2024-25 Canadian Figure Skating

[Ziotic]

Some interesting actions by Skate Canada. The winners are Madi and Fabri/Ayer in dance. The losers are Roman, the fourth place team in dance (from France). Wesley and Aleksa were given life lines. Neither completed Nationals this year and Aleksa was lesss than stellar. Considering how close the battle at Nats ffor third I was surprised they didn't split the opportunities but perhaps Skate Canada is saying a lot about dance and their thoughts on Roman. They trusted Madi but not Roman who dominated the men this year. Now let's see if Aleksa and Wesley make it to 4CC's

They told Roman before skating that 4CC was happening. As soon as Wesley WD, the men were made aware of the stakes at 4CC.

I can understand their decision for dance. Had the results been reversed for 3/4 I think they would have sent F/A to 4CC.

They are a younger rising team, vs La/Le who is established but had a bad season.

 

[FlossieH]

Some interesting actions by Skate Canada. The winners are Madi and Fabri/Ayer in dance. The losers are Roman, the fourth place team in dance (from France). Wesley and Aleksa were given life lines. Neither completed Nationals this year and Aleksa was lesss than stellar. Considering how close the battle at Nats ffor third I was surprised they didn't split the opportunities but perhaps Skate Canada is saying a lot about dance and their thoughts on Roman. They trusted Madi but not Roman who dominated the men this year. Now let's see if Aleksa and Wesley make it to 4CC's

The only other senior man available with the tech mins for 4CC is Matthew Newman, who has been having a poor season. I'm sure he will have been named as a substitute in case Wesley is still injured, but I think Roman, Wesley and Aleksa were the correct selection.

 

[saine]

The Winnipeg Free Press has an article on the skaters from Manitoba, including Kemp/Elizarov being assigned Junior Worlds - https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/b...anada-nod-icing-on-the-cake-for-local-skaters

 

[RatedPG]

So, no Kaiya for Junior Worlds
(Her season is over despite being so close to the podium)
Looks like SC wants to reward the younger skaters, which I get.
If Lulu is unable to be healthy, I guess they will swap Megan Woodley (from the same camp). So, that will make things easier for them

All the other selections were predictable. I wish they were more strategic with their selections like Japan and USA

 

[4everchan]

So, no Kaiya for Junior Worlds
(Her season is over despite being so close to the podium)
Looks like SC wants to reward the younger skaters, which I get.
If Lulu is unable to be healthy, I guess they will swap Megan Woodley (from the same camp). So, that will make things easier for them

All the other selections were predictable. I wish they were more strategic with their selections like Japan and USA

What do you mean by more strategic ?

Kaiya may end up at WTT btw... I don't know the rules anymore but if may have to go by world rankings... in which case, I am not sure she'd get the nod anymore... but yeah... she still doesn't really have a triple triple combo, especially since the flip needs to be used as a solo jump

 

[saine]

The 3F is probably why Kaiya wasn't selected. She had issues with it for both the short and the free at Nationals. If it's the required jump in the short for Juniors and it's unstable for her at the moment, I can understand Skate Canada not assigning her to Junior Worlds.

 

[4everchan]

The 3F is probably why Kaiya wasn't selected. She had issues with it for both the short and the free at Nationals. If it's the required jump in the short for Juniors and it's unstable for her at the moment, I can understand Skate Canada not assigning her to Junior Worlds.

yeah.. her flips weren't good but that's the 3-3 combo she was preferring to use.. so that means that she wouldn't have a good flip NOR a combo

 

[Skater Boy]

The only other senior man available with the tech mins for 4CC is Matthew Newman, who has been having a poor season. I'm sure he will have been named as a substitute in case Wesley is still injured, but I think Roman, Wesley and Aleksa were the correct selection.

No I agree with 4CC but they could have given Worlds if they wanted too which they didn't to Roman. Probably because I believe he has failed to get out of qualifying for the Freeskate twice already. Aleksa was really lucky to get 4cc's He didn't have a great sp - if Parradis didn't go to jr worlds Aleksa would be toast. I hope unlike what happened to Sandu that this will fire up Roman. Time will see. Now I am curious will Aleksa and Wesley skate at 4cc's. What are their injuries or health situations?? I am sure they will go short of death because they have been given a gift and still have a chance to to worlds. Decent skates from them and a crash from Roman and its's Boston here they come.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Private Lessons | Paradice

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Oh wow... I wondered why Kevin Reynolds was commentating Canadian Nationals from Auckland Looks like he and Alaine Chartrand are coaching there?
As a serial globetrotter I'm not actually that familiar with the current skating scene in NZ, but there seem to be slightly more names on that webpage than I remember. Many of the newer ones have skating/coaching experience outside Oceania, which wasn't the case before. Yanhao Li's coach Bess Cao isn't listed, although he trains there, I guess because she might not be directly employed by the rink.

