Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club | Page 32 | Golden Skate

Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club

Yuzu and Javi were training mates, not training partners. Orser often said that the reason he was able to coach two skaters who were direct competitors was because they had such different personalities. It probably also helped that, by all accounts, they are both good guys who respect each other. Even so, when the pressure of the Olympics heated things up, Orser admitted he was often coaching them at two separate rinks.

I'm baffled by all this "training partner" talk. Why would a singles skater need to "partner" with anyone? These are accomplished adults we're talking about, not small children.

Well according to Yuzuru and Javier themselves it was beneficial for them to often train together as partners (doing the same elements), Yuzu even went as far as saying that he owes part of his success to Javier. Also I think mates/partners is just nomenclature :)
 
this thread should be closed until we get some news.. the speculation we read in here.... :slink:

the rest anyways, about jason and zhenya belongs to fan fest material at this point.

YMMV
 
I like this thread, and hope it isn’t closed in favor of the fan fests. I was already a fan of several of the TCC skaters, but this thread has introduced me to others I didn’t know much about before. It’s nice to see everyone’s interactions.

I also like the fact that because people posting in this thread often have different sources of information than I do, I see video clips and get information I might otherwise have missed.

I still post plenty in Jason’s fan fest, but these days when I see a picture of Jason and Zhenya, for example, I’d be more likely to post it here than in Jason’s FF so that more people can enjoy it.
 
I like this thread, and hope it isn’t closed in favor of the fan fests. I was already a fan of several of the TCC skaters, but this thread has introduced me to others I didn’t know much about before. It’s nice to see everyone’s interactions.

I also like the fact that because people posting in this thread often have different sources of information than I do, I see video clips and get information I might otherwise have missed.

I still post plenty in Jason’s fan fest, but these days when I see a picture of Jason and Zhenya, for example, I’d be more likely to post it here than in Jason’s FF so that more people can enjoy it.

Also, not everyone visits the individual FFs regularly, so a thread like this helps gather information better.

On the other hand, there IS a thread on the Fanfests that's dedicated to Team Brian Orser so if we have to move this somewhere, it could probably go there?
 
FWIW, this thread has more than 127,000 views, which is pretty notable considering that it's only a month old. So clearly people enjoy looking at this thread.

As for the speculation, if it gets out of hand, the thread will be moderated accordingly. But for the most part this is a pretty positive thread, IMO.

Also I expect this thread will run its course eventually and I expect that these posts will end up over on the Team Brian Order thread (which GS has done with other similar Edge threads)
 
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I see nothing wrong with speculating as long as it stays in a somewhat positive tone, to control what is talked about in a forum dedicated to fans is very akin to censorship.
 
I agree, content can be posted in each skater fan fest, and Team Brian Orser has their own thread, https://goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?73736-Team-Brian-Orser

Closing a thread makes more work for the moderators, so unless there’s a strong reason to close it, I don’t really see the point. Yes there are other threads about the individual TCC skaters where fans can post stuff, but the same is true for lots of other threads. As to the TCC Fan Fest thread, it takes more clicks to get there and people don’t seem to be viewing it much. This thread is active. If people get bored with it, it will eventually go to the archives. In the mean time, maybe those who don’t enjoy reading it, or don’t find it useful or interesting, can just ignore it.
 
I understand that speculation can be frustrating, but I’m afraid that no thread on this Board is immune to endless speculation.:confused2:

I like this thread because it tells me about skaters in general at TCC that I might not follow and because it tells me about general operations at TCC that I might not know. Also, a fan fest thread serves a much different function, for cheering and not for criticism. This thread, although luckily so far not focusing on the critical, could in fact entertain critical comments that a fan fest should not.

Long live the Evgenia and Friends thread:biggrin:
 
Conrad Orzel is Lee Barkell's skater. So he's not one of Brian's though he does train alongside other coaches' skaters, including Brian's

Link: https://skatecanada.ca/nextgen/

He could be part of a Team Cricket FF, but not a BO one, unless Brian takes him on.
 
