The GIST's Quick Hits - CA (March 29, 2021)

🏎Formula One: Lewis Hamilton is back on top...just as we expected. The reigning F1 world champ held off a pushy Max Verstappen to open the season with a win at the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday.

• ICYMI, there’s still plenty of time to read yesterday’s Sunday Scroll (and watch Netflix’s F1: Drive to Survive) to get caught up before the next race: the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on April 18th.

🏒NHL: The Montreal Canadiens are back. After some COVID-19 protocol hiccups, they’ll get back to playing tomorrow night against the Edmonton Oilers before a two-game spread against the Ottawa Senators. But newest Hab Eric Staal won’t take to the ice just yet though, because — surprise, surprise — COVID-19 protocol.

• Montreal’s COVID-19 issues led to 13 rescheduled games and the regular season end date extended to May 11th. Yikes. Still, the Toronto Maple Leafs continue to lead the North Division ahead of the Winnipeg Jets.

⛸Figure skating: Tessa and Scott left us in good hands. Canadian ice dancing pair Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won the bronze medal in this weekend’s ISU World Figure Skating Championships, marking the pair's first ever World’s podium finish.

• And while men's singles skater Keegan Messing didn’t win a medal, he did earn a berth in next year’s Winter Olympics with his sixth place finish.

⚽️Soccer: Yesterday wasn’t a great day for Canadian men’s soccer. Canada’s under-23 team played against Mexico in an Olympic qualifier, where they sadly (but expectedly) lost their last chance at an Olympic berth.

Canada’s senior team was also set to play in a FIFA World Cup qualifier yesterday, but the match was rescheduled for today at 6 p.m. ET after their opponents, the Cayman Islands, had some COVID-19 protocol issues.