Sorry if this is a little off-topic I guess this is just to say thanks Canada for sharing your expertise with us!

 

[Diana Delafield]

Private Lessons | Paradice

Take your skating to the next level with one-on-one lessons from our expert Skating Academy coaches. We offer flexible options tailored to all skill levels, with the choice of one-off or ongoing sessions to fit your schedule.

www.paradice.co.nz

Oh wow... I wondered why Kevin Reynolds was commentating Canadian Nationals from Auckland Looks like he and Alaine Chartrand are coaching there?
As a serial globetrotter I'm not actually that familiar with the current skating scene in NZ, but there seem to be slightly more names on that webpage than I remember. Many of the newer ones have skating/coaching experience outside Oceania, which wasn't the case before. Yanhao Li's coach Bess Cao isn't listed, although he trains there, I guess because she might not be directly employed by the rink.

Sorry if this is a little off-topic I guess this is just to say thanks Canada for sharing your expertise with us!

I hope the standard of our help has risen. Decades ago, skating was just barely beginning in New Zealand. One of the male skaters out of the North Shore Winter Club in Vancouver had had a modestly successful competitive career, and when he retired from competition, he was invited to come and coach in NZ. The rumour was that there was much excitement -- a real professional coach! And wow, a CANADIAN coach!

So he arrived for his first day on the job, got his skates on, and stepped out confidently onto the ice where his first group of pupils were eagerly gathered. Forgot to take his guards off. Went into an impressive windmill effect, smacked down and broke his arm.

[Details supplied by my pairs partner who was a friend of his. Name suppressed to spare the skater's blushes. He's still coaching somewhere, and never forgets to remove his guards ]

 

[FlossieH]

No I agree with 4CC but they could have given Worlds if they wanted too which they didn't to Roman. Probably because I believe he has failed to get out of qualifying for the Freeskate twice already. Aleksa was really lucky to get 4cc's He didn't have a great sp - if Parradis didn't go to jr worlds Aleksa would be toast. I hope unlike what happened to Sandu that this will fire up Roman. Time will see. Now I am curious will Aleksa and Wesley skate at 4cc's. What are their injuries or health situations?? I am sure they will go short of death because they have been given a gift and still have a chance to to worlds. Decent skates from them and a crash from Roman and its's Boston here they come.

Anthony Paradis' selection for junior worlds has absolutely no impact on any of the selections for 4CC. Paradis has never competed in a senior international competition, only junior ones. He cannot be sent to 4CC because he does not have the technical minimum needed, which can only be earnt in a senior ISU competition. Junior score cannot be counted towards senior ISU championships. The only available skaters with the technical minimums for 4CC in the senior men category are Roman, Aleksa, Wesley and Matthew Newman. You don't think Aleksa and Wesley should be going, so do you want it to just be Roman and Matthew Newman (who has had a poor season)? Edrian has made it public that this year's nationals was the final competition of his career. No-one else has the technical minimums (except for Stephen Gogolov, who is confirmed as being out for the rest of the season) and there is no time to get them before tomorrow's entry deadline. And before you blame Skate Canada for Anthony Paradis not having the senior tech minimums, it was Anthony's choice to only compete as a junior internationally this season (and I think the correct choice for his development).

 

[Flying Feijoa]

So he arrived for his first day on the job, got his skates on, and stepped out confidently onto the ice where his first group of pupils were eagerly gathered. Forgot to take his guards off. Went into an impressive windmill effect, smacked down and broke his arm.

Oh dear... well, he certainly taught the kids a very valuable lesson, albeit not the one originally intended

 

[RatedPG]

What do you mean by more strategic ?

Kaiya may end up at WTT btw... I don't know the rules anymore but if may have to go by world rankings... in which case, I am not sure she'd get the nod anymore... but yeah... she still doesn't really have a triple triple combo, especially since the flip needs to be used as a solo jump

The Japanese/USA federation gets their top skaters to skip 4CC. The ranking points take the best performance of either Worlds or Europeans/4CC. There are more points for doing well at Worlds. Kaori is able to gain say 1000 points for winning worlds. If she competes at 4CC and wins, say she gets 600 points, but, the points don’t count as she only gets 1000 for Worlds. Competing at 4CC takes away the opportunity for a fellow athlete to gain more points. So, instead Japan sends Mone, Wakaba and Rino. These three have more of a chance to gain ranking points. Especially, Rino. They spread the wealth more, allowing more athletes to gain more points.
Similarily, when choosing athletes for Grand Prix events, federations like USA wait before announcing the TBD spot to see if athletes make it on their own merit. Ex. They hold spot for Sarah as Sarah got a good score at a recent event. Once there is an injury, an American lady say Sarah Everhardt gets selected for GP Finland to replace the injured athlete, and the Skate America spot can go to another of their athletes. This means they get more of the USA ladies to compete on the circuit.

