Experienced and confident Canadian skicross team gunning for more hardware

Stanley Hayer noticed the Canadian skicross squad started to act more like a team in his first year as head coach last season.

One of his top priorities is to maintain that chemistry during the upcoming season now that Olympic qualification is on the horizon.

“If we can improve the mental side of this team and their approach and their attitudes a little bit, the results will come,” Hayer said. “It’s not so much our skill level. It’s there. It’s the team dynamic and the work ethic and the professionalism, all this kind of stuff that (was) not missing, but missing as a group. We found that last year.

“So that’s the biggest goal, to keep that going.”

The season kicks off this week with the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Val Thorens, France. Qualification is set for Thursday and races go Friday and Saturday.

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The Canadian women’s team is strong once again this year. World No. 2 Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., and Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., are back along with Georgia Simmerling of West Vancouver, B.C.

Thompson and Serwa finished 1-2 at the Sochi Games in 2014 while Simmerling reached the Olympic podium last summer in Rio. After breaking her wrist on the slopes last year, she took up track cycling and helped Canada win bronze in the team pursuit.

“We have big expectations for the women’s team,” Hayer said. “With Kelsey healthy, Georgia back, and Marielle skiing better than ever, it’s an unbelievably strong team for the women’s side.”

Chris Del Bosco of Montreal and Brady Leman of Calgary — ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the world last season, respectively — anchor the Canadian men’s side. They’re joined by Toronto’s Kevin Drury and Dave Duncan of London, Ont.

Leman was remarkably consistent last season and it helped him to a breakthrough year.

“It was nice to finally be where I thought I should be because a lot of the time I was banging my head against the wall for lousy events or performances that were subpar in my books,” he said. “I was going, ‘What the hell happened here?’ and it was always just little mistakes.

“I think consistency and focus and more mental focus than anything had a part in (making fewer) little errors. It just led to more consistency and better results the whole season.”

Mathieu Leduc of Comox, B.C., is also on the men’s team but is still recovering from off-season knee surgery. 

Hayer, a three-time Olympian, said the team is focused on using its strengths, feel and mental toughness on the hill.

“Using the group and pack mentality as a team goes a long way in skicross because other teams start to fear you,” he said in a recent interview from the Czech Republic. “That’s what we used to have way back in the day. That’s what the French have over the last few years. If there are French guys in your heat, they may not help each other, but you know they’re a team and they’ll fight you tooth and nail all the way to the bottom.

“The Swedes don’t have enough guys to do that. We do. So once we get to that again, and I think we’re there, people are starting to watch us again. They’re starting to get — not afraid — but they get worried when there’s a Canadian in their heat and that’s a good thing.”

Canadians made 18 World Cup podium appearances last season to earn the Nations Cup trophy, which goes to the country that earns the most World Cup points.

Thompson and Del Bosco are defending champions this week. The World Cup tour will wrap at Blue Mountain near Collingwood, Ont., for the World Cup Finals on March 5.

The season-ending world championships are set for March 18 in Sierra Nevada, Spain.

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Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press