Sunday, June 3, 2012

Igor Shpilband Fired



Igor Shpilband was fired from the Canton Arctic Figure Skating Club today at the urging of his top three teams.  The official reason at this time is that the skaters "don't feel he is there for them."  There have always been rumors about the atmosphere at Canton where the girls get thinner, competition is fierce and politics are always at play.  This is the end of the coaching duo of Marina and Igor.  This will certainly impact the training, as Igor is supposed to be the technician.  It is important to note that the Shibutanis have always seemed to acknowledge Marina Zueva more than Igor, as has the Canadian press when discussing Virtue and Moir.  Igor will likely continue coaching and start his own program, which could open up the world of ice dance in the United States and cause more rivalries among the top teams.  This is certainly going to shake things up.

Now we will find out who the real politician is: Igor or Marina?

The only article available at this time.

A dear friend asked me if this is like Bring It On where the coach gave the same spirit finger routines to everyone. That has to be it: the teams finally realized Igor gave the same tango to everyone!

In other dance news, Samuelson and Gilles have split and are no longer listed under a USFSA funding envelope or part of the International Selection Pool.


29 comments:

  1. wow. i am speechless. This will be huge. I don't know what this will mean for the shibs. It could actually be a good thing or a career ender.

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  2. OMG !! I'm so sorry but the reasons are so stupid. I think Igor should start his program out of USA, maybe in Russia (ok not) or France when the skaters really need new directions.

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  3. I think it will have the biggest impact on Meryl & Charlie. Marina always seemed to favor Tessa & Scott. Shocked.

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  4. everyone knew there was tension between those teams, not surprising something was going to change

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  5. If Russia is smart they should move heaven and earth to get Igor back to the motherland until the Olympics. Stupid move to let him go. Keep your enemies closer...so they don't help everyone else.

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  6. haha Russia will dominate once again, those canadians aren't that smart, first patrick now the dancers

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  7. I definitely wasn't expecting this. Some people thought maybe the top three teams would split (I think some people wanted V/M to go to Pasquale and Anjelika). I didn't see anyone guessing that the coaches would split, instead.

    Any theories about the impact this will have on the top teams?

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  8. these teams are so boring anyway, bring on the russians

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    1. Because Bobrova is so stellar!

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    2. Lol, totally agree! Fed up with the usual suspects moaning about how boring V&M and D&W are. Like anyone else is doing any better - the French pulling out the same hokey, gimmicky shit year after year; the second ranked Canadians emoting til they collapse; Bobrova and zzzzzzzzz and not forgetting I&K - who are a massive threat while she can't stop banging her coach long enough to skate decent programs.

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  9. There has to be more to it. Skaters leave coaches all the time and both parties move on and neither party is ran out of town on a rail. Everybody knows that rink owners/managers do not call the shots as to who skates with whom or who coaches whom.

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    1. That's what I was thinking. I wonder what's going to come out over the next few days.

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  10. simple, the club was paid to fire him by russia, so russia can win

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  11. The story has been updated a bit. It seems the rift is more between Igor and Marina.

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    1. If the skaters are all staying with Marina, there is much more to it than mere scheduling.

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  12. when scott said " i hate this event ' i guess he also hate his coach, what a crabby guy

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    1. Of course! blame everything on scott!

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  13. And Charlie's mum's comments add another twist http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120603/SPORTS18/120603037/Coach-Igor-Shpilband-Canton-Figure-Skating-Club&template=pluckcomments. . . . Nothing like Russian drama.

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    1. Well, it's Tuesday, and the fall out continues. Did anyone else notice that Jacqui White's comments have mysteriously disappeared from the comments section of the above article? I read them yesterday...... While amusing, they also seemed a bit ungrateful to a coach who took her son to an Olympic Silver Medal and a World Title. Why remove them, if they were so innocuous?

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  14. Well this off season is certainly far from boring...

    But I'm sad for the teams themselves

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  15. Samuelson and Gilles have split?!? That was fast...

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    1. Yes, they did...and stay tuned for more drama out of Ann Arbor...

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  16. With pasquale camerlengo's teams nipping at their heels in this year's underwhelming ice dance World Championships, I'm surprised but not that surprised. I can totally see Weaver and Poje overtaking the top american teams, as well as Pechalat and Bourzat. The scores must have been too close for comfort-- heck even first year team of Hubbell and Donohue scored pretty close to the Shibs. But now who knows where Igor will go...his "top three" former students are idiots.

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  17. *Weaver and Poje as well as Pechalat and Bourzat overtaking....sorry, a bit confusing

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  18. Yes, she did !!!!!

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