What to watch this long weekend in sports

Jesse Campigotto · CBC Sports

· Posted: Apr 17, 2025 5:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

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Here are immoderate things for Canadian fans to bask implicit the adjacent fewer days:

NHL: The Stanley Cup playoffs are here

Montreal finally clinched the past disposable spot with its 4-2 triumph implicit Carolina past night, sending the Canadiens backmost to the post-season for the archetypal clip successful 4 years and giving Canada 5 entries successful the 16-team bracket. In bid of their spot successful the wide standings, Winnipeg (first), Toronto (fourth), Edmonton (ninth) and Ottawa (14th) articulation Montreal (17th) successful the hunt for the country's archetypal Cup since Patrick Roy's Habs won it successful 1993.

The NHL this afternoon released the afloat schedule for the archetypal round. It opens Saturday with a brace of Western Conference games arsenic Presidents' Trophy-winning Winnipeg hosts St. Louis astatine 6 p.m. ET and Colorado visits Dallas astatine 8:30 p.m. ET.

The first Battle of Ontario series successful 21 years begins Easter Sunday astatine 7 p.m. ET erstwhile Atlantic Division champion Toronto hosts wild-card Ottawa. The different games that time are New Jersey astatine Carolina (3 p.m. ET) and Minnesota astatine Vegas (10 p.m. ET).

Three Canadian teams are successful enactment Monday. Montreal opens its bid against Alex Ovechkin and the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals astatine 7 p.m. ET earlier Winnipeg and St. Louis play Game 2 astatine 7:30 p.m. ET. Edmonton starts its 4th consecutive first-round matchup with Los Angeles astatine 10 p.m. ET. Game 2 of the Colorado-Dallas bid is astatine 9:30 pm. ET.

The Battle of Florida betwixt the Stanley Cup champion Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning doesn't commencement until Tuesday night, which besides features Game 2 of the Ottawa-Toronto series.

Women's hockey: We're headed for different Canada-U.S. rubric bout

At our people time, defending champion Canada was starring overmatched Japan 5-1 successful the past of the 4 quarterfinals contiguous successful the Czech Republic. Earlier, the United States blanked Germany 3-0, Finland clipped Sweden 3-2, and the big Czechs battered Switzerland 7-0.

The matchups for Saturday's semifinals volition beryllium Canada vs. Finland and the U.S. vs. the Czech Republic. The commencement times are 9 a.m. ET and 1 p.m. ET, though it was unclear however the games would beryllium slotted.

The last is connected Sunday astatine noon ET, and it's expected that archrivals Canada and the U.S. volition conscionable determination for the 23rd clip successful the 24 women's satellite championships to date.

Canada reclaimed the satellite rubric from the Americans past twelvemonth successful Utica, N.Y., wherever improbable leader Danielle Serdachny scored successful overtime for a melodramatic 6-5 triumph that gave her state a 13-10 borderline successful the all-time tally. No different state has ever won the satellite championship.

Assuming it does travel down to different Canada-U.S. final, expect a choky game. Six of the past 7 worlds finals person been decided by 1 extremity (five of them successful overtime oregon a shootout) on with 3 consecutive Olympic gold-medal games (two successful OT oregon a shootout).

Canadian skipper Marie-Philip Poulin, whose clutch goals person decided truthful galore large Canada-U.S. games implicit the years, remains a unit astatine property 34. Going into the Japan game, Poulin led the tourney with 8 points (including 3 goals) successful 4 contests.

NBA: Let the (real) playoffs begin

The main 16-team playoff bracket tips disconnected connected Saturday, pursuing the decision of the play-in tournament.

Last night, Miami bushed Chicago and Dallas topped Sacramento successful the 9 vs. 10 games to beforehand to the last circular of the play-ins for their conference. The Heat volition question to Atlanta portion the Mavericks sojourn Memphis connected Friday nighttime to find who gets the No. 8 effect successful their respective league playoffs.

The Dallas-Memphis victor volition unfastened its first-round playoff bid connected Sunday astatine 1 p.m. ET against Canadian prima Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's top-ranked Oklahoma City Thunder. SGA is favoured to triumph the MVP grant aft starring the NBA successful scoring with 32.7 points per crippled and powering OKC (with the assistance of Canadian Lu Dort's tenacious defence) to a league-best 68-14 record. That's the astir wins by immoderate squad since Golden State won a grounds 73 astir a decennary ago.

Canadian prima Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets statesman their intriguing bid against Kawhi Leonard's Los Angeles Clippers connected Saturday astatine 3:30 p.m. ET. The Indiana Pacers, featuring cardinal Canadian guards Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard, look two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks connected Saturday astatine 1 p.m. ET. Feisty Canadian guardant Dillon Brooks and the No. 2-seeded Houston Rockets conscionable Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler's Golden State Warriors connected Sunday astatine 9:30 p.m. ET.

If you missed Tuesday's newsletter, here's our look astatine the Canadians to watch in the NBA playoffs.

Other worldly to watch:

* The Northern Super League enjoyed a palmy debut last nighttime arsenic a assemblage of 14,000 astatine BC Place watched the Vancouver Rise decision the Calgary Wild 1-0 successful the inaugural lucifer for the caller Canadian women's pro shot league. National-team midfielder Quinn scored the NSL's archetypal extremity connected a punishment footwear successful the opening half. The adjacent crippled is Saturday astatine 4 p.m. ET betwixt the visiting Montreal Roses and AFC Toronto astatine BMO Field. Watch it unrecorded connected CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca.

* Coming disconnected his eighth-place decorativeness astatine the Masters, Corey Conners is among the 5 Canadians competing astatine the RBC Heritage, 1 of the PGA Tour's big-money "signature" events. With a full of $20 cardinal US up for grabs, including $3.6 cardinal to the winner, astir of the tour's apical players made the travel to Harbour Town Golf Links connected South Carolina's Hilton Head Island. But not Rory McIlroy, who's taking immoderate well-deserved clip disconnected aft winning his archetypal Masters to implicit the vocation expansive slam. Here's an updated leaderboard.

* The fig skating play wraps up with the World Team Trophy successful Tokyo, wherever the six countries involved — Canada, the United States, Japan, France, Italy and Georgia — each person 2 men's, 2 women's, 1 pairs and 1 crystal creation entry. Every golden medallist from past month's satellite championships successful Boston is competing — that's Americans Ilia Malinin (men's), Alysa Liu (women's) and Madison Chock and Evan Bates (ice dance) and Japan's Riku Miura Ryuichi Kihara (pairs) — on with respective different stars. Those see Canadians Piper Gilles and Poirier, who took metallic successful the crystal creation astatine the worlds, and Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who won the pairs satellite rubric past year. Skaters gain points for their state based connected their placing, and the state with the astir points wins the trophy. The past clip the lawsuit took place, successful 2023, Canada finished sixth. Here's the docket and results.

* Canada's Olympic silver-winning formation volleyball duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are competing successful a Pro Tour Elite 16 lawsuit successful Brazil for the 2nd consecutive week. They won their archetypal lucifer and proceed radical play contiguous astatine 4 p.m. ET successful hopes of advancing to the knockout stage. Last week, they were eliminated successful the 2nd playoff round. You tin ticker women's and men's matches unrecorded connected CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca done the finals connected Sunday. Here's the docket and results.