Canadian Results So Far

[mike79]

For a fan of Canadian skaters it has to be hard thinking that our highest finish so far was 8th place in all disciplines, although the rest of the skating has been spectacular, perhaps the best Worlds in years.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the highest result for the Canadian team came from the Ladies, the discipline that we haven't had much success in at all?

 

[Kara Bear]

Go Joannie!

 

[Antilles]

I second that. I hope both Joannie and Jennifer knock them dead.

 

[kimori]

What if Joannie beats Jens record in the top 8 maybe 7th!

 

[rpiche]

If J. Robinson and Joanie skates well then they can climb the ranks, but don't forget you still have

Irina Slutskaya, Elena Sokolova, Viktoria Volchkova, Jenny Kirk, Fumie Suguri.

Those ladies will fight for the 6,7,8,9, 10 spots.

 

[Sk8n Mama]

I think we have to consider that while we had no big finshes, we also had top tens in every discipline. That's something to be proud of

 

[mike79]

I think we have to consider that while we had no big finshes, we also had top tens in every discipline. That's something to be proud of

Yes, it's something to be proud of, but considering that this is the first time in over 20 years that Canada won't medal at Worlds it's a bit of a letdown.

I'm keeping myself unspoiled for this afternoon's broadcast of the Ladies. Joannie is looking so good right now. It's too bad that the judges have decided to drop Jen, even after two solid programs. If this is Jen's last eligible year, at least she's been a great ambassador for Canadian women's skating. And on the bright side we have Cynthia Phaneuf and Mira Leung on the rise.

 

[bleuchick]

This is for Skate Canada...

1. you really need to evaluate each skater and help them meet their goals. I believe all of our skaters have the talent but a large number of them are no way prepared to skate exceptionally well in such high pressure events like worlds and olympics.
Perhaps spending $10,000 on mental training like you did for Elizabeth Manley in 1988 will do.

2. the lack of innovation or something "different" to separate the Canadian skaters from the rest of the competitors. i.e. someone mentioned a new innovation in pairs - a jump then into the split twist. Richard Gauthier, are you listening? you innovated the death spiral 5-10 yrs ago....

3. ante up the technical score. i.e some skaters are doing 2 quads per program and are not Canadian. This is the land of the 1st quad!

these are some of the reasons why we did poorly this time around.

 

[Bashful]

This is for Skate Canada...

1. you really need to evaluate each skater and help them meet their goals. I believe all of our skaters have the talent but a large number of them are no way prepared to skate exceptionally well in such high pressure events like worlds and olympics.
Perhaps spending $10,000 on mental training like you did for Elizabeth Manley in 1988 will do.

2. the lack of innovation or something "different" to separate the Canadian skaters from the rest of the competitors. i.e. someone mentioned a new innovation in pairs - a jump then into the split twist. Richard Gauthier, are you listening? you innovated the death spiral 5-10 yrs ago....

3. ante up the technical score. i.e some skaters are doing 2 quads per program and are not Canadian. This is the land of the 1st quad!

these are some of the reasons why we did poorly this time around.

Maybe the U.S. should do something about it's pairs and ice dancers, because they didn't medal here. Maybe Japan should do something about it's pairs, ice dance, and men's teams, because they didn't medal. Perhaps Germany should do something about it's women, pairs and yes, ice dance, because this year they got a real gift there. Maybe China should do something about it's ice dancers, men's, and ladies because they didn't medal. Israel should just bail out, as well as Australia, Great Britain, Finland, etc, because they didn't medal.

I could go on... but my point is NO country (maybe Russia to an extent) can claim skating superiority rights.

In actuality, no where BUT Canada is there REAL talent in the ranks in ALL four disciplines. SO much is going on behind the scenes, the young up and coming talent is there.
Take a look at the pairs talent in Canada, they do stand out. The 8th placement for L/A was unfair, the audience and commentators seemed to think they had spark. In fact, the Canadian pairs seem to have a bond with the audience that the Russians and Chinese find difficult to connect with. Not the first time, too.
JMHO also, but doing two quads in a program is not a sign of real skating prowess if the rest of your skating is weak.

 

[bleuchick]

I know my post was gonna come out all negative and a bit harsh but I wrote it for Skate Canada. I have to be frank with these people because like I said, the TALENT is there but overall our teams are not so strong yet. So, Skate Canada, if you are reading this posting...take notes and get down to it.

 

[Bashful]

DON'T APOLOGIZE.......I totally got what you were saying..I guess what my post was all about was the point that talent is there, it sometimes doesn't translate into medals (transition period, the wrong skaters being sent perhaps? injuries, yadda yadda..)

Some years everything seems to come together, some years...well...


Cheers!

 

[Sk8n Mama]

What I want to see from Skate Canada is the courage to get the older ones to step aside to give the young ones the chance. They need the experience. Joannie said that she learned a ton from last year about comfort on the ice. I think it's foolish that we're only going to send Cynthia to one World's before the Olympics. Will she have enough experience to handle to pressure in Torino? We've got to get these kids exposed. When we see a talent like Emmanuel's going to waste because he can't conquer the mental, we need to get him with a sports pyshcologist ASAP. I think we also need to use our former athletes to help the new ones; could Elvis Stojko teach Emmanuel his secrets to performing under pressure?

But, generally, I am thrilled with what we've got coming up in Canadian skating. We may not have had podium placements this year but we've got 'em coming, I think. Just look at Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison! And, this was the first Canadians in a long time where our top three in each discipline looked like Senior International quality. I find that very encouraging. It wasn't so long ago where 3 clean triples would make a Canadian champion, don't forget.

