This could be Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier's final year on the ice, but they're not treating it like a farewell tour.

As the Canadian ice dance veterans open their season this weekend at Skate Canada International in Saskatoon, their focus is fixed on one goal -- bringing home a medal from the Milan-Cortina Games in February.

"This is an Olympic season, and this is an Olympics where we want to be on the podium," Poirier said. "I don't think we're trying to contextualize it in our bigger career, whether it's the last one or not.

"There's already so many balls to keep in the air through an Olympic season. There's so much happening, and there's a lot of distractions that come in. There's a lot of pressure that comes with the Olympics as well, and I think that is enough pressure to put on

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