A new beginning Again

[anewbeginningagain]

Can Marjo and Jean Luc stop Z/K from winning everything?

Skating-wise, each of them is better than the respective skater (Vadym is amazing, but Jean-Luc is better, and Marjorie is much better than Emilea), so if they can get into a good rhythm and match quickly, they should be winning over Z/K. Material will also be key.

Then again, original L/L should also have won over Z/K throughout this season, and there are also the added dimensions of this being a fight between two strong federations (USFS is much stronger currently) and another IAM vs. Igor fight.

So it's going to be interesting, that's for sure.

[anewbeginningagain]

I’m so excited to see what the choreographic identity of Majorie and jlb is going to be! I assume jlb will be doing the choreo? What are your dream programs for them?

Like with La/la I would feel pretty confident that they’d have a gimmicky rd and a classier fd… but now the sky is the limit!

I anticipate their identity as a team will be somewhat similar to that of the original L/L, it's also the style H/B had together (fun, slightly over the top RDs, lyrical FDs).

My biggest wish is for them to really form their own identity and ditch everything that we saw with L/L and L/B. Closer holds, less open skating, different lifts, totally different music.

They have the potential to be a gold medal contender team, and I really wish they would live up to their potential.

[anewbeginningagain]

So which new teams are announced or rumored? Because I can't keep track anymore

Real or likely to be real:

Marjorie Lajoie/Jean-Luc Baker - officially announced

Hannah Lim/Zachary Lagha - rumored (blurry screenshots floating around)

Alicia Fabbri/Marko Gaidajenko- rumored (blurry screenshots floating around that might be him)

Still open:

Paul Ayer, Ye Quan, Lily Hensen, Nathan Lickers, Sandrine Gauthier, Quentin Thieren.

[anewbeginningagain]

So we now have a second L/B (Lajoie/Baker and Lopareva/Brissaud) and a second L/L (Lim/Lagha and (RIP) Lajoie/Lagha). This is going to be really hard to keep track LOL.

[macaroni-rascal]

marjo and jean luc are a real ice dance team what the actual hell is HAPPENING

[anewbeginningagain]

To quote myself from my convo with @macaroni-rascal:

HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZDafCYs4zt/

[anewbeginningagain]

There's no new Tessa interview. Someone on twitter posted a clip of one nobody watched in January because fstwt has the attention span of a fruit fly and now 20 people are squeeing about it

LOL, can't say I'm surprised

[anewbeginningagain]

what do you think of zak and lily hensen or alicia fabbri ? or do you think hannah lim is his best option now

I think Hannah is his best option if I'm being honest.

[anewbeginningagain]

Have you read the interview with Benoit where he compares Zingas/Kolesnik to V/M and D/W? mskating (.) com/articles/benoit-richaud-interview

I have not, I looked at it now, but I don't see it. V/M and D/W were really young when they went senior (17/19 and 19/19), and there weren't that many young teams back then. They also immediately made a splash. Z/K are 24/24 and have been here for a full quad and never even made it to worlds or won a GP medal. nothing about their rise feels organic, just like P/C's rise never felt organic (but at least they were young like V/M and D/W were).

[anewbeginningagain]

This always happens after an Olympics - reactive splits (or teams staying together that shouldn't have) based on the results. When teams that had been together a long time won (V/M, P/C), long-standing teams stuck it out. FB/C's win threw that conventional wisdom out of the window.

What these younger teams might not realize, however, is how instrumental it was that a) C was the reigning OGM and has that pedigree, and b) the French fed is willing to get its hands dirty, always.

We've seen this in the pairs as well post Aliona and Bruno, but there have also been partnerships and unretirements that flopped horrifically, so it really is a toss-up. We just won't know if it was the right call until we see the new pairings. But I think ice dance in particular has a bigger problem in that it's been rotting from within for the last quad+ and even if you reshuffle the teams, it no longer makes any sense as a sport.

Ultimately, it's also an extremely expensive endeavor and it's inevitable that some skaters and feds will simply be priced out of it, with things being what they are in the world.

