Canadian skaters headed to Edmonton for 2019 Skate Canada Challenge

OTTAWA, ON: Over 500 skaters from across Canada are headed to Edmonton, Alta., for the 2019 Skate Canada Challenge. This year’s event will be taking place from November 28 – December 2, 2018 at the Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre.

Skate Canada Challenge is the only qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, taking place in Saint John, N.B., from January 14-20, 2019. Skaters qualified for the 2019 Skate Canada Challenge by advancing through their local sectional championships.

The 2019 Skate Canada Challenge will also see the crowning of the 2019 Pre-Novice Champions in men, women, pairs, and ice dance.

Fans in Edmonton will get a chance to watch several Skate Canada National Team members, including: 2018 Canadian bronze medallist Larkyn Austman, 20, Coquitlam, B.C. (senior women), 2018 Canadian bronze medallist Nam Nguyen, 20, Ajax, Ont. (senior men), Evelyn Walsh, 17, London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud, 22, Trenton, Ont., (senior pairs), and  Haley Sales, 21, Burnaby, B.C., and Nikolas Wamsteeker, 22, Langley, B.C., (senior ice dance).

Local Edmonton skating clubs will have a large contingent at the event, including Isabelle Law (junior women, Derrick SC), Mychala Collier and Mackenzie Mah (novice ice dance, Ice Palace SC), Jolie Chiem (junior women, Ice Palace SC), Eric Liu (senior men, Ice Palace SC), Madison Moore (senior women, Ice Palace SC) and many others.

For more information including schedule, entries and start order, please click here. All events on all three competition rinks will be live streamed and can be accessed through the event page or the Skate Canada Dailymotion page.

All tickets will be available at the Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre starting Tuesday, November 27, 2018. All-Event tickets are $50, single day tickets are $25 and children 12 years and younger receive free admission to all practices and competition when accompanied by a paying adult.

Gilles and Poirier collect second bronze this season ISU Grand Prix

GRENOBLE, France – Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto notched a second bronze medal this season on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit on Saturday at Les Internationaux de France, the sixth stop on the circuit.

World champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France took the gold with 216.78 points, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia were second at 200.78 and Gilles and Poirier followed at 188.74

The Canadians were also third at Skate Canada earlier this month.

“It was one of those free dances we had to fight through,” said Poirier. “We didn’t make any errors which we’re really pleased with. We had to focus on each element one at a time.”

Despite bronze in their two Grand Prix assignments it wasn’t enough to qualify for the Grand Prix Final next month in Vancouver.

“We are disappointed not to qualify for the final,” added Poirier. “We were at some very tough events with deep fields.”

In pairs, Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France took the gold with Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea of the U.S. second and Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii of Russia third.

Camille Ruest of Rimouski, Que., and Andrew Wolfe of Calgary remained fifth.

“We’ve improved a lot of elements since our last competition,” said Ruest. “It was a solid week for us and we are happy with both of our programs.”

In men’s competition, world champion Nathan Chen led the U.S. to a 1-2 finish with Jason Brown second and Alexander Samarin of Russia third.

Nicolas Nadeau of Blainville, Que., was 11th after the short program Friday. He withdrew from the free skate due to a back injury suffered in the warm up for the short on Friday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gpfra2018/

Gilles and Poirier stand third after rhythm dance at Internationaux de France

GRENOBLE, France – Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto are on track for a second ISU Grand Prix medal this season standing third after the rhythm dance at Les Internationaux de France, the sixth stop on the circuit.

World champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France are first with 84.13 points, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia are second at 77.91 and Gilles and Poirier follow at 74.25.

The Canadians were also third at Skate Canada earlier this month.

“After having an error at Skate Canada we really wanted to make sure we skated the program clean here,” said Poirier. “We didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves. We were really good about managing our energy output. We paced the program really well and felt really in the moment with the performance.”

Gilles says the rhythm dance still isn’t where they want it to be.

“We still need to work on our levels,” she said. “We always feel a little bit inconsistent it seems but we have to sit with our coaches and see where we can improve our scores.”

In pairs, Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii of Russia are in first place. Camille Ruest of Rimouski, Que., and Andrew Wolfe of Calgary are fifth.

“We’re really pleased with that short program,” said Ruest. “We worked hard to increase our speed and to improve the performance aspect of our skating.”

In men’s competition, the top-three after the short program are Jason Brown of the U.S., Alexander Samarin of Russia and world champion Nathan Chen of the U.S.

Nicolas Nadeau of Blainville, Que., is 11th.

