2023-24 Canadian Figure Skating

[Cutting the ice]

I took advantage of some downtime on the holidays and watched some of the Ontario Pre-Novice / Novice Sectionals that was held early in December.

I really enjoyed the two Novice pairs teams - worth watching both (Remie Muramoto/Keith Lau from Cdn Ice Academy and Siyul Back/Gavin Mahoney from Mariposa SC/Barrie SC). Both teams are closely matched and both (I think) have lots of promise. Always good to have strong competition! I look forward to seeing them again at the Cdn level (Novice / Pre-Novice Challenge and Novice Championships). Hope even more good competition from teams from the rest of Canada!

If you wish to watch, it's a bit of a search since the schedule is no longer posted but they are on Day 2 and Day 3 north rink (Skate Canada Daily Motion). Happy watching.

 

[rain]

So what are people's predictions for nationals? Some are pretty straightforward, but the men's is a total tossup, as are the women below Maddie. So here are my considered choices and my ones that are a coin-toss, lol:

Pairs:
1. Stellato-Dudeck/Deschamps
2. Pereira/Michaud
3. McIntosh/Mimar
4. Laurin/Ethier

Dance:
1. Gilles/Poirier
2. Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen
3. Lajoie/Lagha (though in a perfect world, I'd have them above F-B/S this season. I will be very interested to see how close they come)
4. Lauriault/LeGac
5. Sales/Wamsteeker (they are going to be back, right?)
6. Fabri/Ayer

Women:
1. Madeline Schizas
2. Kaiya Ruiter
3. Sara-Maude Dupuis
4. Justine Miclette
5. Fiona Bombardier (is she still skating singles at all, or strictly pairs?)

Men:
1. Roman Sadovsky (he could finish here, or 10th. Who knows? This is my hopeful prediction, lol)
2. Stephen Gogolev
3. Conrad Orzel
4. Wesley Chui

I expect if Piper and Paul skate cleanly they will be given enormous scores (which I think they actually fully deserve this season). So will Deanna and Max, as Canada would like to see both these teams on the podium, at minimum, at worlds this year, and there's work to be done after disappointing grand prix final results.

Mens is a coin toss. The battle for third and fourth in pairs is going to be fierce. I am so interested to see how close Marjorie and Zach are placed to the presumed top two in ice dance. I think they have a lot of momentum going for them this season. Having great material always helps, which is where I think they have an advantage this season over F-B/S. And I don't know where Bashynska/Beaumont are going to factor into the dance field here either. I do not think they will yet leap frog any of the teams above, but I think they need to be looking over their shoulders.

 

[4everchan]

So what are people's predictions for nationals? Some are pretty straightforward, but the men's is a total tossup, as are the women below Maddie. So here are my considered choices and my ones that are a coin-toss, lol:

Pairs:
1. Stellato-Dudeck/Deschamps
2. Pereira/Michaud
3. McIntosh/Mimar
4. Laurin/Ethier

3 and 4 are pretty much interchangeable at this point considering the recent results... i will be curious about this. I think Emma and Nic would have earned a medal considering the struggles of these young teams this fall. It is unfortunate because Laurin/Ethier were great at CQE and M/M were very very promising last year.

Dance:
1. Gilles/Poirier
2. Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen
3. Lajoie/Lagha (though in a perfect world, I'd have them above F-B/S this season. I will be very interested to see how close they come)
4. Lauriault/LeGac
5. Sales/Wamsteeker (they are going to be back, right?)
6. Fabri/Ayer

I don't think 5 will be above 6. They skated at challenge but they are indeed rusty.

Women:
1. Madeline Schizas
2. Kaiya Ruiter
3. Sara-Maude Dupuis
4. Justine Miclette
5. Fiona Bombardier (is she still skating singles at all, or strictly pairs?)

5 is doing both.
I wonder if Fée-Ann will shine just as much as she did at Challenge because she did beat easily 3 and 4.

