2025–26 Canadian Women: News and Updates

[honey]

I thought she just said she was very proud to work with an all female coaching team? I didn’t hear anything about only wanting to work with women.

She desperately needs someone to push her to improve her basic skating. I know they have clearly been working on it, but it hasn’t progressed to where it should be yet. Also a new approach to the mental game seems to be needed. She is well able to do the jumps, and she can do them very well. The 3Z+3T can be one of the best when she does it well. But she’s frequently unable to do that at the biggest moments.

A coach who is a finisher, someone who will polish her and help the overall skating would be who I would vote for.

 

[shutterbug]

I thought she just said she was very proud to work with an all female coaching team? I didn’t hear anything about only wanting to work with women.

She desperately needs someone to push her to improve her basic skating. I know they have clearly been working on it, but it hasn’t progressed to where it should be yet. Also a new approach to the mental game seems to be needed. She is well able to do the jumps, and she can do them very well. The 3Z+3T can be one of the best when she does it well. But she’s frequently unable to do that at the biggest moments.

A coach who is a finisher, someone who will polish her and help the overall skating would be who I would vote for.

I'd say Tracy Wilson, but correcting technical deficiencies is not where the Cricket Club team excels (IMHO). Ravi Walia maybe?

 

[honey]

I'd say Tracy Wilson, but correcting technical deficiencies is not where the Cricket Club team excels (IMHO). Ravi Walia maybe?

Her technique is quite good IMO. It’s not like she needs someone to overhaul it entirely like a Ruiter. She has no edge issues and is not a huge underrotator. The combo can be dicey, but that is true for most of the women. Her other jumps are rarely called under. Her competition mistakes to me seem more mental than technique related.

I think Tracey would be a good fit actually. The cricket club would probably be where I would look if I were her. I would hope they could help her mentally as well wrt a competitive mind set.

 

[Aceon6]

From Jackie Wong’s pin trading vlog, Maddie is a meticulous Type A planner. I think she needs an environment where experimentation is valued, where she can just try and see how her body responds with no program, no expectations. I’d have her spend the summer with Sonja Hilmer or Tarah Prasad, contemporaries who have had to figure things out on their own.

 

[Andora]

I think Schizas needs to pack it in and focus on school, let's be honest here.

Canadian women may sink or swim for a few more cycles, but I don't think Madeline is holding the discipline up. I wouldn't miss her unevolved skating, even if other women place lower.

 

[coppertop1]

There were promising young skaters at Canadian with Megan Woodley (even though she didn't do well at Junior Worlds), Reese Rose and Lulu Lin. It will be interesting to see how they develop

 

[jägerbomb]

I think Schizas needs to pack it in and focus on school, let's be honest here.

Canadian women may sink or swim for a few more cycles, but I don't think Madeline is holding the discipline up. I wouldn't miss her unevolved skating, even if other women place lower.

Harsh but true.

If she wants to continue, that's great, but I think a new approach in coaching and choreography would be necessary. Her skating and programs have been stagnant since 2020.

 

[chewy]

My radical opinion is that Canada is lacking high level coaching excellence for singles.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

My radical opinion is that Canada is lacking high level coaching excellence for singles.

Is Canada lacking in them or is lacking in ones that most skaters can afford? I imagine that the Cricket Club and Granite Club fees must be out of reach for a lot of families.

 

[Andora]

My radical opinion is that Canada is lacking high level coaching excellence for singles.

I think this is absolutely true for women, though it's a bit less the case for men.

I like to joke that all of our toughest women go into pairs, but there is also something to that. One thing I will give Schizas is she is a bit more of a spitfire than the usual.

 

[Aceon6]

Is Canada lacking in them or is lacking in ones that most skaters can afford? I imagine that the Cricket Club and Granite Club fees must be out of reach for a lot of families.