Competition ends Saturday with all four free skates.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gprus2018/

Ticket Info: 2019 Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships

WATERLOO, ON: Tickets for the 2019 Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships  will go on sale Thursday, November 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. (ET). The championships will take place from February 22-24, 2019 at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo, Ont.

TICKETS
All event tickets are priced at $60 for adults, $30 for children 12 years and younger. Day Passes for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are priced at $25 for adults, $20 for children 12 years and younger. Additional service fees apply. During the event, tickets will be available at the venue or available online.

EVENT
The 2019 Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships will bring approximately 40 teams and over 800 athletes from across the country to Waterloo. The city most recently hosted this event in 2016.

Teams will compete for national titles in the senior, junior, open, intermediate and novice categories. The top two senior teams will go on to represent Canada at the 2019 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland from April 12-14, 2019.

Five Canadian skaters headed to Grenoble for Internationaux de France

OTTAWA, ON: Team Canada will be competing at the final event in the 2018-2019 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series in Grenoble, France from November 23-25.

In the men’s category, Nicolas Nadeau will represent Canada. Nadeau finished fourth at Finlandia Trophy earlier this season.

In the pairs category, Camille Ruest and Andrew Wolfe will be representing Canada. This is their second grand prix event, they finished eighth at Skate Canada International.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier will be the  Canadian ice dancers at the event. The team won bronze at their first grand prix assignment of the season at  Skate Canada International.

Canadian Entries at Internationaux de France-Grenoble, France

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Men Nicolas Nadeau 20 Boisbriand, Que. CPA Boisbriand Yvan Desjardins
Pairs Camille Ruest / Andrew Wolfe 24/24 Rimouski, Que. / Calgary, Alta. CPA Rimouski / Glencoe Club Calgary Richard Gauthier, Bruno Marcotte
Ice Dance Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier 26/27 Toronto, Ont. / Unionville, Ont. Scarboro FSC / Scarboro FSC Carol Lane, Juris Razgulajevs, Jon Lane

Manon Perron of Boucherville, Que., will be the Canadian team leader at the event. Dr. Albert Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., and physiotherapist Scott Fraser of Kingston, Ont., will be the medical staff onsite. Janice Hunter of West Vancouver, B.C. and Reaghan Fawcett  of Aurora, Ont. will be Canadian officials at the event.

For more information, please visit www.isu.org.

Keegan Messing climbs to fifth at ISU Grand Prix

MOSCOW – Canada’s Keegan Messing gained two spots in the overall standings with his free skate Saturday to place fifth in men’s competition at the Rostelecom Cup, the fifth stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won the gold medal with 278.42 points followed by Morisi Kvitelashvili of Georgia in second at 248.58 and Kazuki Tomono of Japan third at 238.73.

Messing was seventh after Friday’s short program and produced the sixth best free skate. Interpreting his Charlie Chaplin routine, Messing opened with a perfect triple Lutz but wasn’t smooth on most of his other jumps falling on both his quad toes and landing one of his two triple Axels cleanly.

“I really had to fight for everything,” said Messing, a silver medallist earlier this month at Skate Canada. “I can leave here knowing I gave it a solid fight.”

Messing was the only Canadian entry at the competition.

The next stop on the circuit is in Grenoble, France.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gprus2018/

Canada’s Roman Sadovsky wins silver at ISU Challenger Series event

INNSBRUCK, Austria – Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., held on two second place to win the silver medal in men’s competition on Thursday at the CS Inger Solar Memorial – Alpen Trophy figure skating competition.

Daniel Grassl of Italy took the gold with 230.50 points, Sadovksy followed at 204.95 and Tomoki Hiwatashi of the U.S. was third at 199.21.

Sadovksy was second after the short program and produced the fifth best free skate.

“I’m disappointed with the performance, I didn’t reach my potential,” said Sadovsky. “I felt I had some improved elements and it just didn’t show in this competition.”

There were no other Canadians.

Full results: http://skateaustria.vs91-250-98-130.cloud-he.de/img/competition/4.2018_19/040/index.htm

Keegan Messing seventh after short program at ISU Grand Prix

MOSCOW – Canada’s Keegan Messing made two major mistakes in his short program Friday to stand seventh in men’s competition at the Rostelecom Cup, the fifth stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan leads with 110.53 points, Morisi Kvitelashvili of Georgia is a distant second at 89.94 and Alexander Majorov of Sweden third at 82.33

Messing, second at Skate Canada earlier this month, fell on his opening quad-triple combo and nearly tumbled on his triple Axel, holding himself up with his hand.

“I just felt a little bit tight out there,” said Messing. “The legs were a little stiff but I kept fighting through the whole program.”