I mean, I agree that there are usually splits and retirements post-Olympics, but having been here since post the Sochi Olympics in 2014, I feel comfortable saying that this is out of the norm.

Especially for Canadian ice dance, the majority of the teams that split were the ones that were about to get a real push from the federation. L/L were going to be the undisputed #1 with a push on the world stage for that, F/A were likely to be #2 (assuming L/LG would have retired like we all expected) or at worst #3 for this quad with many more opportunities. Even H/L would have moved up, most likely. So for all of them to implode like they did? Wild.

Plus, most of the time the splits were about one skater deciding to retire from competition and the other wanting to continue, and now we have numerous teams that split, but they all want to continue, and none of them have a new potential partner that is more promising than the partnership they broke. So yeah, WILD.

[anewbeginningagain]

Did you see the recent interview with Tessa? What are your takeaways?

I have not, haven't been online for the past few days.

[anewbeginningagain]

What do you think of LaLa's new partners? There are persistent rumors about Zach and Hannah, but I can't imagine them. I think Zach and Alicia, or Zach and Lily Hensen, would be better. Marjo and Jean-Luc… Too unlikely. Marjo and Theo Le Mercier? Sorry, Loìcia. But I love those two so much. Although, of course, Paul Ayer is more realistic.

See my last posts :)

Mostly, I'm just eagerly waiting for the new partnership announcement after the many aplits, and of course for the GP announcements to drop.

[anewbeginningagain]

who do you think will make a good partner for marjo and zak

I honestly don't think there's any competing skater that is free and at the level of either of them. They are a top 5 in the world team (top 3 in recent worlds if the judging wasn't corrupt) and previous junior world champions, I just can't think of anyone that is close to their levels.

Having said that, we have seen partnerships that make a skater shine after not reaching their full potential in the past (Laurance and Tim, most recently). So a lot of this is hard to predict.

[anewbeginningagain]

what do you think of lajoie/baker and lim/lagha potential pairing

Lajoie/Baker is not happening, at least not soon. Not only for citizenship reasons, but also because looking at recent clips from Olivia, it's clear Jean-Luc is happy and living his best life, and is no way close to being in competitive shape (and I do not mean it in a mean way at all). The only way that can happen is if he decides to come back and they spend the entire next season working on a comeback and only debuting for 2027/28.

Lim/Lagha is more likely to happen. Weirdly, I think they can be a good fit, and they are another team that will both need to sit the season out and pray she will be released by her federation.

No doubt Zak has more choices than Marjorie has, and even Hannah is not at Marjorie's level. As I said in the past, at least for the start of their new partnerships (if those even happen, considering neither talked about looking for a new partner and continuing skating), both will be trading down in hopes their new partners can catch up quickly.

[anewbeginningagain]

If USFS starts pushing hard for Z/K, do you think there's any chance of CPom switching to Canada?

Nope. There's zero chance they will be released, and with the current state of Skate Canada I tend to assume being US #2 is better than being Canada #1 (can't believe we got to that point).

If they are dropped out of the top 2 and are at risk for top 3, then I think their desire might change, but USFS will be dumb to screw them over, and Skate Canada, in its current state, is not competent enough to pursue them.

[anewbeginningagain]

So Shomarin are a real thing? Amazing.

[anewbeginningagain]

Viewing seemingly doing choreography for other again (aka focusing on something that isn’t himself) is making me hopeful it means we won’t be seeing him skate again. The only downside is the FB/C not skating mean that the push for Z/K will likely be even more insane.

[anewbeginningagain]

sorry i sent it in before finishing

But so many split’s i’ve seen seem messy, H/L seems the messiest, but Lala i’m sad and worried about

With H/L I think from Nathan's words, it was clear it was not his decision. But tbh, I tend to think most splits are more one-sided, even with L/L I wouldn't be surprised if one of them pushed harder to split. It's just hard for teams to be on the same page, as partners, and then ex-partners...