2025–26 Canadian Ice Dance: News and Updates

[kwanfan1818]

Dear Bruce: it's wide open territory.

 

[Rafter]

Feels like it is Marjorie’s decision.

She doesn’t want to continue with him anymore.

There’s rumours he’s looking to skate with Hannah Lim.

 

[Andora]

These two have also had injuries that weren't minor. I imagine trust erodes every time something like Marjorie's concussion happens.

And while they were so good, they really struggled to consistently find material worthy of them. For every Junior world's FD, there's 3 seasons since 2022's Birds alone where I've been left confused at best.

I hate this because it's untimely for Canadian skating, and I really wanted them to fulfil their promise. But this is not as much a shock as it is just disappointing.

And Lia and Trennnnnnnnt.

World bronze medallists.

At this point, I don't trust that they won't call it a career - I'm not sure they can get much higher than they hit, and I'm a fan.

I honestly don't think he's up to her talent.
I can't remember when Canadian ice dance was this dire.
So sad.

Not since pre-B&K? Maybe the 2004-2005 seasons where D&L were still "arteests" and figuring out how to better hide their deficiencies. We have been spoiled.

 

[skategal]

There’s rumours he’s looking to skate with Hannah Lim.

Yes I’ve heard those but what are the chances that South Korea will release Hannah?

Or Canada release Zac and he will want to sit out a year to skate for South Korea?

Especially when Fabbri and Hensen are also female senior ice dancers looking for partners?

Canadian Ice Dance is decimated.

I’d doubt Skate Canada will release anyone anytime soon.

 

[Andora]

Skate Canada was insanely stupid to release Laurence, and if they release any other top skaters after that, then they deserve to suffer in purgatory for decades.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Didn't Skate Canada run into some legal trouble when they tried to stop Soucisse and Firus from switching to Ireland? It's possible that SC doesn't want a repeat of that and have decided to not block any future releases.

 

[skategal]

Skate Canada was insanely stupid to release Laurence, and if they release any other top skaters after that, then they deserve to suffer in purgatory for decades.

Skate Canada’s choice was to release Laurence to France or accept Guillaume to skate for Canada (chances are high he has Canadian citizenship.)

No good choice there.

 

[Andora]

Skate Canada’s choice was to release Laurence to France or accept Guillaume to skate for Canada (chances are high he has Canadian citizenship.)

No good choice there.

Uh, what? Are we sure Guillaume would have chosen to skate for Canada? Because we absolutely should have been all over that if true.

SC also was fully right to block S&F, and they didn't exactly have a better career once they changed countries. Skate Canada may not have "won" the standoff, but they did hold them up.

Medals and money are what should matter to a federation. Just not Skate Canada, apparently?

 

[skategal]

Uh, what? Are we sure Guillaume would have chosen to skate for Canada? Because we absolutely should have been all over that if true.

SC also was fully right to block S&F, and they didn't exactly have a better career once they changed countries. Skate Canada may not have "won" the standoff, but they did hold them up.

Medals and money are what should matter to a federation. Just not Skate Canada, apparently?

No not sure he would have but it LFB didn’t get released I think he would have skated for Canada.

Guillaume has had PR since before Covid and was making Canada his home since that time with his significant other. I’d be really surprised if he didn’t already have citizenship.

I’m sure his first choice was to skate for France but bet he would have done it for Canada if he had to.

Skate Canada wanted to get away from the LFB/Sorenson mess so released her plus probably bet wrongly on LFB/Cizeron not being able to win OGM so quickly.

They also probably thought accepting Cizeron for Canada would decimate Canadian Ice Dance but that happened anyway.

 

[Wyliefan]

Yes I’ve heard those but what are the chances that South Korea will release Hannah?

What is South Korea going to do with Hannah? It's not like they have a bunch of skilled male ice dancers looking for partners, unless they've been hiding them somewhere.

 

[Karen-W]

If I was Skate Canada, I'd probably pay the KSU whatever they want for Hannah's release even knowing that means that a Lim/Lagha team wouldn't be able to compete until the 2027-28 season. And I'd be praying that Marjorie has a really good partner lined up already because things are looking VERY dire for Canadian ice dance.

The random thought occurred to me in the middle of the night and I just checked... There are, as of this writing, only two extant Canadian ice dance teams with the CTES mins for Worlds - Gilles/Poirier and Lauriault/le Gac. Veillon/Brandys' junior CTES is also below the senior Worlds CTES min, so they've got their work cut out for them as they make their senior debut next season.

Of the teams who've split only Lajoie/Lagha and Fabbri/Ayer had the Worlds CTES mins. Marjorie or Zak partnering with one of the other Canadian skaters on the market isn't guaranteed to produce a team that will be capable of earning the Worlds CTES mins, unless it's a straight partner-swap resulting in Fabbri/Lagha and Lajoie/Ayer. I can't see any of the other skaters (Hensen/Lickers, etc) necessarily producing better results with Marjorie or Zak.

As things stand, I'm not sure Canada will have three teams to send to Worlds next season, which is shocking.

 

[skategal]

What is South Korea going to do with Hannah? It's not like they have a bunch of skilled male ice dancers looking for partners, unless they've been hiding them somewhere.

Try to get a male skater from elsewhere to skate with her (most likely Canada or USA or ex-Russia.)

Surely someone will want to be number 1 in South Korea and get to Worlds.

 

[Dobre]

Well, it's not going to be as bad as all that. A vacuum is a vacuum in ice dance. Someone will always fill it. The split teams will reshuffle. New athletes will come in or change countries. The juniors moving up will have a higher base value with senior programs. All that jazz. Things will look better by August and within a year, people will be all hopelessly optimistic about the potential of such & such new partnership. But yeah, you can't replace a decade of time together in 12 months (even if the judges this Olympiad chose to pretend that you can). It's rough. But SC has the money to send dance teams. The country has the coaches. And Canada has a fairly accessible citizenship process. Someone will fill the vacuum.

