I just received the most recent issue of International Figure Skating magazine. It has a nice article on Stephane that pertains mainly to how his life has gone in a new direction -- to be Deniss' coach. It starts out by talking about how Deniss came to be coached by Stephane and reviews Deniss' results for the season.
Regarding Worlds, Deniss says it was the highlight of his season when he received a standing ovation at the end of his long program. he said he was so happy. "For me, as an artist, that is the highest mark. I had so many positive emotions. I enjoyed performing and was getting this energy from the audience, and I was giving it back to them."
The article also talked about how he suffered a torn adductor muscle, an injury that Stephane also had to deal with during his career. There was talk that he possibly would miss the whole season to recover. Fortunately Stephane was able to recommend a Toronto physiotherapist who helped Deniss. For 10 weeks, Deniss was unable to jump, spin, or work on certain elements of the choreography. His return to training was gradual and painstaking. With the season fast approaching, there was no time to start working on a quad.
Deniss talked about the innovative spin that he executed at the end of his programs. He admitted that it came about by being too lazy to go all the way down on a sit spin one day. "My Dad said: 'Oh Deniss, that is a nice new spin. Are you going to do that?'". So it was a mistake but it turned into a new feature!
Stephane said it was satisfying to see that all the hard work paid off in Helsinki. "He has been improving with every competition and improving his personal best scores each time. It was a very interesting season for me. Coaching Deniss has changed my life. He is very special. He just needs confidence now."
(A lot of the info is stuff we probably already knew, but I was happy to see that Deniss and Stephane received coverage in this magazine. This is the second time they have had a full page feature on them.)