2024-25 Canadian Figure Skating

[RatedPG]

Kara was so underscored. Her PCS was way lower due to skating so early. You really have to earn your way up the standings little by little. She would have qualified had she had a higher ranking.

As for the boys, we finished Anthony (16th) and David (17th) with 190 points each. They both have the opposite strengths and weaknesses. David has a lot of improvements to make on artistic side. However, I can see him learning a quad or two. Anthony attempted the 3A and it wasn’t a bad attempt. The issue with Anthony is on his triples and even 2A. He needs to spend the summer practicing his jump technique.

As for Pairs, I didn’t see anything other than the Bruno Mascott team, as they only showed 15 minutes…

Yohnathan and Ava… good thing I didn’t watch as I would have been traumatized for them. I just want them to keep three spots.

 

[4everchan]

Anthony's jumps were very good at nationals. It is not about bad technique. It is about nearly succeeding a triple Axel and the toll that took on his focus. The combo before the triple Axel was fabulous.

Pairs should keep the three spots of they skate up to their abilities. It is in their hands.

 

[Skater Boy]

Canada is down to one man and one woman in juniors. Michael Slipchuk mus be crying. Lulu was dead last in the FS and certailnly not cclose to what she did at Nationals which looked phenomenal maybe even world podium. But maybe she shouldn't' have skated here with the injury??

 

[4everchan]

Canada is down to one man and one woman in juniors. Michael Slipchuk mus be crying. Lulu was dead last in the FS and certailnly not cclose to what she did at Nationals which looked phenomenal maybe even world podium. But maybe she shouldn't' have skated here with the injury??

OK....
1) Lulu was NOT at Nationals. If you are going to be so negative about Canadian skating, please at least, check your facts. She had a concussion and just started training fully a couple weeks ago.

She has cleared the concussion protocols so technically, there is no injury but she is out of shape to compete at this level.

2) Canada won a bronze in pairs just now, with one of the youngest team competing, true juniors... Also back from injury.... so Slipchuk is happy about that for sure... There were no medals for Canada at JWC last year.

 

[azsk8]

Even though Canada got a pairs bronze at JWC, the overall performance of the entire Canadian delegation was weak. Success in juniors in pairs is no indication of success or even staying together in seniors. Canada has no depth period right now. Even in dance and pairs, after the top teams, there is no one. After Piper and Paul, Max and Deanna and likely Trennt retire after Milan, there’s only LaLa in dance (BaBeau have rumored to split). Fabbri/Ayer and Lathan pose no threat internationally. Ben and Fiona are still learning and there’s no guarantees of success there either. The singles have been languishing with no juniors rising up. Paradis has some beautiful qualities but is sloppy and is lacking technical ability. David Bondar has some nice jumps but is lacking overall and there’s less to work with there. They were 18th and 19th at this year’s junior worlds and both were under 200. Aleksa is not young and has that god awful Joanne McCleod technique and is not likely to do well internationally. Wesley has been injured and is majorly lacking in star power, consistency, and technical content to succeed internationally. Roman is horribly inconsistent and is building a reputation of being an underrotater. He is skating slower than ever this season. He also just doesn’t care to improve or change his training preparation and somehow always can make an excuse for his shortcomings. Gogolev is extremely injured and it will be difficult to come back if he even decides to. Banking on kids like Minsol and Lia Cho is not the answer. Maddie has reached her ceiling and has not made great strides in her weaknesses like posture, speed and skating skills, tech content in seasons. Kaiya is a chronic underrotater and it’s not likely to get better (see Karen Chen, Mirai Nagasu, Lindsay Thorngren). Katherine Medland-Spence is 24. Lulu Lin was coming back from a concussion but she was still 24th out of the 24 that made the free skate. Kara didn’t even make the free skate, though I can agree her PCS were underscored. Canadian T10 in singles this Worlds or anytime in the near future is a pipe dream. The last two quads since 2018 have been bad but next quad is looking even more dire. Be real. Canada need to do a major overhaul in how they develop their talent. Usually when a sports team does poorly, everyone from the top down gets the boot. Mike Slipchuk needs to go!

