What to watch this weekend in Canadian sports
The Grey Cup highlights a busy slate
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Football: Winnipeg and Toronto play for the Grey Cup
A lot of signs point to the Blue Bombers winning their third CFL championship since 2019 on Sunday in Vancouver. They have the experience (this is Winnipeg's fifth consecutive Grey Cup appearance), they have the best player in the league (hometown running back Brady Oliveira won the Most Outstanding Player award last night) and they have the top-rated defence. They're also favoured by nine points, implying about an 80 per cent chance of winning.
But the Bombers have been burned before. Toronto and Montreal upset them in the last two Grey Cups, and another defeat on Sunday would make Winnipeg the first team in 68 years to lose three in a row.
The Argos have a real shot here if their league-best pass rush can disrupt Winnipeg's two-time MOP quarterback Zach Collaros. But Toronto's hopes of pulling off another stunner might rest on an unproven backup QB.
Nick Arbuckle did his job last week after starter Chad Kelly went down with a broken ankle late in the East final, helping the Argos seal their upset of Grey Cup champion Montreal. But can he step up against the CFL's best defence on the brightest stage in Canadian football? We'll find out Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
WATCH | Grey Cup, Billie Jean King Cup headline this weekend in Canadian sports:
If you missed yesterday's newsletter, here's our full Grey Cup preview.
It's also a big weekend for Canadian university football as the Vanier Cup matchup will be decided in Saturday's national semifinals. Second-ranked Laurier visits No. 6 Bishop's in the Uteck Bowl at noon ET before No. 3 Laval visits unranked Regina in the Mitchell Bowl at 3 p.m. ET. Laval took out Vanier Cup champion Montreal, the top-ranked team in the country, in last week's Quebec conference final. Watch both bowl games live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
The best NFL matchup of the week sees Kansas City (9-0) visit rival Buffalo (8-2) for a clash of top Super Bowl contenders. What's the Canadian connection? Well, Taylor Swift opened her run of Toronto concerts last night and has Sunday off. So she's expected to make the short trip down to Orchard Park, N.Y., to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce play the Bills. Here's a look at Swift's place in sports from Shireen Ahmed.
Tennis: Canada defends the Billie Jean King Cup
A year ago, Canada won this event (formerly known as the Fed Cup) for the first time in its 60-year history. Leylah Fernandez was the MVP of the 12-team Finals, winning all four of her singles matches and teaming with Gabriela Dabrowski for a do-or-die doubles victory in the semis. Unknown teenager Marina Stakusic was terrific too, going 3-1 in singles. All three players are back along with Rebecca Marino, who was on the team last year but didn't see the court.
This year's Finals are taking place in Malaga, Spain. Each matchup (or "tie") consists of two singles matches followed by a doubles decider if necessary.
Canada received a bye to the quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of today's first-round matchup between Germany and Great Britain on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. Watch live on CBC Sports' streaming platforms.
Here's our BJK Cup Finals preview from earlier this week and here are today's results.
Soccer: The Canadian men's team hits the road for a tournament match
For its first meaningful outing since losing to Uruguay in the Copa America third-place game in July, Canada travels to Suriname to open a two-leg CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The return leg of the aggregate-score series is Tuesday night in Toronto. The winners of each quarterfinal advance to the four-team CONCACAF Nations League Finals in Los Angeles in March and qualify for next summer's Gold Cup.
Tiny Suriname is ranked 136th in the world, while Canada is 35th. But the Canadians will be without star captain Alphonso Davies tonight due to "physical fatigue." On the plus side, Tajon Buchanan is back on the Canadian roster for the first time since he broke his leg during training at the Copa. Here's more on Canada's outlook from Chris Jones.
Winter Olympic sports: Top skaters hit the ice
Canada's two strongest medal contenders in figure skating are both in action at this week's Grand Prix stop in Finland. Reigning pairs world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps raced out to a big lead in today's short program, while worlds silver medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier begin their ice dance competition on Saturday. The free skates take place Sunday.
Coming off a very successful 2023-24, Canada's long track speed skating team is opening the new season at the Four Continents championships in Japan. Ivanie Blondin kicked things off today by winning gold in the women's team sprint with Carolina Hiller and Beatrice Lamarche while adding a solo bronze in the 1,500. Canada also took bronze in the men's team sprint. Competition continues through Sunday.
In alpine skiing, the first World Cup slalom races of the season are taking place in Finland on Saturday and Sunday. Ali Nullmeyer and Laurence St-Germain are the top Canadians to watch there.
The World Cup skeleton season also opens Saturday in South Korea. Canada's Hallie Clarke became the youngest world champion in the history of the sport last winter, when she was just 19. Mirela Rahneva won a race in Latvia for Canada's only gold of the World Cup season.
You can watch all of the winter events mentioned above on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. Here's our full streaming schedule.
