#2014 Junior Canadian Nationals

[figureskatingcostumes]

Kim DeGuise Léveillée competing in the 2014 Junior Canadian Championships.

(Source: Danielle Earl Photography)

[virtchandmoir]

'Bringing the energy': How Scott Moir is moulding the next generation of ice dancers

Scott Moir hasn't lost his edge. 

January 10, 2023

Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir, one half of the gold medal team of Virtue and Moir, now coaches teams from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Moir works with Canadian ice dancers Jacob Portz and Alyssa Robinson as they practise at the Komoka Wellness Centre west of London on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

“We're going to kick Charlie's ass,” Moir, 35, quipped during a lively training session last week at Komoka Wellness Centre. “Quote that one.”

The one-liners, verbal jabs, laughs and hockey talk is so familiar to anyone who closely followed Moir’s career with his longtime partner, Tessa Virtue of Ilderton, to Olympic gold and the top of the skating world.

Later this month, the ice dance superstar-turned-coach will be in San Jose, Calif., to support one of his promising teams – Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko – at the U.S. national championships.

In the fall, he bet Ponomarenko, a die-hard San Jose Sharks fan, the Maple Leafs would beat them. When Toronto didn’t, Moir wore one of Sharks captain Logan Couture’s jerseys on the ice, then handed it over to his student.

“He loved that,” said the head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s Ontario campus.

The American ice dance team of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko work through their routine under the gaze of coach Scott Moir at Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

This week, Moir will wear out a path to the Kiss and Cry area at the Canadian figure skating championships in Oshawa. His local crew is looking to take big steps after some international success.

Londoners Lily Hensen and Nathan Lickers aim to crack the Top 5 in the senior ranks while Ridgetown’s Alyssa Robinson and Calgary’s Jake Portz have that potential, too. Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker, who relocated from B.C., hope to grab a podium spot.

Kilworth’s Jordyn Lewis and Ilderton’s Noah McMillan want to earn a junior worlds berth and former novice champs Layla Veillon and Alex Brandys, both Londoners, are taking the next step up the ladder. Lewis and Veillon are also on the Ice Ignite synchro team seeking a junior worlds spot.

Internationally, Leia Dozzi and Pietro Papetti skate for Italy and Samantha Ritter and Daniel Brykalov represent Azerbaijan.

Senior ice dancers Nathan Lickers and Lily Hensen of London work on their routines under the guidance of Olympic champion Scott Moir and his mom, Alma Moir, at Komoka Wellness Centre Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

“The project here is to create two equal schools,” Moir said. “Montreal is, by far, the most dominant in the world. At the last Olympics, they had 10 of the last 20 skaters (in ice dance). That’s a lot. It’s a big ask, but I think it’s possible now.”

Moir studied the Montreal way when he and Tessa Virtue moved there for their dominant run to the 2018 Olympic title. They worked under old friends Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, then Moir brought the spirit of camaraderie and friendly, in-house competition back home.

“The kids have to create the atmosphere they want,” he said. “They cheer each other on. Even though a lot of them will go and be on the competition ice with each other, I learned the real magic is if you have each other’s back. There’s a balance to be struck.

“We (Moir and Virtue) didn’t have the same in Canton (Mich.),” he added. “We had it early when Charlie and I were really firing in 2010. I wasn’t the most mature young man in 2014, so I didn’t use that environment to my advantage. But we doubled down on it in 2018 (alongside the French team of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron) and it was to our advantage, for sure.”

Former Olympic ice dancer Scott Moir now has a thriving business coaching teams from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Moir skates past his mom, and fellow coach, Alma Moir, at Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

LENDING A HAND: Moir grew up surrounded by figure skating coaches. That family connection remains at the academy. His mother Alma, aunt Carol and cousins Sheri and Cara are part of the staff.

“It’s fun – it’s kind of hard to call him my boss now, though,” Alma joked. “He stresses a positive attitude to the coaches and an old (veteran) here sometimes, I have to do a check on how positive I am some days. It took a while for the kids to feed into it, but you could see the energy change from the summer to now.”

Moir has some non-family help, too, in Justin Trojek and soon-to-be-married Madison Hubbell and Adrian Diaz, a Spanish ice dancer. Hubbell, who finished third at the last Olympics with Zachary Donohue, called her immediate jump from athlete to full-time coach a rare transition.

“It was really after meeting Adrian and seeing his love of skating and different perspective that I started enjoying analyzing skating together,” the 31-year-old from Michigan said.

“When we trained together (in Montreal), one of my favourite things was Scott’s energy – whether it was doing back-and-forth cardio or competing on a daily basis. It can feel like a very solo sport and Scott made a point of including you and cheering you on with a compliment or kind word. He’s a big instigator in what I would consider more of a hockey mentality: rowdy, yelling and having fun.”

MOVING FORWARD: Moir, who’s married and has a two-year-old daughter, recently congratulated Virtue on her engagement to Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly. Once in a while, he admits he will press her for some inside info on his favourite team.

His skaters want to hear stories about Virtue, too.

“I looked up to Tessa so much and still do every day,” said Carreira, 22. “She came to the rink once and it was literally the best day. Getting to train with Scott Moir every day is a privilege. I grew up in Montreal and they were my heroes.”

Moir believes the much-loved on-ice connection he shared with Virtue can be taught technically, but he has no interest in churning out mere carbon copies.

“These athletes aren’t going to be able to be Tessa and Scott, because in four, eight and 12 years, Tessa and Scott aren’t going to be good enough,” he said. “They already aren’t. We wouldn’t have won the last Olympics. The sport is evolving, the skaters will and I have to, as well. It’s about making it their own. Everyone has a different look and story.”

Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir coaches American skaters Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

Carreira and Ponomarenko, whose parents Marina and Sergei won 1992 Olympic ice dance gold, are developing that mature skating connection that served Virtue and Moir so well. But Moir isn’t designing similar programs for Veillon, 16, and Brandys, 17.

“You can’t coach two athletes the same way and you motivate the man and woman different,” Moir said. “That’s the fun of coaching. I don’t come here to walk down memory lane. I come here to learn, too. How can I teach this kid a counter even though I was a good counter turner? Now, I need to figure out a different way. It’s a challenge and my coaching staff challenges me. Hopefully, this momentum turns into a snowball and keeps rolling.”

The bond is already encouraging.

“Even though I’m one of the youngest, you completely forget an age gap,” Veillon said. “You get to come to the rink every day and skate with some of your closest friends. The coaches are amazing, they want the best for us and we have such a fun time.”

ONE-ON-ON WITH COACH SCOTT MOIR

Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir demonstrates some footwork for one of his teams at the Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

Has your approach to the sport changed since on-ice retirement?

“I was much more performance and result-based. I wanted to win. I studied the points and what needed to be better to be on top. My experience with Tessa, as a coach, showed me if I strategize properly, it can work. I was a little riskier as an athlete, because it’s you out there. You’re the one who puts your heart and soul into it. Now, I feel I owe it to the kids. You feel responsible, but you still have to be a little dangerous. That edge is what gives us an advantage. The goal is not personal-best skates alone. It’s taking advantage of your opportunity. Go for it and take the lessons of being able to perform in front of people, because you have to really bring it on this stage.”

What’s the goal of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s Ontario campus?

“To make great people. It sounds so stupid, but we believe success is a byproduct. You’re a good person first, support your teammates, demand the best of yourself, never stop wanting to grow and be ready to learn. It’s not a trade-off. I used to think you can drink the Kool-Aid and be your best self, but I wanted to win. Patrice, Marie-France and Romain (Haguenauer) showed me it all goes hand-in-hand. We’re an elite school and we want to be on top of the world. As we develop these kids and these skills that will serve them well in life, we want to become excellent athletes able to stand on top of podiums. We don’t have a ton of great skating schools in Canada and our success doesn’t mean we can’t have great schools in Scarborough, Vancouver and Calgary. We’re the most dominant skating country with the most rinks. I hope we can get the footprint a little bigger so we can affect more athletes. Hopefully, we can compete against our Montreal teammates and push their boundaries, too.”

How can you affect the skating experience for your students beyond the technical elements?

“I had success in my career, but I got bogged down in the negatives over many years. Who knows if we would’ve beaten Marilyn (Davis) and Charlie, but I think my outlook on skating kept me from being my best self leading up to 2014 (silver medal in Sochi). I’d love for the kids to hear my wisdom and not have to go through the black period I did. At the same time, it’s their journey and they need to have their own path. I can have a direct impact on the negative parts of the sport that don’t need to exist. There are parts of the sport people may think of as ugly or the judging, but being able to be happy about yourself no matter what people think can be a positive. In this age of social media and all that s—, it’s important. Even before the scores, are you personally happy? Did you give everything you had? I’m hoping to prepare for them to deal with those issues the right way.”

