Tag Archive for: 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

Kaetlyn Osmond wins second straight Canadian title in Ottawa

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When Kaetlyn Osmond finished her free skate at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, with the crowd standing cheering in front of her, she felt in shock.

It had been such a frustrating year for the 18-year-old native Newfoundlander with the sparkle and energy. One injury after another caused a change in plans again and again. But under coach Ravi Walia – a young coach who has never taken a skater to the Olympics – Osmond got to the finish line on Saturday with the best performances of her career and the highest points.

Osmond scored a total of 207.24 points, 24.77 points ahead of 15-year-old fireball Gabby Daleman, she of the wondrous triple-triple combinations and all the moxie to drive her to the top.

Taking the bronze medal was Amelie Lacoste, who left no stone unturned to fight for one of only two Olympic berths for Canadian women. She left her home and French-speaking community in Montreal to train in Colorado, aiming high.  She fell short, with 166.69 points, a fraction ahead of another intrepid young Quebecker, Veronik Mallet. With 165.20. Alaine Chartrand was fifth with 161.46.

Daleman did by far the most difficult combination in the long program, a sabre-rattling triple Lutz – triple toe loop, a move that earned her 11.50 points. Osmond had a small margin of victory (2.28 points) over Daleman in the technical mark but she blasted the youngster with her performance marks. While Osmond earned 68.40 for her emotive Cleopatra program, Daleman earned 57.83.

Osmond, who said she’s skating better now than before her injuries, is even pushing marks of 9.0 in the program component (performance side.)

Osmond did only a triple toe loop- triple toe loop in the short program, and not in the long. Preferring to stick with her comfort-zone jumps that she did last season, especially after missing so much training time, Osmond is aiming for a top eight finish in Sochi (when she is actually chosen for the team). She’s not aiming for a podium finish. Coach Ravi Walia said it’s not realistic to expect her to top athletes who have say, five years’ experience doing formidable combinations. But who knows? Osmond finished fourth in the short program at worlds in London, with an overall goal of being in the top 10.

Daleman will turn 16 on Monday, and her idol, Joannie Rochette, also has a birthday on the same day. It could be a good omen.

When Daleman saw her marks, she looked overwhelmed and surprised. “It was great,” she said. “I was not expecting that score at all. I was not even focused on it from the beginning. I was more focused on what I needed to do to get the job done. I’ve been working really hard on my second mark. Just seeing that mark and getting over the 180 just made my day.”

Daleman’s previous highest mark was 174, she earned that earlier this season. She won the silver medal last year.

Osmond was getting ready to go on the ice and started to shake, just at the thought of what she has had to overcome this season. “I was actually nervous, but then I remember in practice I get nervous, but in practice the nerves are coming from if I don’t do a good program, I’ve got to redo it. But when the music started [here], it’s just like everything just went away and it was just like I was back home and just practicing in my own rink with my friends skating around me.”

“I’m really happy with that skate,” she said. “I was a little nervous, knowing what is on the line with Sochi but I just talked to myself, calmed myself down, knowing that I know how to do it, trust my training. I just felt great doing it. I just fought.”

Beverley Smith

Battle in pair event close with Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford in the lead after short

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Meagan Duhamel hopped up and down like a little girl. Eric Radford clutched his heart. When their marks came up, they felt relief. They were in first place after the short program at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships with 75.80 points. These points are slowly and surely moving ever upwards on their road to Sochi.

Their arch-rivals and friends, Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch earned a standing ovation for their flawless routine and finished second with 74.96 points. They glowed.

In third place are Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers, who both doubled their triple toe loops. “We’re trying to focus on the positives,” she said.

Lawrence still skates with a heavy bandage on a thigh from a strained groin that has hobbled her all season. “It’s doing a lot better,” she said. “But it’s one of those things that is pretty finicky and I just didn’t get the preparation and training without the bandage back home.”

Duhamel and Radford, third at the world championships last year, also earned a standing ovation for their emotional performance. Radford noted that the nationals are always a special competition and to bring it on home ice is particularly gratifying. They skated to Radford’s own musical composition called Tribute, which honours his former coach Paul Wirtz, who died some years ago. “I think that the story of this program is understood enough that people understands what it means to us and to me.”

“When I hit the ending position, I just felt a swell of emotions,” Radford said. “It was just an indescribable moment.”

