New season brings 'a change of energy'
Skate Canada's high-performance camp is a clear sign that it's time for the country's top skaters to hit the ice for real in a new campaign. Here's what some of them are thinking.
You know it’s almost skating season when Skate Canada holds its high-performance camp for its top athletes. They’ve all been at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, this week to show off the work they’ve done all summer and get some valuable feedback before heading off into the fall competitive season.
It’s also a time when folks like me get a chance to catch up with everyone involved, and see what’s new and what’s coming in the months ahead. While this piece doesn’t sum up everything we heard and learned, here’s a sampling of some of the conversation that was shared on an unseasonably cool August morning.
The idea is presented to Wesley Chiu and the 18-year-old skater from Vancouver can’t help but smile. He knows the opportunity is there, even if he’d rather tamp that thought down this early in a new season.
“That’s definitely one of my goals,” the soft spoken Chiu admits about the possibility of joining the line of Canadian men’s skating champions when the country’s best skaters convene in Calgary in January. “That’s still a bit of a way away. There are a few competitions leading up to it as stepping stones before the national championships.”
Indeed there are. And one of them, Skate Canada International at the end of October in Vancouver, figures to provide an early glimpse of the battle that will ensue early next year to succeed Keegan Messing as the king of Canadian men’s skating. That event will feature Chiu — in a rare opportunity to compete in his hometown — Roman Sadovsky and Conrad Orzel, all of whom are prime contenders to snare that Canadian title in Calgary. And all of them know there will be something different about a Keegan-less national championships.
“Definitely different,” said Sadovsky, the only Canadian man still competing who owns a senior national title (that coming in 2020). “I think we’ll probably feel it at nationals quite a bit, because he brought a lot of energy both from the crowd and just his skating. I don’t know yet, but I have a feeling it’s going to be definitely different. Similar to before when Patrick (Chan) stopped going, and Elladj (Balde) and Kevin (Reynolds). It’s always a change in energy.”
Messing was all about energy, to be sure, and his farewell to Canadian skating at the 2023 Canadian Championships in Oshawa, Ontario, was a memory those who were there won’t soon forget. It was emotional, it was raw, and many a tear was wiped away that night at Tribute Communities Centre by both the skater and his adoring fans.
“Keegan will definitely be missed,” said Chiu. “He was a role model and a leader that I kind of had the chance to follow along as I was moving up to senior. It will definitely be interesting, shake things up a little bit. I’m excited to see what happens.”
Chiu was the bronze medallist for a second straight year in Oshawa and Orzel, the man who stood one step above him on the podium, can see the opportunity that exists for someone new to have a gold medal wrapped around his neck in Calgary. And he’d love to be the guy that gets to savour that moment, one year after his breakthrough silver in Oshawa.
“Since Keegan retired, there’s a new (opening) to be No. 1 in Canada,” Orzel said at Skate Canada’s HP camp, which wraps up today. “It’s definitely really competitive to gain that spot. We have a lot of young talent, and also some veterans like Roman Sadovsky and Wesley Chiu and Stephen Gogolev. It’s definitely going to be difficult, but that would be a crazy accomplishment if I could do that.”
And let’s not forget about Gogolev, who left quite the final impression in Oshawa by winning the free skate with a commanding performance. He’s been playing around with quadruple flips this summer, he revealed, and is hopeful he can insert one into his long program before the season is out. More importantly, he thinks he’s in the right head space for a new campaign.
“This season, I feel like my approach is a bit different. I feel like I’ve gained a bit more experience in senior level, so I think I’m feeling more confident going into season,” he said. “I think I know how to handle myself better.”
It’s going to fun to see how all of this plays out in the months ahead.
Sadovsky revealed Wednesday that he’s just getting back on the ice after suffering an ankle injury three weeks ago in practice. It forced him to cancel out of a planned appearance at Cranberry Cup in Boston, which was to be his first competition with a pair of new programs. Instead, he was on crutches while that summer event went off.
