In a Vancouver rink last night, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier unleashed a flood of pink, billowing loveliness with an ominous undertone and created art out of a free dance. The two-time world bronze medalists displayed their new “Wuthering Heights” free dance for the first time this season, and judges responded by awarding them the […]
Skate Canada
Gilles and Poirier: The Reveal
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier had the best of seasons and the worst of seasons last year. The Canadian ice dancers swept through with wins in both of their Grand Prix events and won the Grand Prix Final, too. Then the wheels came off for Gilles, who found she suffered from stage one ovarian cancer, […]
Stellato Dudek and Deschamps: Respect
Maybe it’s not such a good idea to scoff at a thirtysomething long-retired former skater, a whisp of a woman, when she decides she wants to carry on. Now 40, Deanna Stellato Dudek and teamed up with powerhouse Maxime Deschamps, is Canada’s top pair and aiming at the pair short program tonight at the Skate […]
Don’t Cry for Gilles and Poirier: “Evita”
Finally, after 11 years, it was time to do “Evita.” It just happened. The stars were aligned. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier wanted to do “Evita” 11 years ago when they first teamed up, but the time was never right. It’s so right, they used it to win the Skate Canada International on Saturday with […]
Too Sexy for Their Shirts
It was a new look: Paul Poirier stepping onto the ice with a muscle shirt, no sleeves, showing his deltoids, sparking the spark. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, the 2021 world bronze medalists in ice dancing, do quirky and iconic. Now they’re bringing sexy to the mix. Coach Carol Lane found the music in a […]
The Men’s Short Program: A Slippery Slope
Okay, it’s early in the season. We get that. The Olympics took the starch out of a lot of athletes last season and it’s so hard to pull up the bootstraps after that. But the men’s short program at Skate Canada International Grand Prix was….a learning experience for most. It was hard. Really hard. For […]
Tea for Two
Hard toil has paid off for two Canadian women: Madeline Schizas, righting herself for Skate Canada with hard run-throughs, and Gabby Daleman righting herself from a litany of problems after not having done a Grand Prix in two years. Incredibly, they sit one-two after the women’s short program at the Skate Canada International Grand […]
Keegan Messing: A Fond Farewell
It’s going to be hard to say goodbye, says Keegan Messing as it became clear this week that this season will be his last as a competitive figure skater. He’s 30 and has other irons in the fire. During a pre-Skate Canada conference call, Messing sat beside his toddler son, Wyatt, at a breakfast of […]
COVID Clouds Canadian Championships
Vanessa James and Eric Radford are not at all certain they will compete at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships after testing positive – and recovering – from COVID. The pairs short program is on Friday, Jan. 7 while the long is on Saturday, Jan. 8. The pair, who got together this season, will […]
A Star is Born
Those hot pink gloves of Kamila Valieva: You couldn’t miss them in her Bolero free skate. They were the commas to every move. To the throbbing sounds of “Bolero,” the gloves skimmed the air, in and out and away as her hands moved, too. When she did a jump – any jump – the gloves […]