Weaver and Poje are ready for battle

The Thank You Canada Tour was a chance for ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje to skate their competitive programs in front of audiences from coast to coast on a nightly basis for nearly two months.

It was also an invaluable opportunity to pick the brains of two of the best in the business — Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

“Since we were on the tour for such a long time, it was impossible to have a coach with us at all times,” Weaver said. “Also I don’t think there can even be a coach who knows as much as Tessa and Scott do collectively, so it was an incredible resource to have with us.

“On days off we would ask Scott in particular to come to an extra practice, and share his two cents, which he’s so willing to do, they were so generous to do. Even on our 30-, 40-minute practices every day we would throw an idea their way, it was constant open communication. A lot of little details wouldn’t be the same without them, so we’re very grateful that they were able to share their time and nobody was as busy as them.”

After skipping the fall Grand Prix season to perform on the cross-country Thank You Canada Tour, Weaver and Poje return to competition at the Canadian championships this week in Saint John, N.B.

Committing to two months on the road was a difficult decision, but the world silver and bronze medallists say they’re better skaters for the experience.

“It was absolutely the right decision for us, we had invaluable experience across the country, we performed both of our competitive numbers, we were able to put the performances together every day, no matter what, which was a really great experience,” Weaver said. “We came back with an invigorated motivation to return to competition.”

“We really felt like we needed the new challenges, and it really helped us to perform on a daily basis, pushed us as artists, but also as athletes to make sure we were on top of our game and were ready to shine at a moment’s notice,” Poje added.

“I think that created a confidence in us … because if we do the same thing and expect different results, then that’s shortsighted of us. We had to make sure that we tried something new, we wanted to take that risk and we felt it’s paid off thus far.”

The Thank You tour opened on Oct. 5 in Abbotsford, B.C., and ended — 28 shows later — on Nov. 24 in St. John’s, N.L., and the grind, the dancers said, was about as big a departure from their normal training routine as it gets. They travelled and slept by bus. They practised for 45 minutes in the afternoons, and then maybe squeezed in a group rehearsal. They’d perform between three and five nights in a row.

The landscape of Canadian ice dancing looks markedly different this season without Virtue and Moir, the two-time Olympic champs. Weaver and Poje will battle Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier for the national title. When Virtue and Moir stepped away from competing in 2015 and ’16, Weaver and Poje won gold both seasons, while Gilles and Poirier claimed silver.

The national event will determine the team for the 2019 world championships in Saitama, Japan.