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There is a lot going on, to say the least. Here’s some stuff to keep an eye on:
Curling: Canadian Olympic trials begin
Eight of the top men’s and women’s teams in the country have been invited to Halifax to decide who represents Canada in the four-player curling events at the winter Olympics in Italy this February. Round-robin play begins Saturday, and the tournaments culminate with the best-of-three finals later next week.
Rachel Homan is the overwhelming favourite to win the women’s trials after going undefeated over the last two Canadian championships and winning back-to-back world titles. Her team has won all three Grand Slam events so far this season and has not lost to a Canadian opponent in more than a year.
The men’s trials should be much more competitive. Reigning national champion and 2014 Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs is more or less a co-favourite with Matt Dunstone, the man he beat in the Brier final last season. Dunstone’s rink, which includes two of Jacobs’ former teammates, has been the best Canadian men’s foursome on the Grand Slam tour this season, winning one title and reaching two finals.
If you missed yesterday’s newsletter, here’s our analytics-informed preview of the trials.
Hockey: PWHL launches its third season
The Professional Women’s Hockey League returns tonight with an intriguing doubleheader. The Toronto Sceptres visit the back-to-back Water Cup champion Minnesota Frost before the Vancouver Goldeneyes host the Seattle Torrent in the debut of the PWHL’s two new expansion teams at a sold-out Pacific Coliseum.
On Saturday, the Walter Cup finalist Ottawa Charge host Rookie of the Year Sarah Fillier‘s New York Sirens. On Sunday, reigning league MVP Marie-Philip Poulin and the Montreal Victoire visit the Boston Fleet. In February, Poulin and Fillier will try to lead Canada to a second straight Olympic gold medal in the first Games of the PWHL era.
The expansion teams have a chance to be competitive right away, thanks to the PWHL’s decision to allow the original six to protect just three players each. Seattle signed reigning league scoring champion Hilary Knight away from Boston, while Vancouver grabbed star forward Sarah Nurse from Toronto and Defender of the Year finalists Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques from Cup champion Minnesota.
Here’s a look at how the Goldeneyes came together from CBC Sports’ Karissa Donkin. And here are five things to watch in the PWHL this season.
In the NHL, the competition for spots on the Canadian men’s Olympic team is heating up as the country currently boasts the top five scorers in the league. Nathan MacKinnon (first), Connor McDavid (second) and defenceman Cale Makar (fifth) are locks, while youngsters Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard (third and fourth) are making a case for themselves after being left off the squad that won the 4 Nations Face-Off last winter.
Host Karissa Donkin and The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian break down the rosters of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s two newest teams.
Football: Saskatchewan, Montreal play for the Vanier Cup
Following the Roughriders’ Grey Cup victory last weekend, the Land of the Living Skies can complete a Canadian football championship triple on Saturday when the University of Saskatchewan faces the University of Montreal in the 60th Vanier Cup game in Regina. Earlier this month, the Saskatoon Hilltops won the Canadian Junior Football League title for the 24th time.
The Huskies are the sentimental favourite to win their first Vanier Cup title since 1998 as they soldier on without star quarterback Anton Amundrud, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this season and is currently undergoing treatment. Third-ranked Saskatchewan has gone undefeated with backup Jake Farrell at the helm, including last week’s 22-11 win over No. 6 Queen’s in the Mitchell Bowl national semifinal.
Montreal is looking to spoil the Huskies’ storybook ending and capture its second Vanier Cup in three years. The fourth-ranked Carabins are led by first-year quarterback Pepe Gonzalez, whose 19 passing touchdowns broke the school record. Montreal routed Saint Mary’s 49-19 in the Uteck Bowl semi.
The Vanier Cup kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. Watch it live on the CBC TV network, CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
Here’s a full preview from CBC Sports’ Dion Caputi, and here’s columnist Morgan Campbell on the Vanier Cup’s place in the Canadian sports landscape.
Golf: Henderson in the hunt for LPGA Tour’s biggest paycheque
Canada’s Brooke Henderson was among the 60 players who qualified for the season-ending Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., where the field includes 28 of the 29 women who won tournaments this year and all five major champions. A total of $11 million US is up for grabs and the winner gets $4M, dwarfing the $2.4M top prize at the U.S. Women’s Open, which is the richest major.
Henderson won the Canadian Open for the second time in her career back in August, ending a 2½-year winless spell and giving her 14 career victories on the LPGA Tour. Currently ranked 28th in the world, Henderson was tied for seventh place at our publish time as she continued her second round. Here’s an updated leaderboard.
