2022–23 Canadian Figure Skating | Page 37 | Golden Skate

2022–23 Canadian Figure Skating

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Colonel Green

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Mar 3, 2018
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Canada
Wrap-up on a pretty decent World Championships that, perhaps most importantly, gave us a large contingent for next year's home Worlds in Montreal, between holding the second men's spot and gaining back the third dance spot. Too bad we couldn't have added a second women's spot, but that was always going to be a reach given the circumstances.

It's a shame that Piper & Paul's season got derailed by that abdominal surgery. Hopefully this will just be motivation for another push for the title next year.
 

4everchan

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
Country
Martinique
I have mixed feelings when I read that Piper and Paul lost their momentum, or missed training and were probably not as ready etc...

1) they didn't lose any competition... They sat out 4CC and Nationals... but it's not like they lost against other competitors... some skaters did sit out 4CC... It happens all the time for different reasons and that doesn't disqualify them from medals and titles.

2) were they less comfortable on the ice than at GPF? Did they perform badly or less well than expected? No. I thought they were just as free and detail oriented, just as fast as usual. They skated particularly well in the FD.

There were some obvious mistakes made by pretty much everyone but the Canadians in the FD.... from little stumbles, to lack of refinement in the twizzles to even a fall.... but Piper and Paul and Lolo and Nik skated lights out... yet, they were passed by performances that weren't stellar.

I will end the rant there because I like to look at the positive.

Both our teams can be proud of what they have accomplished. They were facing a lot of pressure considering that if they wanted to stay up there in the rankings, or even improve them, they had to skate flawlessly. They did just that. Both our teams are coming back from injuries... There was no apparent drop in their skating : they managed to prepare and then skate like true champions, no matter how painful Laurence's knee may have been or uncomfortable Piper may have felt.

the 3 spots are back... that's great.

I hope both teams will keep going. It reminds me of how long Bourne and Kraatz had to wait to get the panel recognition... maybe Montreal worlds is the invitation to keep going.


Regarding Keegan.... i had flashbacks of Sochi... when Patrick landed both his quads and then made a couple silly mistakes that prevented him from winning gold.... Keegan's mistakes were so uncharacteristic too... but he fought in the end... in a deep field, he could have dropped even further, so finishing in 7th is quite good and I would have accepted that result with a smile before the event started... Too bad he didn't get a small medal for the SP... that would have been something to cherish.... In the end, I am not very surprised though.... Keegan has been competing with high emotions all season. It's not easy to do that... when things are aligned, it can become the most perfect performance... but it is hard to keep 100% focused that way... the popped axel and the spin mistakes, the low level on steps... all of these are mental mistakes... and I think that after landing both quads, maybe he got distracted just a tiny moment and that was it... Still thank you Keegan, for all these years with us !!!!
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
I am so glad to see 3 spots in dance back! The pairs are actually okay too, with P/M promising partnership and M/M doing well, though not senior level good. But both men and women are basically toast. Messing skated as long as he could, and that seems to be the end because there is no need to generation... perhaps KR can deliver in women, but she will face uphill struggle with Canadian women being out of the picture for this long.
 

4everchan

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Mar 7, 2015
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Martinique
I am so glad to see 3 spots in dance back! The pairs are actually okay too, with P/M promising partnership and M/M doing well, though not senior level good. But both men and women are basically toast. Messing skated as long as he could, and that seems to be the end because there is no need to generation... perhaps KR can deliver in women, but she will face uphill struggle with Canadian women being out of the picture for this long.
For men, it's interesting.. There is SO much talent... but lack of consistency. I will wait to judge Conrad harshly... he popped one jump and with a favourable skating order, he would skated in the LP... the first couple groups were hit and miss... more miss... and he belongs in there for sure.... So does Stephen and Roman... but all these guys need to get out and compete, gain experience and learn what is needed to stay in the pack despite broken blades or bad skating order.

Again, for Maddie : one mistake. Only one mistake. Considering it happened in the SP, she got buried, which is normal. Her early start meant that it would be an uphill battle with the panel.... and it proved just that. Some of her elements got almost no GOE... and it's not like the jumps were bad (no rotation calls, no edge calls). Most of them were just fine ... I think the salchow at the end was tight but she would have received better scores if her starting order had been higher.

