Igor Shpilband lascia il team Canton

ingriddiamond

Posted on 5/6/2012, 04:54 by: ingriddiamond

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U.S. Figure Skating confirms top American teams to stay in Canton after Shpilband dismissal

A day after renowned figure skating coach Igor Shpilband was ousted as ice dance director at the Arctic Edge Arena, U.S. Figure Skating confirmed tonight that world ice dance medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, will remain at the rink under the direction of Marina Zoueva.

The Free Press first reported Shpilband's dismissal on Sunday after he met with rink general manager Craig O'Neill and John Stansik, owner of the Arctic Edge. O'Neill cited Shpilband's lack of focus with the club's top ice dance teams -- which include Vancouver Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada -- as a reason for his ouster.

Shpilband started the ice dance school at the Arctic FSC in 2003, shortly after moving to Canton from the Detroit Skating Club.

In a release, the two American teams said that they had ended their relationship with Shpilband.

"After a long and rewarding partnership with Igor Shpilband, we hold the firm conviction that Igor's expertise and investment in our career have been integral to our success," Davis said. "We will have nothing but fond memories and sincere appreciation for our time with Igor."

Alex Shibutani said of Shpilband: "He is a great coach, and we appreciate everything he has done for us."

For the last decade, Shpilband, with Zoueva, had worked together to establish North America as an ice dance powerhouse.

Their teams have been particularly dominating recently: Over the last three years, Shpilband-and-Zoueva coached teams have captured seven of nine medals at the world championships, including winning all three in 2011 when Vancouver Olympic silver medalists Davis and White became the first-ever world ice dance gold medalists for the U.S. Davis and White led a North American (and Canton) sweep of the medals that year in Moscow, with Virtue and Moir winning world silver and the Shibutani siblings taking bronze.

Zoueva and O'Neill told the Free Press on Sunday that the top three teams would be remaining at the Canton rink. Shpilband and Zoueva also coached several other teams together, including Evan Bates and Madison Chock of the U.S. It is not known if Bates and Chock are remaining at the Arctic FSC.

Shpilband and Zoueva admitted in separate interviews with the Free Press on Sunday that a rift had opened between them recently, with Zoueva claiming that Shpilband wanted to open his own school and bring in his own new teams, independent of her, and Shpilband asserting that Zoueva wasn't consulting him on practice schedules.

On Sunday night, Jacqui White, who’s Charlie’s mother, posted a comment on the Free Press' Facebook page that appeared to confirm the tension between the coaches at the rink.

In response to a comment from a reader who had called the Canton dance teams “spoiled brats" in a post, Jacqui White wrote: “...I’m afraid you don’t know what you are talking about. This wasn’t initiated by the skaters, they are obviously only trying to hang on by the skin of their teeth to continue training while the coaches battle to the death and when convenient, use them as pawns in the fight. This is an old story of ‘who has control,’ where egos come into play and team cooperation erodes. The skaters in this scenario are not brats, but victims caught in the crossfire.”

In an e-mail to the Free Press this afternoon seeking comment on Shpilband's dismissal, Mike Slipchuk, who is Skate Canada's director of high performance, said he hadn't yet discussed the situation with Virtue and Moir.

“We are aware of the coaching situation in Canton, but do not have much information, other than what has been reported as we have not discussed it with Tessa and Scott," he said.

Also today, a Russian sports website (allsport.info.ru) reported that Valentin Piseev, director general of the Russian figure skating federation, would welcome Shpilband. Shpilband, a former Russian ice dancer, became an American citizen in 2000, a decade after he defected from the then-Soviet Union.

“We are pleased to accept and give him everything working conditions,” Piseev said on the English-translated Russian website.

According to the article, Piseev said he couldn’t believe that Shpilband and Zoueva had split, saying the tandem had for “many years worked so amicably and harmoniously. ... Perhaps there has developed some controversial situation and simply took up emotion?”

With the Sochi Olympics just two years away, Piseev said that Shpiband-Zoueva coached teams had "established the direction in ice dancing..."

He said that the Russian skating federation is considering contacting Shpilband within the next couple of days. Shpilband told icenetwork.com today that he wanted to remain in Michigan.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120604/SPOR...sey=tab%topnews

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