How do you impact a generation of skaters who didn’t face the same challenges you did?

“They motivate very differently. It’s tricky for me. I grew up in the other one. My dad was fair and hard on me. If I deserved it, I got it and I deserved it a lot. He didn’t baby me and I thrived. I have fantastic parents. I had some coaches that were a little harder on me and when you go through the Russian schools, of course, that’s the way it is. I loved it. There were also dark parts it created that I also had to deal with later in life. I think there’s a way to expect the most out of these kids and have them expect it, but through love and support. There’s a balance. You can be critical and deliver the message the right way. This generation motivates from exciting things. You’ve got to keep it fresh and keep them rolling and feeling good. My first couple of years, I got bogged down in hammering on them, because I like being in the trenches. The kids felt it was super heavy and it didn’t work. I started being more positive and bringing the energy every day and you see them lift up with results much better. We’re trending that way and it’s natural for me, too.”

Are you able to watch old videos of you and Tessa Virtue skating without finding every little fault in it?

“My perspective of our career is probably the most jaded. You can’t really watch yourself without it. Watching it is getting better and better, actually. You forget the cues you’re supposed to be doing and I’m able to just watch Tessa much more than what I’m doing wrong, so that’s enjoyable. I watch it with a different eye now that I coach. I was very critical and it wasn’t fun to watch tape before, but it’s getting better. I think for the sake of ice dance – and I think that’s why 2018 was such a success for us – the sport evolved. We came back, dove in, pushed ourselves and were able to come away with Olympic gold again. It would be foolish for me to step in and say if I can create 10 Scott Moirs, we’re going to be successful. I don’t believe that.”

—The London Free Press

[paul-islam]

Skate Mariposa: Pleased to announce that Olympian Mitch Islam is joining the leadership at Mariposa School of Skating by taking on the Director of Dance role from his father David Islam, co-owner of the school. . "I grew up skating at Mariposa for over 20 years and from the beginning, I've learned from the sport's most elite athletes and their coaches. Who I am today as a coach is a result of this environment. After years of training and competing at the highest level, I've developed an undeniable passion for the ice. My drive to help today's skaters realize their potential as athletes and as humans is what motivates me." Mitch . Since beginning his coaching career, Mitch has attended Junior Grand Prix’s and Internationals, Junior Worlds, and Canadian Nationals as a coach, and he is excited to be apart of taking Mariposa into the future! Competitive accomplishments: . -2014 Olympian -2014 World Championships – 10th -2011, 2014 and 2015 Canadian National bronze medalist -2010 Junior World Championships – 2nd -2010 Junior Canadian Champion -Qualified for 2006 Junior Grand Prix Final (with Joanna Lenko) -3x Junior Grand Prix medalist (with Joanna Lenko)

[bharat-ki-yojna]

Alexandra Paul, Former Olympic Figure Skater, Dies At 31

Alexandra Paul was pronounced dead at the scene of the multi-vehicle collision. Canadian figure skater Alexandra Paul, a 2014 Olympic ice dancer and former national junior champion, has died at the age of 31. The Washington Post said in a report that Ms Paul was killed in a multi-vehicle collision last week that injured her infant son. The toddler was rushed to hospital with what the police said…

[freifraufischer]

An update from my latest deep dive into youtube has yielded.  I haven’t watched any of it yet (i have a to watch list) so can’t really comment on any of it yet for content.

2019 - Asian Championships Aurora Games

2018 - Looks like we lost the 2018 Commonwealth Games vault final which was the only part of that competition we have.  It’s a good time to point out again that the Commonwealth Games are incredibly aggressive only behind the Olympics about striking videos.  If you haven’t watched the current year competition yet and you want to you should make it a priority.

Added the 2018 Asian Games UB Final.  Don’t have anything else from this.

CBC version of the 2018 Worlds AA

2017 - South East Asian Games EF

The Chinese National Games

The CBC version of the Worlds AA.  Or in other words the Ellie Black is Really Nifty version.

2015 - South East Asian Games

The CBC versions of the World TF and World AA

2014 - Asian Games UB Final

CBC version of the Worlds AA

2013 - The Chinese National Games

2009 - The Chinese National Games

2008 -  The BBC version of the Euros TF (and the FX final).  Can’t wait to hear how they react to the worst camera angles for gymnastics ever.

2006 - The Beam Final from the Asian Championships... (not to be confused with the Asian Games)

Qatari (no commentary) coverage of the WAG TF from the Asian Games.

2005 - The Australian version of the Worlds AA.  This makes the fifth version of this final I have and that kind of amuses me (the other four are BBC, Eurosport, WCSN/American, and Spanish).

The Chinese National Games... and I mean a LOT of it.  It’s broken in parts so it’s missing at least one bit of one sub from qualification but otherwise it’s largely complete with qualification, team final, AA, and EFs.  

2004 - A little over half of Athens qualification (2 full subs, half of another though nothing from the American sub), a bit of the Athens team final from the BBC, 3 rotations of the AA from the BBC, and the entire AA from Brazilian TV.  

Unfortunately it looks like the only copy of the Athens FX EF was nuked.  In trying to see if there was any other version of it still on youtube I found some partial coverage from NBC and have put it in it’s place.  It’s not ideal but I really can’t tell you how much building an olympics from youtube coverage can be a bit like filling the holes in swiss cheese.

2003 -  Universiade Team Final

A full length no commentary version of the Worlds TF ... but it is deeply potato.

2002 - Asian Games AA - I don’t know how I missed this one the first time because i grabbed the team final and event finals from the same source.

2001 - East Asian Games AA

2000 -  The English Eurosport version of the Euros EFs.  Previously I had a version in French only.  

Canadian junior and senior championships.  This is video from the stands which I often pass on but I make exceptions and non-US championships is often something I’ll go with if it seems complete which this does.  

Canadian Olympic Trials (from the CBC).

The Australian version of the Olympic TF.

1999 - Russian Cup

1998 - English Eurosport coverage of the Euros EFs

Japanese (I think) coverage of the Asian Games.

1997 -  French Eurosport coverage of the European Masters of Gymnastics.  I had the ABC version of this before but that is 30 minutes long and this version is almost 3 hours long.  Ahh editing to fit a time slot.  The European Masters of Gymnastics is a now defunct meet format that involved teams of WAG/MAG/RG not unlike USAG’s 3 on 3 but... also so much more complicated.

The East Asian Games.  

1992 -  Two versions of the Worlds semi finals (both are Eurosport so likely only differ in commentary one in english and one in I believe dutch).  Canadian Olympic Trials.  The Spanish version of the Olympic AA final.  

1991 - The ABC version of the European Cup AA.  Because why not edit a 2 hour AA down to half an hour?  At least it’s Bart and Kathy.

The CBC version of the Worlds AA.

1985 - The Eurosport version of the 1985 Worlds EF and a more complete version of the 1985 Worlds EF from ABC (it has Fahnrich’s bars but you know how cares about showing the vault final...)

1982 - Asian Games Team Final

1980 -  21 minutes of the Moscow AA with Japanese commentary.  It’s in 3 parts but I suspect that is all of that one since that is about the length the sometimes would edit down an AA.

1976 -  8 of 10 parts of the Olympic AA.  As is the general rule if something was uploaded in a million parts more than a decade ago some amount of it is missing.

[icevirtuemoir]

Hello! Since you’ve been following VM for a longer time, do you have any suggestions or playlists of their performances? I would love to see their evolution from young kids to successful olympians. Also, it would be nice if they did a documentary about them.

Hello! I also would love to see a documentary about their whole journey. That being said the CBC Roxanne documetary did a good job at capturing their prep for the 2017/18 season. There is also the tv show, but you have to take that whole thing with a grain of salt, a critical eye and a sense of humour.

