And now for Saturday update:
In dance, Paul/Islam did not skate. Since they weren't there yesterday, not all that surprising. Again, I really hope they are ok. Really looking forward to seeing their new programs, and how they've improved during the off-season. Lud/Mulder had another solid skate. Like last night, it was much faster than we normally see from them, and there was some great expression from both. As is normal with this team, their costumes are simply amazing. It will be interesting to see how this team develops over the season. They missed the Summer competitions, so this was really the start for them. Pre-novice event only had 1 entry, and was definitely a work in progress. Maybe the contrast between a solid Senior performance followed by pre-novice re-inforced the impression. 3 teams at Novice. The Scarboro team was really quite good, and both look really young. Robinson/Toth showed improvement over last year, but I'm thinking still well off the mark to finish well nationally. The Barrie team has a really interesting concept, and their costumes are fabulous, but are clearly a new team that need more time.
The pairs event was very good. For all teams, there has been significant improvement even from Thornhill. Bobak/Beharry were not competing, which I guess isn't that surprising since they will have another JGP event coming their way. Orr/Furiano have a sparkling SP. Suits them well, and they did a great job today. Budd/Sheldrick looks like a very promising team. They had a lot of confidence, and put in a solid performance. Will they compete for Canada or the US, I wonder? My favourite team for the long-term is Rau/Simpson. Again, they did not disappoint. A hand down here and there, but otherwise very good. The double-twist was huge. He is just rock solid, and she is fierce. I can't wait til they hit the JGP scene. They will be fabulous. Steele/Shultz had a much better performance here than in Thornhill. They looked more confident and settled. They still have a lot more work to do, but the switch to Wirtz has been a positive one for them. They have very nice lines, which isn't always something one can say about pairs skaters. Maybe that's because they are much closer in height to each other. KMT/Moscovitch were simply amazing. There were some issues here and there, but my goodness they have stepped into a new dimension. Yes, there are memories of previous years lifts. However, the most talked about factor on forums with these 2 has been their lack of artistic qualities in their skating. Duhamel/Radford have had the edge over KMT/Moscovitch in that department. KMT/Moscovitch must be working with Paul MacIntosh on their step sequences and in-between choreography. It's the only explanation. They almost looked like dancers. There were just a ton of choreographic details and connections. It's really quite amazing. Her costume in Thornhill was hideous. This looks simply beautiful. I really wish them the best on their GP assignments. Wish they would come to Skate Canada.
