Igor Shpilband fired

[ice coverage]

Tessa and Scott were away for 6 weeks but were kept in the loop by rinkmates but evidently the loop did not include impending firing of Shpilband.

I don't find anything Scott says to be necessarily untrue or merely diplomatic. It is this part

Shpilband, 47, was told to leave the club by management who said a conflict between the two had created tensions in the club. "Marina and Igor just weren’t seeing eye to eye on some really important things," Moir said. "And they had to split ways. It was really unfortunate."
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that indicates the firing as a result of the conflict between the two coaches, which is likely more true than the official reason given. The report also generally contradicts the official claim of the skaters' ultimatum against Shpilband. Scott is not colloborating with the management, although he and Tessa choose to stay with Zoueva.

Nothing surprising really.

Yes, yes, I totally agree that Moir's comments about Shpilband were completely sincere. In my original post, I meant "diplomatic" only in a positive sense (if I think of a better word, maybe I will go back and revise that post). I admire Moir for making a point of saying that V/M will miss Shpilband and that he will be hard to replace.

 

[conga]

"Shpilband, 47, was told to leave the club by management who said a conflict between the two had created tensions in the club."

I still can't get over how poorly this has all been handled. Arctic FSC doesn't own the rink, right? This now sounds as if it were club management and not rink management that told Igor to leave and those are two different animals. And obviously the skaters have to sound sincere in their public statements, but Moir's comments that "they had to split ways" is a far cry from what happened.

 

[Violet Bliss]

"Shpilband, 47, was told to leave the club by management who said a conflict between the two had created tensions in the club."

I still can't get over how poorly this has all been handled. Arctic FSC doesn't own the rink, right? This now sounds as if it were club management and not rink management that told Igor to leave and those are two different animals. And obviously the skaters have to sound sincere in their public statements, but Moir's comments that "they had to split ways" is a far cry from what happened.

The G&M reports as they interpret the event whereas the original report quoted the official words. Both the club manager and the rink owner were at the "firing" to exercise their collective authority.

Scott doesn't have to sound sincere. He says more than a necessary diplomatic press release, about his feelings about Shpilband as well as Tessa's and his decision, acknowledging without elaborating on the feud, or the politics. Nothing indicates that the 6 top skaters demanded Shpilband's leaving or else they would.

 

[rmaap1]

The G&M reports as they interpret the event whereas the original report quoted the official words. Both the club manager and the rink owner were at the "firing" to exercise their collective authority.

Scott doesn't have to sound sincere. He says more than a necessary diplomatic press release, about his feelings about Shpilband as well as Tessa's and his decision, acknowledging without elaborating on the feud, or the politics. Nothing indicates that the 6 top skaters demanded Shpilband's leaving or else they would.

Who is the club manager you are talking about? I don;t remember seeing any of the Arctic FSC board quoted.

 

[Mathman]

Tessa and Scott were away for 6 weeks but were kept in the loop by rinkmates but evidently the loop did not include impending firing of Shpilband.

I don't find anything Scott says to be necessarily untrue or merely diplomatic. It is this part

Shpilband, 47, was told to leave the club by management who said a conflict between the two had created tensions in the club. "Marina and Igor just weren’t seeing eye to eye on some really important things," Moir said. "And they had to split ways. It was really unfortunate."

that indicates the firing as a result of the conflict between the two coaches, which is likely more true than the official reason given. The report also generally contradicts the official claim of the skaters' ultimatum against Shpilband. Scott is not colloborating with the management, although he and Tessa choose to stay with Zoueva.

Nothing surprising really.

Everything that has come out since the initial announcement has flatly contradicted the original statement of the rink owner and general manager. The simple truth would have served everyone's interests better.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Everything that has come out since the initial announcement has flatly contradicted the original statement of the rink owner and general manager. The simple truth would have served everyone's interests better.

Evidently not everyone involved, especially not the management who took the action and gave the official reason. They had to cover themselves.

Who is the club manager you are talking about? I don;t remember seeing any of the Arctic FSC board quoted.

Craig O'Neill, longtime general manager of the Arctic Edge. John Stansik is the rink owner.

 

[rmaap1]

Evidently not everyone involved, especially not the management who took the action and gave the official reason. They had to cover themselves.



Craig O'Neill, longtime general manager of the Arctic Edge. John Stansik is the rink owner.

OK thanks, he is the rink manager, nothing to do with the Arctic FSC.