As for recommendations, there are some links below the cut and for the 2014 onwards ones if you google it you'll find the best one available in your region. Depending on how much time you have, watching all these videos can easily kill a whole day. I would recommend watching at least one of each program and if you want a masterclass in pattern dances watch their CDs. If that's too much then here are my recommendations for hitting the best points of their competitive carrer with bolds being the ones you absolutely can't miss because the list was still very long:

1998 First competition | 2004 Canadians FD | 2005 Nationals FD | 2005 Junior Worlds Ex or 2006 Nationals Ex | 2006 Junior Worlds FD | 2007 Worlds OD | 2007 Worlds FD | 2008 Nationals FD | 2008 Worlds FD | 2009 Worlds FD | 2009 TEB Ex | 2010 Olympics CD | 2010 Olympics OD | 2010 Olympics FD | 2010 Olympics Ex | 2010 Worlds CD | 2011 Worlds SD | 2011 Worlds FD | 2012 Worlds SD | 2012 Worlds FD | 2012 Skate Canada FD | 2013 4CC SD | 2013 Worlds FD | 2014 GPF FD | 2014 Olympics SD | 2014 Olympics FD | 2014 Olympics Ex | 2016 Skate Canada RD | 2016 NHK FD | 2016 GPF RD | 2016 GPF FD | 2017 Nationals RD | 2017 Nationals FD | 2017 4CC FD | 2017 Worlds RD | 2017 Worlds FD | 2017 Skate Canada RD | 2017 GPF FD | 2018 Nationals RD | 2018 Nationals FD | 2018 Olympics RD | 2018 Olympics Team FD | 2018 Olympics RD | 2018 Olympics FD | 2018 Olympics Ex

Thankfully, the lovely @ohyeahvirtuemoirgifs made this amazing masterpost of all of Tessa and Scott's programs from 2003-2014. I did a quick check and all the links I tested still work! The quality for some of the older ones the quality is not great but the CBC recently uploaded their 2007 Worlds FD and 2008 Worlds FD in higher quality.

To add some content from pre-2003 that is not on that masterpost:

1998 - Their first competition ever

2000 - Ilderton skating show

2001 - Ilderton skating show (Grease (both), Tessa, Scott, Bows) and Pre-Novice National Championships

2002ish - Demonstrating a Pattern

2003 - JGP Slovakia OD, FD

If you want to watch through the evolution of Moulin Rouge I also found this post I made with links to all it's outings:

Post-2014 in the professional circuit they did so many shows and there are so many videos I can't link them all there but if you want to search them here are the program names (and the show if they're specific to a certain tour):

2014 - Top Hat and Tails, Into the Mystic, Try (Stars on Ice Canada)

2015 - How Will I Know, Good Kisser, Hip Hip Chin Chin (Stars on Ice Canada)

2016 - What's Love Got To Do With It, Sorry

2017 - Purple Rain

2018 - Long Time Running, Moulin Rouge, Shape of You (Stars on Ice Canada), Fields of Gold (Stars on Ice Canada), You Rock My World

There is also the 2018 Thank You Canada Tour and the 2019 Rock The RInk Tour which they produced and are worth watching in full!

[hslllot]

Part I. Draft Day

fic masterlist | rated: m, mature | word count: 4.6k content/warning: hockey harry, nosey family members, a very brief mention of anxiety, overzealous hockey stans. 

DRAFT REPORT: The 411 on Harry Styles by John Michaelson for Sportsnet

There’s this kid named Harry Styles. He plays hockey. Ever heard of him? 

At this point there’s not much else to be said about the british Fighting Hawks’ centre, a lock to be the No.1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. 

Dubbed a generational talent, Styles’ abilities are at a level typically only seen in video games. We all know the Edmonton Oilers will select him with the first overall pick on June 26. In years to come, hockey fans from around the globe (but especially Oilers fans) will be on the edge of their seats, watching to see if the phenom can develop into a future Hockey Hall of Fame talent the way Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux did. 

Here’s what you need to know about Harry Styles: 

Age on June 26: 19 Birthplace: Redditch, Worcestershire, England Current team: University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks  Position: Centre Shoots: Left Height: 6-foot Weight: 190 lbs NHL Central Scouting Rank (North American): 1st

Harry Styles is a franchise-changing player in every sense of the word. He looked like a pro player even before he flew across the pond at a young age to play in the Canadian Hockey League. This has been a long time coming but the future is finally here.

He is talented beyond his years and always has been… Styles has played against older competition his entire career. Growing up in the small village of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, England, the options for minor hockey teams were limited. Styles struggled to find a team in his age group that matched his talent level and was forced to play with older kids - and even then his talent was unmatched. Like the two other players from the UK currently playing in the NHL, Styles eventually had to leave home and play junior hockey in Canada, where he still had to play up a year against Canadian kids that grew up in a country that eats, sleeps, and breathes the game. 

He should have been drafted 1st overall last year… Styles shocked the hockey world in 2013 when, instead of declaring for the 2014 NHL Draft, he announced he would be attending the University of North Dakota and lead the Fighting Hawks to an NCAA Championship. Styles, ever the media-trained athlete, dodged questions about why he chose to go to university for a year before joining the NHL, simply stating “University was always a part of the plan, no matter what happened with hockey.” The hockey community let out a collective sigh of relief when his agent, Jeffrey Azoff (whose father was, coincidentally, Wayne Gretzky’s agent), announced shortly after his championship win that after one year at UND, Styles would be declaring for the 2015 Draft. 

His trophy case is full... Harry Styles has won pretty much every individual hockey award he could possibly win in his career so far. During his CHL career with the Vancouver Giants he won Rookie of the Year, multiple MVP awards, the award for most goals, assists, and overall points, and scholastic player of the year. During his short-lived NCAA career with UND, he won Rookie of the Year, the Hobey Baker Award as the top men’s hockey player, and was named to the Academic All-American team. Unfortunately, Great Britain’s ice hockey team will not be qualifying for the Olympics or the World Championships any time soon, so unless Styles applies for Canadian citizenship, international trophies and medals will be difficult to come by. Regardless, I have a feeling that there will be many Stanley Cups in his future. 

He really hates underperforming… The kid puts a lot of pressure on himself. As we have seen with many successful athletes, an insatiable inner drive to compete can lead to greatness. Styles has that drive to be great and can be his own worst critic. “When I was growing up, my mum was worried about me because I was a bit of a perfectionist.” Styles told The Hockey News back in December. “When I had a bad game, I would get so upset about it. It’s just how I am and how I think every athlete should be. Good is never enough. It’s important to always keep learning and growing to better yourself.”

He is excited to play for the Oilers… Not that he would have anything bad to say about any of the 30 NHL teams, but the Oilers do hold a special place in Styles’ heart. “It’s a great hockey town with fans that are super passionate about the game.” He told The Hockey News. “They’ve been on a bit of a slide the last couple years but the team has a great history. Not many people watch the NHL where I’m from, but my dad was always interested in it and that’s how I got into the game. He was an Oilers fan during their dynasty years with Gretzky and Messier… So if they do end up drafting me first overall, I’ll feel honored to be a part of the team, and it’ll be a nice tribute to my dad.” 

Be sure to catch our live 2015 NHL Draft coverage on June 26 starting at 5pm EST/2pm PT only on Sportsnet.

“With the first overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft the Edmonton Oilers are proud to select, from Holmes Chapel in England, Harry Styles.”

The room erupted in loud cheers and applause as the Edmonton Oilers drafted the National Hockey League’s newest and most sought after commodity. 

Y/N’s closest friends and extended family roamed around her parents’ living room, congratulating one another with hugs and handshakes like one of their own family members was just drafted. That wasn’t the case though, they were all just deeply invested in the hockey team and the boy from England that was meant to turn things around after so many years of losing. They were so invested, in fact, that the family organized a gathering similar to something you might see on a holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

While it was not a normal holiday, for Y/N’s family it was just as significant. It was Draft Day. And every hockey fan in North America wanted Harry Styles to play for their team.

“That’s quite the suit, isn’t it?” Her uncle Will pointed to the television where the young man is dressed in an ornate red floral suit and black dress shirt. The suit was flashier than what most hockey players would wear, but it’s clear that Harry Styles is not like most hockey players. The camera panned to him as he stood up from his seat and hugged the two brunette women sitting next to him. He stuck out like a sore thumb among a sea of other young hockey players all dressed in variations of black and grey as they patiently waited to be drafted from the stands of the BB&T Centre in Florida. It was clear to Y/N that, much like his hockey skills, Harry Styles’ fashion sense was superior compared to his peers.

There was an air of excitement in the room as the draft party, all clad in blue and orange jerseys, watched the generational talent walk down the stairs of the arena and make his way to the stage. They collectively held their breath, the room becoming silent, when he arrived at the stage where both the owner and general manager of the team were waiting to greet him. Harry shook their hands before they handed him his own blue and orange jersey. As he slipped the jersey over his head and posed for a photograph with the executives, the silence in the room broke and excited conversations and speculations for the upcoming season continued. Y/N couldn’t help but feel a stir in her belly and a sense of anticipation for what the upcoming hockey season would bring. 

Her thoughts lingered on the man on the screen, wondering what it might be like to meet him, when her brother pulled her out of her reverie. “Can you believe you’ll be working with the Harry Styles?” 

No - she couldn’t quite believe it. 

In fact, everything happening in her life right now seemed a bit too good to be true.

Set to start her third year of university in September and having to complete mandatory practicum hours in order to graduate the following year, she somehow managed to secure a placement with her favourite hockey team. The Oilers were only taking three students from the university program and everyone in the program wanted one of those spots. 