 

[peibeck]

Try to get a male skater from elsewhere to skate with her (most likely Canada or USA or ex-Russia.)

Surely someone will want to be number 1 in South Korea and get to Worlds.

But if Olympics are the goal, how easy would that be for a Canadian, American or Russian to get?

Whilst very disappointed in the Lala news, it's not like this news hasn't been brewing for many weeks now, so I was already resigned to it happening.

 

[Habs]

But if Olympics are the goal, how easy would that be for a Canadian, American or Russian to get?

Whilst very disappointed in the Lala news, it's not like this news hasn't been brewing for many weeks now, so I was already resigned to it happening.

And not just a couple of weeks... there has been chatter for years about how they don't get along. I always assumed they were just on borrowed time as a team.
While I'm sad about this - they were my favourites - I don't think it's shocking or even all that surprising.

 

[mtnskater]

Lim and Lagha would be interesting. Zack always seems so serious and hardcore personality wise though. And Hannah’s previous partner seemed more happy and easier going, supportive. So I’m wondering if their personalities would work. For sure he and Marjo’s relationship has been very frosty for quite sometime…and that has hurt them in the standings in my book. Right now I can’t think of anyone available for Marjory at her level. But I’m sure IAM will find someone like they did for Olivia Smart when it didn’t seem like there were many prospects.

 

[cholla]

Just to put things straight, Cizeron doesn't hold Canadian citizenship. He has a permit for permanent residence. If he partnered with Fournier-Beaudry it's because they knew way ahead she would be released without any delay or difficulty. He has never planned to skate for Canada. Laurence's release was a sine qua non condition for the partnership. Skate Canada apparently couldn't wait to get rid of her because of the Sørensen mess, which is understandable. Cizeron plans to stay in Canada and will perhaps or even surely apply for citizenship one day but my best guess is: only when he retires from competition. FFSG treats him like a living God, there would strictly be no advantage for him to skate for Canda.

 

[skategal]

Just to put things straight, Cizeron doesn't hold Canadian citizenship. He has a permit for permanent residence. If he partnered with Fournier-Beaudry it's because they knew way ahead she would be released without any delay or difficulty. He has never planned to skate for Canada. Laurence's release was a sine qua non condition for the partnership. Skate Canada apparently couldn't wait to get rid of her because of the Sørensen mess, which is understandable. Cizeron plans to stay in Canada and will perhaps or even surely apply for citizenship one day but my best guess is: only when he retires from competition. FFSG treats him like a living God, there would strictly be no advantage for him to skate for Canda.

I don’t doubt that.

It was a win-win situation either way for LFB/GC because in the event of Skate Canada playing hardball and not releasing Laurence, Guillaume could have gotten Canadian citizenship in time for the Olympics to represent Canada and there is nothing Skate Canada could do about that.

Permanent Residency to Citizenship is about a year in Canada if you have the requirements met of living 3 of the past 5 years in Canada as a Permanent Resident (which Guillaume did.)

 

[clairecloutier]

Romain Haguenauer offers his take on the Lajoie/Lagha split:

Romain Hagenauer on the Lajoie/Lagha split: "They were like brother and sister, and they were a bit stuck in that pattern" - Maya Bagriantseva

Romain Hagenauer on the Lajoie/Lagha split: "They were like brother and sister, and they were a bit stuck in that pattern"

mskating.com

 

[skategal]

Romain Haguenauer offers his take on the Lajoie/Lagha split:

Romain Hagenauer on the Lajoie/Lagha split: "They were like brother and sister, and they were a bit stuck in that pattern" - Maya Bagriantseva

Romain Hagenauer on the Lajoie/Lagha split: "They were like brother and sister, and they were a bit stuck in that pattern"

mskating.com

Sometimes it’s better not to say anything.

 

[Wyliefan]

I don't know, I thought that was a pretty good explanation. He was respectful of them both, he just said they had trouble connecting and finding a common vision. Which wasn't really new information.

 

[clairecloutier]

He also basically disavowed the coaching staff of any responsibility. ("If only they weren't so difficult ...")

 

[Rukia]

He also basically disavowed the coaching staff of any responsibility. ("If only they weren't so difficult ...")

yeah the vibes are super weird and he also seems to be trying to punt a lot of responsibility to marie-france

 

[skategal]

He also basically disavowed the coaching staff of any responsibility. ("If only they weren't so difficult ...")

Yes it’s like he’s throwing them under the bus before they have a chance to say anything.

 

[jmtfti]

Interesting to note that Ashley Foy is one of the people who's commented their support for Marjorie under her post: "Marjorie, you are a light in figure skating that we need. I love and support you 100%!"

 

[honey]

Yeah, feels a little icky to be basically like “our team of a dozen coaches just couldn’t help these two to succeed”.

That said, his comments about no alignment on vision, and seemingly neither willing to budge, seems like it’s probably true. I don’t think you end up rehashing Austin Powers as a top 5 team, nor do you end up with a free dance you did 3 seasons before in an Olympic season if there wasn’t a huge issue getting on the same page for new ideas.

 

[Desperado]

So they like each other, they’re just not team players. Maybe because they’re stuck in a pattern from the past.

The question will be, can they be team players with other partners?

But of course, it is absolutely not the fault of IAM.

 

[miffy]

It will be interesting to see if they stay at IAM with their new partners after this.

 

[Wyliefan]

What do you think a coach is going to say? "We all suck and our operation is a bust"?

 

[my little pony]

What do you think a coach is going to say? "We all suck and our operation is a bust"?

I mean everyone has made a mistake at work, it would be refreshing and they could put it on merch