2022–23 Canadian Women: News and Updates

[screech]

I feel like Maddie needs to make some changes. I don't know what, though. It seems like she's flatlined a bit this season and seems to be stuck trying to break into the top ten.

IMO she has the technical skills, but her entire packaging, from costume to choreography, and everything in between needs work. She still comes across quite junior-ish in that way to me. Which was okay her first year of seniors, but it's a few years past that now, and she will soon be surpassed by her younger competitors if she doesn't make serious changes.

 

[honey]

She just looks stressed and burned out to me. She’s missing that competitive nerve that was something that set her apart in the first little while. No, she wasn’t laying down perfect skates all the time, but I always had the sense that she was reasonably able to perform in competition to how she was training in the past, and was unfazed by the whole thing. I don’t get that sense anymore. Perhaps it’s a combination of expectations and full time school, but she just doesn’t look like she’s having fun to me anymore. And I feel badly for her if that’s the case.

I doubt she is unaware that things need to be taken to the next level with her skating, but I also think she’s in a real tough spot if she actually wants to do it. She’s been with her coaches her entire career (or nearly all of it) and it won’t be easy to leave. Plus her in person school situation would need to be considered too. She spoke strongly about wanting to attend school in person after having been online for several years in that Anything GOEs interview in December.

I suspect she’s going to make a decision one way or the other this off season with how she will proceed. It’s pretty clear right now that it’s been a rough road since the Olympics and I can’t imagine she wants to do more seasons feeling and skating like this.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

MS might just be having one of those slump years that many skaters often have. Her LP this year (which she has now wisely dumped) just didn't work for her. She's fierce and more of jock than a ballerina - it would be awesome if she could work with a choreographer who could harness her unique qualities and not one who is trying to maker her into something she's not.

 

[coppertop1]

IMO she has the technical skills, but her entire packaging, from costume to choreography, and everything in between needs work. She still comes across quite junior-ish in that way to me. Which was okay her first year of seniors, but it's a few years past that now, and she will soon be surpassed by her younger competitors if she doesn't make serious changes.

MS might just be having one of those slump years that many skaters often have. Her LP this year (which she has now wisely dumped) just didn't work for her. She's fierce and more of jock than a ballerina - it would be awesome if she could work with a choreographer who could harness her unique qualities and not one who is trying to maker her into something she's not.

MS might just be having one of those slump years that many skaters often have. Her LP this year (which she has now wisely dumped) just didn't work for her. She's fierce and more of jock than a ballerina - it would be awesome if she could work with a choreographer who could harness her unique qualities and not one who is trying to maker her into something she's not.

Agreed. While I know he's not everyone's favourite, Benoit Richaud is good for skaters who aren't traditionally artistic.

 

[puglover]

I have heard the name Lance Vipond for years associated with a number of great Canadian skaters and for the first time I recently caught an interview with him and PJ. I think Maddie has used Asher Hill but Lance is her main choreographer. Anyway, they did speak of Maddie's issues with the long program and her decision to return to her past program. Lance was totally in favour of that decision - that she return to a program she has had success with and it sounded like it was slower and better prepared her for the jumps. He has created programs for Kaetlyn and Keegan and Kevin R., to name a few, so pretty diversified skaters. So much is going on in these young skaters lives, sometimes major changes do not improve things.

 

[4rkidz]

I have heard the name Lance Vipond for years associated with a number of great Canadian skaters and for the first time I recently caught an interview with him and PJ. I think Maddie has used Asher Hill but Lance is her main choreographer. Anyway, they did speak of Maddie's issues with the long program and her decision to return to her past program. Lance was totally in favour of that decision - that she return to a program she has had success with and it sounded like it was slower and better prepared her for the jumps. He has created programs for Kaetlyn and Keegan and Kevin R., to name a few, so pretty diversified skaters. So much is going on in these young skaters lives, sometimes major changes do not improve things.

I think that would be a good idea but cannot see her current coaching team going with Lance.

 

[Colonel Green]

I think that would be a good idea but cannot see her current coaching team going with Lance.

She already works with him. Vipond has done her last two free programs.

 

[On My Own]

Maddie did good!

 

[4rkidz]

She already works with him. Vipond has done her last two free programs.

Oh that’s great. Maybe that is the difference having a program she can do well with. Let’s hope for next year she will get a program she likes as obviously by ditching her program this year must have impacted her . Hope she goes back to him or gets a program she can really relate to I think that must help.