 

[Colonel Green]

Even though Canada got a pairs bronze at JWC, the overall performance of the entire Canadian delegation was weak. Success in juniors in pairs is no indication of success or even staying together in seniors.

Having talented junior pair skaters is obviously a good thing, whether or not they end up staying together.

Canada has no depth period right now. Even in dance and pairs, after the top teams, there is no one. After Piper and Paul, Max and Deanna and likely Trennt retire after Milan, there’s only LaLa in dance (BaBeau have rumored to split). Fabbri/Ayer and Lathan pose no threat internationally. Ben and Fiona are still learning and there’s no guarantees of success there either.

Okay, first, you say there's no one but then acknowledge Lajoie & Lagha.

Obviously there are no guarantees of success. That doesn't mean they won't succeed. We're doing fine in pairs right now, I would say. It's an open question what the dance field below Lajoie & Lagha looks like going forward.

Banking on kids like Minsol and Lia Cho is not the answer.

Why would that not be the answer, exactly? If the current top skaters are underwhelming, what you do is look to the future. It's not like we can go get new skaters on the free agent market.

Lulu Lin was coming back from a concussion but she was still 24th out of the 24 that made the free skate.

Since she's coming back from a concussion, I'm not sure what relevance that is.

Canada need to do a major overhaul in how they develop their talent. Usually when a sports team does poorly, everyone from the top down gets the boot. Mike Slipchuk needs to go!

Didn't you just say that relying on kids was not the answer? So why are you talking about talent development?

In any case, talent development is mostly decentralized in figure skating, it's not comparable to a sports team at all.

 

[discodisco]

Anthony's jumps were very good at nationals. It is not about bad technique. It is about nearly succeeding a triple Axel and the toll that took on his focus. The combo before the triple Axel was fabulous.

Pairs should keep the three spots of they skate up to their abilities. It is in their hands.

Yes. Poor technique. Not much speed or height. Too much muscling.

 

[4everchan]

Yes. Poor technique. Not much speed or height. Too much muscling.

What I like about his jumps, when he does well with them, is their air position which is straight and tight rotation.
I can see he is muscling them.. but I have seen much worse technique too...
From seeing him perform so well at Nationals, I'd associate the mistakes to the jitters from almost landing his 3a.

You know, I have been on this forum for nearly ten years... and back then, some people were calling Patrick Chan's jumps textbook... while others were saying he should hire a jump coach...

 

[Jammers]

What I like about his jumps, when he does well with them, is air position which is straight and tight rotation.
I can see he is muscling them.. but I have seen much worse technique too...
From seeing him perform so well at Nationals, I'd associate the mistakes to the jitters from almost landing his 3a.

You know, I have been on this forum for nearly ten years... and back then, some people were calling Patrick Chan's jumps textbook... while others were saying he should hire a jump coach...

And then Patrick went out and hired a modern dance instructor as his coach.

 

[4everchan]

And then Patrick went out and hired a modern dance instructor as his coach.

Patrick has made worse choices than that one... Training with Zoueva for instance

 

[RatedPG]

Junior Pairs

I’m was clapping so hard for Martina and Charly. I didn’t expect Canada to win a medal at Junior Worlds and we did it. Yay!!
Charly was so happy on the podium.

Also, my only negative comments on this event goes towards our other two pairs teams. I was sad for Ava. She was so hard on herself. Also, Yohnathan makes me nervous. He has this popular kid aura to him, that makes me nervous. Maybe, it is cause he is so handsome and I’m just reading too much into it. But, would be nice if he is more supportive towards Ava. Their side by side jumps were good. If it weren’t for the botched lift in the SP, they could have placed higher. Not sure who’s fault the lift in the SP was, but, I’m assuming it was him. So, him on the lift and her on the throw jumps, this was a missed opportunity for them and maybe that is why they were upset in the kiss n cry.

