The search for new stars continues at the Canadian figure skating championships

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The 2023 national championships arrive this week with Canadian figure skating still facing an uncertain future. It hasn't been the same since a golden generation lifted Canada to a world-best four total medals and two gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Ice-dance icons Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir walked away after winning their second Olympic dance title and leading Canada to the team gold in South Korea. Three-time men's world champion Patrick Chan followed suit after playing a key role in the team victory. Women's bronze medallist Kaetlyn Osmond stuck around for the world championships the following month and won gold, then stepped away from the sport before officially retiring in 2019. The pairs duo of Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford broke up after taking Olympic bronze in Pyeongchang.

Since the end of that magical season, Canadians have won just two medals at the figure skating world championships. Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took bronze in 2021 and the since-retired pairs tandem of Radford and Vanessa James added a bronze last year, when the worlds were badly depleted by post-Olympic withdrawals and the ban on Russian skaters due to the invasion of Ukraine. At last winter's Olympics in Beijing, Canadian figure skaters failed to win a medal for the first time since 1980.

As Canada tries to cultivate the next crop of Olympic contenders, here are some things to know about the main events at the national championships, which begin Friday afternoon in Oshawa, Ont.:

Canada's top international medal contenders are not competing.

At the end of last season, a dejected Gilles and Poirier contemplated retirement after missing the pairs podium at the Olympics and the world championships. Instead, the 2021 worlds bronze medallists resolved to "recapture our joy of skating," as Poirier put it.

The new approach is paying off. Gilles and Poirier have won all three of their competitions this season, including the prestigious Grand Prix Final last month in Italy. Those victories perhaps come with an asterisk as the powerful Russian program remains banned from international events. But, as the only Canadians to reach the podium at the Grand Prix Final, Gilles and Poirier have firmly established themselves as the country's best hope for a medal at this year's world championships.

Gilles and Poirier won't defend their Canadian title in Oshawa as the pair had to withdraw last week after Gilles underwent an appendectomy. Also out due to injury is Gabrielle Daleman, a two-time Canadian champion and the women's bronze medallist at the 2017 worlds. Skaters who miss the nationals are still eligible to compete for Canada at the world championships in Japan in late March.

Keegan Messing has a lot on his mind.

Big-event adversity is nothing new to the men's singles veteran. At last year's Canadian championships, which also served as the Olympic trials, Messing almost had to compete in a pair of replacement skates after his were lost with his luggage during the trip to Ottawa. Luckily, Messing's skates arrived in time and he won his first Canadian title along with a ticket to the Olympics.

But Messing nearly didn't make it to Beijing after testing positive for COVID-19 just before the team flight. He missed the team event but finally produced the four negative tests required to travel to China just in time for the start of the men's competition. Messing finished a respectable 11th after earning his best score of the season in the free skate.

Now, Messing is dealing with an entirely different kind of drama. His wife is due to give birth to their second child back home in Alaska on Saturday — the day of the men's free program. That adds a considerable wrinkle to what was already going to be an emotional week for Messing, who's making his final appearance at the Canadian championships as he plans to retire at season's end. "I've been skating for 27 years," said Messing, who turns 31 later this month. "This is all I've ever really done in my life, and to be saying goodbye this year… it's scary."

Also competing for the men's title this week are 2020 champion Stephen Gogolev (the runner-up last year) and 18-year-old Stephen Gogolev. No Canadian singles skaters (men's or women's) reached the podium on the Grand Prix circuit this season.

Others to watch:

Nineteen-year-old Madeline Schizas is going for her second consecutive women's title. At last year's Olympics, her strong performance in the team event helped Canada to a fourth-place finish. It could one day be upgraded to a bronze, pending a ruling on whether Russia will be stripped of the gold due to Kamila Valieva's failed doping test. Schizas placed fifth and seventh in her two Grand Prix assignments this season.

In ice dance, the absence of Gilles and Poirier opens the door for Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen to perhaps win their first national title. They won gold and silver in their two Grand Prix assignments this season to qualify for the Final, where they finished sixth in the field of six. 2019 world junior champions Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha just missed the cut for the Final after earning bronze in both of their regular-season events.

Also seeking their first Canadian title is the pairs duo of Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps. They won a gold and a silver in their regular Grand Prix events to qualify for the Final, where they placed fourth.

How to watch:

The Canadian championships got underway today with the opening rounds for juniors. They run until about 9:30 p.m. ET and you can watch them live here.

Live coverage on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem continues Wednesday with junior free skates before senior competition begins Friday and concludes Saturday. The junior and senior synchronized events can also be watched live on those platforms Wednesday and Thursday. For times and details, see the full streaming schedule here.

The CBC TV network will be showing action from the nationals Saturday from 2-6 p.m. ET and Sunday from 2-5 p.m. in your local time.