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Dubreuil returns to 'Battle' two years after Season 1 concussion
| Source: |
The Canadian Press |
| Date: |
June 10, 2011 |
| Author: |
Cassandra Szklarski |
TORONTO — When CBC's "Battle of the Blades" debuted nearly two years
ago, the dare-devil premise of pairing former NHLers with figure
skaters seemed destined for disaster.
The weekly competition made clear from the get-go it would not shy
away from dazzling on-ice tricks, as beefy hockey players including
Tie Domi and Stephane Richer performed tricky feats such as two-handed
press lifts.
The danger of such stunts was driven home at the beginning of the
inaugural season when Richer's partner, Marie-France Dubreuil, slipped
from his sweaty hands — head first — during rehearsal. She seemed to
recover quickly enough to proceed with the show, but later said that
fall resulted in a concussion with effects that lingered for
months.
After skipping out on Season 2, Dubreuil said she's eager to be part
of Season 3 this September, although with some conditions.
"I will do lifts, but (nothing) head down," Dubreuil said this week,
admitting to having qualms about risky tricks.
"There are so many elements that we can choose.... And with head down
(elements), you have the skirt upside down and it's not always pretty
so I'm just not going to do it," she added, laughing.
Dubreuil, who had a baby with ice dancer husband Patrice Lauzon during
her break from the show, said it took a long time for her to recover
from the fall, which was not televised.
"I suffered a massive concussion and I felt it for nine months," she
said.
"It was pretty dramatic... but I also learned a lot about that
experience. These guys are so athletic and strong that I felt very
safe doing all these lifts but they don't know how to recover a bad
situation. If it goes wrong, they don't know how to save it so that's
something that the girls have to keep in mind."
Last year, too, had its share of mishaps — Anabelle Langlois
accidentally kicked partner Georges Laraque in the head during a
rehearsal, and Theo Fleury dropped Jamie Sale during a televised
performance.
Co-host Kurt Browning said the show is wary of pushing things too far
as it heads into a third season.
"We are a little bit more cautious," Browning said.
"I think there's more off-ice lifting than there was in the first
season. It's really easy to make it look easy, because these guys are
super strong and in our sport it's not dangerous until something goes
wrong.... We have to respect the ability of these guys but also
respect the fact that something could go wrong. And no upside down
stuff."
"Battle of the Blades" returns to CBC on Sept. 18 with new contestants
including former Calgary Flame and Nashville Predator Cale Hulse and
ice dancer Tanith Belbin. Browning said the full cast has yet to be
set.
Hulse said he expects to embarrass himself on national television when
he debuts on the competition series, which typically makes light of
macho skaters with kitschy outfits and tongue-in-cheek
routines.
He's much more worried about being responsible for an injury.
"I don't want to hurt anybody, that's my biggest fear," said
Hulse.
Browning said no lifts will be attempted if it requires the skater to
turn or move backwards. He said that's a rule the show implemented
from the very beginning and is key to keeping competitors
safe.
"It's when the blades are turning that the blade can get sideways and
clip the ice and that's where the falls take place," Browning
explained.
"When they lift the girls there's only gliding and that's the rule
that we set in place. It takes years to learn how to do what we call
footwork to a level where you can pick up a girl and turn. Even if I
picked up one of the girls and turned I would be super aware of what
my feet are doing. And I've been doing this for a long time."
Returning judge Sandra Bezic, who will be joined by Jeremy Roenick and
a rotating series of guest judges, notes that Dubreuil and Lauzon did
some advance preparations for Season 1 in Montreal and may have been
over-confident going into the competition.
"I think they were a little too ambitious in what they were asking
Stephane to do," Bezic said, adding that sweat was actually the
biggest factor in causing the accident.
"It was a new situation where he wasn't actually making a technical
error, it was a situation where he slipped. That was the same thing
with Georges and Anabelle — in their first accident it was because of
perspiration and they just slipped. That's an accident that can almost
happen anytime."
Bezic said "Skating 101" for the players begins mid-July and training
starts at the end of August. Bezic said the priority is everyone's
safety.
"We're just getting better at explaining things to the players,
perhaps, but there's always risks," she said.
Despite the dangers, Browning said that doesn't mean performances
would be scaled back.
"If anything, it's going to be even crazier," he said, noting that the
athletes are competitive by nature.
"Last year (Ekaterina Gordeeva) was doing a throw double flip and a
throw double flip is not super-hard but we had a hockey player putting
a girl up into the air — she's flying 14 or 15 feet across the ice and
he has to put her straight."
"Maybe somebody might try a triple (this season) but I kind of hope
not."
"Battle of the Blades" returns Sept. 18 on CBC-TV.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version stated
that Shae-Lynn Bourne, Violetta Afanasieva and Anabelle Langlois were
confirmed to return in Season 3.
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