Now, for Jazmine and Kiernan. I watched that performance and it was glaring obvious how much better Kiernan is over Jazmine. After the first jumping pass, you can even tell that he is used to his partner screwing up the jumps half the time. He jumps and then looks at her, and then doesn’t even bother. Why didn’t they do a combo jump in their second jumping pass? I guess she screwed up there too, and couldn’t save the jumping pass with an axel combo anymore. Not sure. The problem with Jazmine is I think she recently picked up figure skating, compared to Kiernan, but, she has no solid 2A or triple jumps and this kind of limits them. I kind of feel like Kiernan could reach a higher potential with a different partner. But, if he has a special relationship with Jazmine or friendship with her, I respect that too. He is so supportive towards her and that was nice to see in the kiss n cry.

Our Junior Pairs boys overall seem to be more talented than the girls Sometimes, I wonder if they should start fresh with a new girls skater from Novice or Juniors that has at least two consistent triples (3T, 3S) and can do 2A 2A combos, as a bonus, just so they don’t have to stress about the jumps portion and maximize those points. It worked out well for Trentt with Lia. Also, Max with Deanna (a former singles skater) and Loucas with Kelly (who has a 3Lo).
Fiona is the senior pairs skater, where the opposite is true. She is much better than Benjamin. So, the dynamics in Pairs world is interesting to me.

Junior Girls

I was just happy to see Lulu back. She was only doing doubles a month or two ago. This was clearly a too little time to prepare situation. Also, I don’t think any other junior girl would have done any better. I did think to myself, that they should have sent Kaiya and Breken (our 4th and 5th place finishers from Nationals, still age eligible), but, Skate Canada has a system where they choose to give athletes with 3 or more junior eligible seasons more experience, and I support that decision. So, Lulu and Kara were the correct athletes. Kara’s combined Challenger and Nationals score was better than Uliana.

 

[RatedPG]

Also, I’m more excited for the upcoming Poland event than Junior Worlds or Senior Worlds

Quick question for @saine
Why are the Novice Girls separated into two different groups?
Group A and Group B
Is there a reasoning to this? Something to do with age? Will medals be awarded separately for each group or do they combine the results from A and B to one?

 

[4everchan]

Junior Pairs

I’m was clapping so hard for Martina and Charly. I didn’t expect Canada to win a medal at Junior Worlds and we did it. Yay!!
Charly was so happy on the podium.

Also, my only negative comments on this event goes towards our other two pairs teams. I was sad for Ava. She was so hard on herself. Also, Yohnathan makes me nervous. He has this popular kid aura to him, that makes me nervous. Maybe, it is cause he is so handsome and I’m just reading too much into it. But, would be nice if he is more supportive towards Ava. Their side by side jumps were good. If it weren’t for the botched lift in the SP, they could have placed higher. Not sure who’s fault the lift in the SP was, but, I’m assuming it was him. So, him on the lift and her on the throw jumps, this was a missed opportunity for them and maybe that is why they were upset in the kiss n cry.

The lift issue was costly but i think what really killed them was that the program died after the mistake... PCS were low. The error was a timing issue during the change of position. So that's hard to tell who wasn't in synch with the other... Could be him... could be her... could be both

For the throws, a lot of flack goes to the women when they are missed but the man has a huge responsibility too... If he throws her partner harder, the women have a hard time controlling the landing... that's just one example of where it can be the men's fault... To me, in pairs, like in dance, a mistake is a team mistake... Even with steps... someone can stumble but it could be because their partner is unusually closer than expected.