It seems that most of the women’s coaches are stuck one Oly cycle behind. Princesses don’t win often and the ones that do have fully rotated combos. Add in that it may be harder to recruit promising adrenaline junkies like Kaori and Alysa to singles as Canada’s snow sports are where the $ is.

 

[puglover]

My limited exposure tells me that hockey is where it is at. My eight year old grandson is now travelling and playing all over Canada (his father started figure skating at age 7 but it has never even been thought about). His next tournament is in Vancouver. There are a lot of very able female players and around half of the kids are girls at the beginner levels.

 

[honey]

There is an excellent technical coach in Ravi Walia, but not everyone wants to move to Edmonton. I think we’d see a lot more high level skaters with him if he lived in Toronto or Montreal.

There are some coaches clearly lacking in technical skills (cough, cough McLeod, Michelle Leigh). But I think there’s many who have demonstrated they can teach a technically sound triple jump.

For me though, the disconnect really seems to lie in the mental aspect. There are quite a few women in Canada capable of landing all the triples and doing a triple triple. But most of them are not going to be able to reel off 7 triples including the combo every time they go out like the best in the world do.

For years, I think Canada lacked the talent to even be able to land all the jumps. We do have that now, and it’s reasonably deep in terms of number of women who can do these jumps. But the consistency and killer instinct is not really there.

I think there is some hope coming on that front, but of the current crop at the top, inconsistency has been the a huge issue.

 

[Habs]

There is an excellent technical coach in Ravi Walia, but not everyone wants to move to Edmonton. I think we’d see a lot more high level skaters with him if he lived in Toronto or Montreal.

Maddie spent some time last summer in Edmonton working with Ravi. At the time, I think many of us hoped it would be a permanent move.

 

[Seerek]

From Jackie Wong’s pin trading vlog, Maddie is a meticulous Type A planner. I think she needs an environment where experimentation is valued, where she can just try and see how her body responds with no program, no expectations. I’d have her spend the summer with Sonja Hilmer or Tarah Prasad, contemporaries who have had to figure things out on their own.

I think with Maddie growing up and living in a very results oriented, high achievement family (father Lou Schizas, a very outspoken (sometimes controversial) TV/Radio Financial Analyst, and mother Linda Nazareth, Economist/speaker who also was a business TV analyst), I think there was always the steadfast belief that Maddie could absolutely "do it all", a 100% university course load and skating combined. Compare Maddie's results to Lara Naki Gutmann, who graduated from university in 2025 (Euros Bronze, 5th at Worlds).

 

[withwings]

If only Maddie allowed her mind to relax...
I think she is very pragmatic skater and, in my opinion, it is exactly why she has stuck.
Her mind cuts her wings; mentality, personality also matters.
However, what she has achieved is skating is undeniable an excellent achievement.

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

This conversation takes me back to the state of Canadian Women ~25 years ago when the complaints at the time were about "Top Ten Jen" (in a negative undertone) and how Jennifer Robinson was consistent Top 10 performer, but couldn't progress beyond that. How good we had it then! I always loved Jennifer Robinson and thought she was harshly over-critiqued.

Whereas now we have spent years wishing and hoping for Maddie to be able to break into the Top 10 just as Jennifer Robinson was able to do consistently back in the day. It's amazing to think that Jennifer Robinson finished 7th in SLC, behind so many historical greats in Kwan, Slutskaya, Cohen and Butyrskaya among others. Every one of the 6 skaters who finished above Jennifer at SLC was a past/future World medalist, so a testament to Jennifer to be competitive in such a high talent era.

 

[honey]

Not trying to deminish Robinson’s achievements, but she wasn’t exactly consistently getting into the top 10. We’ve had this conversation before, and there are some rose colored glasses when it comes to that era.

Out of 8 trips to worlds, she was only in the top 10 on 3 occasions.

1995 - 19th
1996 - 21st
1999 - 18th
2000 - 8th
2001 - 15th
2002 - 9th
2003 - 9th
2004 - 14th

I also think the field was no where near as deep as it is now.