 

[aliaschick]

yeah. 8th place is good. I mean we have done better in the past, but it's not that bad. We qualified 2 in every discipline next year and we have a lot of talented skaters. I'm happy Canadians were generally pretty good and all I can say is CANADAINS FOR WORLD MEDALLISTS NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[herios]

it's not about medals only

If an athlete goes to the worlds championships to represent his/her country and tries and achieves his own very best, that what the sport is all about, then they can keep their heads up and be proud of themselves....
IMO the vast majority of the Canadian team members did that!
Langlois & Archetto were by far better than all season long, would've been a bit higher, would they have skated later in the SP, probably yes, but not on the podium that is for sure....Way too tight competition and many could've said they were hosed (Zhang & Zhang more than others).
Marcoux & Buntin, 9th for their first attempt, great result.
Ben Ferreira, Dubreuil & Lauzon, Wing & Lowe achieved their best as well, maybe the ice dancers could've been 1 spot higher (7 and 10), that was their maximum potential IMO. Even Piche and Denis at their one trip to Worlds, their dream came through and that what matters....
Joannie Rochette was my biggest surprise, she put it together when it counted. Seeing the LP's, you can say she skated better than Costner for sure, who placed 6th, but still 8th is a great result. I am expecting her to be up in the top 6 next years...
Jennifer Robinson skated better than all year long, her result is not so impressive, but she can be very proud of herself....finishing a carreer on such a high note, with a great LP.
The only dissapointment and not living up to the expectations is Emmanuel. We all know this subject and I don't want to put a shadow on all the other team members, who accomplished very good results.
finally how weird is that, Canada took all the 8th spots????

Herios

 

[backoutsideedge]

You guys have really good ideas about what Skate Canada should do. Especially Sk8n Mama and bluechick. Why don't you send an email to SC with your thoughts? [email protected]


I feel SC is too cautious with its skaters. For some reason they baby them, hold them back. They never give the young ones a chance, but instead they go back to the aging veterans time and time again. Do you notice that the Russians, Americans and Japanese always send their YOUNG talented skaters out to GP events and worlds. If that were the RUssian Fed, they never would have sent Piche & Denis to worlds. That 3rd spot Canada had was wasted on them. And why not send Cynthia? She is our National Senior CHampion. If can be our National Champion she deserves to go to worlds.

I think our mens program is in trouble. We have only ONE skater who can land a quad jump (Sandhu) and that is only about 50% of the time. The guys at worlds are all attempting 2 quads in a LP. Soon our male skaters will have trouble placing in the top 10 at Worlds. We are years behind the rest of the world.

I for one would not be at all surprised to hear Mira Leung will be sent back on the JPG when she should be doing the GP. I think SC has the wrong strategy with our skaters and that's why Canada had bad results at Worlds and other countries do not.

 

[Sk8n Mama]

backoutsideedge-I could not agree more! The federations were sending their new ones to this world's to get them exposed for next year's pre-Olympic world's. We didn't. We should have sent Jeff Buttle. We should have sent Cynthia Phaneuf. We shouldn't have sent Piche and Denis (they have been around forever). No knock on B/M or L/A but I think we should have sent Davison and Dube to Seniors. Aren't we hoping for them for 2006??? SC is looking one year ahead-getting spots for next year's worlds-rather than thinking to Torinro. That's very flawed thinking and could cost our young skaters at the Olympics.

Why not send an e-mail to SC? Because they won't listen. They think they know it all. This is the way they've been doing it since I wa sa little girl. Too much game-playing within SC, not enough emphasis on getting our best talent the exposure.

 

[shine]

Can I just say again how totally PROUD I was of Joannie Rochette? To come from 17th from a year ago to 8th, landing ALL of her planned lutzes (having landedly only TWICE in competition during the season) and holding it together with such poise and in arguably the toughest year and one of the best skated of ladies worlds in history, and IMO should have been ahead of both Sebastyen and Kostner. I've always loved her beautiful, quality skating, but now I'm starting to see a girl on a mission, a skater that will open the window for Canadian ladies skating. I simply cannot wait to see more of her. I hope she and David Wilson will come up with two brilliant programs next year and hopefully as she said, will be practicing a 3/3. If so, she'll be looking for a spot in the top 5 at Worlds next year.

 

[mike79]

Can I just say again how totally PROUD I was of Joannie Rochette? To come from 17th from a year ago to 8th, landing ALL of her planned lutzes (having landedly only TWICE in competition during the season) and holding it together with such poise and in arguably the toughest year and one of the best skated of ladies worlds in history, and IMO should have been ahead of both Sebastyen and Kostner. I've always loved her beautiful, quality skating, but now I'm starting to see a girl on a mission, a skater that will open the window for Canadian ladies skating. I simply cannot wait to see more of her. I hope she and David Wilson will come up with two brilliant programs next year and hopefully as she said, will be practicing a 3/3. If so, she'll be looking for a spot in the top 5 at Worlds next year.

As usual I agree with everything you said Shine. No one can honestly say that Kostner deserved to be ahead of Rochette in the LP.

 

[rain]

I totally agree about Joannie Rochette. She skated beautifully all three portions of the competition and deserved a better placement than the one she got. She certainly deserved to be ahead of Kostner in the long, and she deserved to be ahead of Slutskaya in the short and Q rounds, as well as a couple of others. She suffered from not having made a "name" yet IMO. I think her skating in terms of speed, positions, jumps etc is up there with the best in the world. SHe still has a few things to work on, of course - I think she can do more with spins and needs a triple/triple as she herself said. But all round I was so pleased to see her skate.

 

[glow_girl85]

As usual I agree with everything you said Shine. No one can honestly say that Kostner deserved to be ahead of Rochette in the LP.

i agree, Kostner should not have been as high as 5th.