Men:
1. Roman Sadovsky (he could finish here, or 10th. Who knows? This is my hopeful prediction, lol)
2. Stephen Gogolev
3. Conrad Orzel
4. Wesley Chui

Putting Roman first is wishful thinking indeed.
My wish is for Conrad to nail it.
I expect Gogo may take this title.
I am not very confident in Wesley this season. I see it as a development stage for him. Chasing so many quads

I expect if Piper and Paul skate cleanly they will be given enormous scores (which I think they actually fully deserve this season). So will Deanna and Max, as Canada would like to see both these teams on the podium, at minimum, at worlds this year, and there's work to be done after disappointing grand prix final results.

Agree.

Mens is a coin toss.

You could pick the top 4-5 men's names in a bag and have just as much chance to get the right prediction. We really haven't seen Roman all season and last year WAS bad and he wasn't injured then.

The battle for third and fourth in pairs is going to be fierce.

Yup.. with a world team spot on the line (at home too)

I am so interested to see how close Marjorie and Zach are placed to the presumed top two in ice dance. I think they have a lot of momentum going for them this season. Having great material always helps, which is where I think they have an advantage this season over F-B/S.

I still think FBS are better (especially FB) but I agree their programs do not compare well with Lala's . However, I think I still prefer their programs to some of the other programs from the other top teams.

And I don't know where Bashynska/Beaumont are going to factor into the dance field here either. I do not think they will yet leap frog any of the teams above, but I think they need to be looking over their shoulders.

I agree. Though it's possible for them to beat L/R at this point.

 

[Cutting the ice]

Dance. I think B&B and F&A will both be above S&W as at the Challenge. L&L will be a close third to F-B&S
Pairs. I agree about 3rd and 4th. Hoping both teams have great skates rather than “best of the worst” for 3rd
Women’s. Not sure about Justine and Sarah-Maude. Hetty Shi may grab a medal. again let’s hope for happy surprises
Men’s. My crystal ball is dark. Sigh

 

[saine]

Ice dance - 4-6 could be interesting. I'm expecting it to be Lauriault/LeGac, Bashynska/Beaumont and Fabbri/Ayer, not sure about the exact order, based on how Challenge went. I don't think Lauriault/LeGac will be passed this time, so likely 4th this season.

Pairs - I like both teams expected to be fighting it out for bronze and want them both to win it. Maybe Brooke/Ben if I had to choose, but I wish both teams could win bronze. I hope that they can split the 4CC/Worlds assignments between them again.

Women - Looking forward to this one! I'm hoping Fee Ann can podium again after her Challenge win and maybe go to Junior Worlds. I'm rooting for Sara-Maude to at least get another 4th place finish, with Uliana and Hetty in the mix too for top 6. Plus Audreanne Foster and Marie-Maude Pomerleau if I want to go up to top 8.

Men - Top 6 will probably be the six men with the Worlds TES, with maybe Anthony Paradis sneaking in. I'm not expecting Aleksa or Matthew to podium, but wouldn't be surprised if either one snuck in for the bronze. Stephen has the highest SB so far, but I wouldn't bet on him to win if I were a betting person. The first half of the season doesn't always predict how the second half will go. I thought that Roman and Stephen would be on the podium last season based on how the first half went, and that didn't happen. I'm sure Skate Canada would love it if Roman won, but I don't see that happening at his first full competition of the season.

