Canadian pairs news: M-T/M and P/M have split

This team was habitually underscored. There is no room in FS for more than top 3 in world to make a living in any place but Japan or Russia where FS is still big. They had very difficult lifts. I thought they were awesome. Moore-Towers and DM. Too bad!!!!!. A loss for top pairs. Gee I wish VT and Aliona and? would quit so this team could move up. I'll bet they said, poo, forget it to hear VT are not retiring. But really, Aliona will find? She should give it up and do shows with Robin In Japan, Europe, Russia. And Pang TOng are done, right? This was a bad move...this pair should get attention they deserve with the change of quad.

But are Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massott even going to be at Worlds next year? I thought I read that they have to sit a year out while someone awaits release. And even if they do, Bruno isn't anywhere near Aliona's level at this point. They won't likely be on the podium their first year together. I don't see why M-T/M would be discouraged from continuing just because Aliona S. is continuing with a new partner. As mentioned above, they are also capable of beating D/R, as they did at the Olympics. So they could still get on the podium.

And obviously M-T will be less likely to get on the podium in the initial years with her new partner while they get used to competing together and earn their dues from the judges. So there may be more to it than that. It may just be one of them is ready to retire and they have different career plans at this point.

Orange Cat said:

Is there something in the water? Something in the air? Why so many splits in the FS world? I liked M-T/M, more than D/R. This is a sad night.

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I liked them, too -- was looking forward to seeing how they would develop in 2014-2015.

Also like orange cats!

I preferred Kirsten & Dylan to Meghan & Eric, too. Kirsten & Dylan seem warmer and more personable and fun. Meghan & Eric can be good technicians, but they tend to go through the motions somewhat cold and mechanically at times without as much artistry.

I always just liked the vibe I got from Kirsten and Dylan. They always seemed to love performing and each other. I hope they'll reconsider - this year could be the year where they finally overtake Meghan and Eric at Canadian nationals again.

I don't think it's reasonable to blame V/T (or Aliona, whose new partner is unproven anyway) for the split. It's not their responsibility to "step aside and give others a chance." I highly doubt that's why M-T/M split. It's their partnership, their decision, and I trust they're not foolish enough to let the actions of other teams be the main guide on what they'll do. I don't think they were adamant about staying after Sochi solely 'cause, "Oh, V/T and S/S will be gone, MEDAL GRAB TIME!!"

Dammit.

pangtongfan said:

A shot yes, but there are 6 or 7 teams that seem to have a shot, and I would have rated their chances only about 5th best of that group of teams. They would have no chance of beating V&T or S&K (D&R atleast have a shot vs S&K IMO), and I would also favor D&R and S&H (despite coming behind them at worlds) over them going into next season too. Of course things can change, people can decline, improve, get more political backing, but as things were that is how I would see it.

D&R are clearly favored by the judges over M-T&M. The only time M-T&M could win was when D&R skated quite bad, like the Olympics. D&R could easily afford an error two and still win even if M-T&M went clean, which I disagreed with but anyway. M-T&M have beaten D&R only once the last 3 seasons combined, so I wouldnt say they are equal in the judges eyes at all. D&R are technically stronger, and even are usually given the higher PCS too (the latter which I disagree with strongly, but is reality).

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It's true that D&R had won most of the contests over M-T&M in the past few seasons, but M-T&M looked like they were about to overtake D&R at the end of this season. And even if they didn't beat them, they would be secure in the #2 spot in Canada for the immediate future with pretty much a guaranteed spot on the World & Olympic team.

D&R are an older team when you consider Meghan's age compared to Kirsten's, and may not stay beyond next year. And it's unlikely that Kirsten and her new partner can place any higher any time soon.

Feeling a million depressions over the ending of the partnership with Kirsten & Dylan. I this pair to pieces! Hope the split was amicable.

So sad to hear this. I really, really liked them this season, the best after V/T. They had this wonderful energy, they were all smiles, had excellent timing of elements. I preferred them to D/R a million times, and the new pairs haven't made an impression on me yet. I hope their breakup wasn't as dramatic as those in ice dance, at least.

pangtongfan said:

Sorry but I never felt that way. It takes more than beating D&R just one time at a bad outing for them (the Olympics), just as for me it takes P&I beating G&P only one time (Canadians, a much bigger occasion given what was at stake for both teams, and G&P actually skated very well unlike D&R at the Olympics) for me to believe they had passed them (hence why I predicted P&I possibly passing G&P for the first time ever next season as I never really felt they had even briefly up to now, even when they beat them out for the coveted Olympic spot). At worlds D&R fell and still beat M-T&M who skated 2 clean programs, and got higher PCS that M-T&M which is their strength, so that only solidified D&R still being firmly ahead. Note I say that as someone who liked M-T&M WAY more than D&R.

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I agree with this 100% and I also like MT/M way better than D/R. MT/M fans may have wanted to believe they were about to supplant D/R because they were excited their team finally came out ahead in Sochi but it was more involved than that. D/R skated really badly for them in the FS-and they were still fairly close to MT/M with a solid 127 when IMO they deserved to be closer to the 8th and 9th place teams P/Z and C/S in the very low 120s if that with all those mistakes. MT/M were then not rewarded for a fabulous SP at Worlds. They looked crestfallen when that score came up. Then their 2 clean skates did not beat a messy D/R in the FS. I'm not shocked about this split news b/c I think they recommitted to four more years while basking in the glow of the Olympics and the excitement of the team medal as so many skaters do. After Worlds, Dylan, who is 29, probably saw the writing on the wall that the judges have said it will taken an implosion by D/R and MT/M skating perfectly to beat them by a narrow margin. I don't think that's right or fair but that seems to be the situation going into next season. Further, even though the two teams were very closer, Skate Canada always seemed to regard D/R as their clear #1. While I don't love them, I admit D/R are masters of the IJS with tough to beat tech content when they execute most of it and packed programs that are well choreographed to emphasize their strengths. TheiR SP served them very well this season. MT/M also had a fabulous, underappreciated SP. I will miss seing what they would have done next year.

