Who Killed It and Who Fell Off the Combo: The Free Dance

Killed It!: These teams brought the beauty, the excitement, the intrigue

• Papadakis and Cizeron for captivating my attention and leaving me hypnotized 
• Ilinykh as the heavyweight diva of contemporary ice dancing 
• Madison Chock chewing the scenery
• Weaver & Poje leaving it all on the ice 
• The smoothness of the Shibs' skating
• I'm living for Paul & Islam's free skate, that contemporary feel was on point
• Monko & Khaliavin's controlled upside down lift 
• The long, lithe bodies of Stepanove and Bukin, plus the sitting twizzles, oh the abdominal control! 
• The exuberance of Guignard and Fabbri was entertaining at least
• The chemistry of Hubbell and Donohue, plus their rotational lift 
• The quiet fabulousness of Marie-France 
• The ease with which Andria Diaz moves, it's all so effortless
• The joy on Yinyu Liu's face 

Fell Off The Combo: These teams missed the mark

• Ilinykh's twizzle mishap
• Marina's reign at the top
• The Russian obsession with Sarabande 
• Self-indulgent entrances of any kind
• Enough bent legs and lazy feet to last a lifetime
• Hot mess interwoven twizzle patterns 
• Mozart Rock Opera....enough said
• An a la seconde twizzle at 45 degrees......it's 90 or bust! 
• That moment when the Ukranian team destroyed Bach
• Carolina Moscheni's dance team smile during a dark piece

Who Killed It and Who Fell Off the Combo: The Short Dance

Killed It!: These teams brought the beauty, the excitement, the intrigue

• Every blessed thing about Guillaume Cizeron
• If you take off the skates, Cizeron is the only natural dancer in the entire event
• The choreographic specificity of the entire group 5
• Andrew Poje's entire presentation 
• The fire and precision of the Shibutanis
• Madison Chock's perfect bun
• The dramatic build up to group 6
• Paul & Islam's rotational lift 
• Paul Poirier's amazing butt
• Hubbell & Donohue's smoothness 
• Stepanova & Bukin's sit spin twizzled.....that abdominal control! 
• Monko & Khaliavin's matching free leg in the twizzle sequence
• The grace, poise, and carriage of Marie-France 
• The Hurtado and Diaz counterbalance 
• Federica Testa's strapless number 
• Barbara Fusar-Poli 
• Elena Ilinykh's overall diva qualities
• The energy and spunk of Wang and Liu 
• Juri Karakin's hairography 

Fell Off The Combo: These teams missed the mark

• Gabriella Papadakis' detached-looking bun 
• Kaitlyn Weaver's saggy bun
• Marina's political clout
• Anna Cappellini's carriage-simultaneously stiff and wild 
• So many women with sloppy, uneven buns 
• Guignard & Fabri falling on the choreographic spinning movement 
• Gilles & Poirier's overly dramatic entrances and exits
• Piper Gilles' drag queen eye makeup 
• Donohue's damn twizzle
• Elena Ilinykh paired with Ruslan Zhiganshin who looks like little brother
• Kirill Minov's hair.....honey please  
• Any low or intermediate team doing interweaving twizzle patterns 
• Viktoria Kavaliova's "Whatever Lola Wants" gloves
• Smart & Buckland's twizzles
• The Finnish team's twizzles 
• Natalia Kaliszek's hideous dress/croptop getup 
• Bent free legs (multiple offenders) 

2014 SKATE CANADA: Ice Dance Preview

This Ice Dance event is going to be exciting! The winners will pretty much be a given, but about 5 teams will be in the mix for the rest of the podium. I can't wait to see the new programs!

Podium Predictions:
Gold: Weaver & Poje (CAN)
Silver: Hubbell & Donohue (USA)
Bronze: Gilles & Poirier (CAN)

Weaver & Poje (CAN) are finally the top team in Canada with the retirement (??) of Virtue & Moir. They finally took a world medal last season and they should remain perennial world medalists throughout this upcoming quad. They are an innovative team, usually tending toward more contemporary or sensual programs, so the Vivaldi free skate is a huge departure for them. They will likely play with many different styles of choreography to find the perfect piece for 2018.

Hubbell & Donohue (USA) are heading into a huge season. They barely missed the Sochi team and will want to lock up the second or third spot in the US before the hot juniors come up. They will want to outscore the Shibutanis from Skate America or stay really close to them. Their Great Gatsby program should highlight their connection and their romantic style.

Gilles & Poirier (CAN) are going to look to seal up the number two spot in Canada. From 2013-2014 they made a huge jump at Worlds from 18th to 8th and this year, in a depleted field, they will have the opportunity to make another big move.

The Rest of the Field:
Paradis & Ouellette (CAN)-5th at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, 4th at 2014 Skate America
Zhiganshina & Gazsi (GER)-7th at 2014 Europeans, 11th at 2014 Olympics, 11th at 2014 Worlds, 3rd at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, 2nd at 2014 Finlandia Trophy
Monko & Khaliavin (RUS)-6th at 2013 Trophee Bompard, 5th at 2014 Rostelecom Cup, 1st at 2014 Ice Star Minsk
Hurtado & Diaz (ESP)-10th at 2014 Europeans, 13th at 2014 Olympics, 16th at 2014 Worlds, 2nd at 2014 Nestle Cup, 5th at 2014 Skate Canada Autumn Cup
Aldridge & Eaton (USA)-3rd at 2014 Four Continents, 17th at 2014 Worlds, 1st at 2014 US International Classic

Skate Canada: Ice Dance Preview

Friday October 26th at 9:10pm-Short Dance
Saturday October 27th at 4:40pm-Free Dance
I should be Live Blogging both of these events!

Every year we have this debate. Will it be the year of Davis & White or Virtue & Moir (CAN)? My question is this, is a sport like ice dance that is all about innovation, should you really win a World title skating to Carmen? We'll see, but it's going to have to be a pretty spectacular Carmen for me to get behind a musical selection like that. I cannot wait to see how the lack of Igor's presence changes the look of both top teams.

Cappellini & Lanotte (ITA) are now being coached by Igor Shpilband which could make all the difference for them. This looks to be a breakout year for them. They could become contenders. Igor's old team Virtue & Moir and his new team are both skating to Carmen for the free. Coincidence? I think not.

The real battle is for bronze. I give the edge to Hubbell & Donohue (USA) as they have a full year under the belt and already have a top-10 finish at Worlds. They have really steamy chemistry and that will only get better with time. Look for them to up the technical ante and avoid some of the silly errors that they made on twizzles last season.

The team hot on their heels for the bronze will be Gilles & Poirier (CAN). They are a new team and oddly enough, Piper used to skate with Zach Donohue. They skated together last season as well, but not Internationally as Piper had to wait a full year to be completely released from USFSA. They have such energy and a great look together. I think Paul is a beautiful ice dancer, but he never looked quite right with Vanessa Crone for me, so hopefully this new pairing will do the trick.

My Podium Predictions:
Gold: Virtue & Moir (CAN)
Silver: Cappellini & Lannote (ITA)
Bronze: Hubbell & Donohue (USA)

The Rest of the Field:
Zlobina & Sitnikov (AZE)
Ralph & Hill (CAN)
Carron & Jones (FRA)
Riazanova & Tkachenko (RUS)