The two-time defending Canadian champions, Duhamel and Radford earned top marks for a triple twist and they executed their difficult triple Lutz and throw triple Lutz. Radford admitted there were a few “sticky” moments but they can be ironed out before Sochi. “This sets us up perfectly for (the long program).”

Duhamel said they did not execute their throw as well as they can, and she feels they left a point or a point and a half on the table. “This is the ballpark we expected we can be in,” she said. They earned 73 points at NHK Trophy in Japan. The trend is going in the right direction.

Only .84 points separate the top two teams. They push each other perfectly.

Beverley Smith

Patrick Chan on track for 7th Canadian title in Ottawa

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Patrick Chan is still looking for the missing pieces of the puzzle he’s trying to put together to become an Olympic champion.

He found a few were missing on Friday at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships when he doubled a triple Axel and a Lutz.

He wanted the short program to be perfect and when he started off on Friday night with an absolutely powerful quad toe loop–triple toe loop combo that netted him plus threes across the board (earning 17.40 points alone for that first move), he let go of his plan.  He began to think ahead of himself, pleased that this could perhaps be the perfect short he was hoping for before the Olympics. “I kind of relaxed because I thought it was over,’ he admitted.

The program, “Elegie in E Flat Minor” had conquered Chan at the Grand Prix Final when Japanese champ Yuzuru Hanyu defeated Chan by a large margin and Chan was not able to make up much ground on him in the long.

“I had a rocky Grand Prix Final and …I think that’s the source of all this,” Chan said.

Chan said he was startled at the marks he received at the Final and the mistakes he made in the short and found it “hard to go back home and have that long of a time to think about it [before the Canadian championships].”

He realizes he needs to take one element at a time – which is what he did when he won the Bompard Trophy in Paris so brilliantly.

“I’m still learning at this point,” he said. “There’s this last missing piece that I need to slot in before the Olympics.”

Still, he won with 89.12 points with his Jeff-Buttle choreographed routine that had produced a couple of world records.

That’s about 10 points ahead of Liam Firus, fifth last year at the Canadian championships. Even Firus was taken aback by finishing second, after having an injury-plagued season, and taking a hard fall on his triple Axel in the short program.

Kevin Reynolds, fifth at the world championships last March, is in third place with 78.29 points, only .64 behind Firus. But he had troubles from the start. After a few seconds into his routine to AC/DC, the music stopped.

It was just a little too much to bear for Reynolds, who had missed all of his international competitions and everything else because of boot problems that have plagued him all season. “I really had to focus and get back into my space,” he said afterward.

He fell on his opening quad Salchow, and then had the presence of mind to squeak a double toe loop onto the end of his quad toe loop, allowing him a combination worth 10.27 points.

Among the other competitors trying to get those Olympic spots: Elladj Balde, also competing on the same old boot-new boot combination that he used at Skate Canada International. He was pleased to land a quad with a hand down and finish fourth and last year’s bronze medalist Andrei Rogozine is fifth.

However, the skater who got the loudest standing ovation among the men was 14-year-old Roman Sadovsky, who delighted the large crowd with his flair and his spins and performance to finish eighth at 68.59 points. It was the largest crowd he had ever faced having been only to a few junior grand prix events.

“It was different,” he said. I’m so used to performing basically to a wall.”

Beverley Smith

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform to perfect 10’s

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A wash of perfect marks of 10 filled the scorecard of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir when they won the short dance at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships on Friday night.

Count ‘em up. There were 22 of them handed out by judges for the performance marks. Mind you, some of the higher and the lower would be dropped, but still, these measures of outstanding deliverance don’t happen all that often.

There were plenty of positives to take from their routine to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Virtue and Moir didn’t get a grade of execution lower than two (when the utmost is three, and the lowermost is minus three.) They received a perfect string of perfect 10s from each judge for choreography and composition, almost as many for interpretation.

Still, Virtue and Moir, ever the perfectionists, weren’t completely satisfied with their performance, for which they earned 76.16, a heavenly send-off for the 2010 Olympic champions. Their faces didn’t look as if they’d just garnered a bouquet of 10s.