The application process was incredibly stressful for Y/N. One telephone interview, one in-person interview, and a practical session where she had to demonstrate her athletic therapy skills to the team’s head trainer. She did well with the phone interview, given that they weren’t able to see her. She was able to look down at the talking points she wrote in her notebook and pause to take a couple deep breaths without making it obvious that she was reeling on the inside. Her anxiety got the best of her during the in-person interview though, freezing up when they asked simple questions like “why do you want to work for the team?” and “what experience do you have working with sport teams?”

She left the interview feeling embarrassed, but instead of taking the time to wallow and feel sorry for herself, she went home and spent hours upon hours taping her brothers’ ankles in preparation for the practical session the following day. There was no way she was going to let the opportunity fall through the cracks. Her dream of working for the Oilers was the whole reason she decided to go to school for athletic therapy in the first place. She was never any good at playing hockey but she knew in her heart that, someday, she would work for the team she loved so much. At the end of it all, she reckons her taping skills saved her, so she took her brother out to his favourite restaurant to thank him for letting her use his ankles for practice.

Fast forward a few months and she’s now stood in her parents living room thinking about how in three months she could be taping Harry Styles’ ankles.  

At the time of her application, no one knew the Oilers would be picking first in the draft. The aura around the team was a bit negative at the time (because of all the losing) and there were rumours circulating the city that some of the star players were rude to the support staff and liked to party a little too hard at The Ranch (which contributed to said losing). 

When she first decided to apply for the position her father warned her, “there’s a saying that you should never meet your heroes. What if they’re all a bunch of assholes and you end up hating the team you’ve loved your whole life?” 

Y/N ignored her father’s warning but silently hoped that others would feel that way, narrowing down the applicant pool. However, the rumours circulating the team had no effect on the amount of students applying for the job. The fans were loyal in Edmonton (a city not known by many around the world unless you follow hockey or are compelled to visit North America’s largest shopping mall) and although the team was losing, every kid studying athletic therapy wanted a shot with their favourite team. Y/N knew of at least fifteen students that she beat out for the position. 

Now, it’s late June and there is a general hype surrounding the team, as if Harry was about to come in and shine a light on the Decade of Darkness (a term Oilers fans use to characterize the recent years in which their favourite team hadn’t made the playoffs). That’s a lot of pressure to put on one person, but Y/N supposed that he’s been dealing with this kind of pressure since he was sixteen, maybe even younger. 

Everyone at her family’s draft party was, yet again, watching the television intently while Harry gave his first interview as an official member of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team. While Y/N normally loved watching these types of interviews, she was a bit zoned out- mesmerized by the look of him. The suit, the wavy chestnut hair, the dimple in his left cheek, the accent. The accent. She had never really been that attracted to hockey players, which many people found hard to believe given that she’s such a fan of the sport. All of the guys from her high school who played minor hockey were rotten and thought they were better than everyone else. She did have favourite players in the NHL, players that she loved and admired, but they were her favourites because she loves how they play the game, not because she wants to fuck them. 

There was something different about Harry Styles though. Not necessarily that she wanted to fuck him (especially since she recently signed an employment contract that would forbid it), but she was certainly feeling intrigued by him. He doesn’t look like the boys she went to high school with. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s British, or that he opted for a suit that set him apart from the rest of them, or maybe it was the duality of the way he held himself with unshakeable confidence in his floral suit, his gaze set intensely on the person interviewing him, posture strong and dominant, while simultaneously speaking so softly, his words laced with kindness and gratitude.

“When do you start working with the team, Y/N?” Her uncle Will asked from across the room, prompting everyone to look in her direction waiting for her response. 

The news that Y/N would be working for the Oilers this season shook the family. As soon as her dad shared the news with his brother, she started receiving messages expressing congratulations from her many aunts, uncles, and cousins, shortly followed by messages asking if she would be getting free tickets to games. 

“Um, mid-September, for training camp.” 

“You get to meet Harry Styles?” her 9 year old cousin, Billy, asked. 

“I do. I will be one of the team’s trainers.” The young boy held a look of wonder on his face, as if realizing for the first time that that his oldest cousin was actually kind of cool. 

“Do you think he’s single?” Her aunt Maria asked with a smirk on her face, turning to the television to look at Harry Styles. Aunt Maria doesn’t care much for hockey but she never failed to mention which players she believed to be handsome. She was also the nosey type of aunt that liked to inquire about Y/N’s dating life. “Maybe you two will hit it off.”

Y/N playfully rolled her eyes at her aunt, waving off her comment. But before she could retort, her father chimed in. “Ha! Yea, right! That’s not going to happen. She’s not allowed to date anyone on the team, it’s the rules. Plus, Y/N knows better than to get involved with any of these guys.” 

Her father was right. It is the rules. Y/N thought back to when she went into the Oilers headquarters back in April to sign her employment contract. She asked a lot of questions, making sure she understood everything about the document she was signing. 

“Personal relationships? Even friendships are forbidden?” she asked the head trainer, TJ, for clarification. 

“It depends. You can be friendly, sure, but I would avoid spending time with the players outside of training and game times. Could be seen as unprofessional.”  

Y/N understood why such rules were in place, and she had no issue with it at the time. A woman securing a position on a professional sports team was rare, let alone a woman securing a position with a professional men’s team. She knew when she chose this career path that it would always be an uphill battle and that she’d have to work harder and be more strategic than the men in her field. She wanted- no, needed to excel and prove that she could be a talented athletic therapist and a valuable member of the team, so she had no intention whatsoever of messing that up with any type of personal relationships. She also understood the power dynamic between the professional athletes and the support staff, the different ways in which power can be abused, and how personal relationships could complicate things. It all made sense to her. Plus, she was happy enough with just becoming friends with the other trainers and she probably wouldn’t have a lot of free time, anyways, balancing her practicum and her school work.

Today, however, she couldn’t help the very slight pull on her heartstrings at the thought of not getting to know Harry Styles on a more personal level. 

As if he’d even be interested in the first place.

In a hotel restaurant in Sunrise, Florida, a few hours after the draft, Harry Styles sat with his mother Anne, sister Gemma, and agent Jeff, celebrating his newly drafted status over a bottle of champagne. He knew he should be feeling elated, like it was the best day of his life, but all he felt was exhausted. The conversation at the table happened around him while he sat in his own head, unable to think about anything but what it might feel like to be tucked into his bed in his childhood bedroom in Holmes Chapel. 

The weeks leading up to the draft were an absolute circus filled with interviews and talking to the media nearly every day (he hates talking to the media), shooting promo for all of his endorsements (he’s thankful for the money they give him but he knows he is an excruciatingly terrible actor), and flying around North America to visit all of the potential cities where he might be drafted (it was a pointless tour because everyone knew where he was going to end up). 

He had only tonight to celebrate with his family before it was all set to start again. Him and Jeff will fly off to Edmonton tomorrow morning for a week to speak to the media there, meet the teammate he’ll be living with, and do a surprise skating session with some kids at a summer camp. Meanwhile, his mum and sister will fly back to England.

“Any idea where you’ll live then?” Anne asked her son, pulling him out of his thoughts and back into the conversation. 

“Hm?” He hadn’t a clue what his mum just asked him but he’d hate to admit that rather than listening to anything the three of them had been talking about for the last hour he’d been thinking about how he’d rather be sleeping “Sorry, I think the champagne’s got to me a bit.” 

“The team’s got him living with one of his older teammates and his family.” Jeff stepped in, knowing Harry wasn’t fully paying attention. “They do this with the young guys to get them used to living on their own. Teach ‘em how to cook, do laundry, and keep ‘em in line. He won’t be partying every night and bringing girls back to his place if he lives with the guy’s wife and kids.” 

“Oh please,” Gemma chimed in. “Not like any of that would be an issue for Harry. He’s been away from home for years. And he’s hardly got time for partying and dating.” 

Harry shot Jeff a look warning him to keep his mouth shut. When Harry found out about the living arrangements the team had planned for him, he was less than pleased. After all, he’d just spent the last year living in a dorm room at the University of North Dakota where he had complete freedom. Gemma was right, he didn’t have much time for partying and dating. But he liked having his own space, and he really liked being able to invite someone over after a game, either to celebrate a win or relieve some stress after a loss. 

“You never know, some of these young guys get their first big pay cheque and a taste of the big leagues and it can go off the rails pretty fast.”

“I like to think I raised my baby to know better than to get caught up in a pay cheque.” Anne placed a comforting hand on her son’s shoulder and he quickly reciprocated, reaching up to place his hand over hers.  

Not liking where this conversation was going, Harry finally cut in. “You did. And Jeffrey, you know I’m not that kinda guy. Either way, none of this matters if I don’t make it past training camp. For all we know I could be going back to the juniors for the season.”

