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

I expect the MT/Marinaro pairing to be announced soon. The more interesting question now to me is who Moskovitch might team up with.

Ryan O said:

Some sources on other skating message boards are claiming that Kirsten is more likely to skate with Michael Marinaro.

So I guess we'll have to stay tuned.

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Is he any good?

Alba said:

Is he any good?

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Well, Marinaro is a solid pairs skater, but he obviously has much less experience than Kirsten or Dylan because he hasn't been to a (Senior) Worlds yet. Michael and Margaret were 5th at this year's Canadians, and they were the Junior World Silver medalists last year. Margaret's tall height was considered the main problem in that partnership.

Although Marinaro has less experience, one advantage he has over Dylan is that he is much younger. He's almost as young as Kirsten - (Turned 22 earlier this year, and Kirsten will be 22 in a few months).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Marinaro

chuckm said:

It reads to me that she wants a commitment for at least one full Olympic cycle, or even two from a new partner.

Dylan says he wants a partner for 2014-2015. BIG difference there--it sounds like he's taking it one year at a time. Considering he's turning 30 in September, that seems reasonable.

Kristen needs to start working with a partner now in order to be at an elite level in 2018. Given the difference in goals the split makes perfect sense.

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I wonder how much interest Dylan is going to get from potential partners given that he's only proposing a short-term association. Wouldn't most women skaters be aiming for long-term goals?

Ryan O said:

Well, Marinaro is a solid pairs skater, but he obviously has much less experience than Kirsten or Dylan because he hasn't been to a (Senior) Worlds yet. Michael and Margaret were 4th at this year's Canadians, and they were the Junior World Silver medalists a couple of years ago. Margaret's tall height was considered the main problem in that partnership.

Although Marinaro has less experience than Moore-Towers, one advantage he has over Dylan is that he is much younger. He's almost as young as Kirsten - (Turned 22 earlier this year, and Kirsten will be 22 in a few months).

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That sounds good to me. He looks cute too. I think they will be very good together. Mark my words.

flutzy13 said:

I expect the MT/Marinaro pairing to be announced soon. The more interesting question now to me is who Moskovitch might team up with.

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If things don't work out with Massot, Aljona Savchenko?

So, how much funding would there be in place with two top-tier skaters each starting a new partnership? I'm sure they get plenty of support from Skate Canada but what happens now if they split the pot in terms of funding? They'll likely have to get new sponsors each.

anyanka said:

If things don't work out with Massot, Aljona Savchenko?

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I don't think Savchenko would do it, since her goal is to win Olympic gold, and he can't even commit for post-2015.

blancanieves said:

I wonder how much interest Dylan is going to get from potential partners given that he's only proposing a short-term association. Wouldn't most women skaters be aiming for long-term goals?

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I think it depends. At a high level, yes. Other less successful pair girls might jump at the chance to have such a strong partner if only for a year or two and hope they can convince him on a year to year basis.

As much as I loved M-T/M, it sounds like the split makes sense. Kristen wants to go for another Olympics, maybe even two. And who can blame her, considering her age? Dylan sounds like he just wants to go for another year, and then he'll see what happens. Again, understandable due to age. It's probably best for them to split now, to give Kristen the maximum amount of time to train and gel with her new partner for the next Olympics. She won't be able to replicate her results with Dylan right away, but it's good to get an early start (and take the meh results next season) in order to prepare for the long haul.

I wish them both luck.

Sandpiper said:

It's probably best for them to split now, to give Kristen the maximum amount of time to train and gel with her new partner for the next Olympics. She won't be able to replicate her results with Dylan right away, but it's good to get an early start (and take the meh results next season) in order to prepare for the long haul.

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Yes, this seems to be the emerging consensus tonight from most skating fans, even those who are fans of M-T&M.

As long as Kirsten gels well enough with her new partner, this won't seem like a bad idea (although it's sad for Dylan who wanted to continue with her). A "verbal 4-8 year commitment" before a pair even attempts to skate together is relatively meaningless though. If her new partnership doesn't "click" and fizzles after a year or two like so many new partnerships do, she will have wasted those years trying to get something off the ground when she could have been continuing her already strong partnership with Dylan. But I'm sure she put a lot of thought into what had to have been a very difficult decision and is prepared to live with any possible regret.

gold12345 said:

If her new partnership doesn't "click" and fizzles after a year or two like so many new partnerships do, she will have wasted those years trying to get something off the ground when she could have been continuing her already strong partnership with Dylan. But I'm sure she put a lot of thought into what had to have been a very difficult decision and is prepared to live with any possible regret.

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It's always difficult to analyze the pros & cons of a new skating partnership, as well as to deal with the potential fallout from skating fans. Sometimes one partner will get blamed by the fans more than the other for why the original partnership ended, even though those fans are often not privy to all of the factors that go into making these decisions.

Ryan O said:

It's always difficult to analyze the pros & cons of a new skating partnership, as well as to deal with the potential fallout from skating fans. Sometimes one partner will get blamed by the fans more than the other for why the original partnership ended, even though those fans are often not privy to all of the factors that go into making these decisions.