 

[4everchan]

The Japanese/USA federation gets their top skaters to skip 4CC. The ranking points take the best performance of either Worlds or Europeans/4CC. There are more points for doing well at Worlds. Kaori is able to gain say 1000 points for winning worlds. If she competes at 4CC and wins, say she gets 600 points, but, the points don’t count as she only gets 1000 for Worlds. Competing at 4CC takes away the opportunity for a fellow athlete to gain more points. So, instead Japan sends Mone, Wakaba and Rino. These three have more of a chance to gain ranking points. Especially, Rino. They spread the wealth more, allowing more athletes to gain more points.
Similarily, when choosing athletes for Grand Prix events, federations like USA wait before announcing the TBD spot to see if athletes make it on their own merit. Ex. They hold spot for Sarah as Sarah got a good score at a recent event. Once there is an injury, an American lady say Sarah Everhardt gets selected for GP Finland to replace the injured athlete, and the Skate America spot can go to another of their athletes. This means they get more of the USA ladies to compete on the circuit.

Sure. It's 840 points for 4cc isn't it?

But for Canada, that doesn't really work as the lower ranked athletes wouldn't necessarily gain points... They still need to rank high enough for points

 

[saine]

Anything GOEs has an explainer on the points, along with the numbers here - https://anythinggoe.com/understanding-world-standings/

Assigning athletes to both 4CC and Worlds can be strategic too. The points from 4CC can help their rankings for start orders at Worlds. Looking at Maddie for instance, she maxed out the number of Challengers she can do this season. She could do Senior Bs if she wanted to rank higher, which would be 500 points at most (250 x 2 B competitions) and would overwrite her Challenger points. Her 6th place finish at 4CC got her 496 points last season. If she can do that again, it would be 496 points plus her Challenger points (376 between Budapest and Cranberry Cup.)

 

[RatedPG]

Sure. It's 840 points for 4cc isn't it?

But for Canada, that doesn't really work as the lower ranked athletes wouldn't necessarily gain points... They still need to rank high enough for points

Fair point. Makes sense

 

[RatedPG]

Anything GOEs has an explainer on the points, along with the numbers here - https://anythinggoe.com/understanding-world-standings/

Assigning athletes to both 4CC and Worlds can be strategic too. The points from 4CC can help their rankings for start orders at Worlds. Looking at Maddie for instance, she maxed out the number of Challengers she can do this season. She could do Senior Bs if she wanted to rank higher, which would be 500 points at most (250 x 2 B competitions) and would overwrite her Challenger points. Her 6th place finish at 4CC got her 496 points last season. If she can do that again, it would be 496 points plus her Challenger points (376 between Budapest and Cranberry Cup.)

Thanks for the explanation.
I guess my strategy only works for Kaori and Ilia who are already number 1 and don’t need the points.
Now that I think about it, it does make sense for Maddie to try to gain points to try to start at a later flight for Worlds. Because even though, it shouldn’t matter, we all know that starting in a later flight leads to more points. We need Canada to be in the best position to gain two spots

 

[4everchan]

Anything GOEs has an explainer on the points, along with the numbers here - https://anythinggoe.com/understanding-world-standings/

Assigning athletes to both 4CC and Worlds can be strategic too. The points from 4CC can help their rankings for start orders at Worlds. Looking at Maddie for instance, she maxed out the number of Challengers she can do this season. She could do Senior Bs if she wanted to rank higher, which would be 500 points at most (250 x 2 B competitions) and would overwrite her Challenger points. Her 6th place finish at 4CC got her 496 points last season. If she can do that again, it would be 496 points plus her Challenger points (376 between Budapest and Cranberry Cup.)

yup and that's why ice dancers usually don't skip 4cc because they are at loss against those who do euros and final warm up group is everything

 

[Cutting the ice]

Looks like Ava Kemp / Yohnatan Elizarov had a great short program at the Bavarian Open, scoring 60.01 and are currently in first place. All positive GOEs although the triple twist is only a Level 1. So room for improvement. Martina and Charly appear to have struggled a bit more (fall in the step sequence) but I am sure with more mileage, that will improve.

 

[4everchan]

Two medals for Canadian junior pairs at Bavarian Open.
Gold for Ava and Yoni
Bronze (what a comeback after the SP) for Marly

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Ava KEMP / Yohnatan ELIZAROV	CAN	167.15	1	2
2	Oxana VOUILLAMOZ / Tom BOUVART	SUI	165.72	2	1
3	Martina ARIANO KENT / Charly LALIBERTE LAURENT	CAN	141.93	7	3