 

[Sackie]

Really think Maddy will end up winning but what I want to see is her lay down 2 great back to back skates. She really needs this. Otherwise she could actually find herself with the other ladies being closer then any one expects - and maybe even a surprise winner. Kaiya did beat her last year in the Free skate and if Maddie has short skates like she did in her GP events she could end up being beaten. This also depends on how many 'calls' Kaiya gets. We have some women all showing that they have the goods in regards to jumps and levels - they just need to put it together like Fee Ann did at the challenge. Think Fiona will be down in the results. She just has not settled into skating both singles and pairs as easily as Lia did last year. And also not being sent out much puts her at a disadvantage to Sarah Maude, Justine, and Kaiya. Even Fee Ann seems to have learned from her international assignment.
In men's I think it will come down to levels and PCS. Conrad needs to keep his levels up and go for the Tech content. Even last year Roman was only 6 points behind him in the free skate and that was with Roman having 3 falls. One less fall and that's the 6 points. Stephen seems to be middle of the road in Tech and PCS so he just might take the title. Wesley seems to be having a hard time of it this season but he was the same last year and came back at Nationals.
In pairs I think the top 2 are a lock but where Brooke/ Ben finish will depend on how much they have recovered from the fall at their last event- and by that I also mean mentally. Laurin/Ethier have the content to be up there but they seem to have little errors that bring down their GOE and they end up losing a lot of points. Also a sloppy skate brings down their PCS.
In Dance the top 4 are a lock but as we saw last year LaLa can actually beat FBS. It will come down to levels and GOE for the two of them. After the top 4 it is a toss up. So many of these teams are close and any one can have a great skate on any given night. Would be kind of nice to see some shake up in the Dance results.

 

[4everchan]

hi guys ! In case you don't know, we have threads made specifically for nationals ! Don't hesitate to use them !
They will be updated as soon as Skate Canada provides us with the info.

In the meantime, this is where we can have our pre-event talks !

2024 Canadian National Skating Championships : Pre Game Chat

Welcome to the Canadian National Skating Championships Pre Game Chat ! Canadian Nationals competitions (juniors, seniors and synchro) will be held in Calgary from January 9th to 13th (Official practice on January 8th, Gala on January 14th). Complete schedule can be found here...

www.goldenskate.com

 

[rain]

3 and 4 are pretty much interchangeable at this point considering the recent results... i will be curious about this. I think Emma and Nic would have earned a medal considering the struggles of these young teams this fall. It is unfortunate because Laurin/Ethier were great at CQE and M/M were very very promising last year.


I don't think 5 will be above 6. They skated at challenge but they are indeed rusty.

5 is doing both.
I wonder if Fée-Ann will shine just as much as she did at Challenge because she did beat easily 3 and 4.



Putting Roman first is wishful thinking indeed.
My wish is for Conrad to nail it.
I expect Gogo may take this title.
I am not very confident in Wesley this season. I see it as a development stage for him. Chasing so many quads

Agree.

You could pick the top 4-5 men's names in a bag and have just as much chance to get the right prediction. We really haven't seen Roman all season and last year WAS bad and he wasn't injured then.

Yup.. with a world team spot on the line (at home too)

I still think FBS are better (especially FB) but I agree their programs do not compare well with Lala's . However, I think I still prefer their programs to some of the other programs from the other top teams.

I agree. Though it's possible for them to beat L/R at this point.

I also kind of expect Gogolev to win mens. Even Roman's travel woes make his whole deal seem still chaotic. I always hope a little bit, though.

I think Bashynska/Beaumont will absolutely beat Lanaghan/Razgulijevs, who never seem to have taken off.

As for Fée-Ann, I always hope to see another woman come up and skate well.

 

[4everchan]

Entry list/Starting orders have now been posted by Skate Canada, so I made sure to post them in the competition threads. We can now discuss each field/category in the appropriate threads.

 

[BearryBear]

Nikolaj Sørensen being investigated for alleged sexual assault (warning - article includes graphic description of event)

Olympic skater being investigated for alleged sexual assault of former American skater

A former figure skater from America has accused Canadian ice dancer Nikolaj Sørensen of sexually assaulting her in 2012.

www.usatoday.com

 

[RatedPG]

Nikolaj Sørensen being investigated for alleged sexual assault (warning - article includes graphic description of event)

Olympic skater being investigated for alleged sexual assault of former American skater

A former figure skater from America has accused Canadian ice dancer Nikolaj Sørensen of sexually assaulting her in 2012.

www.usatoday.com

Yikes
I wonder if this will affect his participation at 4CC and Worlds?

