The National Football League’s conference championship games fall this weekend, with only four teams remaining and two weeks until the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston, Texas. The National Football Conference game will be Sunday, Jan. 22 at 4:05 p.m. Atlantic time, followed by the American Football Conference game at 7:40 p.m.
The top-seeded New England Patriots are heavy favourites over the Houston Texans, and the Kansas City Chiefs are likely to defeat the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
In the NFC, it is not as clear where the top-ranked Dallas Cowboys host the Green Bay Packers, but with limited playoff experience, neither team has been identified as a favourite.
In the other matchup, the visiting Seattle Seahawks hold a slight advantage over quarterback Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons and his 1-4 playoff career record.
The National Basketball Association’s season is only a month away from the annual All-Star Game, and numerous teams have crucial games this week.
Canada’s own Toronto Raptors have four games, including three on the road, and two of the games are against divisional rivals.
On Tuesday, Jan. 17, they head to Brooklyn to face off with centre Brook Lopez and the Nets with an 8:30 p.m. start time.
On the second night of a back-to-back, Toronto heads to Philadelphia to face the last place 76ers. Then, on Friday evening, the Raptors head to Charlotte to face the up and coming Hornets as they trail the Raptors by only three games in the Eastern Conference.
After a weekly road swing, they have a Sunday night battle with a Western Conference opponent, the Phoenix Suns. Raptors all-star shooting guard Demar DeRozan currently sits sixth in league scoring and has been off to the hottest start of any Toronto Raptor in franchise history.
Saturday night also welcomes back the Saturday showcase on The Sports Network (TSN), and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers will host the San Antonio Spurs in a rematch of the 2014 NBA finals. This showcase will happen every Saturday, with several great teams going up against one another.
Two Canadian National Hockey League teams will also have a few big games this week, and one team is striving for the President’s Trophy, with the other squad battling for a playoff spot.
On Wednesday evening, the Montreal Canadiens will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins with star centreman Sidney Crosby looking to add to his league-leading 26 goals.
The prior meeting between the Habs and Pens this season ended with Evgeni Malkin scoring an overtime winner to get the 4-3 home win for Pittsburgh on New Year’s Eve.
On Friday evening, with an 8:30 p.m. start time, the Habs head to New Jersey to face the Devils, and they conclude their busy week with a prime-time matchup on Hockey Night in Canada as they host the Buffalo Sabres.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will also host the Sabres Tuesday evening with an 8:30 p.m. puck drop. The New York Rangers will then head to the Air Canada Centre to play the Leafs on Thursday, with two teams in the Eastern Conference in desperate need of the two points as the race for wild card positioning heats up.
As well, Saturday will feature the battle of Ontario as the Leafs’ provincial rivals, the Ottawa Senators, come to town to do battle. This will be the second meeting in a week between the two teams, and the Atlantic Division opponents are expected to have a rough and physical game.
