By: Pj Kwong

I have been lurking for the last 2 days in the basement hallway of the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax where Skate Canada International’s 50th anniversary is well under way. One thing is for sure and that is regardless of era, the passion in figure skating remains the same.

This event is especially noteworthy as three of four reigning World champions are here

Former national champion and Skate Canada 1977 bronze medallist, Heather Kemkaren, watched the practices unfold with a certain amount of respect for the athletes. “The schedule is challenging for the athletes,” she said. “Back when I was at Skate Canada International it was often one of a maximum of 2 international events where I would be sent, and I saw it as a warm-up event for Nationals.”

Compare that to today when athletes are often at 2 Grand Prix events, among others. Speaking with Roman Sadovsky’s coach Tracey Wainman, she spoke of two international events where her student has already competed and remarked that at one, he delivered a very solid short program and at the other, a solid free skate. The goal in Halifax is to ‘bring it’ in both segments of the competition with Roman’s artistry and skating skills leading that charge.

I cannot think of a situation where Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier don’t come away with their fifth Skate Canada ice dance title. Their material, as always, is a step above the rest of the field. It’s funny but I hear people commenting from time to time that they think Piper and Paul skate slowly (they don’t) but let me go on the record here. Anybody can have speed if all they do is crosscuts. What Piper and Paul bring to the table is intricacy and complexity, the likes of which we don’t see very often. When you marry those outstanding skating skills to material of the same caliber, let’s just say they are worth watching every time they step on the ice.

On deck on day one of the competition is Madeline Schizas, the first of four entries from Ontario at this international event. She is very excited about her short program which is to the Lion King. There is a lot riding on it as she is up against World Champion Kaori Sakamoto from Japan. Maddie has shown enormous improvement over the last couple of years where she is appearing increasingly comfortable expressing herself on the ice. She is a beautiful technician and has no difficulty with all of the technical elements and is now coming into her own as a performer.

At the end of the women’s short program tonight, the smile on Maddie’s face said it all as the marks for a new season’s best score of 65.28 appeared on the screen. Maddie sits in 5th place heading into the free with only 2.4 points separating 2nd and 5th. The results from the free program couldn’t be more important.

Visit skatecanada.ca to watch the live stream or catch the action on CBC Sports starting Saturday afternoon. Wherever you catch your skating, just know that we’re #skateontarioproud.