2024 Skate Canada Pairs Free Skate

[Diana Delafield]

Probably
CBC gem.

I watched in real time on CBC (not GEM). I just googled CBC figure skating schedule. Select the streaming schedule (if it's showing "broadcast schedule"). When an event starts, a "watch" button will appear; click on it and you'll start the stream.

Worked like a charm, except one time out of 6 they had the wrong link and I had to start over again googling CBC and the individual event name.

I guess that's what happened to me, but I didn't think to turn off and try again. Got it all later when directed to Daily Motion, though.

 

[withwings]

I may be in the minority, but I really like Deanna and Max's FS music and choreography. Obviously this wasn't the performance they wanted with errors on both side by side jumps and throws. But there's a lot of great stuff here. Loved the entry into the pair spin. Love the timing to the music and Deanna's exquisite position in the group 3 lift. Rightly didn't win the free. Deanna has no poker face at all, lol.

I didn't notice Geynish and Chigirev in the SP, but really enjoyed their FS. The had a couple of really unique lift positions that I appreciated a lot. They're certainly on the radar now.

Hocke/Kunkel: I don't understand this music choice at all. It is not helping them, and the program overall is forgettable.

Laurin/Ethier: what are they doing to develop this team? They are young and promising, but they were young and promising two years ago as well and don't seem to have progressed very far since then. Their elements are pretty good (most of the time) but this team desperately needs to develop something unique to set them apart, and they desperately need polish. They always look kinda rough around the edges. I'm a little worried that their team isn't doing that, which would be a shame, since I do think they have potential.

I completely agree about Laurin/Ethier- talented but their development seems to be left in limbo.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

The commentary, I believe by Chris Howarth, on Peacock is not good. Too much gushing and inaccurate comments, despite his nice sounding voice. I'm glad I can check out the better Canadian commentary of SkCa on Dailymotion.

After Chan/Howe had a fairly decent free skate, Howarth ineptly acted as if the rest of the field had something to be worried about. C/H's fairly decent showing was more of a morale booster for them, not a challenge for the final four teams. Let's be honest, after a nice opening 3-sbs jump combo pass, C/H intentionally landed sbs double salchows (?), I suppose knowing that Emily was probably going to double hers anyway had they gone for triples. That said, Emily and Spencer are well-matched and they have much better charisma and presentation abilities than Geynish/ Chigirev.

I liked the dress Geynish wore in the fp and their music was interesting, but they did absolutely nothing to express that music. It was just playing in the background, completely disconnected to the well-executed elements they rapped off. I recall that G/C had perhaps one slight technical execution mistake. The rest of their tech elements were above average. However, they were slow as molasses, immature, and lacked connection. Their basics are generally sharp and sound, though, so with maturity they could do very well in pairs. This is a great start for them internationally, since technical consistency is the name of the game in figure skating. Being proficient technically boosts one's pcs.

Howarth would have been more on the mark had he waited to point out how G/C's fp score would cause jitters in the rest of the field. For many skaters in men, women, and pairs (albeit with some exceptions, like Schizas and Rina M in women; Malinin and Cha in men), their SkCa results are nothing to write home about. Ice dance was more watchable, and even then, there were two fluke falls by a couple of teams (Zac L in RD & Ian S in FD).

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Poor Deanna and Maxime - rough outing!

I would not refer to Max & Deanna as 'poor,' but for sure this was a rough outing, at home no less! Obviously, they are gonna make sure they take stock and come out stronger the next time. I wonder if it had been tougher competitors they were up against if they might have not perhaps unconsciously let down a little or relax too much. They ended up having to fight amidst errors. Did the top teams not anticipate G/C skating as technically strong as they did in the fp?

 

[Weathergal]

I would not refer to Max & Deanna as 'poor,' but for sure this was a rough outing, at home no less! Obviously, they are gonna make sure they take stock and come out stronger the next time. I wonder if it had been tougher competitors they were up against if they might have not have perhaps unconsciously let down a little or relax too much. They ended up having to fight amidst errors. Did the top teams not anticipate G/C skating as technically strong as they did in the fp?

I felt bad for them in the moment. I think you're making too much out of a passing comment.

As far as them relaxing, Deanna...relaxing? Really? I don't think it's anything of the sort. They've added a more difficult jump and lift so there's obviously a lot to work through. Plus as world champs, it's got to be hard not to feel that pressure, especially at a "home" event. I don't think the top teams gave much thought to Geynish / Chigirev one way or another -- and that's no offense intended toward them. I just think most teams are worried about focusing on themselves, especially at this point in the season as they're still adding skills, polishing programs, etc. Plus Geynish / Chigirev were only added on 9/23 - I think when Canada gave up their third pairs slot, but don't quote me on that - so I don't think they were really on a lot of radars anyway.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

^^ Good and sound reasoning. I understand your sentiment and the figure of speech, but just as Deanna (and Max), as you say, would never relax or take things for granted, I personally would not use 'poor" to describe how I felt about them in that moment. Maybe 'sad for them,' perhaps. Even then, I didn't feel sad, because I think they understand the realities of competition, and having a rough time along the way will probably make them stronger.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

The commentary, I believe by Chris Howarth, on Peacock is not good. Too much gushing and inaccurate comments,

Inaccurate in your opinion.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Inaccurate in your opinion.

Yep, my views are my own, and Howarth's gushing opinions are his own, of course. He contradicted himself a few times, and he had to correct a couple of misstatements about music and other references, e.g., stating that Zingas/ Kolesnik's RD music is to Michael Jackson. And sure, such mistakes can happen, but his were notable. At the same time, Howarth has a lovely voice and he made some interesting insights on occasion.

When Howarth dramatically predicted that Chan/Howe's fp performance and score would challenge the remaining teams, sure that was his opinion, and he was wrong. Fair enough that he felt that way. It was an okay performance by C/H in their comeback journey post Spencer's surgery. Good job by C/H on their opening jumping pass, but those intentional sbs double jumps on the second pass do not help garner enough points.

I felt at the time that Howarth's suggestion was overly generous. C/H's score was not high enough to realistically pose a serious challenge to the teams ahead of them, unless they all flat-out bombed. LOL, even the top teams who made numerous mistakes in the fp had enough of a sp scoring margin to not be worried about C/H's result.