Weaver and Poje coming full circle

[gsk8]

After a busy summer, Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje recently capped off the first half of the figure skating season with a second consecutive win at the 2015-16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain. The difference between winning a title compared to defending it was that the Canadians were shocked when they took the title last year.

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“This year, we knew it was going to be a huge battle as we are always surrounded by teams who are all so very close, so we were not thinking about the result,” Weaver explained. “But we know it is a long season still and we need to forget about this and move on with the rest of the season.”

In addition to capitalizing on their new programs for the rest of the season, one of Weaver and Poje’s goals is to become World champions. The team has made seven trips worlds since 2007, and took silver in 2014 and bronze in 2015. They are hoping to complete their collection with a gold at the upcoming 2016 World Figure Skating Championships this March.

“It has been a goal of ours for a couple of years,” said Weaver. “Last year we set the bar really high with winning everything except worlds. At the same time, it takes some pressure off knowing that we’re still ranked first in the world, but are still somewhat the underdogs.”

Do you see them as "underdogs"? Will this be their year at Worlds? Do you think Peter Tchernyshev and Shae-Lynn Bourne left any stones "unturned" in the FD choreography?

 

[WeakAnkles]

Underdogs? What is she smoking?!!!

I mean I am a big fan of theirs, but let's #keepitreal.

I'm not a fan of their FD this year, though I will say they made significant improvements to it as the GPF.

 

[4everchan]

she is smoking the fact that the worlds are in boston and despite major error C/B were quite close with a silver at GPF... they are underdogs all things considered... and let's not mention how they weren't given the title in 2014 as well... so until they win it... they will remain the chasers.

Underdogs? What is she smoking?!!!

I mean I am a big fan of theirs, but let's #keepitreal.

I'm not a fan of their FD this year, though I will say they made significant improvements to it as the GPF.

 

[GF2445]

Underdogs? What is she smoking?!!!

I don't think she's smoking anything. Smoking anything wouldn't be good for an athlete.

(And yes, I do know that the saying "What is she smoking" a term used when asking "What are you thinking.")

I just really like a good 'figure of speech'

 

[Sackie]

Weaver/Poje have always been underdogs - even in Canada. In 2008 they were 2nd in Canada then they were passed aside for Crone/Poirier which meant they missed the 2010 Olympics. And in 2011 the Can title went to C/P over W/P even though internationally W/P were seen as the better team and they even placed 5th at worlds that year.
Last year I really think they were given the GPF as a prize for being dropped at worlds again. Meaning the judges see them as a great top team but just not willing to make them world champs. Just hope it's not happening again this year.

 

[Sackie]

World Champs and/or even medalist are not always the ones who deserve it at the time. Quite often a skater or team is rewarded with a medal in their final year because of what they have achieved over the years, or because they are skating at home.
So maybe W/P need to come out and announce that Worlds will be their final skate.

 

[lyndichee]

Weaver/Poje have always been underdogs - even in Canada. In 2008 they were 2nd in Canada then they were passed aside for Crone/Poirier which meant they missed the 2010 Olympics. And in 2011 the Can title went to C/P over W/P even though internationally W/P were seen as the better team and they even placed 5th at worlds that year.
Last year I really think they were given the GPF as a prize for being dropped at worlds again. Meaning the judges see them as a great top team but just not willing to make them world champs. Just hope it's not happening again this year.

While the rankings may tell that story, the competitions tell another. You can't just give them the GPF knowing that you want to hold them down for the world title. I find C/B so boring but watching worlds I was so impressed with their SP, score was high but placement was deserved there. W/P came on and they looked slower and jetlagged. While judges can influence scoring, this isn't some huge conspiracy out there to hold them down over the years. W/P just seem to peak at the wrong time and hopefully it is their year to finally snag the world title.

 

[robredo40]

Ice dance is very Political after Duhamel and radford won their world title last year there was no way ISU was gonna give another gold medal to Canada so they already had a strike against them before the competition even started you could even sense it in their demeanor that the world title was not in the cards, so they skated too cautiously this year their programs especially their fd are still developping i think their fd is improving with each competition the level of difficulty and emotion is exceptional lets hope they win this year.