“We felt like we had a couple of moments today that weren’t quite the way we have been training,” Moir said. “…It’s one we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked to. “

True enough, Virtue and Moir lost a point for a lift that went too long, but for Moir it was more. “It felt like I was battling a little bit with my knees and I wasn’t quite into the ice.”

“Maybe I was watching junior world highlights,” he said, referring to the Canadian junior hockey team that failed to win a medal at the recent world championships.

Virtue and Moir’s technical mark of 37.66 was only marginally behind that of Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, who are in second place with 72.68 points. Their technical mark stood at 36.09.

This Canadian championship means far more to Weaver and Poje than mere point-gathering. Four years ago, they lost the chance to compete at the Vancouver Olympics by only .30 points and it crushed them. “It’s still a sore spot with me,” Weaver said. “I can tell you standing here right now, it makes me emotional about how we felt at this event four years ago.”

There is little danger they’ll miss the trip this year, but Weaver is very well aware, from all the incidents that have befallen them, that “You never know when something can be taken away from you.”

The desire to never let an Olympics be taken from them again lies beneath each hard training day. “It was a turning point for us,” Poje said.

Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam, who delighted Canadian crowds so when they first emerged as gems at a Skate Canada International several years ago, have struggled with injuries and bad luck sometimes since, and they don’t want to remember last year’s Canadian championships any more than do Weaver and Poje, who had to sit it out with an injury. Last year Paul and Islam were in third place after the short dance and in line for a trip to the world championships in London, Ont., when a slip plunged them to fourth. However, in the short dance on Friday, they flew around the rink, with big, deft beautiful movement, skating to “Crazy for You.” And took third place with 67.67 points.

Canada has three Olympic dance spots and one of the biggest battles of this event is for the third spot. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, overcoming injury this year, are in fourth place with 65.11 points, while last year’s bronze medalists Nicole Orford and Thomas Williams are fifth. Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill are sixth.

Beverley Smith

Kaetlyn Osmond energizes the Canadian Tire Centre with winning short program

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Despite the lack of competition this season and overcoming two injuries, Kaetlyn Osmond ruled Friday in the short program at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

Still only 18, Osmond stepped out to the Big Spender, delivering a program made “comfortable” because of the injuries – and she still won by about nine points.

Her mark of 70.30 is marginally ahead of last year’s short program mark, when she won the Canadian title.

Former Canadian champion Amélie Lacoste, rejuvenated by a switch in training venue to Colorado Springs this season, finished second with her first clean short program in years, she said, and sits at 61.27 points. Gabby Daleman, only 15, is third at 58.38, while delivering the most ambitious combination: the triple Lutz-triple toe loop.

Osmond had planned this season to increase the difficulty of her combination to a triple flip – triple toe loop but because of her extensive time off the ice, she decided to stick with last year’s plan: the triple toe loop – triple toe loop. And her early idea of doing a triple Lutz as a solo triple, became a triple flip, which she scored huge grade of execution marks on (a couple of plus threes).

Osmond dominated both the technical and performance marks even though Daleman did a combination that many of the young jet-setting women do.

Lacoste had been working on a difficult triple loop – triple loop combination, but decided after practice on Friday to scale it down to triple loop – double loop. She’ll go for the triple-triple – she’s been landing it four times out of five – if she gets assignments for the rest of the season, like the Olympics or world championships.

Lacoste deserves top marks for keeping things together despite her horrendous trip from Colorado to Ottawa for the event due to bad weather.

Lacoste was at the Colorado Springs airport for her flight to Ottawa at 7 a.m. Tuesday, but her flight was cancelled. She took a shuttle to Denver to catch a flight to Ottawa via Toronto, but that flight was cancelled. It took her another three hours to get onto another flight to Calgary at 8 p.m. Tuesday. She arrived at 11 p.m. Finally she got the last seat on a plane to Montreal the next morning at 6 a.m., stopped to have lunch with her mother and a niece and took a train to Ottawa.

“After I experienced that, I am not afraid of anything,” she said.

Daleman, who competed internationally this year in junior grand prix, landed marginally behind Lacoste in the standings after doubled her flip and stepped out of it. “The flip didn’t go the way I wanted it to,” she said. “The timing wasn’t just right. Sometimes you go too fast or too slow. I think I just lost my train of thought for a second.”