We’ll let the 24-year-old skater explain what happened.
“I was supposed to do Boston this year. I was using the extra time to train, getting everything ready to be competition ready for Boston, which I was. And then I took this nasty fall on a triple Axel. It wasn’t inherently a bad triple Axel, my (right) foot just got caught and stayed still and I kept going.
“The initial pain was in my knee, I thought I hurt my knee really badly. But I cleared the X-rays and everything was good, but then I walked out of the hospital and it was ‘oh my God, my ankle really hurts.’ That’s when I realized OK, probably the ankle is going to be a bigger problem. We did all the imaging and stuff. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible. So I had to pull out of Boston because I couldn’t walk. Hard to skate when you can’t walk. It’s a low grade but high ankle sprain, so they anticipate it’s going to hurt jumping because the bone started to splay.”
Sadovsky just got back on the ice last week, and the plan was to spend two weeks just working on things like footwork and spins before getting back to jumping next week. “Then I’ve got to ramp up again,” he said. “A little bit disappointing, because I was excited to do Boston after working on some new things.”
As of now, Sadovsky isn’t scheduled to compete until Skate Canada, so there’s time to get himself back to full health before then. Still, not exactly the way you envision starting the season.
If you’re a fan of ’80s music — and yes, I’m guilty as charged — ice dance has a real treat for you, skating fan, this season. It’s the chosen genre for the rhythm dance and judging by some of the program choices we heard this week, it’s going to be season of moving and grooving in the seats at each and every event.
Here’s a sampling of the oh-so-fun melodies …
Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier: "No More I Love You’s" (The Lover Speaks) and “Addicted to Love” (Robert Palmer).
Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Soerensen: “Top Gun” (soundtrack)
Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lajoie: “Thriller” (Michael Jackson. An ’80s classic!).
Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain Le Gac: “Need You Tonight” and “Never Tear Us Apart” (INXS)
Molly Lanaghan/Dmitre Razgulajevs: “Footloose” (soundtrack)
Nadiia Bashynska/Peter Beaumont: “Never Tear Us Apart” (INXS) and “Wild Boys” (Duran Duran)
Alicia Fabbri/Paul Ayer: “Back in Black,” “Hells Bells” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” (AC/DC)
Don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get these tunes spinning.
Double duty is over for Lia Pereira.
The 19-year-old from Milton, Ontario, was the busiest senior skater at Canadians in Oshawa, competing in both the senior women’s and senior pairs events. And she had quite the weekend, finishing fifth among the women before claiming the bronze medal in pairs with partner Trennt Michaud. But she’s ready to put an end to her double life.
“I’m solely focused on pairs this season,” she said. “After our success last season (they were sixth at the World Championships in Japan in their debut at that event), we have big goals together, so I want to put my 100 per cent all into that.”
Is she going to miss the singles life?
“I wouldn’t say I necessarily miss it,” Pereira said, noting they’ll still be on the ice for singles sessions in Milton (she and Michaud split training between there and Brantford, Ontario, where coach Alison Purkiss is based). I’m still figure skating, which is what I love to do. I think it’s fun skating with a partner because you share the same experiences.”
One of the things you’ll notice this season is that a number of Canadian skaters have crafted programs with a Quebec theme or composer. That, of course, is a nod to the fact that the 2024 World Championships are coming to the Bell Centre in Montreal. And you bet there’s already a buzz among them all about that potential opportunity.
Maybe nobody more so than pairs skater Benjamin Mimar, who adores that venue — and not necessarily for just figure skating reasons.
“I’m a Montreal Habs fan, so it’s my dream to skate on this ice,” he said. “I watch all of their games. I’m a hockey fan and (the Bell Centre) is a big deal for me.”
Much as he’s trying to convince his partner, Brooke McIntosh, to share in his Canadiens worship … let’s just say that won’t be happening. Not a chance.
“My dad would kill me. He’s a hardcore Leafs fan,” she said with a grin.
Some things, it’s safe to say, just aren’t meant to change.