I will say that Robinson usually didn’t melt down though. I think she usually did about what she could do. In many of those years, she wasn’t really capable of skating a heck of a lot better than she did to place in the lower half of the field. She was a chronic two footer that didn’t entirely get sorted out until the back end of her career.

But yeah, she did nail it in SLC in 2002. She made the most of that experience and skated extremely well. Her short there was probably her best ever and it’s very charming.

 

[manhn]

The women ahead of Jennifer in SLC are arguably all legends in their own ways. I will take the ladies of 2002 over ladies of any other quad.

ETA: Okay, thinking about it further, 2010 with Mao/Joannie/Yuna is my favourite. 2002 my second favourite.

 

[Maximillian]

Not trying to deminish Robinson’s achievements, but she wasn’t exactly consistently getting into the top 10. We’ve had this conversation before, and there are some rose colored glasses when it comes to that era.

Out of 8 trips to worlds, she was only in the top 10 on 3 occasions.

1995 - 19th
1996 - 21st
1999 - 18th
2000 - 8th
2001 - 15th
2002 - 9th
2003 - 9th
2004 - 14th

I also think the field was no where near as deep as it is now.

I will say that Robinson usually didn’t melt down though. I think she usually did about what she could do. In many of those years, she wasn’t really capable of skating a heck of a lot better than she did to place in the lower half of the field. She was a chronic two footer that didn’t entirely get sorted out until the back end of her career.

But yeah, she did nail it in SLC in 2002. She made the most of that experience and skated extremely well. Her short there was probably her best ever and it’s very charming.

I think the fields then were as deep as now, perhaps deeper since Russians were competing.

 

[Jammers]

I think the fact that the Russian ladies haven't competed Worlds since 2021 and Maddie still can't get into the top 10 is pretty much evidence i think that she just might not be good enough to finish that high.

 

[coppertop1]

The women ahead of Jennifer in SLC are arguably all legends in their own ways. I will take the ladies of 2002 over ladies of any other quad.

ETA: Okay, thinking about it further, 2010 with Mao/Joannie/Yuna is my favourite. 2002 my second favourite.

2010 is my favourite Olympic podium. These Olympics with Alysa/Kaori/Ami is a close second. 2002 is probably behind that.

I think Jennifer deserves credit for laying the groundwork. She paved the way for Joannie Rochette. After Rochette retired, there was a brief dip where were only sending one woman until Kaetlyn Osmond came along, and when in 2015 and 2016, when she was off the world team, Gabby Daleman and Alaine Chartrand still placed high enough to maintain two spots.

 

[puglover]

It seems to me a large part of the answer as to why Maddie can't get into the top 10 is because she rarely skates both programs clean. She can do all the jumps but we just don't see that in competition. Stephen is living proof that when you are consistently landing things and you have confidence in being able to rely on that, it is much easier to concentrate more on the other aspects of your skating. Some have said she is different in the practices. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall and see how her daily run throughs go. Maybe it would have helped Maddie if Canada had had a more competitive women's program and she was forced to learn earlier how to deal with the pressure to compete.

 

[chewy]

Is Canada lacking in them or is lacking in ones that most skaters can afford? I imagine that the Cricket Club and Granite Club fees must be out of reach for a lot of families.

All of coaching is unaffordable for families but I believe that Cricket offers a skating only membership. But that membership opens the door to bring in excellent skaters to skate with other excellent skaters in a dynamic training atmosphere. I think at some point a skater needs to move from local provincial training to be around their technical peers. I can appreciate that not every skater thrived in that kind of environment.

2010 is my favourite Olympic podium. These Olympics with Alysa/Kaori/Ami is a close second. 2002 is probably behind that.

I think Jennifer deserves credit for laying the groundwork. She paved the way for Joannie Rochette. After Rochette retired, there was a brief dip where were only sending one woman until Kaetlyn Osmond came along, and when in 2015 and 2016, when she was off the world team, Gabby Daleman and Alaine Chartrand still placed high enough to maintain two spots.

