What to watch this weekend in Canadian sports

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Exists many happening, to put it mildly. Here's what you should pay attention to:

Curling: Olympic trials begin in Canada

Eight of the country's top men's and women's teams have been invited to Halifax to decide who will represent Canada in the four-player curling competition at the Winter Olympics in Italy this February. Round-robin play begins on Saturday, with the tournament culminating in a best-of-three final later next week.

Rachel Homan is the overwhelming favorite to win the women's trials after going undefeated at the last two Canadian Championships and winning back-to-back world titles. Her team won all three Grand Slams this season and had not lost to a Canadian opponent in over a year.

The men's trials should be much more competitive. Reigning national champion and 2014 Olympian Brad Jacobs is more or less one of the favorites over Matt Dunston, the man he beat in the Brier final last season. The Dunston rink, which features 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-based preview tests.

Hockey: PWHL launches third season

The Professional Women's Hockey League returns with an intriguing doubleheader tonight. The Toronto Scepter will visit back-to-back Water Cup champion Minnesota Frost before the Vancouver Goldeneyes host the Seattle Torrent in the debut of two new PWHL expansion teams at Seattle Torrent Stadium. sold out Pacific Coliseum.

The Walter Cup finalist hosts the Ottawa Charge on Saturday. Rookie of the Year Sarah FillierNew 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.

Expansion teams have a chance to be competitive right away thanks to the PWHL's decision to only allow the original six to defend three players each. Seattle signed reigning league scoring champion Hilary Knight from Boston, while Vancouver picked up star forward Sarah Nurse from Toronto and Defensive Player of the Year finalists Claire Thompson and Sophie Jacques from Cup champion Minnesota.

Look here how the lacewings came together from CBC Sports' Carissa Donkin. AND here are five things to watch in the PWHL this season.

In the NHL, the battle for spots on Canada's men's Olympic team is heating up as the country currently boasts the league's top five scorers. Nathan MacKinnon (first), Connor McDavid (second) and defender Cale Makar (fifth) are the locks, while youngsters McLean Celebrini and Connor Bedard (third and fourth) are making a case after being left out of last winter's Four Nations-winning squad.

Soccer: Saskatchewan and Montreal play for Vanier Cup

After winning the Roughriders Gray Cup last weekend, the Land of the Living Sky can complete the Canadian Football Championship trifecta 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 their 24th Canadian Junior Soccer League title.

The Huskies are the sentimental favorite to win their first Vanier Cup title since 1998 as they continue to battle without star quarterback Anton Amundrud, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this season and is currently undergoing treatment. Third-seeded Saskatchewan remained undefeated under Jake Farrell, including last week's 22-11 win over No. 6 Queens in the Mitchell Bowl national semifinals.

Montreal hopes to spoil the Huskies' storybook ending and capture their second Vanier Cup in three years. The fourth-ranked Carbines are led by freshman quarterback Pepe Gonzalez, whose 19 passing touchdowns broke a school record. Montreal defeated St. Mary's 49-19 in the semifinals of the Utec Bowl.

The Vanier Cup starts Saturday at 2:00 pm ET. Watch it live on CBC TV, CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

Here's the full preview from CBC Sports' Dion Caputi and here's columnist Morgan Campbell about the Vanier Cup's place in the Canadian sporting landscape.

Golf: Henderson in search of biggest LPGA Tour payday

Canada's Brooke Henderson was one of 60 players to qualify for the tournament. season-ending championship round in Naples, Florida, featuring 28 of the 29 women who have won tournaments this year and all five major champions. A total of US$11 million is up for grabs, with the winner taking home US$4 million, eclipsing the US Women's Open's $2.4 million top prize, which is the richest major.

Henderson won the Canadian Open for the second time in her career back in August, ending a 2.5-year winless streak and giving her 14 career victories on the LPGA Tour. Henderson is currently ranked 28th in the world and was tied for seventh at the time of publication, going into her second round. Here is the updated leaderboard.