But she’s still pleased that she landed the big combination. She says she doesn’t feel too much pressure at making the Olympic team, but she likes a little pressure. “Yes, I’m one of the youngest competitors but I’m really showing what I’m able to do at my age.”

Although Osmond has been hobbled by first a stress reaction injury (a precursor to a stress fracture) in her left foot and a right hamstring injury that caused her to pull out of Skate Canada International after the short program, Walia feels she is rallying at just the right time.

Beverley Smith

Celebrations planned for the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Ottawa

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OTTAWA, ON: This week Skate Canada will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in its birthplace of Ottawa, Ont. The event will take place from January 9-15, 2014 at Canadian Tire Centre with additional festivities around the city that will also be open to the public.

CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE
Over 250 athletes in senior, junior and novice will vie for Canadian titles and the opportunity to represent Canada internationally. The event will act as the final step in the 2014 Olympic qualification process.

OLYMPIC ANNOUNCEMENT
On Sunday, January 12 at the conclusion of the senior events, Skate Canada will nominate the 17 member Olympic figure skating team to the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) for selection to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

CANADA SKATES
To celebrate this rare historic milestone, Skate Canada presents a mini-ice show “CANADA SKATES! 100 YEARS OF CHAMPIONS” with daily performances from January 10-12 at Ottawa City Hall’s Rink of Dreams. Admission is free!

Choreographed by Olympic bronze medalist, World and Canadian Champion, Jeffrey Buttle, and performed by top-level skaters primarily from the Ottawa area, the 10-minute show will guide viewers through an artistic representation of the century-long development of the sport in Canada. The show depicts how Canada’s love for skating began in the early 20th century and has progressed to the artistic and athletic modern competition.

Schedule

Friday January 10 14:00, 16:00, 18:00 & 20:00
Saturday January 11 14:00, 16:00, 18:00 & 20:00
Sunday January 12 12:30

FREE SKATING LESSONS
If you want to learn-to-skate or brush up on your skills, Skate Canada will have coaches and skaters from Ottawa area skating clubs on hand at the Rink of Dreams to interact and provide personal instruction.

Schedule

Friday, January 10 Minto Skating Club 14:00 to 18:00
Nepean Skating Club 18:00 to 22:00
Saturday, January 11 Goulbourn Skating Club 14:00 to 18:00
Patinate Gatineau 18:00 to 22:00
Sunday, January 12 Gloucester Skating 12:30 to 16:30

LIVE VIEWING
Watch coverage of the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships on the Skate Canada big screen set up at the Rink of Dreams. Canada’s best and brightest will be competing for national titles and a spot in Sochi.

TICKETS
Fans can purchase their tickets for the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships online at www.capitaltickets.ca, by phone at 1.877.788.FANS (3267) or 613.599.FANS (3267), or in person at the Canadian Tire Centre box office.

 

Skaters contend for entries to Olympic Winter Games at the 100th anniversary 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

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OTTAWA, ON: The top figure skaters in the country are set to converge on Ottawa, Ont., for the 100th anniversary 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, taking place from January 9-15 at the Canadian Tire Centre. This year’s event celebrates 100 Years of Champions by returning to the host city of the first Canadian championships in 1914.

“Ottawa is where it all began 100 years ago in 1914 and we are so excited to be back in the birthplace of the Canadian championships for the fourteenth time. This year’s event also adds additional excitement and pressure as it is the final competition before our team is named for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia,” said Dan Thompson, Skate Canada CEO. “Skate Canada is proud to be sending the biggest figure skating team in the world to Sochi and the largest Canadian team since 1988.”

“The Canadian Tire National Skating Championships embodies a spirit of hard work and dedication. We applaud the athletes, families, coaches and supportive communities, for their tremendous work in getting these athletes here today,” said Landon French, Vice President, Sport Partnerships, Canadian Tire. “We are extremely proud to be a supporter of this event and the 100 years of heritage and memories it has brought to Canadians everywhere. Our Family of Companies has been a part of skating and learning to skate for over 90 years. From equipment, to keeping parents and coaches warm in the stands, Canadian Tire, Mark’s and L’Equipeur are committed to skating in Canada.”

Approximately 250 skaters in the men’s, women’s, pair and ice dance disciplines at the senior, junior and novice level will compete for the title of Canadian champion. Athletes will vie for spots on the Skate Canada National Team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the 2014 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the 2014 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and the 2014 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Leading the way in the men’s category is three-time defending World Champion, six-time defending Canadian champion and 2010 Olympian Patrick Chan, 23, Toronto, Ont.