I would be very surprised if the club "management" (i.e. volunteer parent board) had anything to do with it. One thing people don't seem to understand about most of these skating clubs is that they are run by the parents of the young developing skaters. The dance teams practice separately during the day when most of the club's skaters are at school and the dance teams are not that involved with the club, aside from the fact they may make an appearance at the ice shows. For the most part, the dance coaches like Igor and Marina aren't the ones teaching the learn-to-skate classes or giving private lessons to club skaters. I'm sure that Igor and Marina contracted directly with the rink for the ice, and it would have been the rink management involved, not the skating club.

 

[colleen o'neill]

Correct me if I'm wrong , but isn't Beverly Smith renowned for these little gaffes ? However, the quotes sound genuine..but may have come out of a scrum and not necessarily from a one-on-one interview , so no on the spot checking of details ( you'd think she wouldn't have needed to check the Michigan bit , though )..

 

[Mathman]

Evidently not everyone involved, especially not the management who took the action and gave the official reason. They had to cover themselves.

That's the part I don't get. Why did the management of the arena have to "cover themselves?" If the real reason they let Shpilband go was because of friction between him and Zoueva, why not just say so? Or better yet, say nothing?

But here is another thing, just brought up above. The Arctic Edge arena is not the Arctic Figure Skating Club. Shpilband and Zoueva are both listed (still ) as coaches on the Arctic FSC site. As far as I can tell they are not employees of the Arctic Edge arena. So what exactly does it mean for the owner and general manager of the arena to fire a coach?

Is it possible that the general manager and owner are mostly involved in scheduling hockey leagues, lining up sponsors, etc. -- the bread and butter of their enterprise, and were thrown into the middle of the tangle unwillingly and unprepared?

By the way, I looked up the management team at the Novi Ice Arena. The general manager came to the rink from managing a golf course. He also did administrative work at the University of Michigan's Football and Hockey Stadiums. The Program Manager's credentials include serving as media representative for the Detroit professional women's basketball team. Then there is a hockey person (assistant manager) and a figure skating person.

My impression is that the people who run skating rinks are sports management types, not skaters. They do not necessarily let the tail wag the dog.

 

[Mathman]

I'm sure that Igor and Marina contracted directly with the rink for the ice, and it would have been the rink management involved...

OK, ignore what I wrote above.

So how does this work? The coach approaches the rink management and contracts to buy ice time, then passes this charge on to his students in his fees?

But the rink manager seemed also to take a proprietary interest in the 6 skaters independent of who is coaching them. And why would rink management object if the coach took on even more students, presumably buying even more ice time??

 

[rmaap1]

OK, ignore what I wrote above.

So how does this work? The coach approaches the rink management and contracts to buy ice time, then passes this charge on to his students in his fees?

But the rink manager seemed also to take a proprietary interest in the 6 skaters independent of who is coaching them. And why would rink management object if the coach took on even more students, presumably buying even more ice time??

I'm not totally sure, but I imagine it more like they negotiate a lower ice fee for their skaters that the skaters pay directly to the rink, and then the skaters would also pay the coaches directly. For instance if a rink normally sells ice at $200/hour, that would be too much to spread across 8 skaters. The rink would be more likely to reduce the price if they are assured of a long-term arrangement, especially if it means unsold ice is getting used/bought.

Honestly I don't get know how the rink management got so involved in this situation. I could be making this all up, but thinking long-term, if Igor brings in new teams that are exclusively his, then the olympians retire in a few years, what is Marina left with? There's no way she is going to let that go down without a fight. She didn't want Igor there anymore and now he's gone. (And I am assuming if Marina left the rink with the "kids," Johnny Johns would have gone too.)

 

[phaeljones]

I'm not totally sure, but I imagine it more like they negotiate a lower ice fee for their skaters that the skaters pay directly to the rink, and then the skaters would also pay the coaches directly. For instance if a rink normally sells ice at $200/hour, that would be too much to spread across 8 skaters. The rink would be more likely to reduce the price if they are assured of a long-term arrangement, especially if it means unsold ice is getting used/bought.

Honestly I don't get know how the rink management got so involved in this situation. I could be making this all up, but thinking long-term, if Igor brings in new teams that are exclusively his, then the olympians retire in a few years, what is Marina left with? There's no way she is going to let that go down without a fight. She didn't want Igor there anymore and now he's gone. (And I am assuming if Marina left the rink with the "kids," Johnny Johns would have gone too.)

Agreed. The involvement of management just doesn't make sense.

The only relationship is between the coach and skater, not management. Rink relationships are way down the list.