“Doesn’t matter who you are or what kinda guy you are, H, it’s just what the team does. It’s tradition. And c’mon, I know you like to keep your expectations in check, but the team’s made it pretty clear that you’re gonna be in the starting lineup come October.” 

Jeff was right. The team had all but promised that he would make it past training camp. The question wasn’t if he’d make it past training camp, but in what shape he’d be in and how long it would take for the team to start winning games.  

“The coach said I’m small and need to bulk up, especially since I’ll be playing against older, more experienced men.” Harry could feel the weight of his mum’s gaze as she gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “I’m not quite where I need to be yet, but I’ll get there.”

Harry and his family were stood in the hotel lobby with Jeff, convening on plans for the morning when he felt a small tug on the hem of his red floral suit jacket. He spun himself around, ready to confront the individual bold enough to touch him without his consent, to find a young girl, no older than five years old staring up at him. 

Harry looked at her, a bit taken aback and undoubtedly with a bit of confusion written on his face, and then spotted, a few feet behind her, two individuals who were most likely her parents. Suddenly, he realized that he may have actually had a few too many glasses of champagne and immediately tried to compose himself, standing straighter and trying to will away the exhaustion in his eyes and the haziness in his mind. 

“Oh - um, hello there.” He cleared his throat before using the soft voice he reserves for adorable, small children like the one stood before him. 

“Are you Harry Styles?” She asked with wide eyes and a small, timid voice.

“I am, sweetheart. What can I do for you?” 

A bright smile etched itself onto her face. But instead of answering him, she looked back at the adults standing behind her, motioning for them to help as she was too shy to proceed on her own. The man, who Harry presumed was her father, moved to stand beside her. 

“This is Millie. She wanted to say hi to you because she’s a big fan of yours.” 

Harry lowered himself in front of the young girl so that he was crouched down and eye-level with her. “Hi Millie, it’s a real pleasure to meet you.” He reached out to shake the young girl’s small hand. “Have you got anything that I could sign? Or I suppose we could take a photo if you’d like?” 

The young girl removed her hand from Harry’s, nodding her head eagerly. She began to unzip her jacket, revealing a bright orange Edmonton Oilers jersey underneath. 

“Oh? Look at that! You’re an Oilers fan. In Florida?” Harry lifted himself from his crouched position and directed his question toward at the girl’s father.

“Yes, well, we actually travelled here from Edmonton, to watch the draft in person.” Harry raised his eyebrows in shock. He knew that the flight from Edmonton to Florida is long, and likely expensive. The tickets to attend the draft live probably weren’t cheap either. “It’s not every day your favourite team picks first overall! Let alone gets to pick a player like you. We were so excited so we decided to make a family trip out of it. Turn around, Millie, show him the back!” Millie’s father handed Harry a sharpie as Millie turned her back to Harry. 

It was at that moment that Harry started to understand the weight of the moment. The name ‘STYLES’ was embroidered on the back of Millie’s Oilers jersey, above the number ‘15’ indicating his draft year. He was speechless. This was, after all, the first time he was seeing his name in the classic Oilers’ orange and blue colours adorned on a fan’s back. 

The feeling was different from earlier at the draft when they presented him with his own jersey. This one belonged to someone else. Someone bought his jersey before he’d even ever played a single minute for the team. They flew across the continent, from Edmonton to Florida, just to watch him get drafted. It was a lot for his hazy, champagne-diluted mind to take in.

Realizing he’d just been standing there staring at the jersey, he cleared his throat once again in hopes that he could hide the unknown thoughts and emotions he was trying to reconcile. “Wow, um, I didn’t realize you could get these already.”

Millie’s father laughed, “Man, they’ve been selling these in Edmonton since they announced we’d be picking first in the draft.” Again, the feeling was overwhelming for Harry. 

We’d be picking first in the draft.

To this family, and probably others in Edmonton, the Oilers were “we”. They win together, they lose together. If the Oilers pick first in the draft, they all pick first. It was their team. And now he, Harry, was a part of that “we”.

Harry reached down to sign the jersey on Millie’s back, quickly scribbling his autograph on the left side. As he straightened himself, he felt Anne move to stand beside him, apparently having sensed her son’s unease and unconscious need for his mother to join him in this moment.

“Hi, I’m Harry’s mum, Anne. Would you like me to take a picture of the four of you?” Millie’s father eagerly handed his phone to Anne and waved his wife over to be in the photo. Several photos of Harry and the family were taken, followed by a few of just Harry and Millie. 

“Would you mind if I took one of Harry and Millie on my phone as well?” Anne asked as she snapped the last photo. “This is the first time Harry’s met a fan wearing his name on an Oilers jersey. We’d like to remember it.” 

The family was more than happy to oblige so Anne took a few more photos on her phone, including one where Millie’s back was to the camera and the ‘STYLES’ name in full view. 

It was so like his mum to understand how special the moment was and to come in and save him. He couldn’t quite articulate what he was feeling in that moment, as understanding emotions and sentimentality were not his greatest strengths, and he most definitely never would have asked to take a photo to keep for himself had she not done it. 

The obvious feelings were joy and gratitude. Every day he was thankful to play the game he loved, to be successful, and to have fans that loved and supported him. It didn’t always make sense that complete strangers paid him so much attention just for playing a game, but he accepted it and always tried to show those strangers kindness in return. However, there was another feeling lingering, one that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Looking at his mum, he knew that she knew what it was. She always knew. And certainly she would make him talk about it later.

As they separated from the family and walked toward the hotel elevators, where Gemma and Jeff were waiting, Anne grabbed onto her son’s arm, holding him close as they walked side by side. 

“Do you see that they love you already, my darling?” She asked. Harry raised an eyebrow at his mum, unsure of what she was going on about. “I know you. I know that you care what people think and that you are scared to disappoint them. You just need to step out on the ice and be yourself. Just be Harry. They already love you and this is only just the beginning.”

WOW! OK. I know it’s a bit of a slow start, but I wanted this chapter to be more of an introduction to harry and the mc and to the fan culture that harry is about to experience!! I’ve already started on the next part so that should be up before Christmas! If you’ve made it this far, all I can say is that I love you and appreciate you. If you liked it, please let me know. I debated not posting this so many times (and I might even regret it later) so feedback will certainly ease my troubled mind!! I ALWAYS LOVE YOU, BUT ESPECIALLY TODAY!! xx Shan. 

Harry’s Draft Day Look

talk to me about generational | fic masterlist

[jockcoded]

NWHL Draft - Round 1

1. Boston Pride - Sammy Davis

F | BU | Pembroke, MA, USA

Boston scored with Davis, who was the projected first overall pick. She led the Terriers in points her senior year, recording 66-76-142 in 147 games over the course of her college career. Davis also won the Beanpot as MVP for the Terriers. She also played for the US U18 national team during the 2014-15 season and for Tabor Academy from 2013-15.

2. Connecticut Whale - Kayla Friesen

F | Clarkson | Winnipeg, MB, CAN

The first of many Canadians drafted, Friesen adds to the impressive future the Whale has in front of them. She had a record of 16-34-50 at St. Cloud State, before transferring to Clarkson her senior year and recording a career best 10-20-30 in 28 games. She’s played for the Canadian U18 team in 2015-16, winning silver at World Juniors.

3. Buffalo Beauts - Carly Jackson

G | UMaine | Amherst, NS, CAN

While an unexpected pick, Jackson is a solid choice for the Beauts. Starting for UMaine her entire college career, she graduated with an overall 2.18 GAA and a .922 SVS% in 122 games. The Beauts have been deep in goal as of late, and while there’s a level of uncertainty, Jackson will likely back up in Buffalo, considering she’s had no previous national team ties.

4. Metropolitan Riveters - Saroya Tinker

D | Yale | Oshawa, ON, CAN

The Metro picks up a reliable stay at home defensemen in Tinker, who didn’t show up on the scoreboard much in her 122 games at Yale, finishing with a record of 5-27-32. However her 242 blocked shots and 163 penalty minutes are worth noting, and will fit into the Riveters identity well. Tinker also won silver at world juniors with Canada in 2015-16.

5. Minnesota Whitecaps - Alex Woken

F | Minnesota | Fargo, ND, USA

Minnesota picks up a skilled two-way forward in Woken, who finished with a record of 38-37-75 in 128 games at the University of Minnesota. While her offensive firepower isn’t what the Whitecaps drafted her for, her high school record of 100-80-180 in 134 games definitely speaks for itself. Woken has appeared on the US U18 team twice.