In women’s, 2013 Canadian champion Kaetlyn Osmond, 18, Marystown, Nfld. & Sherwood Park, Alta., looks to defend the title and secure a debut berth at the 2014 Games.

The 2010 Olympic Champions, two-time world champions and five-time Canadian champions Tessa Virtue, 24, London, Ont., and Scott Moir, 26, Ilderton, Ont., will compete for their sixth Canadian title in ice dance.

The pair discipline will feature 2013 world bronze medalists and two-time defending Canadian champions Meagan Duhamel, 28, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 28, Balmertown, Ont.

Other Canadians ranking among the top-10 at the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships® include three-time men’s Canadian medallist Kevin Reynolds, 23, Coquitlam, B.C., 2011 Canadian pair champions and 2013 Canadian pair silver medalists Kirsten Moore-Towers, 21, St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch, 29, Toronto, Ont., and six-time Canadian ice dance medallists Kaitlyn Weaver, 24, Waterloo, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 26, Waterloo, Ont.

For full entries and the event start orders please click here. For further event information, click here.

Tickets still remain and can be purchased online at www.capitaltickets.ca, by phone at 1.877.788.FANS (3267) or 613.599.FANS (3267), or in person at the Canadian Tire Centre box office.

Media who have not already applied for accreditation are asked to contact Emma Bowie, Manager, Communications. She will be the onsite media contact at the event and can be reached at 613.747.1007 x2547 or at [email protected].

The countdown is on to the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

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OTTAWA, ON:  In January 2014, the spotlight will be on skating in Ottawa as the Canadian Tire Centre hosts the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships from January 9-15, 2014. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, Olympic silver medalist Elizabeth Manley, and representatives from Skate Canada will officially start the countdown to this significant event on Monday, December 16 at the Rink of Dreams from 12:00 – 12:30 (ET).

The championships will feature approximately 250 of Canada’s best figure skaters in senior, junior and novice as they vie for spots on the national team, international assignments and will act as the final step in the 2014 Olympic qualification process. On Sunday, January 12 at the conclusion of the senior events, Skate Canada will nominate the 17 member Olympic figure skating team to the Canadian Olympic Committee for selection to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

To mark the occasion, Mayor Jim Watson will be participating in his first skating lesson. Olympic silver medalist and certified Skate Canada coach Elizabeth Manley will be leading the lesson with the help of coaches and skaters from the Gloucester Skating Club.

Though Mayor Watson has had some informal training on the ice, he’s never had an official lesson to learn the fundamentals. To get the Mayor gliding with ease, he will be taking a CanSkate lesson.

CanSkate is Skate Canada’s learn-to-skate program and is designed for beginners of all ages. It provides the skills needed to develop strong basic skating skills and prepares skaters for virtually every ice sport.

Where: Rink of Dreams, Ottawa City Hall
110 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON, K1P 1J1
Date: Monday, December 16, 2013
Time: 12:00 – 12:30 (ET)
Participants: Mayor Jim Watson
Elizabeth Manley, Olympic Silver Medalist
Dan Thompson, Skate Canada CEO
The Gloucester Skating Club

Fans can buy their tickets for the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships online at www.capitaltickets.ca, by phone at 1.877.788.FANS (3267) or 613.599.FANS (3267), or in person at the Canadian Tire Centre box office.

 

Single event tickets for the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships on Sale November 14

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OTTAWA, ON: Single event tickets for the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Ottawa, Ont., will go on sale Thursday, November 14 at 10:00 (ET). The 100th anniversary of the event will take place from January 9-15, 2014 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Senior competition prices range from $10-$60, plus applicable surcharges. Junior/novice competition tickets range from $5-$30 (general admission), plus applicable surcharges.

TICKET SPECIALS

  • Children 12 and under can attend practices on Thursday, January 9 for free and get 50 percent off tickets to the Saturday, January 11 sessions.
  • Fans attending both Friday, January 10 and/or both Saturday, January 11 sessions receive 25% off the regular priced tickets (must be purchased at the same time and for the same day).
  • The junior and novice Sunday, January 12 practices are $5 for everyone.
  • Children 12 and under receive 50 percent off general admission from January 13-15.