Messing is the sole Canadian entry at the event. The free skate is on Saturday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gprus2018/

Keegan Messing headed to Russia for Rostelecom Cup

OTTAWA, ON: Team Canada will be competing this week at the Rostelecom Cup, the fifth event on the 2018 ISU (International Skating Union) Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The event takes place in Moscow, Russia from November 16-18.

Keegan Messing will be the only Canadian skater competing in Moscow. This will be his second grand prix event of the season, having won a silver medal at the Skate Canada International in October.

Canadian Entries at Rostelecom Cup – Moscow, Russia

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Men Keegan Messing 26 Sherwood Park, Alta. / Brantford, Ont. Sherwood Park FSC Ralph Burghart

Carolyn Allright of Waterloo, Ont., will be the Canadian team leader and physiotherapist Mike McMurray of Oak Bluff, Man., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Lynne Dey of Edmonton, Alta., will be the Canadian official at the event.

For more information, please visit www.isu.org.

Soucisse and Firus post career ISU Grand Prix best fifth at NHK Trophy

HIROSHIMA, Japan – Canadian ice dancers Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus improved by three spot over their Skate Canada performance two weeks ago with a fifth place finish in ice dancing to conclude the NHK Trophy, the fourth stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker of the U.S. won the gold medal with 184.63 points, Tiffani Zagorski and Jonathan Guerreiro of Russia were second at 183.05 and Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons of the U.S. third at 178.64.

Soucisse, from Chateauguay, Que., and Firus, from North Vancouver, totalled 169.84 which was also a 13-point improvement over their Skate Canada showing and less than three points off their personal best internationally.

It was also their best result in four Grand Prix appearances.

“It was our best overall performance to date,” said Firus. “We are going to keep working to get it better every time.”

The fifth stop on the circuit is later this week in Moscow.

Full results: GPJPN 2018 NHK Trophy

Moore-Towers and Marinaro edged off podium at NHK Trophy

HIROSHIMA, Japan – Canada’s Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro were less than a point from a podium berth and took fourth spot Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy figure skating competition, the fourth stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit.

Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert of Russia won the gold medal with 214.14 points, Cheng Peng and Yang Jin of China were second at 207.24, Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim of the U.S. third at 190.49 and the Canadians followed at 189.66.

It was a fourth competition in seven weeks for Moore-Towers, of St. Catharines, Ont.,  and Marinaro, of Sarnia, Ont. They skated a clean program to a Pink Floyd medley but they touch downed with a hand on a couple of landings

“We were pretty solid in the first three competitions but we are a little disappointed in this performance,” said Moore-Towers. “There are some areas we did improve but now we have some time before nationals (in January) to come back a deliver a special performance.”

In men’s competition, Olympic silver medallist Shoma Uno of Japan won the gold with Sergei Voronov of Russia second and Matteo Rizzo of Italy third.

Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., moved from 12th to 11th with the 10th best free skate.

“There are some positives I can take from this week,” said Reynolds. “I was able to perform the programs artistically the way I was hoping but the jumps were not where they needed to be.”

In the short dance, Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver are fifth at 66.01 just over three points from third spot. Tiffani Zagorski and Jonathan Guerrero of Russia are first at 75.49 ahead of two American couples.

“We went out there and did our job,” said Firus. “It was a good performance but a little disappointed with our placement right now.”

The free dance is on Sunday.

Full results: GPJPN 2018 NHK Trophy

Moore-Towers and Marinaro in hunt for second ISU Grand Prix medal

HIROSHIMA, Japan – Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., are in third place after Friday’s short program at the NHK Trophy figure skating competition, the fourth stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit.

Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert of Russia are first with 73.48 points, Cheng Peng and Yang Jin of China are second at 70.66 and Moore-Towers and Marinaro third at 67.70.

Skating to the First Time I Ever Saw Your Face, the Canadians opened with a perfect triple twist but weren’t as smooth on the side-by-side jump and the throw triple loop. They won a bronze two weeks ago at Skate Canada.

“We are a little disappointed with the performance today,” said Moore-Towers. “We’ve been practicing very well all week. It was a little bit off in many places and here you have to be perfect to stack up.”

In the men’s short program, Olympic silver medallist Shoma Uno of Japan leads with 92.49. Sergei Voronov of Russia is second at 91.37 and his compatriot Dmitri Aliev third at 81.15.

Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., is 12th.

“After a good start it didn’t finish up well so that’s disappointing,” Reynolds said.

The free skates for men and pairs are on Saturday as well as the short dance featuring Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver. There are no Canadians in the women’s event.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gpjpn2018/