Now, for Jazmine and Kiernan. I watched that performance and it was glaring obvious how much better Kiernan is over Jazmine. After the first jumping pass, you can even tell that he is used to his partner screwing up the jumps half the time. He jumps and then looks at her, and then doesn’t even bother. Why didn’t they do a combo jump in their second jumping pass? I guess she screwed up there too, and couldn’t save the jumping pass with an axel combo anymore. Not sure. The problem with Jazmine is I think she recently picked up figure skating, compared to Kiernan, but, she has no solid 2A or triple jumps and this kind of limits them. I kind of feel like Kiernan could reach a higher potential with a different partner. But, if he has a special relationship with Jazmine or friendship with her, I respect that too. He is so supportive towards her and that was nice to see in the kiss n cry.

i think we need to give them a bit more time... then, if Jazzy cannot pick up on jumps, they will naturally split... but to be honest, have we ever seen him to a triple jump either ?

Our Junior Pairs boys overall seem to be more talented than the girls Sometimes, I wonder if they should start fresh with a new girls skater from Novice or Juniors that has at least two consistent triples (3T, 3S) and can do 2A 2A combos, as a bonus, just so they don’t have to stress about the jumps portion and maximize those points. It worked out well for Trentt with Lia. Also, Max with Deanna (a former singles skater) and Loucas with Kelly (who has a 3Lo).
Fiona is the senior pairs skater, where the opposite is true. She is much better than Benjamin. So, the dynamics in Pairs world is interesting to me.

I don't know... Martina is quite strong.

Junior Girls

I was just happy to see Lulu back. She was only doing doubles a month or two ago. This was clearly a too little time to prepare situation. Also, I don’t think any other junior girl would have done any better. I did think to myself, that they should have sent Kaiya and Breken (our 4th and 5th place finishers from Nationals, still age eligible), but, Skate Canada has a system where they choose to give athletes with 3 or more junior eligible seasons more experience, and I support that decision. So, Lulu and Kara were the correct athletes. Kara’s combined Challenger and Nationals score was better than Uliana.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

I don't know... Martina is quite strong.

As is Ava, imo. Deanna is also stronger than Max, and Lia certainly isn't weak either.

Plus, having had a decent 2A, 3S and 3T in Singles doesn't mean skaters can keep that up after moving to pairs, especially as they get older. To my great suffering, that's something that happened to one of my favourite pairs girls - Annika Hocke. In her last singles season, she had a pretty dependable 3T & 3S, even a not-half-bad 3Lz and 3Lo, but now all of those jumps are nowhere to be found and her remaining triple (Salchow) is consistently inconsistent (and unfortunately, her consistent 2A is Robert's weaker jump so they barely ever get a single clean jumping pass out of it.)

In Novices, there are also Wong/Conforti (turn Jr eligible in 2026/27) & Dion/Cote with 2As. Brianna Dion is working on a 3S (she's still skating singles as well as pairs), though Jacob's 3S seems to be one of his weaker jumps.

 

[4everchan]

As is Ava, imo. Deanna is also stronger than Max, and Lia certainly isn't weak either.

Plus, having had a decent 2A, 3S and 3T in Singles doesn't mean skaters can keep that up after moving to pairs, especially as they get older. To my great suffering, that's something that happened to one of my favourite pairs girls - Annika Hocke. In her last singles season, she had a pretty dependable 3T & 3S, even a not-half-bad 3Lz and 3Lo, but now all of those jumps are nowhere to be found and her remaining triple (Salchow) is consistently inconsistent (and unfortunately, her consistent 2A is Robert's weaker jump so they barely ever get a single clean jumping pass out of it.)

In Novices, there are also Wong/Conforti (turn Jr eligible in 2026/27) & Dion/Cote with 2As. Brianna Dion is working on a 3S (she's still skating singles as well as pairs), though Jacob's 3S seems to be one of his weaker jumps.

so pretty much all the Canadian pairs girls are stronger jumpers except perhaps for Jazzy (and that's understandable)

Fiona check
Lia check
Deanna check (though her 3s is at times wonky but so is Max's)
Kelly Ann versus Loucas... I guess he may be stronger... but I am not sure... these two have an issue with the triple toe as they do salchow and loops... and I think it's easier to to SBS toe loops in terms of synching.
Ava
Martina

