Sports Quick Hits: October 25th, 2021

🇨🇦⚽️CanWNT: The 2020 Olympic gold medalists (never gets old hearing that) kicked off their victory tour with a 5–1 win over New Zealand on Saturday and a visit from the (other) Minister of Defence, but the Ws weren’t limited to just the pitch.

• On Friday, the team sent a list of demands to Canada Soccer, calling for the governing body to create a safe environment for players and to investigate abuse allegations made against a former national team coach.

• Shortly ahead of Saturday’s kickoff, Canada Soccer agreed to the demands. Couldn’t be prouder of this team.

🇨🇦🏒Hockey: In the first of nine tuneup games leading up to the Beijing Olympics, Team Canada women’s hockey topped Team USA 3–1 on Friday. Even better? The reigning world champs are back in action tonight at 7 p.m. ET with a chance to make it two rivalry wins in a row. Drop that puck.

🏁Racing: Everything’s bigger in Texas, including Jamie Chadwick’s margin of victory. The Brit claimed her second consecutive W Series title with a dominant first-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend.

• Then yesterday, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen held off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to finish first at the U.S. Grand Prix, reclaim the top spot in the F1 standings and add another chapter to the “stupid” rivalry in the process.

🏒NHL: After going 0-5 to start the season, the Montreal Canadiens finally won a game, downing the Detroit Red Wings 6–1 on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost three straight, including an embarrassing 7–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. It’s brutal out here.