Perhaps management became involved to do the dirty work on behalf of the skaters at their request because they didn't have the class to discuss it with Igor and tell him to his face that after so many years of dedication they were dumping him onto the street. That adds up. Whatever the reason the skaters got rid of him, be it to go with Marina, it was the skaters who left Igor not management (with whom Igor had no relationship of relative value other than a place anyway).

l

 

[skateluvr]

Since the ice dance fans and some ice dancers maybe are reading this hot thread, could you answer an OT question? Did V/M deserve the gold at worlds? Was D/W FD as difficult and as masetrly as it looked? If you had to say team x is clearly the best in the world, what team is it?

And why is V/M considered better than W/P? What is is that they do so much better to win medals every event? Ice dance is less about reputation judging than it was pre SLC scandal, I see, but it still seems quite impt. Maybe this should be a separate thread from the speculation/firing thread but it's pretty much over and we will likely not know until someone writes a book and tells all. Thanks for opinions of ID aficionados.

I thought D/W program superior/harder to the untrained eye and don't see why they lost the gold. ?? Thanks again.

 

[rmaap1]

Agreed. The involvement of management just doesn't make sense.

The only relationship is between the coach and skater, not management. Rink relationships are way down the list.

Perhaps management became involved to do the dirty work on behalf of the skaters at their request because they didn't have the class to discuss it with Igor and tell him to his face that after so many years of dedication they were dumping him onto the street. That adds up. Whatever the reason the skaters got rid of him, be it to go with Marina, it was the skaters who left Igor not management (with whom Igor had no relationship of relative value other than a place anyway).

l

I look at it more like it was Marina who quit Igor and made everyone else choose.

 

[conga]

Who is the club manager you are talking about? I don;t remember seeing any of the Arctic FSC board quoted.

Exactly. SkateFiguring, what source indicated that both the club manager and the rink owner were at the "firing?" I don't recall reading that anywhere. If that is actually true, then I suppose it's possible someone from the Arctic FSC Board contacted US Figure Skating. Most coaches have their USFS memberships through a specific club, just like the skaters, unless they are individual members. Again, though, I can't imagine this happening unless there was something beyond two coaches not getting along.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Exactly. SkateFiguring, what source indicated that both the club manager and the rink owner were at the "firing?" I don't recall reading that anywhere.

From the now expanded original article linked in the OP:

Figure skating coach Igor Shpilband was told by the owner of the Arctic Edge Arena and its general manager today that he is no longer at their club.

<snip>

“What John (Stansik) and I did today was all based on the kids," O'Neill said of Virtue and Moir, Davis and White, and 2011 world bronze medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani. "Igor did talk about starting his own program, and coaching some of his own kids, and we didn't have issues with that. Our main focus has to be the top three teams.

eta:

If that is actually true, then I suppose it's possible someone from the Arctic FSC Board contacted US Figure Skating.

From the same article:

O'Neill said that U.S. Figure Skating was apprised of the problems at the rink since the end of April or beginning of May. Shpilband said that when he spoke with Mitch Moyer, senior director of athlete high performance at U.S. Figure Skating, he said was about the "issue I had with Marina."

 

[Dragonlady]

I look at the fact that V&M took the idea of Funny Face to Marina and she created a challenging and entertaining program using their theme and put them into a position to regain the World Championship with it, while at the same time choreographing a dance that was a stunning froth for Davis & White. It's a shame that one team had to lose because it doesn't get any better than those two dances.

 

[Dragonlady]

Igor seems to be landing on his feet and hitting the ground running. It will be interesting to see who makes the jump to Igor now that he's no longer committed to anyone above Chock & Bates in the rankings.

 

[conga]

From the now expanded original article linked in the OP:

OK-an issue of semantics. "Club" to me means a figure skating club as identified by USFS. You used the word differently. Both of the people indicated were actual "rink" management, as in owner and facility manager. Still, it is highly unusual, perhaps unheard of, for rink management to be in direct contact with USFS regarding a coaching issue. I guess we will never know.

 

[ice coverage]

Evan Bates ‏@Evan_Bates

"Starting a new chapter in Novi this week. Thanks to all who have wished us well."
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2:56 PM - 13 Jun 12​

Novi Ice Arena ‏@NoviIceArena

"We're very excited to welcome Coach Shpilband and his ice dancing teams to the Novi Ice Arena! http://bit.ly/LXwbJD ‪#skating‬ ‪#novi‬ ‪#olympics‬"
2:03 PM - 13 Jun 12
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[Excited indeed ... note the arena's #olympics hashtag ]​