2024-25 Canadian Figure Skating

[Weathergal]

This might be a daft question, but is 'Place Bell' the same as the 'Bell Centre' where Worlds was held, or are they two different places with confusingly similar names?

I was confused about that too, but based on this part of the article from Robert Brodie that saine linked above, it appears they're two different venues:

"And for athletes from this country, their road resumes in less than two weeks, when the Canadian Championships come to Place Bell in Laval, Quebec.

It’s a venue that was used for Skate Canada International several years back and, in the wake of the highly successful 2024 World Championships, perhaps it’s fitting to bring some of that excitement back to the Montreal area. This rink is hardly the cavernous Bell Centre, to be sure, and we’re not exactly back in the heart of this great Canadian city. But that doesn’t mean Canada’s finest can’t generate some buzz a little further north in Laval."

 

[Diana Delafield]

This might be a daft question, but is 'Place Bell' the same as the 'Bell Centre' where Worlds was held, or are they two different places with confusingly similar names?

Two different places, in the city of Montreal proper and the suburb/town of Laval, both sponsored by the same telecommunications company, Bell Canada.

 

[4everchan]

And both venues are great for big events. I was at skate Canada in place Bell a while back and of course, I went to worlds at Bell Centre last year. Laval is just a bridge away from Montreal and place Bell is conveniently located next to a subway stop. It actually may take me less time to go there by subway than last year going to worlds because I was walking to centre Bell haha

Bell is the sponsor. It's the phone company

 

[saine]

I think Stephen Gogolev's season is over. He isn't on the start orders for Nationals, and I don't see him being chosen for 4CC if he hasn't been able to compete since SCI.

Hopefully he'll be well enough next season to be able to compete at Nationals for both programs and be happy with the results

 

[Alwaysoniceinmyheart]

Place Bell, where Nationals is being held, is in Laval, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal. And it’s definitely not a daft question—it’s quite confusing and I had to google to find this out when I was buying tickets for Nationals.

 

[Alwaysoniceinmyheart]

Place Bell, where Nationals is being held, is in Laval, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal. And it’s definitely not a daft question—it’s quite confusing and I had to google to find this out when I was buying tickets for Nationals.

Just seeing everybody else’s responses now. And still not able to use the quote function properly, apparently.

 

[4everchan]

Just seeing everybody else’s responses now. And still not able to use the quote function properly, apparently.

To quote, use "reply"
The quote option allows you to quote many people in one post.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Just seeing everybody else’s responses now. And still not able to use the quote function properly, apparently.

You should see some of my bungled first attempts. And current ones, for that matter.

 

[Alwaysoniceinmyheart]

To quote, use "reply"
The quote option allows you to quote many people in one post.

Thank you!

 

[Alwaysoniceinmyheart]

You should see some of my bungled first attempts. And current ones, for that matter.

Why is it so hard though?!

 

[Diana Delafield]

Why is it so hard though?!

GS is easy compared to a ballroom dance forum I'm on. Touch the wrong key there and a giggling gremlin snatches everything you just typed and whisks it away into hiding. A month or two later it shoves it back out into view, incomplete and pages away from the topic you were talking about.

In my case, the difficulty is my own lack of computer skills. Kind children in my family try to explain, and Clueless Granny just responds: "Huh?"

Post often and you'll catch on.

(Sorry)

 

[saine]

Kemp/Elizarov and Ariano Kent/Laliberte-Laurent are on the entry list for Bavarian Open.

 

[4everchan]

Kemp/Elizarov and Ariano Kent/Laliberte-Laurent are on the entry list for Bavarian Open.

That will be a short trek there considering they finish the pairs on the 17th...

 

[Skater Boy]

I am very saddened to hear about Stephen and Gabby. I honestly have lost hope that these two will compete. Gabby must be pushing 30 and keeps on getting injury after injury. Stephen like Nam, like Roman and probably showed such promise as juniors but I am losing confidence at this point that he ever will show the promise. Remember as a very young teen it looked like he was going to get a huge arsenal of quads and now he is struggling just to get the two basic quads toe and salchow which he had been working on or had since 13 or so. Fingers crossed they come back but it doesn't look great.

