Pressure is on for the big three

Michael Daleman was supposed to concentrate on the road as he drove to Ottawa Wednesday, but it probably wasn’t easy as daughter Gabrielle screamed from the passenger seat.

Fortunately, there was no immediate danger on the highways of Eastern Ontario.

But there was tension as Dad listened to Gabrielle Daleman attempt to provide commentary of younger brother Zachary’s l i vestreamed free skate from the junior men’s portion of the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships at TD Place arena.

“He was saying, ‘ You’re supposed to be telling me what’s going on,’ ” Gabrielle related Thursday.

“And I was like, ‘ I can’t. Just breathe, just breathe.’ And he said, ‘ Is Zach not breathing?’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m talking to myself.’ ”

OK, so she’s familiar with pressure.

Now t he question is whether Daleman and her counterparts can deal with it as they head into the senior women’s section of the 2017 nationals.

Not only is there a Canadian title at stake, but there are only two available berths in the world championships scheduled f or Helsinki in late March and early April, one less than this country has in senior men’s, ice dance and pairs.

Head lining the 18- woman f i eld and expected to be leading contenders for tickets to Finland are the three winners of the past four national c hampionships: Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., ( 2016); Daleman from Newmarket, Ont., ( 2015); and Kaetlyn Osmond ( 2013-14), the Newfoundland and Labrador native now living in Edmonton.

Each of the three represented Canada on the international circuit in the fall portion of the season, with Osmond producing the best results: second in Skate Canada International at Mississauga, Ont., and the Audi Cup of Beijing, then fourth in the Grand Prix finals at Marseille.

Skate Canada will announce its teams for the world senior and j unior championships, scheduled for mid- March in Taipei, on Sunday.