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Mmmmm. Why did the word "Nikita" just pop into my head...

Although, to be fair, in that case, I don't think we know ANY of the factors apart from the obvious one.


Back to the Canadians, and when I first read the statement, I was very disappointed in Kirsten. From the first reading, it sounded like she was saying:


But, reading through the comments that have been posted in this thread since the statement, I can see how splitting now would make sense to her.

If Dylan doesn't know if he can commit to a full cycle, it probably is better for Kirsten to get out now and maximise the time with her new partner. And if it doesn't work out with whoever she ends up with, Kirsten will still have time to try and look for an alternative partner at the end of this coming season.

But, where does this leave Dylan? Let's face it, none of the top 10 female Canadian Pairs Skaters are going to want to partner up with him, for the same reasons that Kirsten left him.

Yes, he could "do a Zhang Hao" and use his experience to help bring on a much younger skater. But, no disrespect intended, Zhang Hao is a lot better a skater than Dylan Moscovitch.

Also, Zhang Hao made clear from the start that he was in it for the long-haul. So, Peng Cheng had nothing to lose by partnering up with him. For any young skater that partnered up with Dylan, yes they would be able to learn a lot from his years of experience. But they would also know that this was liable to be a short-term partnership. And when you are in your mid-teens trying to establish yourself in your discipline, it is not a good thing to be chopping and changing partners all the time. So, why bother?

So, I fear Dylan is going to be left high and dry. Which is a shame, as I really like him, both as a skater and as a person.


If I was in Kirsten's shoes (which would be weird given that I'm a guy!), I think I would have carried on with Dylan for next season, but at the same time been having try-outs with other skaters. Playing it like this would have left all options open for both of them:

• It would give Dylan more time to assess his ability and desire to continue.
• It would allow Kirsten to test the water and see if she can find somebody who she feels comfortable with just in case Dylan can't commit for any longer.

If, at the end of the year, Kirsten can't find somebody she feels comfortable with, and Dylan does want to continue, then they can just carry on without having wasted a year with other people.

It would also mean that neither of them would be left high and dry if the other found a partner, and they didn't.

But, alas, they have decided to just split now.

And as a result, we have missed out on what could have been a great battle between them and Duhamel/Radford to be the top Candian couple in Pairs Skating in the next quad.

Oh well! hwell:

I wish both of them all the best with whatever their futures hold.

CaroLiza_ fan

CaroLiza_fan said:

If I was in Kirsten's shoes (which would be weird given that I'm a guy!), I think I would have carried on with Dylan for next season, but at the same time been having try-outs with other skaters. Playing it like this would have left all options open for both of them:

• It would give Dylan more time to assess his ability and desire to continue.
• It would allow Kirsten to test the water and see if she can find somebody who she feels comfortable with just in case Dylan can't commit for any longer.

If, at the end of the year, Kirsten can't find somebody she feels comfortable with, and Dylan does want to continue, then they can just carry on without having wasted a year with other people.

It would also mean that neither of them would be left high and dry if the other found a partner, and they didn't.

But, alas, they have decided to just split now.

And as a result, we have missed out on what could have been a great battle between them and Duhamel/Radford to be the top Candian couple in Pairs Skating in the next quad.

Oh well! hwell:

I wish both of them all the best with whatever their futures hold.

CaroLiza_ fan

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But I don't know if they would accept it: train together every day, go to competitions etc. and at the same time having tryouts with other partners? Not impossible, of course, but not a lot of partners would accept that I think But I think that it is even more difficult to accept for our selfish fan spirits!

I'm thinking Dylan might end up pairing up with someone to skate in shows, if he can't find someone to skate with competitively again. I'm not sure who, though. Jessica Dube? I know she doesn't want to compete anymore, but she might do shows. Mukhortova? lol.

blue_idealist said:

I'm thinking Dylan might end up pairing up with someone to skate in shows, if he can't find someone to skate with competitively again. I'm not sure who, though. Jessica Dube? I know she doesn't want to compete anymore, but she might do shows. Mukhortova? lol.

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That's possible, but shows usually prefer skating teams who are well-known together from their time on the competitive circuit. Usually skating teams join shows once they have won National medals, World medals, etc. There's less appeal to an audience in going to a skating show to see teams that have no competitive history as partners.

kind of sad that Kirsten and Dylan never won a world medal - so close so so so close.

Any word on whether Kristen will stay with Wirtz and Wirtz as coaches? I thought they were a well suited team. I would think there might be some contenders in the wings for Kristen if she was willing to make the break. Rockne Brubaker? Too old?

slider11 said:

Any word on whether Kristen will stay with Wirtz and Wirtz as coaches? I thought they were a well suited team. I would think there might be some contenders in the wings for Kristen if she was willing to make the break. Rockne Brubaker? Too old?

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As in possible new partners? Probably Mervin Tran since they're around the same level