Speed ​​Skating: Calgary Hosts World Long Track Championships, Short Track Speed ​​Skating Invades Europe

Briefly? Expect Canadian speed skaters to win plenty of medals this weekend as the long track team enjoys home ice advantage at the World Cup in Calgary, while the top-ranked short track team looks to continue its dominance at the World Tour stage in Poland.

The top Canadian at last week's long course season opener in Salt Lake City was Valerie Maltais. converted short tracker. She won a pair of individual silver medals in the women's 3000m and mass start, and added another silver in the women's team pursuit with Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann. The trio will try to become Olympic champions again this February.

Ivanie Blondin and Laurent Dubreuil are aiming to return to the podium in Calgary. They were Canada's most successful skaters at the world championships last season but failed to win a medal in Salt Lake City. Dubreuil, a 500m and 1000m specialist, will face American star Jordan Stoltz, who won gold in three of his four events last week after taking 17 of 21 points last season.

Watch every race this weekend in Calgary live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem starting tonight at 7:00 pm ET, with additional coverage on CBC on Saturday after the Vanier Cup.

In short track speed skating, Canada leads the Crystal Globe team standings over Europe with a total of 17 medals in the first two World Tour events, both of which were held in Montreal. At the latest, in mid-October, reigning men's overall champion Will Danginou won three individual events and helped lead Canada to victories in the men's and mixed relay, giving him six gold medals for the season. Courtney Sarah leads the women's field with three solo wins and also had a hand in two relay gold medals.

Watch all the medal races in Poland live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Competition begins at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday.

Figure skating: Grand Prix season ends

Olympic ice dance medal hopefuls Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are the top Canadians competing at the Grand Prix regular season finale in Finland. After winning gold in their season debut earlier this month in Saskatoon, the four-time world championship medalists are in good shape to advance to next month's Grand Prix Final, which will feature the top six in each discipline.

Other Canadians on the ice in Finland are Lia Pereira and Trennent Michaud in doubles, Madeleine Shizas in women's, and Roman Sadovsky and Steven Gogolev in men's. Neither won a medal in their first Grand Prix event of the season. The deciding free skates for each event will take place on Saturday on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

Having already exhausted their two Grand Prix entries, Canadian pairs stars Dina Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps remain in shape by competing in the Challenger Series in Poland. The former world champions won gold and silver in the Grand Prix tour, qualifying them for the finals.

Other things to know:

* In professional 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 elimination match will face top-seeded San Diego or Minnesota next week. The National Women's Soccer League final will take place Saturday at 8:00 pm ET between Trinity Rodman's Washington Spirit and Gotham FC.

* The amazing Toronto Raptors lead the NBA's Atlantic Division at 10-5 and could… consolidate your group in the NBA Cup season tournament with a home win over Washington tonight and Indiana's loss to Cleveland. Toronto is 2-0 in the Cup after wins over Cleveland and Atlanta.

* The bobsled and skeleton World Cup season begins on a hastily rebuilt track in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, where the Olympic races will be held in February. Although the route itself is largely completed, the surrounding area remains a construction site and spectators are not allowed at a test event this week. Twenty-year-old Canadian Hallie Clark, who won gold at the 2024 Skeleton World Championships and then took the world junior title last year, finished sixth in today's women's race.

*Various cross-country skiing World Cup events are coming up soon, including the men's and women's alpine slalom races in Austria, the first slopestyle competition of the season (also in Austria) and the first ski jumping competition in Norway. Look for Canadian slopestyler Megan Oldham, who won her third world championship medal in the discipline last season, and ski jumper Abi Strait, who won five medals at this year's Summer Grand Prix. Here's more about the Strategist from CBC Sports' Justin Pearcy.

* At the World Beach Volleyball Championships in Australia, Canadian Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandi Wilkerson were eliminated in the quarterfinals today, Brazilians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti, the No. 2 team in the world. The women's and men's finals will take place early Sunday morning on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

The full menu of what you can watch on CBC Sports streaming platforms this weekend: see full schedule.