You've seen them skate, but you are commenting as if you haven't. Why is that?
What is 'it' factor anyways? I hear it for skaters like Marin Honda, who has been beaten by two ladies from her own country. At the end of the day, you may have an 'it' factor but if you don't score well you aren't going to get to Worlds. Kaetlyn already learned this lesson. Despite the Canadian judges giving her generous marks it was her technical deficiencies that held her back from finishing higher than 3rd at Nationals. Alaine and Gabby were marked more strictly and still beat out Kaetlyn. Her PCS didn't matter when her TES was 10-12 points behind Gabby and Alaine. I know she is everyone's favourite Canadian lady, and that's fine with me, but I am not a believer in dismissing the other ladies for that reason.
I am not so doom and gloom about Patrick. I think we should be glad that the judges at Finlandia gave out PCS reflecting what was on the ice. His PCS at Worlds 2016 were fine, actually a bit higher than Yuzuru's in the FS and higher than Javier's in the SP. Nathan's BV at Finlandia was pretty high. He attempted 7 quads over two programs to Patrick's 3. It would have been a challenge for Patrick to overcome that difference unless Nathan fell on just about every jump.
IMO it's not good to worry about Challenger series results for non-ice dancers. Unless you think someone like Hanyu will keep scoring 260 throughout the season. Patrick's in a new training environment, is enjoying himself, and trying to improve his tech. There are things to look forward to with him.
What kind of improvement are you hoping for from Virtue/Moir? All elements save one scored level 4s at their debut event. They are doing a new style by doing hip hop in the SD, and even their FD is different with all the open holds. If you are still comparing them to Davis/White then I'm sorry but they are no longer the team everyone's chasing. Virtue/Moir have now gone to Montreal and the coaches whose style is in vogue. These coaches emphasize technical training. I'm not quite making sense of you here.
TGee I am just a moderator in name and have no control over any thread.

But I appreciate you sharing this news. Misha does indeed seem to have come to the GTA ahead of Skate Canada. Joshi Helgesson did the same last year. He was with
David Wilson the evening of the 11th and went to visit High Park earlier.

I am wondering, did all The Cricket kids go to Hershey Centre for a practice? Or was that just Alaine?