What to watch this weekend in Olympic sports

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After last night's incredible Canada-U.S. game, it's safe to say the countdown is on for next year's Olympic men's hockey tournament.

But you don't have to wait that long to see Canada's best winter Olympic athletes in action. Here are a few to keep an eye on this weekend.

It would be a major surprise if Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team are not hoisting their second consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts trophy on Sunday night in Thunder Bay, Ont. After going a perfect 11-0 last year, the reigning world champions mowed through all eight of their preliminary-round opponents and defeated Nova Scotia's Christina Black 10-5 in a qualifier this afternoon to advance to the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff with their 20th consecutive Scotties win.

Homan's opponent on Saturday night will be four-time Scotties champ Kerri Einarson of Manitoba, who beat Alberta's Kayla Skrlik 7-4 in this afternoon's other qualifier.

The elimination rounds begin tonight with Black facing B.C.'s Corryn Brown and Skrlik taking on Ontario's Danielle Inglis. The winners will meet in the Page 3 vs. 4 game on Saturday afternoon.

The winner of the 3 vs. 4 game faces the loser of the 1 vs. 2 game in the semifinal on Sunday afternoon. The semifinal winner meets the winner of the 1 vs. 2 game for the championship on Sunday night.

Homan is gunning for her fifth Scotties title, which would put her one behind the all-time record shared by Colleen Jones and Jennifer Jones, who's now coaching Homan's team.

The absence of European skaters prevents the Four Continents Championships from being truly top notch. But the level of competition is still very good, and this week's event in Seoul is the last big tuneup for next month's world championships in Boston.

This morning, Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps rallied to take the silver in the pairs event. The reigning world champions were a disappointing fourth after the short program, but they jumped to second place with a strong free skate today. 2023 world champs Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan led wire to wire to win the gold by a big margin, while Canada's Lia Pereira and Trentt Michaud took bronze for their first international medal together.

WATCH | CBC Sports previews what to watch over the weekend:

The Canadians to watch this weekend are ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. The three-time worlds medallists have a narrow lead over reigning world champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States after earning the top score in the opening round. Canada's Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha are in third place heading into the deciding free dance on Saturday morning.

The top Canadian in the men's event is Matthew Newnham, who's in seventh place going into tonight's free skate. Sara-Maude is ninth heading into the women's free on Saturday night. Here are the full leaderboards. 

With the long track world championships coming up in three weeks, Canada's Laurent Dubreuil is rounding into form at the right time. A groin injury caused the former men's 500m world champ to miss the podium in eight consecutive races earlier this season before he took bronze in both of the 500s at the most recent World Cup stop, in Milwaukee.