 

[danafan]

The miss in the short program is really frustrating now after a good free, especially seeing some other skaters struggle. A missed opportunity. But I still think Schizas is our top skater, the ISU season best scores show that, despite not putting two really great skates together.
Only WTT remains. Will be very curious who gets the second spot, assuming Schizas goes. The last chance to get a season best score.
I really hope Schizas will get two grand prix spots next year outside of Canada so they can maximize host picks. It's possible, but not likely, that Ruiter, Daleman and Dupuis could get a non host pick assignment. Maybe they could get picked as a sub if there are WD. Would love to see them all plus Bombardier or maybe Miclette on the grand prix.

 

[honey]

Really nice effort today and in complete contrast with the rest of the season, she looked like she enjoyed herself. That lutz/toe was super strong.

Agree the mistake in the short really is a bummer now. Twice in a row she’s been pretty close to the top 10.

 

[Stephanie]

I think Kaiya should absolutely go to WTT. She's the national silver medalist and this will give her the opportunity to improve her season's best score and improve her chances to get 2 GP's. I could see the argument for Fiona (even though I would still go with Kaiya if it were me deciding) but given that she was too injured to compete at Coupe de Printemps this doesn't sound like a realistic option.

 

[fsfann]

Without digging back through last year and the previous year videos, I'm curious if anyone off hand knows about Maddie's jump content. I'm curious why she only did one lutz and one flip int he LP... I would have thought she would at least have two of one of these jumps...? Is it 'normal' for her to just do one flip and one lutz in the LPs? I don't recall her ever doing two triple lutzes in a program, but I can't say for certain... If she could/would have upped the difficulty a bit, she would have been in the top 10 I suspect...even with her 16th after the short finish...

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Without digging back through last year and the previous year videos, I'm curious if anyone off hand knows about Maddie's jump content. I'm curious why she only did one lutz and one flip int he LP... I would have thought she would at least have two of one of these jumps...? Is it 'normal' for her to just do one flip and one lutz in the LPs? I don't recall her ever doing two triple lutzes in a program, but I can't say for certain... If she could/would have upped the difficulty a bit, she would have been in the top 10 I suspect...even with her 16th after the short finish...

I "think" she's only been attempting one of each in her LPs, along with sometimes trying a 2A+3T+2T combo. She probably does need to start adding a second lutz (her flip seems rather inconsistent) to move up in the standings. Still she showed she can improvise in both the LP and SP so that likely bodes well for the future.

 

[Colonel Green]

Without digging back through last year and the previous year videos, I'm curious if anyone off hand knows about Maddie's jump content. I'm curious why she only did one lutz and one flip int he LP... I would have thought she would at least have two of one of these jumps...? Is it 'normal' for her to just do one flip and one lutz in the LPs? I don't recall her ever doing two triple lutzes in a program, but I can't say for certain... If she could/would have upped the difficulty a bit, she would have been in the top 10 I suspect...even with her 16th after the short finish...

The flip is her worst jump, somewhat counterintuitively since she had it before the Lutz, so if she was going to repeat one of the two it would be the Lutz. She talked about wanting to do that after she successfully introduced the Lutz in the 20/21 season, but hasn’t gotten around to it consistently.

She actually did make jump content changes today — normally she repeats the loop but instead she did a second Salchow, and the three-jump sequence with two Axels is something she’s never done before.

 

[danafan]

Schizas usually repeats the toe and loop. Her planned content was supposed to have a 2axel-3toe-2toe and a second triple loop. She sometimes does a triple loop double toe double loop as her three jump combo. I have not seen her do this jump layout before with the triple toe by itself and the three jump sequence with two double axels.

 

[Coco]

Would a 2z3toe-2a series be allowed under the rules?

She could have that in her program and then gradually upgrade it to 3z.

I have had some infernal work commitments this week so I haven't seen any of the skating yet, but I'm so thrilled she finished her season strong. In a way, fighting through hardships and frustrations to deliver something like that on the world stage is as impressive in its own way as some of the other things she's done in her best seasons.

 

[fsfann]

Would a 2z3toe-2a series be allowed under the rules?

She could have that in her program and then gradually upgrade it to 3z.

I have had some infernal work commitments this week so I haven't seen any of the skating yet, but I'm so thrilled she finished her season strong. In a way, fighting through hardships and frustrations to deliver something like that on the world stage is as impressive in its own way as some of the other things she's done in her best seasons.

Thanks to all of you for this input. Would love to se her up the ante a bit with the content next year!

 

[honey]

She tried a second lutz only once that I recall. It was at sectionals in the fall of 2021. It did not go well and she never tried it again after that.

The solo 3T and 2A+2T+2A vs the original layout of 2A and 2A+3T+2T was an interesting choice this morning. Just the bonus on a 2A vs a 3T being the only difference in BV.