6. Toronto - Jaycee Gebhard

F | Robert Morris | Plenty, SK, CAN

While the newcomers to the league traded their first overall, they still ended up with Gebhard, who might have been their first anyways. Gebhard is a brilliant pick and a brilliant player for Toronto, drawing comparables to Brianne Jenner, Jill Saulnier, and Hannah Brandt. She scored over a point per game for Robert Morris University, a 74-81-155 record in 139 games, along with a FO% of 57.20%. Gebhard is easily the type of player you want to built a franchise around.

[reeses-puffs]

Tag Game

Rules: Answer 30 questions and then tag 20 people you want to get to know better

I was tagged by @hiraeth-doux. Thanks!

Name/Nickname:

Gender: Female

Star Sign: Aries 

Height: 5′0

Time: 4 am

Birthday: March 31

Favourite Bands: don’t have one (i listen to a lot of different types of music)

Favourite Solo Artists: same as above

Song Stuck In My Head: Toxic - Britney Spears

Last Movie I Watched: Captain Marvel

Last Show: Superstore

When did i create this blog: 2014 I think

What I Post: it’s just whatever I’m currently obsessed with

Last thing I googled: kree mcu cuz I was watching captain marvel

Other blogs: none but I might create an aesthetic blog or an mcu blog just to separate stuff

Do I get asks: nope

Why I chose my url: don’t remember (probably eating a reese’s)

Following: 2k

Followers: 600 I think

Average hours of sleep: It honestly varies from 4 hours up to 12 hours, my sleep schedule is messed up

Lucky Number: don’t have one

Instruments: none but I always wanted to play the violin or piano

What am I wearing: pink pyjamas

Dream Trip: across Asia

Favourite Food: homemade chocolate chip cookies

Nationality: Canadian

Favourite Song: don’t have one

Last book I read: don’t remember but i’m currently reading shadow and bone

Top 3 fictional universes I’d like to live in: mcu, dc, grishaverse (just started the books and it’s amazing) these aren’t really my top 3 but can’t think of any other ones right now

Favorite Color: dark blue and forest green

Tagging: @pepper-stark @time-turner @captain--steve--rogers @alylionheart @webhead-junior @dreamer-wisher-liar @starlight-fires @kashmirichaiwithmehr @bathildahotshot @sgtbuckyybarnes and i’m too lazy to continue so whoever wants to!

[geckomoon]

Yuri!!! on ice as irl skaters (part 1???)

Its 2020 and I miss yoi so here are my personal headcanons about which irl skater the you cast skate &/or act like because why the hell not.

(photos at the bottom of the post because I couldn't get the format to work the way I wanted it to)

Yuri Katsuki ➡️ Boyang Jin (China)/Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)

Yes, 2 people because PARALLELS.

So my reason for saying Yuri is like Boyang is because, his step sequences are always gorgeous and his jumping power, oofttttt, and that one scene where Yuri tries a jump and lands in the wall, you know the one. Boyang Jin is known for jumping super close to the boards and scaring the hell out of us all, seriously, just watch one of his skates, it's amazing and terrifying. Also Boyang is a bit of a nerd and Yuri is canonicaly pretty into video games, nuff said.

Boyang is a two-time World bronze medalist (2016–2017), the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2016, 2019), the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, and a five-time (2014–2017, 2019) Chinese national champion.

Evgenia however, this is more of a parallel in how her 2018/19 season went and how Yuri kinda flopped. Zhenya had a crappy start to the 18/19 season, she'd just switched coaches and mover halfway across the world, for the 1st time in her senior career she didn't make the gpf. However by the end of the season she had bounced back and won bronze at worlds and my god what a skate that fp was. Remind you of anyone huh???

Evgenia has a lot of medals (and actually made a cameo in the end credits of episode 10) She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018 ladies' singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), a two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017), silver medalist at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships. Also, she is a huge Anime fan and has a sailor moon exhibition program and its adorable.

Victor Nikiforov ➡️ Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)

I know a lot of people compare Yuri to Yuzu but I think Victor is a better fit.

Yuzuru has a legion of super duper dedicated fans, they are pretty scary at times. If you watch the 2018 Olympics, the ice literally was covered in Pooh bears after his skate. People love this man, and rightly so. Clearly Yuri isn't the only one who loves Victor, he's very popular in the yoi skating world and almost everyone loves and looks up to him.

His skates are almost immaculate every time. Not only is his technique amazing but his artistry is what really sets him apart from other skaters who may have higher bv on jumps etc. Not that he dosent have high bv, seriously he tries combos that are super wierd just for the bv (see the wierd 4t-3a combo thing he does idk). Plus he's dead set on doing a quad axel. See Victor's super high bv with all the quads and also the fact everyone goes nuts over how his skating is 'like no other'.

Also his medal collection is absolutely mad, he is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), two-time World champion (2014, 2017), four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), Four Continents champion (2020) and three times silver medalist (2011, 2013, 2017). Just like how Victor is canonicaly an Olympic champion and 5x world champion and probably many time euros champ.

Also, he's a sweetheart, he literally crawled behind Shoma Uno because he didn't want the attention taken away from Shoma. I love him.

Victor Nikiforov gives big Yuzuru Hanyu energy.

Yuri Plisetsky ➡️ Yulia Lipnitskaya (Russia)/Alexandra Trusova (Russia)

Again, 2 people.

It's canon that Yuri P was modeled after Yulia for the flexibility and artistic portion of his skates so I feel like I don't need to elaborate much in it however his determination and his wanting to back load with quads reminds me a lot of Sasha Trusova.

Sasha only started juniors the year after yoi came out (she had a Makkachin tissue box which was given to her by Evgenia M which is adorable) so she was not really that popular when the show was being made but she really made a statement when she became the 1st woman to land 2 quads in 1 program (4 salchow and 4 toeloop) at the age of 13 at 2018 junior worlds.

She has just started senior and this season she had 5 quads in one program and I think I cried. She now has a quad sal, toe, flip and lutz and is apparently working on a loop. On top of that she can land a 3 axel but has yet to do so in competition. Did I mention SHE'S 15 AND I'M TERRIFIED.

She currently holds the world record for the free skate (166.62 points). She is the 2020 European Bronze Medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela champion, the 2019 Russian national silver medalist, and the 2020 Russian national bronze medalist.

Her determination to win and high TES reminds me of Yurio a lot.

Phichit Chulanont ➡️ Nam Nguyen (Canada)

This one is fun.

I love Nam with all my heart, he's actually my favourite male skater and not just because of his skating. However his skating is great. He is the 2014 World Junior champion, 2019 Skate Canada silver medalist, and two-time Canadian national champion (2015, 2019). He has placed as high as fifth at the World Championships, in 2015. He's not the best skater ever, kinda like Phichit but his personality shines through so much when he skates and I love it.

My main comparison to Phichit is the fact that Nam Nguyen is a huge meme. His Instagram is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen (@ namnamnoodle). I can't explain it with words seriously just go look at it, he makes memes using professionnally taken skating photos of himself and honestly it's just a giggle. He's almost always posting on his story and half the videos he takes end up on fan twitter and everyone freaks out.

Also he's good friends with Evgenia, thought I'd mention that seeing as who I compared her to :)).

Yeah, Phichit and Nam are memes and I adore them both.

Jean-Jacques Leroy ➡️ Nathan Chen (USA)

Jj is definitely more of a technical focused skater. He tends to put all his eggs in the '800000 quads' bucket and isn't as artistic, in my humble opinion.

Just like Nathan surprisingly, though Nate isn't as egotistical (not a dig, just an observation).

Nathan is compared to Yuzu a lot, and had actually scored higher than him a few times in competition. He is an amazing jumper and is the first skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions: toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip and Lutz. Currently he is two-time World champion (2018, 2019), a 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2017 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), and four-time U.S. national champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

So yeah, he's good.

However at the 2018 Olympics (he was only 18 at the time) he bombed under pressure in the team event and in the sp, only to come back with a WR free skate, but didn't medal because of his sp score,kinda like how Jj bombed at the GPF. (Ngl, I cried in school when I saw Nate bomb at the Olympics, I was so upset).

Also, Nathan is super smart and is training to be a doctor. Not related to Jj but I thought I would point it out.

Christophe Giacometti➡️ Adam Rippon (USA)/Javier Fernández (Spain)

Chris is a hard one to pin to an irl skater because he's just so... Chris.

The closest comparison I can get is Adam Rippon but dialed up to 11 because Adam is quite a bit more tame than Chris is. However he did have a point in his sp where he literally beckons the judges to him in a way that can only be described as vaguely sexual. Seeing that at the Olympics was an event I'll tell you that.

Adam was the first openly gay man to make a U.S. Winter Olympic team, and the first to win a medal at the Winter Games. (team bronze).

Plus, I'm pretty sure he owned a Chris plushie at one point or another.