 

[Skater Boy]

HAHA we have been talking about the women's field all season.. .so much deeper than ever and no true real leader (sorry Maddie, love you but you have been inconsistent)

I am curious about the men but it's not exciting.. it's going to be about who skates the less badly and that is never fun... However, junior men should be awesome... finally some men have decided it was time for their 3a to show up this season

pairs and dance : always a thrill for me.

Really singles is a hot mess in Canada and it has been a while. The current pairs and dance are world medallists/champs but do not have the cachet of previous champions/medallists. I am not sure what the answer is Honestly Daleman could come back and be a threat.. If she did what she did in 2017 she would be Canadian champion. There is a fair chance they will not make the olympic team event finals (top 5)

 

[Jumping_Bean]

There is a fair chance they will not make the olympic team event finals (top 5)

Is there really? The USA and Japan are almost 100% guaranteed to make it into the team event finals, but who else is there apart from Canada?

• Italy has strong men, pairs and ice dancers, women are hit an miss - Probably the next closest team to a Team event finals lock.
• France has strong men and ice dancers, but weaker pairs and their women aren't consistently outperforming Canadian women either.
• Georgia's pair is strong, but their singles skaters have been messy this season and instead of climbing, Davis/Smolkin have been dropping down the standings.
• Korea very likely won't have an eligible pairs team, but have stronger men and women (if healthy) and a decent ice dance team.
• Not sure about Switzerland - Strong women and man, relatively weak ice dance team (as new Seniors), but not sure Tom Bouvart will get citizenship in time, so they could be without a pair too.

All other possible teams I can think of (Germany, China, Czechia, Poland, ...) are on the cusp of qualifying in at least three disciplines, but also reasonably could end up only qualifying in one or two disciplines, so not even make the team event at all.
Am I forgetting a country?

 

[FlossieH]

Is there really? The USA and Japan are almost 100% guaranteed to make it into the team event finals, but who else is there apart from Canada?

• Italy has strong men, pairs and ice dancers, women are hit an miss - Probably the next closest team to a Team event finals lock.
• France has strong men and ice dancers, but weaker pairs and their women aren't consistently outperforming Canadian women either.
• Georgia's pair is strong, but their singles skaters have been messy this season and instead of climbing, Davis/Smolkin have been dropping down the standings.
• Korea very likely won't have an eligible pairs team, but have stronger men and women (if healthy) and a decent ice dance team.
• Not sure about Switzerland - Strong women and man, relatively weak ice dance team (as new Seniors), but not sure Tom Bouvart will get citizenship in time, so they could be without a pair too.

All other possible teams I can think of (Germany, China, Czechia, Poland, ...) are on the cusp of qualifying in at least three disciplines, but also reasonably could end up only qualifying in one or two disciplines, so not even make the team event at all.
Am I forgetting a country?

You've missed Finland. I think they are in a similar position to Czechia and Poland. They are strong in dance and should be able to qualify a pair and possibly a lady. Men is their real problem area. GBR are probably also in a similar position to Czechia and Poland - one discipline (dance) where they should be able to qualify easily, and the other three they are on the cusp of being able to if skaters go clean rather than crumbling under the pressure. Ana and Luke have been quite consistent this season and I am hopeful they might be able to qualify. Ed Appleby and Kristen Spours have the potential to make it to the free at Worlds but would need clean skates with all their technical content. Both can be rather inconsistent. Ed can be prone to jump errors and Kristen struggles with nerves. Sweden also have an outside chance of scraping through in enough categories. I don't see any of them (Finland/Cz/Poland/GBR/SWE) being in contention for the team final, though, even if they did qualify to the competition. I think Ukraine will struggle to qualify to the team event this year. They are very weak in ladies, their best ice dance team has split and Holichenko/Darenskyi were struggling to get enough ice time to prepare for competitions. I would currently expect the team final to be USA, JPN, ITA and two from CAN, FRA and Georgia.