Her coach seemed to indicate that she was changing her program on the fly today with the 3S combo and the second 3S. She must have been feeling iffy on the loop today, so good for her for going with what she knew she could do and getting a pretty clean program out.

 

[puglover]

I just watched the long on replay and I was so happy to see Maddie happy. As Ted often says - you learn the most from the challenging skates and this great skate was so needed to reinforce her confidence for next season.

 

[barbarafan]

I just watched the long on replay and I was so happy to see Maddie happy. As Ted often says - you learn the most from the challenging skates and this great skate was so needed to reinforce her confidence for next season.

haven't seen it yet - maybe I will find a link later.

 

[nuage]

haven't seen it yet - maybe I will find a link later.

The long replay is open on ISU ‘s Youtube channel

 

[Andora]

shrug I'll be that asshole to say this middling placement really is the norm for ladies skating in Canada. At least suffering through the Robinson years, we knew she was doing her best and limited by ability. Schizas and others seem to have so much more potential, but it's sadly unsurprising when it doesn't develop.

I'd be happy for any of the Canadian ladies, especially Madeline, to prove me wrong.

The miss in the short program is really frustrating now after a good free, especially seeing some other skaters struggle. A missed opportunity. But I still think Schizas is our top skater, the ISU season best scores show that, despite not putting two really great skates together.

Bold mine - I agree, and that's the problem. With a "good" free skate, she couldn't crack the top 10, and plenty of skaters torpedoed to place below her. I question if a clean SP would actually have given her a better shot at that.

If she's our top skater, and a good showing can't get Canada a second spot, then it's clearly not needed. I'm disappointed she hasn't really improved her tech content, but moreso that none of her domestic competitors are giving her further reason to.

 

[Karen-W]

@Andora - a clean short would have helped a lot. Another 5.5 points was all she needed for 10th place and a clean short probably would have earned her 7 more than she had going into the FS. But, she's like Schott... maybe top 10 on her best day.

 

[tony]

If she's our top skater, and a good showing can't get Canada a second spot, then it's clearly not needed. I'm disappointed she hasn't really improved her tech content, but moreso that none of her domestic competitors are giving her further reason to.

Don't think this is true. I thought this Nationals was probably the best in 19 years for Canadian women. There's a lot of talent that either is getting it together or is coming on quickly from juniors. In very recent history, the Canadian women were falling all over the place or landing 3 triples on their way to the podium.

Schizas needs to work on her basic skating skills over the summer- her posture, the speed, the transitional depth of edges and quality. Jumps-wise, the 3Lz+3T is there a lot of the time. Adding a second Lutz, sure, but moreso I think she needs to work on figuring out how to reset after the halfway point, much like Kaetlyn Osmond had to do, and get through her final jumping passes without issue. She did it here, but she so often does not.

 

[Andora]

Don't think this is true. I thought this Nationals was probably the best in 19 years for Canadian women. There's a lot of talent that either is getting it together or is coming on quickly from juniors. In very recent history, the Canadian women were falling all over the place or landing 3 triples on their way to the podium.

Schizas needs to work on her basic skating skills over the summer- her posture, the speed, the transitional depth of edges and quality. Jumps-wise, the 3Lz+3T is there a lot of the time. Adding a second Lutz, sure, but moreso I think she needs to work on figuring out how to reset after the halfway point, much like Kaetlyn Osmond had to do, and get through her final jumping passes without issue. She did it here, but she so often does not.

I'd like you to be right about talent coming up - but I don't think that fully discounts my point until they've arrived.

If there's good reason for Canada to have more spots for women at worlds, then Canada's top skater could more easily crack the top 10. Schizas' LP still only got her to 11th.

Again, I'm happy to be proven wrong, but at this point that's a next season discussion. I look forward to Schizas or Rutier or Bombardier kicking ass and taking names.

 

[4rkidz]

I was happy that Maddie was happy. Lets hope a more consistent showing next season, perhaps with upgraded content.

 

[karmena]

Finally I got a chance to watch little bit of Women Free. I was soo glad-and pleasantly surprised!- to see Maddie skating with joy and inner freedom! Good she went back to last year's LP

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Is he still dating that Ekaterina from Azerbaijan

 

[shutterbug]

It was mentioned on CBC TV's broadcast this afternoon that Fiona Bombardier will be Asher Hill's special guest on tomorrow's "That Figure Skating Show" Worlds wrap up episode. It will likely show up here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDsQU3UFA4hXMPS-ZioeBFuuxHMm98S0H

Fiona is also Skate Ontario's current Skate In Residence: https://skateontario.org/skater-in-residence-fiona-bombardier/

ETA:

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