Men, with two spots, at home ... it will be an interesting fight for sure ! I can see Wesley and Matthew also get in the mix. Who knows how things will develop but I am not worried. Canadian skating has always been strong in the men discipline and if Japanese men are dominant right now, they are also struggling with their own problems... Uno was fabulous but I cannot say the same of Tomono and Yamamoto : they both had their struggles.... I didn't expect Adam for instance to have such a difficult time... yet he did... I expected Kévin to struggle... he was awesome... It's men.... There are always a couple guys at the top but the rest of the field is whatever happens that weekend... I mean look at Camden last year???

For Women : i am super excited to see the developing young women in Canada. Kaiya. But also Fiona, Rose, Sara-Maude etc... There are a bunch of emerging skaters who will be fighting Maddie for that home spot... Also, who knows if Gabby has it in her to fight for the spot in what could be a swan song performance on home soil?


Finally, women have always been the weakest discipline in Canada.... USA, ROC, and now Japan and Korea have had much deeper field. However, it seems that every other cycle, one major talent from Canada emerges... Joannie leading to 2010, Kaetlyn (and Gabby) leading to 2018..... who will it be leading to 2026? I watched worlds mostly on the French CBC.. The analyst there, Alain Goldberg, discussed the situation for our women last year, during the 2022 games... He explained that our learning curve is different. Things are done in a very progressive way with our women... While some push the 3axels and quads in very early age, our women learn great fundamentals. Just a few years ago, they didn't have a complete arsenal of jumps... We have indeed sent women without a lutz or a flip ... that is no longer true... Then, we have women unable to do triple-triples.... that's also history of the past.... Maddie's 3lz-3t is one of the most beautiful one on the circuit. Things are done gradually as the talent is cared for... probably because the pool is smaller. He said in the interview that it will take 10 years or so for Canadian women to catch up on the rest of the world...It will not happen with the current generation but the next one...

Already, at the novice level, there were some young girls jumping triple-triples and hard jump content... so perhaps it those ones or even the younger ones who will be bringing back competitive women for Canada... not next year... Perhaps not for 2026... but eventually, for sure.

Pairs were great.

Dance : i have said enough :)
 

lariko

Medalist
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Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
I looked at novice women's free and there were a couple of stronger girls, but it's long way to juniors yet. I think Chui is the best bet among men, since all the other guys are tall, and tall boys don't get good scores.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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Mar 14, 2007
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United-States
I’m depressed. Just watched Keegan. Not going to bother watching the end. At least right now.
 

4everchan

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Mar 7, 2015
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Martinique
It was so terrible…🥲🥲🥲🥲
you know... it wasn't that bad :) he landed two gorgeous quads... and then probably just celebrated mentally a bit too quickly and oups... the axel went away from him... i thought he was smart not to ruin his combo by tagging the 3s on it... but then.. he probably was like "what did just happen" and the big spin mistake happened... I am so proud of him for not giving up and fighting afterwards to keep earning points so he doesn't vanish from the rankings. 7th in the worlds is only bad considering he had the tools to stay around 4th or 5th... When one thinks about it, would have he placed above Cha or Uno... I don't think it was possible. Could he have beaten Ilia??? Tough to conceive... So does it matter if he had finished 4th 5th or 6th instead of 7th? I think the overall feeling for him will be a good competition. I'd rather him lose points on a spin than falling all over the place.
 

4everchan

Record Breaker
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Mar 7, 2015
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Martinique
So for WTT, P/P, SD/D, Keegan, Maddie and then Kaiya and Conrad?
on the WTT thread,
it was explained that it goes with WS... in which case Wesley would get the nod. I like Chiu but I like Conrad better... :)
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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you know... it wasn't that bad :) he landed two gorgeous quads... and then probably just celebrated mentally a bit too quickly and oups... the axel went away from him... i thought he was smart not to ruin his combo by tagging the 3s on it... but then.. he probably was like "what did just happen" and the big spin mistake happened... I am so proud of him for not giving up and fighting afterwards to keep earning points so he doesn't vanish from the rankings. 7th in the worlds is only bad considering he had the tools to stay around 4th or 5th... When one thinks about it, would have he placed above Cha or Uno... I don't think it was possible. Could he have beaten Ilia??? Tough to conceive... So does it matter if he had finished 4th 5th or 6th instead of 7th? I think the overall feeling for him will be a good competition. I'd rather him lose points on a spin than falling all over the place.
I wanted him to win the bronze and I do think if he had skated perfectly it was possible.

