Bits and pieces

NBA: On Wednesday, Zion Williamson, the most anticipated No. 1 draft pick in years, will finally step onto the court. The former Duke phenom and now New Orleans Pelican was supposed to miss only six to eight weeks after having knee surgery the day before the season began, but like most things in life, his recovery took a little longer than anticipated. Let the games dunks begin!

NHL: Snow is in the air and so is winning, apparently. Most of our Canadian teams picked up v. impressive wins over the weekend: the Edmonton Oilers beat the Arizona Coyotes 7–3 thanks to two goals from superstar Connor McDavid, the Ottawa Senators ended the Calgary Flames’ six-game win streak with a 5–2 victory, the Montreal Canadiens edged out the Vegas Golden Knights 5–4 in a shootout and the Vancouver Canucks move to first place in the Pacific Division with a 4–1 win over the San Jose Sharks.

• We guess the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets (and we guess the Calgary Flames) didn’t get the memo. The Leafs and Jets have both lost two straight, so here’s to hoping the upcoming All-Star break will do them some good.

Figure skating: The 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships took place over the weekend and there were definitely some shake-ups: Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (who could be Canada’s next Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir) reached new heights, winning their first national pairs ice dancing title, and 20-year-old Roman Sadovky upset two veterans (including the men’s defending champ Keegan Messing), but it was a teenage medal sweep in the women’s event that stole the spotlight.

• Emily Bausback went from finishing 10th last year to becoming a free skate champion at just 17. Talk about a glow up. This finish surprised many who thought that 2017 World bronze medallist Gabrielle Daleman would take the title, but unfortunately Saturday was just not her day.