- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
Two 4th place finishes are really admirable. And the most important thing is that they've done great performances at Worlds.
Canadian pairs news: M-T/M and P/M have split
- Thread starter Snow63
- Start date
Two 4th place finishes are really admirable. And the most important thing is that they've done great performances at Worlds.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2006
IIRC, Elena Leonova and Andrei Khvalko were a successful pro team who didn't skate together in the amateur ranks. If both skaters were successful in the amateur ranks, although not together, they could still be well appreciated.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2012
Wasn't that an era when there were pro competitions and now there are so few shows and few competitions and then it is limited to the famous teams or skaters. K and D were so close twice to a world medal. You would think they would give it one more try. But I understand she wants to go to the next olympics and needs to work on that now.
Kirsten's most likely new partner at this point is Michael Marinaro.
As for Rockne Brubaker, he has retired from skating and recently taken a job as a performance director at a sports center.
Rockne has a new job as director of a skating school at a Cleveland rink. He won't be skating competitively any more.
That was at a time when figure skating was in a huge popularity boom, and pro skating was alive and healthy. That is definitely not the case today. There are strong pro tours in Europe and Japan, but a North American team who'd never competed together or did so without measurable success wouldn't be hired for those. And forget SOI, which is struggling to remain in existence---they hire only the top skaters.
Unlike you most will miss their chemistry and fun programs. Yes they may not have had the medals but they had a lot of LOVE.
Of course your Canada hate is despicable.....
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
Well, that's a bit debatable. On the Grand Prix, B/L are indeed slightly more successful by virtue of having 1 gold and more silvers (even though both teams have 7 GP medals), a GPF silver (although MT/M have a better track record of actually qualifying for the final), and more ISU Championship (Euro) medals, but on a World and Olympic level MT/M have had better results.
B/L:
Worlds - never higher than 5th (8th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 7th)
Olympics - 11th, 6th
Euros - 3 medals (1 silver, 2 bronze)
GP: 1 Gold (notably over MT/M), 5 silvers, 1 bronze
GPF: 2 GPF qualifications in 6 seasons, 1 silver
Personal Best - 201.61
MT/M
Worlds - 4th place finishes the past two years (both times over B/L) and an 8th
Olympics - 5th (over B/L) (and a team silver, which they helped contribute to)
4CC - one silver
GP - no golds, 4 silvers, 3 bronzes
GPF - 3 GPF qualifications in 5 seasons, no medals
Personal Best: 208.45
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
In the end though if you cant get a world medal, a grand prix final medal or grand prix victories are the next best thing. M-T&M ultimately got none of those things, while B&L atleast got each of the latter two. So I would agree B&L had the more successful career. The only thing that could swing it in favor of M-T&M is their team Olympic medal, depending how people grade that.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
Yeah, at this point I would also agree B/L probably are more successful but honestly I think both teams will be remembered about the same amount. Both were very good, neither quite great. I am very sad about MT/M because I do think they had potential to break into the next level, but c'est la vie.
Marinaro, yes. That's what I posted above in response to someone's question about Mervin Tran.
Right now it looks like Marinaro is more likely to be Kirsten's new partner than Tran since apparently they have already been spotted on the ice together.
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2014
I do not think their results with new partners will improve. I'm also surprised Kirsten busted up the partnership for an 8 year 'game plan' at her age. Sure, a few skaters can keep going until their late 20s. But it's certainly not the norm.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
Well, they're both strong individual pairs skaters and she's pretty fearless. She just needs a competent male partner with a bit of street cred (I wish it were Tran instead of Marinaro). I mean, nobody could have guessed Volosozhar/Trankov who were middle-of-the-pack with their former partners would become one of the greatest teams ever after they paired up.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
Yeah I understand her decision better having read many of the comments here, but at the end of the day I think she probably should have stayed with Dylan for another quad. However, it's not my life so I can only hope she will be happy with her decision and that both will be successful in finding new partners.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
She may have felt she went as far as she could with Dylan. I mentioned this in the other thread but their twist isnt big and exciting, so that is already hard to overcome in todays pairs worlds. The judges tend to want both wow twists and wow throws, and to a lesser degree wow lifts (M-T&M did have that) and atleast landed jumps, and that has a carryover effect to all the scores and the PCS too I feel. I honestly think if they had a huge and exciting twist they would have won the bronze at the 2013 and 2014 worlds, and maybe even the bronze at the 2014 Olympics (this much less certain though), with the exact same performances, and all else remaining the same.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
I do feel they surely could have improved the twist though if they'd made it a priority and consulted with some 'experts' about how to do so. He is a strong guy and a whole foot taller than her. I just can't believe that twist was really the best one they ever could have done.
It's hard to say who is better. Tran is a former World bronze medalist, but he's smaller than Marinaro, and perhaps Kirsten wants a bigger guy. She presumably knows what 'body type' she wants her guy to have.
Similar threads
- Sticky
