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Five things to watch at Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday

BEIJING — sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s men’s hockey team will renew its rivalry with the United States at the Beijing Winter Games Saturday.
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sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½'s Meryeta O'Dine celebrates her bronze medal in the women's snowboard cross final at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

BEIJING — sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s men’s hockey team will renew its rivalry with the United States at the Beijing Winter Games Saturday. That headlines a busy day that also features another Canadian speedskating star possibly threatening the podium, the chance at another Canadian snowboard cross medal and the start of the ice dance competition.

Here are five things to watch at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 12.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ vs. USA: Men’s edition

The Canadian men’s hockey team will see the United States Saturday in group play. If the game is anything like the contest we saw with the women earlier in the week, we should be in for a treat. Neither side will have its current NHL stars to lean on. Four years ago in Pyeongchang, sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ and the U.S. never met in the men’s hockey tournament.

Women’s hockey quarterfinals play

The women’s hockey tournament is already into the knockout phase. On Saturday, Russia will face off against Switzerland and then Finland will face Japan. In all likelihood, sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ will see the winner of the Russia-Switzerland game in one of the semifinals and the U.S. will match up against the winner of the Finland-Japan game in the other one.

Dubreuil sprinting for gold

Laurent Dubreuil will be skating for a chance at a gold medal Saturday in the men’s 500-metre speedskating sprint. Dubreuil is the 2021 world single distance champion in the 500 and is coming into Beijing with high expectations of at least a podium finish.

Gilles, Poirier begin ice dance medal pursuit

The Olympic ice dance competition will begin Saturday with the rhythm dance. Of interest to Canadians will be the pair of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. The Canadian duo won bronze at the 2021 world championships and look to be strong medal contenders in Beijing.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ hoping for another snowboard cross medal in mixed event

Meryeta O'Dine came up with a surprise bronze medal for the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ in women’s snowboard cross. She, along with men's snowboard cross silver medallist Eliot Grondin and the rest of sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½'s mixed snowboard cross team, will be on the hunt for a medal on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2022.

The Canadian Press