Five To Watch on Day 8: Canada-USA hockey, Dubreuil in Olympic spotlight

Gold medalist Canada's Laurent Dubreuil celebrates. (Peter Dejong/AP)

After not making any trips to the podium on Day 7, Canada has at least a couple of chances to earn more hardware on Day 8 of the Beijing Olympics.

As the Olympics hit the halfway mark, Canada has 12 medals — but just one gold.

Here’s a look at five of the big Canadian storylines for Day 8:

Editor’s note: Events are on Saturday and in Eastern Time, unless otherwise noted.

Jennifer Jones
Women’s curling, vs. Sweden, 8:05 p.m. (Friday)
After a loss to Japan, things don’t get any easier for the Winnipeg skip. Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg won the 2018 Olympic crown in Pyeongchang, four years after Jones did the same thing in Sochi. Jones beat Hasselborg in an extra end in the 2018 World Championship final in North Bay, Ont.

Eliot Grondin and Meryeta O’Dine
Mixed snowboard cross, 9 p.m. (Friday)
The Canadians enter the new Olympic event with momentum. Grondin captured silver in the men’s snowboard cross, while O’Dine picked up bronze in the women’s competition.

Canadian men’s hockey team
vs. United States, 11:10 p.m. (Friday)
It’s a showdown for first place in Group A. Canada beat Germany 5-1 in its opener, while the Americans rolled to an 8-0 win over host China. Head coach Claude Julien will make his debut behind the Canadian bench after fracturing his ribs at a team-building exercise at camp in Switzerland.

Laurent Dubreuil
Long-track speedskating, 500 metres, 3:53 a.m.
Dubreuil has been on the podium in all eight World Cup stops at this distance this season. The Levis, Que., skater won gold in the 500 at the World Single Distances Championship last year.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier
Ice dance rhythm dance, 6 a.m.
Gilles and Poirier are Canada’s best bet for a figure skating medal after finishing third in last year’s World Championship. They helped Canada finish fourth in the team event earlier this week.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.