Did having the second spot over the years lead to development of other female skaters rising up through the ranks? I am sorry for asking the question and not doing the research but it seemed like in men's there was depth and someone waiting to move up but not so much in women.

I think with Maddie growing up and living in a very results oriented, high achievement family (father Lou Schizas, a very outspoken (sometimes controversial) TV/Radio Financial Analyst, and mother Linda Nazareth, Economist/speaker who also was a business TV analyst), I think there was always the steadfast belief that Maddie could absolutely "do it all", a 100% university course load and skating combined. Compare Maddie's results to Lara Naki Gutmann, who graduated from university in 2025 (Euros Bronze, 5th at Worlds).

I have no intention of picking on Maddie and her training. For sure Skate Ontario and Skate Canada would have been monitoring but it still comes down to the skater or parents paying the way and they can say no and have their priorities.

 

[tony]

After getting more than a few messages questioning why I "defend Madeline" on my Skating Session Instagram account from clearly delusional Daleman-brigade members, I can't help but root a little bit more for Schizas. No, she's not top 10 but she's been really close and holding Canadian womens skating together for over an Olympic cycle now. No one else is earning the spot when they most need to do so. And Schizas still carries the highest event total numbers each season. It was going to be Ruiter. And it was going to be Bombardier. And it was going to be Dupuis. And then it was going to be Daleman again. And so many others. But they haven't done it.

And if the best anyone can get in their disgust for Schizas is that Daleman is a "World medalist so she knows how to compete", please look at the numbers in the last 8 years.

 

[Jonas]

Not a Daleman Brigade member here, but Daleman did come oh so close -- a doubled Lutz cost her the Canadian title. Wonder if Skate Canada would've sent Daleman to Milano over Schizas had Daleman won. For what it's worth: Daleman's 4CC SP score was higher than all of Schizas's SP scores post Canadian Nationals. Their FS scores were comparable too, I'd say. Yes, you can't compare scores from one even to another, but just comparing the quality of their skates post Canadians, I'd say (yes, in retrospect) that Daleman would've been worthy of the big ticket events had she won.

Your thoughts...

 

[sk8girl]

All of coaching is unaffordable for families but I believe that Cricket offers a skating only membership.

Yeah, it seems like there is a "Skating Activity" membership that is presumably cheaper than a full membership, but I've mostly heard of that in reference to certain more limited programs, like adult skating programs. I'm not clear if that would be enough to join their competitive/elite program, or if a full membership is needed for that.

Extremely random, but years ago I happened to meet the Cricket Club member who sponsored Yuna for her membership back in the day, so I had the impression that the normal full membership processes were being followed for her at that time. (But that was quite a few years ago, so things may have changed since then.)

Pretty sure training full time at the Cricket Club (or Granite Club) isn't cheap anyway, one way or another.

 

[Colonel Green]

The Cricket Club has not exactly been a hotbed of Canadian singles talent during Orser's tenure there. He has coached, what, one Canadian World medalist in his entire career?

 

[tony]

Not a Daleman Brigade member here, but Daleman did come oh so close -- a doubled Lutz cost her the Canadian title. Wonder if Skate Canada would've sent Daleman to Milano over Schizas had Daleman won. For what it's worth: Daleman's 4CC SP score was higher than all of Schizas's SP scores post Canadian Nationals. Their FS scores were comparable too, I'd say. Yes, you can't compare scores from one even to another, but just comparing the quality of their skates post Canadians, I'd say (yes, in retrospect) that Daleman would've been worthy of the big ticket events had she won.

Your thoughts...

But she didn’t win. Thats the whole point. And her 4CC total was not higher then Schizas’ best, even with that great SP.

 

[her grace]

But she didn’t win. Thats the whole point. And her 4CC total was not higher then Schizas’ best, even with that great SP.

This. It’s always “coulda woulda shoulda” with Daleman and her team. Either win or go home.