The event will host approximately 250 of Canada’s best figure skaters in senior, junior and novice as they vie for spots on the national team, international assignments and will act as the final step in the 2014 Olympic qualification process. At the conclusion of the senior events, Skate Canada will nominate the 17 member Olympic figure skating team on Sunday, January 12 to the Canadian Olympic Committee for selection to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Fans can buy their tickets online at www.capitaltickets.ca, by phone at 1.877.788.FANS (3267) or 613.599.FANS (3267), or in person at the Canadian Tire Centre box office.

All-event ticket packages (senior & junior/novice) are also still available for purchase.

The schedule has been structured this year to have the senior events first, beginning with official practices on Thursday, January 9.  The junior and novice events will begin on Sunday, January 12 with their official practices taking place at the Bell Sensplex.

 

Joannie Rochette named Athlete Ambassador for 100th anniversary 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

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OTTAWA, ON: Olympic Bronze Medalist  and six-time Canadian Champion Joannie Rochette has been named the Athlete Ambassador for the upcoming 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Ottawa, Ontario. The event will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Championships at the Canadian Tire Centre from January 9-15, 2014.  The very first event was also held in Ottawa in 1914.

Rochette, from Île Dupas, Quebec, represented CPA Berthierville, and won the first of her six consecutive Canadian titles in 2005. She defended it every year through to her 2010 title.  Later that year, she won the bronze medal in ladies at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver with an emotional performance in the short and free programs. The decorated skater competed in seven world championships, and won the silver medal at the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles.

“I am so honoured to be the Athlete Ambassador for this year’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Ottawa. This will be such a special event, and I am proud to represent all the many amazing athletes over 100 years of champions,” said Rochette.  “I look forward to encouraging all of the skaters, and to be with them in Ottawa. I have competed there for the 2006 Canadian championships and I know that the fans are tremendous and will support all of the athletes and cheer them on to amazing performances.”

As the Athlete Ambassador, Rochette will participate in promotion, ceremonies, media interviews, receptions, autograph sessions and in-venue entertainment.

The announcement was made to over 65 young skaters at the Canadian Tire Centre for the flower retriever auditions and ceremony participants for the championships.

“It is wonderful to have one of our decorated Canadian champions and alumni member to serve as our Athlete Ambassador at these upcoming championships,” said Dan Thompson CEO, Skate Canada. “She continues to inspire young skaters in Canada to pursue their dreams, and is able to relate to the many emotions and experiences the athletes are going through as they compete to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. We are pleased to have Joannie stay involved with our sport and to be a special part of this event.”

All-event ticket packages for both the senior and junior/novice events are on sale online at www.capitaltickets.ca, by phone at 1.877.788.FANS (3267) or 613.599.FANS (3267), or in person at the Canadian Tire Centre box office.

Single event tickets will be on-sale on Thursday, November 14th.

 

2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships Event Ticket Packages On Sale NOW!

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OTTAWA, ON: Event ticket packages for the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will go on sale Friday, October 4, 2013 at 10 a.m. (ET). The event will take place in Ottawa, Ont., the birthplace of the championships, at the Canadian Tire Centre from January 9-15, 2014.

This year Skate Canada will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the championships. Included in the 2014 event will be special centennial activates and celebrations taking place at various locations throughout the city.

The 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will also act as the final step in the 2014 Olympic qualification process. At the conclusion of the senior events, Skate Canada will nominate the 17 member Olympic figure skating team to the Canadian Olympic Committee for selection to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Senior Championship Package
This package includes all senior practices, competition and the exhibition gala from January 9-12, 2014. This package costs $125-$185 plus applicable surcharges. Seating for this package is reserved.

Junior & Novice Championship Package
This package includes all novice and junior practices and competitions from January 12-15, 2014. This package costs $40 plus applicable surcharges. Seating for this package is general admission.

Both ticket packages must be purchased separately. Fans can buy their tickets online at www.capitaltickets.ca, by phone at 1.877.788.FANS (3267) or 613.599.FANS (3267), or in person at the Canadian Tire Centre box office.

Single event tickets will be available in November based on availability. Fans who order all-event tickets will also receive their tickets in the mail around that time.