Crazy to think that at the absolute most, we'll have 6 of the top 10 pairs from the Olympics back. Denney & Coughlin are also probably gone IMO. There is going to be a lot of opportunity on the GP for teams that haven't had a lot of international success to sneak in for silvers and bronzes or even surprise wins. There is going to be a lot of opportunity on the GP for teams that haven't had a lot of international success to sneak in for silvers and bronzes or even surprise wins. It will be interesting to see how Berton/Hotarek (if they stay in), Castelli/Shnapir (who are essentially the less consistent American version of D/R also made by the genius Julie Marcotte), Jones/Cipres, the Chinese teams and possibly Scimeca/Knierim (although I'm not holding my breath) or Z/B assert themselves in the fall with all this movement.

((

They always created a nice mixture of North-American and Russian style.
I think that they have been the most "Russians" of all the NA pairs and I really liked that.
They only needed a little bit more strenght to show to win more.

pangtongfan said:

ITA on all you said.

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:agree: Same here.

MT/M also had a fabulous, underappreciate SP. I will miss seing what they would have done next year.

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They really deserved to be better rewarded for their SP; can't understand what the judges were thinking/seeing. Anayanka's "dammit" pretty much says it all for me.

M-T/M won't win against D/R if both skate clean. Everyone's correct on that. As much as I love M-T/M, I don't think they really deserve to win if both are clean, because of D/R's technical content and their unique side-by-side triple lutzes.

That being said, if M-T/M ups their technical content just a bit and skate really consistently, they can win when D/R falter. And D/R do falter. I don't think that the one Worlds result would change their entire tune from "Definitely will continue!" to "...split." I was hoping they'd keep going for a bit to see what happens.

sky_fly20 said:

terrible for MT/M
I was hoping it would have been D/R :disapp:

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Only you would hope for pairs - especially successful ones - to split up. You just keep finding ways to make yourself that much more awful, eh.

CanadianSkaterGuy said:

Only you would hope for pairs - especially successful ones - to split up. You just keep finding ways to make yourself that much more awful, eh.

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successful ones ? D/R are awful, they are the mot deplorable pair since Sale/Pelettier
MT/M had a chance to beat this two next quad. too bad they split up

sky_fly20 said:

successful ones ? D/R are awful, they are the mot deplorable pair since Sale/Pelettier
MT/M had a chance to beat this two next quad. too bad they split up

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Uh, they have two World bronze medals, 3 Canadian titles, a Four Continents title, and an Olympic silver medal. They have the 3rd-highest SP score behind S/S and V/T (and even higher than S/Z). They're also the only pair to consistently execute side-by-side triple lutzes, which is remarkable in pairs (heck, even if Duhamel were in singles, she'd be one of a select group of women who can actually execute a 3Z on the correct edge). I get that they're not your cup of tea, but to call them 'deplorable' is hilarious -- and merely characteristic of your deplorable attitude. Hah, and I won't even get into you attempting futilely to insult World and Olympic Champions S/P.

CanadianSkaterGuy said:

Uh, they have two World bronze medals, 3 Canadian titles, a Four Continents title, and an Olympic silver medal. They have the 3rd-highest SP score behind S/S and V/T (and even higher than S/Z). They're also the only pair to consistently execute side-by-side triple lutzes, which is remarkable in pairs (heck, even if Duhamel were in singles, she'd be one of a select group of women who can actually execute a 3Z on the correct edge). I get that they're not your cup of tea, but to call them 'deplorable' is hilarious -- and merely characteristic of your deplorable attitude. Hah, and I won't even get into you attempting futilely to insult World and Olympic Champions S/P.

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I suppose you would also brag about their Olympic silver, a Team event,

D/R have no basics at all, no connection to both athletes, a mismatched pair, horrendous lines, ugly lifts, stiffboard skating from Duhamel with robot Radford
I can go on and on, their 3Lz are as consistent as Gachinski landing a quad, to summarize what a nasty and deplorable pair.

S/P nice you compare to them because they too were one of the worst pairs that existed of all time.

Whether you wanna laugh about it or not, it's an Olympic silver no matter how you cut it. Would you say Plushenko's or Julia's Sochi gold are negligible, since they're from a team event?

D/R are still one of the top pairs in the world, the 2-time reigning World bronze medalists, and 3-time Canadian champions -- over MT/M, no less. Hate on them as much as you want, but they've got the hardware and you've just got endless, worthless, trolling comments.

@Sky_fly
Umm, D/R hit their triple lutzes at the Olympics. They fell on another side-by-side later on, hence why they placed below M-T/M.

I think their connection is "okay," (certainly not deplorable) even though I find their programs tedious.

I don't like S/P, don't think they deserved extra OGM, but "worst pair ever" they are not. I give them credit for skating clean at Salt Lake while B/S did their usual thing of faltering under pressure.