... and nobody will ever make me believe that Meagan was the weakest jumper between her and Eric

The two pairs girls who looked a bit weaker jumping wise than their partners, Noémie and Julia no longer have partners to be compared with, however, it may have been a developmental thing (age,etc)

 

[RatedPG]

so pretty much all the Canadian pairs girls are stronger jumpers except perhaps for Jazzy (and that's understandable)

Fiona check
Lia check
Deanna check (though her 3s is at times wonky but so is Max's)
Kelly Ann versus Loucas... I guess he may be stronger... but I am not sure... these two have an issue with the triple toe as they do salchow and loops... and I think it's easier to to SBS toe loops in terms of synching.
Ava
Martina

... and nobody will ever make me believe that Meagan was the weakest jumper between her and Eric

The two pairs girls who looked a bit weaker jumping wise than their partners, Noémie and Julia no longer have partners to be compared with, however, it may have been a developmental thing (age,etc)

So basically, the girl needs to be better than the boy, with jumps, else a split is inevitable .

Meagan was amazing!!! And such a nerd where she would calculate points during the kiss n cry. We need more Meagan’s. Deanna, Lia, Kelly and Fiona are all wow and tough as nails. That is why we are in a good place with Pairs at this moment.

I really like Jazzy. I hope she is able to improve for the sake of this partnership.

Lia and Fiona both moved up to Pairs after realizing the difficulty of making it to Senior GP events, once they turned 17. They made the right move. Maybe, junior girls will be more inclined to make this switch after seeing Lia and Fiona’s success. A good boys/men’s pairs partner is hard to find.

I had a dream the Hungarian guy partner left Audrey shin and paired up with Fiona and became a Canadian citizen. It took me a few days to realize this was not reality

 

[saine]

Quick question for @saine
Why are the Novice Girls separated into two different groups?
Group A and Group B
Is there a reasoning to this? Something to do with age? Will medals be awarded separately for each group or do they combine the results from A and B to one?

From the announcement:

1) If the number of entries exceeds 24 competitors, the Advanced Novice category will be divided into 2 separate categories A and B according to the age requirements given below:
Category Age limits
Advanced Novice A Born between: 01.07.2008 – 30.06.2010
Advanced Novice B Born after 30.06.2010 and younger

 

[Flying Feijoa]

It can be easy to go down the rabbit hole of over-analysing the dynamics between partners in the kiss and cry. Yoni is fairly deadpan most of the time unless there's something to be obviously happy about... It doesn't mean he is not supportive when the cameras aren't rolling.

K/E and Marly are both coming back from injury, but the type of injury and who it happened to (Charly's shoulder, Ava - not sure, possibly ankle) means the two teams would differ in terms of which elements/aspects of skating they are underpracticed in.

Jazmine is not new to figure skating, just to the elite competitive level. Any jump above a 2A wouldn't have been a test requirement in Starskate, but it doesn't mean she didn't train it before. Anyway, some teams like the Chinese do fairly well even with the girl having less solid jumps - Sui Wenjing only had one consistent triple (3T). Canada is generally more like Russia (and now Japan) in that its skaters are usually relatively strong in individual skating skills/elements when they switch to pairs.

 

[ladyjane]

Also, I’m more excited for the upcoming Poland event than Junior Worlds or Senior Worlds

Quick question for @saine
Why are the Novice Girls separated into two different groups?
Group A and Group B
Is there a reasoning to this? Something to do with age? Will medals be awarded separately for each group or do they combine the results from A and B to one?

I realise the question was for someone else. But it happens quite often when there are so many adv novice girls (and sometimes in juniors also for that matter), and the event might be endless otherwise, or a cutoff rank introduced (at 24). No cut off rank, just two competitions instead, and both groups get medals.

Sorry, saw the question was already answered and in a more efficient way.

 

[ladyjane]

Happy to see the arguments are no longer about how bad the world is (metaphor), but more constructive.