However other than the obvious Chrissness, his technique and medal winning achievements most closely match up with Javier Fernández (who may I add is pretty much Yuzuru Hanyu's best friend). He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), a three-time Rostelecom Cup champion (2014–2016), a two-time Grand Prix in France champion (2016–2017) and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018). Javi is an amazing skater but usually ended up playing 2nd fiddle to Yuzuru on the world stage, but with euros, he literally won 7 times consecutively. Anndddd, he was the flag bearer for Spain at the 2014 Olympics and I still cry about it.

Otabek Altin➡️ Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)/ Matteo Rizzo

So it's canon that Otabek was based on Denis (rip Denis) so like Yuri and Yulia I do not feel like I need to elaborate much as you can read it on the wikia page. But Otabek also reminds me of a less talkative version of Matteo Rizzo. Matteo is the 2019 European bronze medalist, 2018 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Winter Universiade champion, and 2018 Italian national champion.

The reason he reminds me of Otabek is that they just joth exude the same level of cool and I can't explain it any further than that. That's it. Just watch him skate and you'll see.

So that's all I have for now because this post got pretty long so if this gets enough attention I'll do a part 2 :)).

[figureskatingcostumes]

Emy Decelles competing in the 2015 Junior Canadian Championships.

(Source: Danielle Earl Photography)

[race-week]

Nicholas Latifi’s Junior Career (Summarised)

After my Lance Stroll mini essay I was asked to do one for Nicholas Latifi, so thank you anon ❤

If there are any F1 events (such as Crashgate and Spygate), or junior careers that you’d like summarised send me a message and I’ll try and get it done.

Karting

Nicky actually started karting in 2009 when he was 13 which is actually pretty late, compared to other drivers. He finished runner-up in the Rotax Junior class of the Canadian National Karting Championship in 2009.

He then continued in the Canadian and American karting series until 2012, when he won the Florida Winter Tour championship in the Rotax DD2 class.

To start karting that late and still get a couple of championships under his belt is impressive as a lot of these kids start karting at 6/7 or even earlier

F3

He competed in the Italian F3  in 2012 finishing the season in 7th place, having taken one win at Vallelunga and three podiums.

He also raced in the Toyota racing series in 2013, against drivers such as Nick Cassidy, Alex Lynn, Mitch Evans and finished 9th, with a best result of 6th place.

He didn’t have the best time in FIA F3, finishing in 15th place but he did get 2 5th places at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone. However he simultaneously raced in the British Formula 3 International Series and finished 5th, with 2 poles and a podium at Brand’s Hatch

In his second year in F3 he finished 10th, however he missed the final round due to Formula Renault 3.5, and his best finish 2nd in Silverstone

He also partook in the Macau GP, qualified 9th, finished 7th in the qualifying race and 5th in the main race. Other competitiors in the 2014 Macau GP were; Esteban Ocon, Max Verstappen, Antonio Giovanazzi, Nick Cassidy, Felix Rosenqvist.

The main thing with Nicky’s F3 time is that it was just a bit inconsistent, he definitely improves over the course of a season and as we will see with his F2 career he definitely builds his skill over multiple seasons. But to achieve a 5th place finish in Macau is massively impressive.

GP2/F2

Nicholas made his GP2 debut in Abu Dhabi in 2014 filling in for Daniel Abt he finished the races in 22nd and 17th respectively

In 2015 he came back to GP2 for 4 rounds and achieved his best finish of 11th in Bahrain

It was in 2016 he got his full-time GP2 seat alongside Alex Lynn driving for DAMS, he came second in the first race in Barcelona and 7th in the sprint race. However he did struggle for the rest of the season and finished in 16th place with 23 points

When GP2 rebranded to F2 in 2017 it seemed to suit Nicholas more, he took his first GP2/F2 podium at the sprint race in Barcelona, finishing 3rd with the fastest lap. Two more 3rd places came in Baku, and then he got a  2nd-place finish in the feature race at the Red Bull Ring. Another win came in the Silverstone sprint race. 2nd and 3rd-place finishes came in the feature races in Hungary and Italy respectively, in which Latifi set both fastest laps. He finished 2nd at the sprint race in Jerez, 3rd place and the fastest lap in the final round at Yas Marina. Latifi ended the season in 5th place with 178 points, two places and 13 points behind teammate Rowland

However 2018 wasn’t as fruitful as 2017. His first podium of the season was at Baku with 3rd place in the sprint race. He achieved the second victory of his Formula 2 career at Spa-Francorchamps, winning the sprint race and setting the fastest lap. He later took 2nd place at the feature race in Sochi. Latifi ended the season in 9th place with 91 points, six places and 121 points behind teammate Albon.

I think people forget that Nicky was actually in the title fight for the 2019 season and that was his best ever season in any race category to date. He took three victories in the first five races, winning the feature races in Bahrain and Barcelona and the sprint race in Baku. After the first three rounds, Latifi led the championship, 30 points clear of Nyck de Vries. However Nicky would not finish on the podium again until the seventh round at Silverstone, where he came 2nd in the feature race. Nicky’s final victory of the season came at the feature race of in Hungary, and then taking two 2nd-place finishes at Sochi and Yas Marina. He ended the season as the championship runner-up to de Vries, two places and 10 points ahead of teammate Sette Câmara, achieving four wins, four other podium finishes and four fastest laps.

I definitely think Nicholas has talent, but its incredibly hard for drivers who don’t have a championship to prove themselves, imo the best thing Nicholas has done is shown what he is capable of in F1 machinery - if it wasn’t for George driving the Mercedes in Sakhir Nicholas would have been above him in the Championship table due to him finishing P11 more frequently - I definitely think that he’ll improve even more so into the 2021 season and help Williams move up the grid and so what if he has financial backing, it is that financial backing that helped save Williams.

[virtchandmoir]

Three-time Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir Retire from Competitive Skating

September 18, 2019

OTTAWA, ON: The worlds most decorated figure skaters, Tessa Virtue, 30, London, Ont., and Scott Moir, 31, Ilderton, Ont., announced their retirement from competitive figure skating today. During their 22-year career they won five Olympic medals, three world championship titles and eight national titles.

Virtue and Moir have dominated the ice dance field during both their junior and senior careers. They are the first and only ice dance team to win every major junior and senior skating competition: junior world championships (2006), junior grand prix final (2006), four continents championships (2018, 2012, 2017), senior world championships (2010, 2012, 2017), senior grand prix final (2016) and Olympic Games (2010, 2018). They have won a total of 55 international medals during their 20-year partnership, with 33 of them being gold.

Tessa and Scott have had an extraordinary career as the most decorated figure skaters of all time. Skate Canada has been fortunate to be able to be part of their remarkable career. Their partnership has inspired fans around the world with their skating skills and their passionate performances.” said Debra Armstrong, CEO, Skate Canada. “Skate Canada thanks Tessa and Scott for their vast contribution to skating and wish them the very best with their future plans.”

Over their career they competed at three consecutive Olympic Winter Games (2010, 2014, 2018), winning a total five medals. Virtue and Moir made their Olympic debut in 2010 at the Vancouver Games, they won gold in ice dance, making history as the first North American team to win the title and the youngest ice dance team to ever win gold at the Olympic Games. At their second Olympic Games in 2014 in Sochi, they picked up two silver medals in the ice dance discipline and in the team event. In 2018 they topped off their career at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang winning gold in ice dance and in the team event. They were also the Canadian flag bearers for the 2018 Winter Olympics, becoming the first team to carry the Canadian flag at an Olympic opening ceremony.

“Tessa and Scott are the most innovative ice dance team of all time. Throughout their career they have always pushed the ice dance envelope by bringing different genres to life with technical precision and performance perfection,” said Mike Slipchuk, Director High Performance, Skate Canada. “What makes them so special is they are champions on and off the ice. They are great athletes but also great leaders and people. We thank them for bringing us along on their incredible journey.”

Off the ice, Virtue and Moir have also picked up several honours. After the 2018 Olympic Games, they were awarded the Canadian Press Team of the Year, Postmedia Team of the Year and CBC Sports Canadian Athletes of the Year. Also, in 2018 they were inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in the sports and athletics category.

—Skate Canada

[vaultscoring]

https://olharolimpico.blogosfera.uol.com.br/2019/10/16/ginastica-feminina-do-brasil-um-diagnostico-da-crise-que-bate-a-porta/

"Brazilian women's gymnastics: a diagnosis of the crisis knocking on the door"

this is the article i mentioned earlier! its main points are:

Brazil doesn't have enough high level coaches to form elite level gymnasts in depth. The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) gives full support to four athletes - Rebeca Andrade, Flávia Saraiva, Lorrane Oliveira and Jade Barbosa - and they are de facto the permanent national team headed by Valeri Liukin and training at the Flamengo club in Rio.

Carolyne Pedro and Thaís Fidélis train at the Cegin club in Curitiba with less support than the main four above, having to pay for professional support that the COB gives to the Flamengo girls such as nutritionists, massagists, physiotherapists etc. Regardless, these six are known as the "top six" of Brazilian WAG.

The insiders of Brazilian WAG were surprised at the result in Stuttgart, not because they thought things were headed the right way, but because they could hang on this quad and that the real crisis would only happen post-Tokyo.

The main problem is the inability to teach new coaches, result of the Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation (CBG) not standing up to a COB that takes ownership of women's gymnastics and imposes its own view of how the sport should be handled.

Early in 2016, the coaches Keli Kitaura, Alexandre Carvalho and Ricardo Pereira (the ones who launched Rebeca, Flávia and Jade's careers respectively) made a proposal to the COB of a project of spreading them across Brazil to develop gymnastics and find new talent, but they were rejected by the COB, which had other priorities.

With no perspective of helping Brazilian WAG and no jobs at clubs, Keli and Alexandre moved to USA to found a club and Ricardo is working with the Canadian juniors. Roger Medina, who discovered Thaís Fidélis, now works with the Argentinian team. The only coaches who worked with the top six girls that remain in Brazil are Iryna Ilyashenko, and Francisco Porath (discovered Rebeca with Keli), who is now the personal coach of all four Flamengo girls.

Georgette Vidor, the coach who discovered Daniele Hypólito and also helped coach both Flávia and Rebeca, is sidelined by the CBG and didn't even receive help from them to go to Stuttgart, having to ask for help to friends from other countries to get tickets.

The COB claims that 34 artistic gymnastics coaches have been fully trained in 2014 and re-trained last year, and the CBG claims 8 training camps happened last year, all open to personal coaches of all gymnasts, but insiders point that these measures will not see results soon enough. Flávia and Rebeca can compete until 2024, but otherwise they don't have the coaches to ensure they will have other gymnasts of this quality.

It is acknowledged that the top six girls receive enough support to commit entirely to the sport, but this support is not extended to other gymnasts. Of the five girls who competed in QF in Stuttgart, four of them receive R$ 10000 a month, from various sources - government, the COB, their clubs, and the CBG. Meanwhile, Letícia Costa receives R$ 925 a month from the goverment (so, slightly less than minimum wage) and a scholarship from her club, has an administrative job at the COB to make ends meet, and only started training full time three weeks before Worlds to be the alternate, which Jorge Bichara, sports director of the COB, claims was a great experience for her [😳😳😒😒😒].

Insiders don't think the problem is Letícia being put on the team, but rather that Letícia, someone who isn't a professional gymnast, was their only choice for the team. They believe Daniele Hypólito, who is one of the 11 gymnasts who is financially assisted by the CBG (which are top six girls, Dani, the injured Anna Julia Reis, and three undisclosed juniors), was discarded too quickly by the federation, and that CBG put their all their eggs in only six baskets and left Valeri Liukin with no plan B.

They also don't give enough international experience to the non-top six gymnasts, evidenced by sending no gymnasts to the South American Championship this year. Going to meets and getting good results is also a chance for gymnasts to raise the financial assistance they receive from the goverment, from R$ 925 to R$ 1850. Only Carolyne and Thaís had multiple chances to represent Brazil in international meets and develop themselves.

With how hard the sport is, and how little incentive they have to reach a higher level in it, gymnasts quit, as evidenced by Fabiane Brito and Julie Kim retiring after injuries. "In 2012, Brazil also had a weak team, but we knew Flávia and Rebeca were coming. Now, we might as well sell cakes on the streets", says a coach. [😬😢]

[positiveaboutdisability]

Melanie Hawtin is an amazing, 31 year old, wheelchair racer and wheelchair basketball player from Ontario.

As a T54 class wheelchair racer, she was the Canadian national champion in the 100 m in 2008, and the 400 m and 1500 m events in 2009. She was Ontario Wheelchair Sports Association's Junior Female Athlete of the Year four times, and its Female Athlete of the Year twice.

After switching to wheelchair basketball in 2012, she won a gold medal at the 2014 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto.

She's paralyzed from the waist down because of spina bifida...

[jackryanz]

Top Lawyers In Canada In 2020

Orlando Da Silva

President, Ontario Bar Association, Toronto, Ont.  Da Silva's heartfelt public confession of a long and deep depression and attempted suicide has opened up discussion on mental health within the legal community such as never before.  While there is a deep-rooted stigma against mental illness eased by a dominance of type A personalities, Da Silva's courageous leadership has helped create specialized support programs for lawyers who struggle in silence.  As if this wasn't enough, Da Silva has gone one step further and asked lawyers to call him personally if they need assistance.  His supporters emphasise that Da Silva's efforts are crucial in a business that promotes bravado and often mistakes mental illness to get a personal weakness. What voters had to say: Mr. Da Silva's bravery in grounding increasingly acknowledged mental health issues in the legal profession within their personal experience will crucially advance these concerns among lawyers and cause positive ends.

Marie Henein

Old spouse, Henein Hutchison LLP, Toronto, Ont. Considered one of Canada's best criminal defence lawyers, Henein is known for representing high-profile clients including former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi -- charged with seven counts of sexual assault, of which two have already been dropped -- former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant, along with junior hockey coach David Frost.  Most recently Henein has taken on the case of defence counsel colleague Leora Shemesh, who was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice by Peel Police.  Henein is well known in the profession as a go-to attorney for all high-profile criminal issues.  She has an excellent track record of wins versus losses and was part of the team that recently was victorious in having John Salmon's conviction in a 1970s murder overturned. What Republicans needed to say: Most visible leader of [the] criminal defence bar.

Pascale Fournier

Professor & research chair, legal pluralism and comparative law, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa, Ont. Fournier has achieved international recognition for her groundbreaking work on gender, faith, and the legislation, together with fieldwork interviews with women from various countries to highlight the complex interplay between spiritual and secular law.  She has received numerous national and international awards and nominations in 2014.  Fournier became a fellow of the prestigious International Women's Forum because of her role as a pioneer in the legal profession; receiving the Canada-Arab Chamber of Commerce Award for academic excellence and contribution to humanity.  Fournier represented the University of Ottawa as a successful pioneer at the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference and was appointed by the National Assembly of Quebec into the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission. What Republicans needed to say: Superb mind, according [to] Harvard's Prof. Kennedy.

Murray Klippenstein

Creator, Klippensteins Barristers & Solicitors, Toronto, Ont. Back to the next year on the Top 25, Klippenstein's continuing representation of 13 members of this indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi' inhabitants from El Estor, Guatemala, continues to make waves.  Three associated lawsuits are before the Ontario courts against Canadian mining firm Hudbay Minerals over the brutal killing of Adolfo Ich along with the gang rape of 11 girls from Lote Ocho.  In a precedent-setting judgment in July of 2013, an Ontario court decided that lawsuits could proceed to trial in Canada over the objections of Hudbay Minerals.  At home he is also taking on the big guys in a case against Encana Corp. that's challenging the regulation and practice of hydraulic fracking in Canada. What voters had to say: Kudos for standing up for, upholding Canadian values, where we function.

Alice Woolley

Professor and associate dean-academic, University of Calgary Faculty of Law, Calgary, Alta. Woolley is a true changemaker in the region of law and technology in addition to law regulation.  She's been a valuable member of the Canadian Bar Association's ethics and professional responsibility committee.  Her work with the CBA Futures project as an ethics and regulatory problems team member is really making a mark at the legal community.  Woolley is also responsible for sweeping educational changes as chairwoman of the committee which developed and embraced significant curricular changes at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Law, which focus on the technical elements of legal education and will come into effect in September. What voters had to say: top expert on legal profession and ethics; once she talks, people listen.   Alice is a pragmatic visionary.  Teaching law students in a means that will prepare them for a 21st century practice is of crucial importance to the future of the profession.

Wayne Myles

Counsel, Cox & Palmer, St. John's, N.L. Myles' recent claim to fame is the $3-billion international merger of Barbados-based Columbus International Inc. with England-based Cable & Wireless Communications PLC..  His M&A experience, together with his dedicated customer relationships, haven't only led to the largest deal in the telecommunications company's history, but revealed that significant international prices are being deftly managed by an Atlantic Canadian law firm.  He's also acted as lead counsel and strategic adviser on several acquisitions, licensing, and financing of many subsea and terrestrial telecommunications businesses in the international seafood processing and marketing industry.  Myles also advised on aviation issues, on many domestic and international commercial insolvency and restructuring projects and on energy and transportation matters. What voters had to say:[An] outstanding lawyer with global vision.  Massive asset to any trade.