Skate Canada), despite just getting back from injury.

What we need to see now of course is how the two teams rank against each other at the same international event, which is why part of me hopes V&M don't go to Worlds so that we can measure these two teams against one another in Japan later this month.

gmyers · Mar 1, 2014

He never saw VM becoming the BA to DW. Just didn't see it! Thought VM were too superior to BA. VM would never be second to DW like BA became.

Scott Moir on the difficulties of sharing a coach with their chief rivals

vinganca

WeakAnkles

Ryan O

gmyers

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