 

[RatedPG]

Is there really? The USA and Japan are almost 100% guaranteed to make it into the team event finals, but who else is there apart from Canada?

• Italy has strong men, pairs and ice dancers, women are hit an miss - Probably the next closest team to a Team event finals lock.
• France has strong men and ice dancers, but weaker pairs and their women aren't consistently outperforming Canadian women either.
• Georgia's pair is strong, but their singles skaters have been messy this season and instead of climbing, Davis/Smolkin have been dropping down the standings.
• Korea very likely won't have an eligible pairs team, but have stronger men and women (if healthy) and a decent ice dance team.
• Not sure about Switzerland - Strong women and man, relatively weak ice dance team (as new Seniors), but not sure Tom Bouvart will get citizenship in time, so they could be without a pair too.

All other possible teams I can think of (Germany, China, Czechia, Poland, ...) are on the cusp of qualifying in at least three disciplines, but also reasonably could end up only qualifying in one or two disciplines, so not even make the team event at all.
Am I forgetting a country?

Personally, I think we are very similar to Italy. France and Georgia could challenge.

But, the Italy versus Canada battle for bronze medal will actually be interesting to me. Italy is a bit further ahead with their men. But, we are so similar in terms of level with the women, pairs and ice dance.

 

[4everchan]

There is a fair chance they will not make the olympic team event finals (top 5)

Very unlikely. You predicted the same in 2022 and even with Keegan not being able to compete in the team event, leaving Canada in a very dire situation, even with Piper and Paul underperforming + being severely scored, and even without a very dominant pairs team, young Maddie came to the rescue and helped Canada finish a very honorable 4th place, which many believe should be a 3rd place.
Without ROC this time around, I don't really see how Canada wouldn't make the top five. Italy will contend but like Canada, they will have to see where their single skaters take them. Georgie is really hit and miss... I don't trust their singles more than Italy's and their dance team is not longer seen as a threat. Also, do not forget that though their pair team has good elements, they don't get the PCS nor they haven't been very consistent. So the battle will be for bronze between Canada and Italy.

You are worried about Canada's singles : have you watched the women develop this year ?

The men are in bad shape... but both Roman and Wesley made the LP at worlds last year. Both of them tend to be better in the second half of the season.

I think it's too soon to predict what will happen in 2026 anyway because the sport changes sometimes so quickly but I also think there is no need to constantly be so alarmist about athletes... not just from Canada...

Look... everyone was counting on Gracie, Ashley, Mariah and others to have great careers and they did not really achieve this standard... Then Alisa Liu came in and wow... everyone was cheering for her... she had big elements...but then retired after her first world medal... People thought USA would be in big trouble but look how it turned around so quickly now... With Levito medalling last year at worlds and with Glenn mastering her 3a and winning GPF against 5 strong Japanese skaters. Liu is also back some other American skaters showed great promise in the first half of the season...

The sport goes into cycles. For countries like Japan and USA with their depth in singles, the cycles are more steady... for Canada, we have always had great skaters in most disciplines (except women) but almost every time, there has been a bit of a gap when skaters retired... the cycle reaches its low point but it usually gets back to a high rather soon enough. Men will be strong, looking at the juniors we have right now. Canada has had some of the best skaters ever in the men's discipline, for instance with Patrick Chan and Kurt Browning... These two skaters are remembered and will be remembered forever for what they brought to the sport, both technically and artistically. In some ways, maybe Canada produces less top 10 skaters than other countries, but then, when they produce a star, it's a very shining one. I am looking forward to seeing Canada's next best single skaters. They are coming.

In women, watch out for Lia Cho. She is extremely strong. Too young to compete yet but she will be skating juniors at Nationals.

 

[saine]

Posted by Piper today, a project from 2019 that wasn't finished: