The Grand Prix Series in figure skating and the U.S.-Canada series in women's hockey will share the Olympic sports spotlight this weekend.
At the NHK Trophy figure skating tournament – live Peacock Starting Thursday evening, three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto and Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama lead the field at their home Grand Prix in Japan.
Sakamoto is hoping to secure a spot in the Grand Prix Final, which she is likely to do by finishing in the top three. Sakamoto was second in her previous Grand Prix start three weeks ago, having posted the second-best time in the world this season across all events.
The six-woman final will be a mini-preview of Milan's Olympic competition in Cortina, possibly featuring Sakamoto as well as the Americans who won last season's two biggest events – 2025 world champion Alice Liu and 2024 Grand Prix Final champion Amber Glenn. — in a strong position to qualify.
In the NHK men's competition, Kagiyama will make his Grand Prix season debut. Kagiyama is Ilya Malinin's closest (but also distant) rival ahead of the Cortina Olympics in Milan.
Malinin, whose next competition will be the Grand Prix Final, has the top three scores in the world this season (333.81, 321.00 and 306.65), followed by Kagiyama (285.91).
USA-Canada Women's Hockey Series Restarts
The United States and Canada, which have combined to win all seven gold medals since women's hockey debuted at the Olympics in 1998, are playing their first two of four meetings ahead of the Cortina Games in Milan.
The NHL Network is airing Thursday's game in Cleveland (7 p.m. ET) and Saturday's game in Buffalo (6 p.m. ET).
The U.S. won its last two games with Canada, both at the World Cup in April: 2-1 in group play, then 4-3 in overtime in the gold medal game.
Thursday's game will have special meaning for Layla Edwards because it is eight miles from her hometown.
In 2023, Edwards became the first black woman to play for the senior national team (and was shouted out on the podcast Jason and Travis Kelsey, Cleveland Heights natives). In 2024, she made her debut at the World Championships and became the MVP of the tournament. Last fall, she switched from forward to defense.
Layla Edwards wanted to join the blue line for the U.S. women's hockey team.