Speed skating: Calgary hosts long track World Cup, short trackers invade Europe
The long and short of it? Expect Canadian speed skaters to win a lot of medals this weekend as the long track team enjoys home-ice advantage at a World Cup meet in Calgary while the top-ranked short track squad looks to continue its dominance at a World Tour stop in Poland.
The top Canadian at last week’s long track season opener in Salt Lake City was Valérie Maltais, a converted short tracker. She won a pair of individual silvers, in the women’s 3,000m and mass start events, and added another silver in the women’s team pursuit with Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann. That trio will try to repeat as Olympic champions this February.
Looking to get back on the podium in Calgary are Ivanie Blondin and Laurent Dubreuil. They were Canada’s most successful skaters on the World Cup circuit last season but failed to win a medal in Salt Lake City. Dubreuil, a 500m and 1,000m specialist, will be up against American star Jordan Stolz, who won gold in three of his four races last week after taking 17 of 21 last season.
Watch every race this weekend in Calgary live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, starting tonight at 7 p.m. ET, and catch additional coverage on the CBC TV network on Saturday after the Vanier Cup.
On the short track side, Canada takes a big lead in the team Crystal Globe standings over to Europe after racking up a total of 17 medals over the first two World Tour meets, both held in Montreal. At the most recent one, in mid-October, reigning men’s overall champion Will Dandjinou swept his three individual races and helped Canada to victories in the men’s and mixed relays, giving him six gold medals already on the season. Courtney Sarault leads all women with three solo victories and has also had a hand in two relay golds.
Watch all of the medal races in Poland live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Competition starts at 8 a.m. ET on both Saturday and Sunday.
Figure Skating: Grand Prix season wraps up
Olympic ice dance medal contenders Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are the top Canadians competing in the Grand Prix’s regular-season finale in Finland. After winning gold in their season debut earlier this month in Saskatoon, the four-time world championship medallists are in good shape to advance to next month’s Grand Prix Final for the top six in each discipline.
The other Canadians on the ice in Finland are Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud in the pairs event, Madeline Schizas in the women’s, and Roman Sadovsky and Stephen Gogolev in the men’s. None of them won a medal in their first Grand Prix assignment of the season. The deciding free skates in each event are on Saturday on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
Having already exhausted their two Grand Prix entries, Canadian pairs stars Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps are staying sharp by competing in a Challenger Series event in Poland. The former world champions won a gold and a silver on the Grand Prix tour, putting them on track to qualify for the Final.
Other stuff to know about:
* In pro soccer, the Vancouver Whitecaps face Los Angeles FC in the MLS Western Conference semifinals on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET. The winner of the single-elimination match will meet top-seeded San Diego or Minnesota next week. The National Women’s Soccer League final takes place Saturday at 8 p.m. ET between Trinity Rodman’s Washington Spirit and Gotham FC.
* The surprising Toronto Raptors lead the NBA’s Atlantic Division at 10-5 and can clinch their group in the NBA Cup in-season tournament with a win at home vs. Washington tonight and an Indiana loss to Cleveland. Toronto is 2-0 in Cup play after victories over Cleveland and Atlanta.
* The bobsleigh and skeleton World Cup season is getting underway on the hastily rebuilt track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy that will host Olympic races in February. While the track itself is mostly complete, the surrounding area remains a construction site and no spectators are allowed at this week’s test event. Twenty-year-old Canadian Hallie Clarke, who won gold at the 2024 skeleton world championships before capturing the junior world title last year, finished sixth in today’s women’s race.
* A variety of World Cup skiing events are on tap, including men’s and women’s alpine slalom races in Austria, the first slopestyle competitions of the season (also in Austria), and the ski jumping opener in Norway. Look for Canadian slopestyler Megan Oldham, who won her third world-championship medal in the discipline last season, and ski jumper Abi Strate, who grabbed five medals on the Summer Grand Prix circuit this year. Here’s more on Strate from CBC Sports’ Justin Piercy.
* At the beach volleyball world championships in Australia, Canada’s Olympic silver medallists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson were eliminated in the quarterfinals today by Brazil’s Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti, the No. 2-ranked team in the world. The women’s and men’s finals take place early Sunday morning on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
For the full menu of what you can watch on CBC Sports’ streaming platforms this weekend, check out the complete schedule.
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