 

[lyndichee]

Ice dance is very Political after Duhamel and radford won their world title last year there was no way ISU was gonna give another gold medal to Canada so they already had a strike against them before the competition even started you could even sense it in their demeanor that the world title was not in the cards, so they skated too cautiously this year their programs especially their fd are still developping i think their fd is improving with each competition the level of difficulty and emotion is exceptional lets hope they win this year.

Why would they not to award another gold medal to Canada? There have been countries bagging multiple world titles (Japan in 2014, Canada in 2012 etc.) Can we not get into this conspiracy theory where judges just refused to give them the medal last year? They had their chance to skate and unfortunately they did not deliver. They were my pick for the world title last and still are my pick this year however I don't think they were cheated of it.

 

[robredo40]

I thought they were the judging was crap its obvious the Judges wanted to prop up The french and the Americans at their expense.

 

[lyndichee]

I thought they were the judging was crap its obvious the Judges wanted to prop up The french and the Americans at their expense.

If you believe that please support with evidence as to how W/P were robbed in terms of scoring.

 

[robredo40]

the americans and the french both flubbed their twizzles in the fd, C&B fd was not skated exceptionally well , W&P fd was more difficult and easily outscored the americans all year, the french had a nice fd but too simple basic crossovers no particulary difficult lifts the only thing better than W&P was the spin.lyrical classical programs to lovey Dovey wistful longing had been done before nothing original or amazing.

 

[dorispulaski]

Just to correct some of the above assertions:

Chock & Bates and Weaver & Poje were in the same competition four times last season: Nebelhorn, GPF, Four Continents and Worlds.

Chock & Bates beat Weaver & Poje in the FD at Nebelhorn in 2014-15 as well as at Worlds.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150421232653/http://www.isuresults.com/results/nt2014/CAT004RS.HTM

So they were tied at two FD wins a piece last season.

Chock and Bates barely came out ahead of Weaver and Poje in the FD at Worlds.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150516122536/http://www.isuresults.com/results/wc2015/SEG008.HTM

Weaver and Poje could have finished second if they had skated their best in the SD, but they didn't.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150516151918/http://www.isuresults.com/results/wc2015/SEG007.HTM

On SD's Chock and Bates won 4CCs and Worlds, Weaver and Poje won GPF and Nebelhorn.

The anomaly throughout the season was the judges' over-grading of Papadakis and Cizeron's SD, where they made mistakes all year. Judges loved their FD so much that they appeared to want to prop them up in the SD to keep them in contention every competition.

Although you clearly did not admire their FD, it was generally felt to be the dance of the season, not just by nefarious judges.

 

[katha]

This isn't only about W/P, but it ties into them as well so I'll put this here anyway: IMO, for all the nefarious conspiracy theories running rampant about ice dance since, well, always, for the most part the judging has been pretty decent and understandable. I don't think great injustices have been committed in more recent times.

The Shibs have struggled to find programs that suit them, IMO they tend to have trouble skating "big" and their skating skills aren't outstanding, though decent. For all the heat Chock is getting for her weaknesses on the edgework front, it's not like most of the other top ladies are much better (looking at Cappellini in particular...) or they have deficits in other areas. C/B perform well and "big", they usually have their tech sorted out because of Igor. W/P haven't had super outstanding programs for two years in a row now IMO, making them vulnerable. And they didn't skate that well at Worlds, particularly in the SD, that will be reflected in the marks. As Doris says, one argument you could make is that P/C were overscored and held up in the SD.

Same goes for Nationals in the big nations: W/P are better than G/P, who are at this time clearly better than P/I (they have been struggling for some time now. New coach? I don't think D/L and their sugar programs are helping them). C/B have been better than the Shibs (who were given subpar material until this year IMO and were the victims of Marina figuring out how to deal with TES. Now she and her team have a better grip on it and the Shibs finally have suitable material), both pairs were better than H/D. Russian Nationals were an anomaly with B/S injured and S/K struggling so much. So they sent the three pairs who had the Worlds minimum and had done decently during the GP. S/K showed the first signs of really gelling as a pair in the Nationals FD for me (and they got good scores for it accordingly), but there was still a lot of work to be done to make them really competitive. And their SD was crap. So though I was sad for them, I don't think there was any hinky stuff going on at any of the Nationals. Well, apart from the usual overscoring extravaganzas, but that's always a given LOL.

It's just a rather underwhelming time for ice dancing in general, with none of the teams really rising above the rest. And since they all have strengths and weaknesses, it stays close together and gets decided by programs and performance on the day.