I've noticed that Corey Circelli is assigned to the JGP in men (which he has been in the past) but he's also an ice dancer. Kind of reminds me of Charlie White (who competed as a singles men until he was a junior). Anyone who knows him have thoughts on whether he'll be choosing one or the other soon?

I know there are a few ice dance pairs at TCC. What's the program like there?
 
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I’m confused.

Wasn’t this thread originally “Team Cricket Club”. Or am I completely and totally making that up?:think:
 
FWIW, this thread has more than 127,000 views, which is pretty notable considering that it's only a month old. So clearly people enjoy looking at this thread.
As for the speculation, if it gets out of hand, the thread has been moderated accordingly. But for the most part this is a pretty positive thread, IMO.
Also I expect this thread will run its course eventually and I expect that these posts will end up over on the Team Brian Order thread (which GS has done with other similar Edge threads)
I agree with you :) Sure, the current speculations regarding Boyang are a major topic right now, but as soon as we have confirmation about his future, this thread will calm down and turn back to business as usual. I'm sure there will be many interesting news over the next months: New pictures, clips, programs, costumes, jumps and other improvements from the skaters, Brian's expansion of his jacket arsenal and flags at the main rink, summer camp news,... It's easier to share them here ;)

About that mate/partner-discussion:
1) The relationship between Yuzu and Javi was special in many ways: Javi was a full cycle older than Yuzu and some kind of an experienced, adult "big bro" to him. Currently Yuzu is one of the oldest competitors in the men's field (still can't believe this :eek:) and now in that "mentor role" himself. Jason is of the same generation (there are only 8 days between them, no?), but the other guys at Team Cricket are much younger than him.

2) I remember Yuzu's presscon in PyeongChang, where he said: without Javi training at TCC would've been so hard he couldn't be able to bear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT3GAug27dM&app=desktop
In a Spanish documentary Yuzu also mentioned: he didn't know where that pressure came from he was under, but he felt relaxed when Javi was talking about something funny. 'So I owe what I won to him'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maa9SKwqjtc&app=desktop (scene around 21:00)
Everytime I see these two together, it has something very special and warmhearted. Their bond and interactions differ from others'. I don't know, what it is (friendship, mate/partner or something else), but it's an enrichment for the sport :ghug:
I'm sure, we won't know the full story of the two at TCC, but I do believe that Yuzu's tears in PyeongChang were honest and Javi will leave a huge gap in his skating life :sad14: I don't think anyone can fill this gap soon (Jason maybe, I don't know), but I hope they get along with each other well :)
 
I’m confused.

Wasn’t this thread originally “Team Cricket Club”. Or am I completely and totally making that up?:think:
I would agree that it is a duplicate of the TCC thread that has evolved out of the "Evgenia Medvedeva and friends in Toronto" thread...

(With advice to skaters new to Canada now in the Le Cafe...)

And I would note to the writer of the OP that not all the skaters listed have Brian Orser as their primary coach... even if they are at TCC and Brian is listed among their coaches.

Cricket has a team approach to coaching, so coaches can play the primary role with some skaters and second roles with others. It's not an absolute hierarchy...

For example, Lee Barkell is Gabby Daleman's primary coach. And my recollection is that Tracy Wilson is listed as Jason Brown's primary.
 
I really hope that Evgenia and Yuzuru can develop that bond (not romantic). They are both very passionate about this sport, I feel like they can be good training partners and great friends. Yuzu will always miss Javi, but I am sure he can find a new partner in crime.
 
... And my recollection is that Tracy Wilson is listed as Jason Brown's primary.

Listed where exactly??

Asking because Jason's official website says: "COACH: Brian Orser, Tracy Wilson"


Because of the team approach, I can imagine that in future, perhaps one particular person will become Jason's primary coach -- with other coaches also on the team.

What I am questioning is whether that point already has been reached?


I’m confused.