He’s retiring after WTT. Why is he caring now about not disappearing from the rankings? He will disappear from the rankings soon enough when he never skates again.
 

4everchan

Record Breaker
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Mar 7, 2015
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Martinique
I wanted him to win the bronze and I do think if he had skated perfectly it was possible.

He’s retiring after WTT. Why is he caring now about not disappearing from the rankings? He will disappear from the rankings soon enough when he never skates again.
what i meant is get buried down in the rankings below top ten.. I am thankful he didn't give up and kept fighting, for the sake of keeping two spots... he needed a top ten since Conrad collected 18 points for not making the LP. I was not referring to world standings.
 

4everchan

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Mar 7, 2015
Country
Martinique
I watched the CBC tv coverage of ice dance... Of course, they have Carol Lane as a commentator... and she was kind and careful with the few words she said.... but.
She did say that Piper and Paul were not rusty, but perhaps the judging panel was towards them as they hadn't seen them for a while.
She said that she felt they skated very well, the FD, their best time this season.
The other commentator noticed that everyone but Piper and Paul was getting a season's best... Carol said " I guess we missed the sale"
Carol also said that not having a Canadian judge on the panel certainly didn't help.

A few more things : talking about Laurence and NIk, she did mention that what is great about them is that not only they have the spectacular elements but they still dance on the ice... some teams now are focused on the more acrobatic elements and no longer ice dance. She said it is alright, she is perhaps a traditionalist, but yeah.. I am with her on that.

She noticed a few mistakes from the other teams, Lewis had a couple mistakes (twizzles and one foot) Marco on twizzles, Madi and Evan lost unison on twizzles and of course they fell...

In any case, I felt it was interesting to hear her take on how it unfolded. I guess I am seeing things better than I thought :) or I am just as biased as Carol towards both our teams :) or both :)

Nik and Lolo have confirmed they plan to be in Montreal

Piper and Paul will think about it during their touring this spring. They haven't thought that far as their focus was to get ready on the competition and that took a lot, considering Piper's medical issue.


For those who didn't know, Deanna and Max plan to be the top Canadian team entering the 2026 Olympics. She will be 42 then and he will be 34. I really hope their dream come true !
 

BearryBear

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 6, 2020
Country
Canada
For those who didn't know, Deanna and Max plan to be the top Canadian team entering the 2026 Olympics. She will be 42 then and he will be 34. I really hope their dream come true !

How is this possible though? Deanna isn't Canadian and has no ties to Canada to get citizenship. I don't think Canada is in the habit of granting citizenship just so people can compete at the Olympics?
 

Colonel Green

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Country
Canada
How is this possible though? Deanna isn't Canadian and has no ties to Canada to get citizenship. I don't think Canada is in the habit of granting citizenship just so people can compete at the Olympics?
We are, actually, via Section 5(4) of the Citizenship Act:
Despite any other provision of this Act, the Minister may, in his or her discretion, grant citizenship to any person to alleviate cases of statelessness or of special and unusual hardship or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada.
If you're a high-performance athlete, getting citizenship via this route is no problem. Kaitlyn used it after partnering with Andrew, Piper after partnering with Paul, and Liubov after partnering with Dylan.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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Mar 14, 2007
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United-States
what i meant is get buried down in the rankings below top ten.. I am thankful he didn't give up and kept fighting, for the sake of keeping two spots... he needed a top ten since Conrad collected 18 points for not making the LP. I was not referring to world standings.
Ok, I see. Sorry for misreading you❤️. That’s Keegan. Always looking out for his country. ❤️🥲🍁🤠🇨🇦
 

4everchan

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
Country
Martinique
How is this possible though? Deanna isn't Canadian and has no ties to Canada to get citizenship. I don't think Canada is in the habit of granting citizenship just so people can compete at the Olympics?
Also, to add to what the Colonel said, when deciding which country they would skate for, Deanna decided to skate for Canada because they knew it would be possible for her to get citizenship but practically impossible for Maxime to get it in the USA. The country they represent was carefully chosen for her dreams to come true.
 
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