I agree with geoskate. I've been tracking ice dance scores for all international competitors since 2006. It is certainly not usual for an ice dance team to have a 10+ point improvement from one competition to the next---unless there was a major whoopsie in the first competition.
Judges at domestic competitions do tend to have a more optimistic view of their home competitors.
I believe Alexe Gilles does intend to skate for Canada. She is Piper Gilles' twin sister, BTW. Alexe hasn't been competitive in the US since she was a junior, so a switch to Canada may be in her best interest.
I don’t think there was much home cooking going on at Minto. The ranks of Junior are full of talent. There was only 1 Junior team that trained in Minto and was from Eastern section. I suspect home cooking when the local teams in the local competition get exceptionally high marks that later prove to not stand up internationally or in other competitions outside of Section. That’s why I think Lake Placid and Minto are great places to access where teams are really at without political agendas or local bias. From my perspective, I think it was pretty straight up judging. It makes some sense that marks vary substantially from competition to competition this early in the season. Fixing an illegal element, up-grading a level, smoothing out transitions and footwork, staying on one’s feet can all make a big difference in the marks.
Not sure if this actually belongs in the Minto thread, but since we are discussing Minto here….
There were actually 2 events, not 1 combined event – 10 teams in the SD and 11 in the FD. Minto added a practise on the Sunday morning for the FD, and monitoring after both events were done on the Sunday, with athletes, coaches and judges. Next year they should spread the SD and FD events out a little more, maybe put the SD in the early afternoon on Saturday, and put other events, maybe the Juvenile, Pre-Novice and Novice dance before the Junior FD on Sunday where competitors normally stay and skate instead of drop out. The Senior Men and Ladies events were first, and there were a lot of withdrawals on Sunday. That tends to happen at this time of year in the singles events.
Bent/MacKeen: very much deserved their wins both days. They were clean, precise, well packaged, and with excellent vehicles. I was especially impressed with the tango FD. It was extremely well done. Of all the Scarboro teams, they really are my favourites, and I think they have the most potential over the long-term.
Poulin/Servant: really liked their SD. The soft hip hop was very effective with the blues. But they weren’t entirely clean, and were a little fortunate to be in 2nd place. Their skating skills – smoothness, flow, presentation – were the strongest in my opinion. FD was very good, with well-developed theme. Bent/MacKeen were just really, really strong. It should be noted that these 2 are only Junior for international purposes. I expect Skate Canada to give them 1 spot as the Junior Champions. With so many strong teams, unless a team can make it to the JGP Final, I think Skate Canada should be spreading around assignments as much as possible. We only have 7 guaranteed spots this year.
Marrow/Mulder: This is a striking, beautiful new team. Long lines, strong edges, soft knees, really solid in the feet. They are both quite tall, and are a great match for each other. The SD was very, very strong, and they took home the bronze medal. The blues patterns were the biggest and most precise of the competition. Great presentation. Music was Harlem Nocturne I think, and It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing). FD was a different story. Just not as finished as the SD, and this reflected in the marks. Not really sold on the concept of the program, to be honest. A little light and fluffy and schmaltzy for my taste. This team can manage something bigger and more powerful.
Cyr/Brisebois: They have really developed in the off season. I liked them last year, and like them even more this year. They are elegant with beautiful lines. The SD was ok, but the FD was just lovely. Beautiful classical program. She looks like a ballerina. They certainly earned their 3rd place medal in the FD. It will be good to see how they develop more over the season. It will be quite the jockey at Nationals for top 5 positions I think…. Likely 3 from BC, 1 from Western, 1 from Central, and 2 from Quebec.
Desveaux/Razgulajevs: This is another long-time Scarboro team. They had 2 solid performances. They seem to be quite young, and this showed in their performance marks. They have a lot of potential, and I’d put them ahead of some of the other developing teams. They are just up from Novice, so we’ll see how they grow and develop over the next couple of years.
Kuzmich/Hockley: Not a fan of this team. They have improved over last season. He has a wonderful character and personality on the ice. But I often find what they do to be tacky, and the skating and posture to be weak. In my opinion, the SD was tacky, including the costumes. I did not think the hip hop worked with the blues in this format. The FD is much better, but again I think there is so much more depth, maturity and development they could do with that music.
Collins/Seymour: A just up from Novice team that put in a strong showing. They are small and look young, but have good energy and are developing nicely. They have a lot of potential, and it will be interesting to watch them over the next couple of years. They are well packaged, and have very good material.
Glavine/Hough: Another just up from Novice team. They are definitely still a developing team, missing a lot of polish and flow and finesse. In their FD especially, they looked like they were almost trying too hard. They were off unison with each other, and he especially looked a little wild in his movements. They were out of sync with each other. They have confidence and presence, but are developing the skills and presentation.
Croteau-Villeneuve/Barthe: I don’t really remember this team from Novice last year. Not sure if they are a brand new team? They had some significant errors that kept them down in the ranks. They are a well-matched team, but without the strength and skill and maturity of some of the top teams. We’ll see how they develop over the season.
Moyer/Chapplain: Another just up from Novice team. They were missing some key levels on the blues which really hit them hard in the marks in the SD. It’s early in the season yet, and it is clear their programs are still very much in development. Her dress looked like a free skate dress instead of a dance dress. They might just not have everything together yet for the season.
Penkov/Proulx Senecal: This is the other brand new Junior team this Spring. They entered only the FD event. They are well-packaged and well-matched, but they just weren’t ready for competition yet. Maybe it was first competition nerves, or just not yet ready, but it was not a good performance for them, with so many errors, and we’ll have to wait and see in a couple of months how they develop.
am back!!! 
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