Morgan Matthews? | Golden Skate

Morgan Matthews?

ManyCairns

ManyCairns

Medalist
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Anyone know if Morgan is still training and/or searching for a partner? Is she still working with Gislason?

Someone whose knowledge I respect greatly described her last year as the US's best current lady ice dancer. What a waste of talent if she has had to fade away for lack of a partner.
 
yes, she is still skating with Gislason, and they represent Azerbajam. I think they had to sit out the year or USA was not granting a release.

There's meant to be a show in Baku next month, with many famous skaters participating (including Plushenko). Both 'Azeri" ice dance couples are scheduled to perform.

I wonder what Fraser and Lukanin think of Morgan Matthews representing Azerbajan?
 
Fraser/Lukanin finished 11th at Worlds this year. I'm not so sure that Matthews/Gislason could do as well or better than that in their first try at Worlds.
Matthews/Zavozin were 16th their first time at Worlds in 2006.

But because F/L finished 10th at 2008 Europeans, and earned a second spot for AZE at Euros 2009, Matthews/Gislason may be able to make their international debut there, provided they've both gotten AZE citizenship by then.

Both need to have AZE citizenship, because both USFS and Skate Canada have refused to release them to compete for AZE. Once they become AZE citizens, their former federations lose the power to hold them back.

Fraser/Lukanin are unlikely to move any higher than 11th at Worlds. DomShabs will return next season, which would move them down, and then there are other teams rapidly moving up who could push them down lower (Copely/Stagniunas and Bobrova/Soloviev). If Crone/Poirier move up to Senior internationally and beat Weaver/Poje at Canadian Nationals, C/P could move ahead of F/L as well.

I think it will be incumbent on Matthews/Gislason to try to beat F/L at 2009 Europeans to have any hope of making it to Worlds 2009 and to the 2010 Olympics.
 
Yes, matthews and zavozin finished 16th at worlds. But, that was the same year that they beat Vitue and Moir at 4CC. In fact V/M have competed against Matthews often and never beaten her! A lot can change in a couple of years and Virtue and Moir are proof of that. I am not saying that Mattthews and Giislason will challenege V/M next year but with a better partner, a world champion coach(Linachuk) and a supportive country, I think they can do much better than 11th!:rock:
 
By Europeans, it will have been two years since Matthews competed in an ISU championship, and now she has a new partner. Matthews/Gislason are unlikely to zoom right into the top 10 in their first international competition. That may not seem fair, but that's the way it is in ice dancing.

Bobrova/Soloviev finished 13th at Worlds on their first try, but they had already had a decent season in the GP leading up to it, and they were the 2007 World Junior Champions. Matthews/Gislason can't get GP invitations because they haven't had any previous internationals and aren't on either the ISU World Rankings or the Seasons Best list---and AZE isn't a host nation.

Is Gislason a better partner than Zavozin was? We don't know. I guess we'll have to wait until next January to find out.
 
I could have sworn I wrote something about Morgan. Maybe it was on another thread. Basically I said she over powered Zavosin with her Kim Novack stare and it will be interesting to see her with Gislason. Morgan is an excellent dance skater but needs a strong man to partner her.

Joe
 
Oddly enough Gislaison and his old partner Senft beat V&M at Canadian Nationals in juniors a few years ago, so both members of this team have beaten V&M in a previous incarnation.
 
That must have been a VERY long time ago. At 2006 Nationals at the Senior level, Virtue/Moir were 3rd, and Senft/Gislason a distant 6th behind Lefebvre / Markov and Girard / Yaeger.

During their partnership, Senft/Gislason earned one bronze medal in the JGP in 2003, and that was it insofar as podium placements were concerned. They were 8th at 2004 Junior Worlds, 5th at 2005 4CC, and 6th at 2007 4CC. In their 3 GP events, they were 8th, 7th and 8th. They never competed at Senior Worlds.

Matthews/Zavozin from 2002-2005 won two bronze and 3 gold JGP event medals, and 1 bronze and 1 gold medal JGPF medal. M/Z also won bronze at 2004 Junior Worlds, were the 2005 Junior World Champions, and the 2006 4CC silver medalists. In their 4 GP events, they had two 4ths, a 5th and a 6th. They competed at Senior Worlds in 2006 and finished 16th.

So I don't think Gislason and Matthews quite match up in terms of accomplishments.
 
Actually Senft and Gislason beat Virtue and Moir at 2004 Junior worlds. S/G were 8th and V/M were 11th. I have had the priveledge of watching Matthews and Zavozin train and seeing Matthews with Gislason a few times. I can tell you that Max was MUCH weaker than Gislason. Great effort went in to covering up Max's flaws. Choreography was very carefully done to hide the fact that he could not do certain moves like camel spins or spread eagles. He was probably a much weaker skater than anyone knew (probably because he started late). When I first saw them training, they were already Jr. Worlds bronze medalists and I was shocked by the difference between them. I have seen Morgan and Leif and they are perfectly matched in both size, coloring and ability. Leif is a very beautiful skater with fabulous lines. He also had a much weaker partner(Senft). I have been told that he was much better with his fist partner Lauren Flynn. He is over 6 feet with long legs and together they look like they take up the whole ice with one extension. And best of all they are really good at compulsories!(M/Z's weakness) I haven't seen them in a while but even a few months ago, I could see big improvements in Morgan's skating as well under Linachuk (and I am one who thought her skating couldn't get any better)
So watch out world. My Diva is coming back soon.:clap::clap::clap:
 
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Flynn/Gislason never made the JGP or any international podium; they had three 4th place JGP finishes in 2001 and 2002, and were 16th at 2002 Jr Worlds.
 
sashaisgreat said:
I have been told that he was much better with his fist partner Lauren Flynn.
Click to expand...
He was. Lauren Flynn was a lovely dancer, very strong technically. Much like V&M, they were paired up as small children, so had a very nice look at an early age. They finished 7th at their first senior Nats in 2003 and caught the eye of Tracy Wilson who arranged for them to be featured on CTV’s broadcast of the event.

Best wishes to Leif and his new partner. :)
 
I for one am THRILLED that Morgan will be skating again. I could never get behind Senft/ Gislason but did like Lauren Flynn and him.

The thought of them repping AZE kind of makes me shake my head a bit and it is a bit of a bummer they can't represent Canada. I do wish them well and think they will be a successful team.

Anyone have or seen any pictures of them skating together? I would love to see them!
 
sashaisgreat said:
Great effort went in to covering up Max's flaws. Choreography was very carefully done to hide the fact that he could not do certain moves like camel spins or spread eagles. He was probably a much weaker skater than anyone knew (probably because he started late).
Click to expand...

I've seen a few articles stating Max starting skating around the age of 5 and showed to be a promising skater at such a young age. Max appears to be a classic case of someone who was rushed through testing and never really perfected the basics.
 
I think what happened was Max's parents got divorced and he moved with his mother to the US. For a while, he wasn't skating at all and was doing ballroom dancing instead. So he wasn't continuously skating from the age of 5 on.
 
cocomo said:
I've seen a few articles stating Max starting skating around the age of 5 and showed to be a promising skater at such a young age. Max appears to be a classic case of someone who was rushed through testing and never really perfected the basics.
Click to expand...
That might be as I watched him live. He was always so intense about skating by the book that there was no personality at all, imo.

Joe
 
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