Wasn’t this thread originally “Team Cricket Club”. Or am I completely and totally making that up?:think:

If I understand your question correctly, you are asking only about the name of this fan thread?? (As a completely separate thing from any thread in The Edge or anywhere else.)

I could be wrong, but I think the original name of this fan thread was/is "Team Brian Orser".
Don't think it has been renamed since being started?

Hope that "Team TCC," who started the thread, will give you a definitive answer.
 
I've noticed that Corey Circelli is assigned to the JGP in men (which he has been in the past) but he's also an ice dancer. Kind of reminds me of Charlie White (who competed as a singles men until he was a junior). Anyone who knows him have thoughts on whether he'll be choosing one or the other soon?

I know there are a few ice dance pairs at TCC. What's the program like there?
Cory Circelli is listed as a Skate Canada Next Gen skater in Men's singles...which gave him priority for the assignment...

He and his partner aren't Next Gen listed in ice dance however, so they'll have to work to earn a JPG spot during the national summer series competitions. They are confirmed for Minto Summer Skate, for example.

Bruce Waddell of TCC by contrast, is on the Next Gen team as an ice dancer with his training mate Natalie D'Allessandro. They have a JPG assignment in dance. Bruce did not however make the initial cut this year in singles. But he will be doing the national summer series in singles so he may yet get a singles assignment.

As a general point, it's fairly common in Canada for ice dancers and pairs skaters to continue to stay competitive in singles as long as possible. At the Junior level, there are quite a few two event skaters all the way to nationals.
 
Yuzu and Javi were training mates, not training partners. Orser often said that the reason he was able to coach two skaters who were direct competitors was because they had such different personalities. It probably also helped that, by all accounts, they are both good guys who respect each other. Even so, when the pressure of the Olympics heated things up, Orser admitted he was often coaching them at two separate rinks.

I'm baffled by all this "training partner" talk. Why would a singles skater need to "partner" with anyone? These are accomplished adults we're talking about, not small children.

Someone else has addressed that in English terms like "partner" and "mate" are used very flexibly and can mean different things in specific contexts in practice. The amount of emotional closeness therefore implied by those words can vary considerably. One can be partnered up with someone else for work, but that says nothing inherent about the relationship of the two people involved, or whether or not the partnering is a regular thing, etc., etc.

It's very clear from Brian's statements and from those of his skaters that Brian and the other TTC coaches create a personalized team around the skaters and change training and pre-competition rituals based on what they learn about the individual skater through their interactions in training and competitions. The coaches are always learning so that, as much as possible, that training will take over during a performance, hopefully leading to a spectacular skate. Some skaters like Jun and Shingo have shared Brian, for example, during an individualized session, each getting equal time while the other practiced within eyesight according to Brian's instructions. And that's just Brian. Each of the coaches will have their own MOs depending on the skill they teach and again, the needs of the skaters. Yes, Jun and Shingo are younger skaters (one a junior, the other a senior), but that does not make them babies because of this past (and maybe still present) arrangement. Clearly during the Oly season things were understandably much tenser, so the coaching teams for Javi and Yuzu decided that season they would need a second rink to keep things from going sour. That was very much spoken of as a new move, as a long-term practice. And it clearly worked for Yuzu and Javi! Then Brian, expecting several new elite seniors this off-season, decided keeping this practice alive for the time being would be wise. And so we've seen some of the skaters (the seniors?) off at nearby Scotiabank Pond at least once a week. However, it's the needs of the skaters at any point in time as perceived by their coaches that determines how things are arranged, not our perceptions of what we think is "befitting" an adult skater. Various skaters at TCC themselves have talked about each other in terms of rinkmates and training partners. For some that may just signify who they like to be near/chat within a group class/off the ice. For others it may denote a more formal arrangement of sometimes training together because that's what's decided is ideal.

Hopefully we can agree that a) skaters are individuals, with resulting different and changing needs that deserve respect and b) the TCC coaches are smart enough to alter things as needed, as they have always seem to have done.
 
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