I haven’t visited this site for a week due to the Holidays… and I come back to hopefully see an update on Nationals, but, instead, I see this article. Sigh

 

[4everchan]

CBC sports covers these news with a better explanation of the process.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figure-skating/nikolaj-soerensen-accused-sexual-assault-1.7074661

 

[Dreamer57]

Yikes
I wonder if this will affect his participation at 4CC and Worlds?

I haven’t visited this site for a week due to the Holidays… and I come back to hopefully see an update on Nationals, but, instead, I see this article. Sigh

Can OSIC/Skate Canada suspend him from competing or coaching?

How will they investigate given there is no criminal investigation?

 

[saine]

Can OSIC/Skate Canada suspend him from competing or coaching?

How will they investigate given there is no criminal investigation?

How they will proceed is not something they will comment on as per the CBC article, nor will the athletes. I don't think we'll know anything about how they'll proceed until they're done.

"We are aware of the USA Today article that has just come out, but because this is an active case within OSIC, we cannot comment and our athletes will not be commenting as well," Skate Canada director of communications Karine Bedard said Thursday

"In order to protect the integrity of the investigative process and its outcome, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner operates under confidentiality parameters and does not comment on ongoing matters," a Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada spokesperson said in a statement.

They did change the header image on the Nationals page to one they were using to advertise tickets on Facebook that has Piper/Paul, Deanna/Max and Les Supremes. Previously it had the highest placing skaters from last Nationals in the five disciplines, so FBS were on it as the reigning champions.

 

[4everchan]

They did change the header image on the Nationals page to one they were using to advertise tickets on Facebook that has Piper/Paul, Deanna/Max and Les Supremes. Previously it had the highest placing skaters from last Nationals in the five disciplines, so FBS were on it as the reigning champions.

They have also put the statement previously released on social media on the website.

 

[rain]

I imagine there's a lot of pressure on F-B/S to withdraw right about now. I'd expect now to see LaLa place ahead of them if there's any excuse.

 

[4everchan]

I imagine there's a lot of pressure on F-B/S to withdraw right about now. I'd expect now to see LaLa place ahead of them if there's any excuse.

Well. Let's not forget that half the teams at Nationals are training in Montreal with them and may be going through a whole bunch of emotions from distraction to shock. It was always going to be a tight race no matter what between the top 3 teams.

 

[rain]

Well. Let's not forget that half the teams at Nationals are training in Montreal with them and may be going through a whole bunch of emotions from distraction to shock. It was always going to be a tight race no matter what between the top 3 teams.

I actually didn't, and still don't, expect anyone to be that close to Piper and Paul. I thought it was going to be very close between LaLa and FB/S, with an outside shot that LaLa just might squeeze in ahead on the strength of better programs. Now, I think if LaLa skate lights-out the judges may be willing to give it to them a year early.

 

[4everchan]

I actually didn't, and still don't, expect anyone to be that close to Piper and Paul. I thought it was going to be very close between LaLa and FB/S, with an outside shot that LaLa just might squeeze in ahead on the strength of better programs. Now, I think if LaLa skate lights-out the judges may be willing to give it to them a year early.

I agree. However, we saw what a twizzle mistake can do in the RD when LaLa edged out Psquare in GP.
In the article I linked above, Skate Canada expects FBS to skate at Nationals, so to those who think they will W/D, it seems unlikely.

 

[saine]

They did change the header image on the Nationals page to one they were using to advertise tickets on Facebook that has Piper/Paul, Deanna/Max and Les Supremes. Previously it had the highest placing skaters from last Nationals in the five disciplines, so FBS were on it as the reigning champions.

Going back to this, they have a different version of the poster they were using before that has Piper/Paul on it for the thumbnails for the livestreams.

Whatever happens with FB/S deciding to compete, I hope that the skaters feel safe and are comfortable competing next week.