• Team USA Faces Team Canada in Prime Time on ESPN September 20
• Semifinals Begin on ESPN2 September 24 at 7 p.m.
• Barry Melrose & Steve Levy to Call Best-of-Three Final Beginning September 27

ESPN networks will televise every game of the World Cup of Hockey 2016 and the puck drops Saturday, Sept. 17, with group play between Team USA and Team Europe on ESPN2 (3:30 p.m. ET). Team Czech Republic and Team Canada will face off in prime time that night on ESPNEWS at 8 p.m.  All games will be televised live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

After meeting twice in pre-tournament play, Team USA and Team Canada play on ESPN in prime time on Tuesday, Sept. 20. Team USA closes out group play against Team Czech Republic on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Team North America – comprised of top players who are 23 and under from the United States and Canada – makes its tournament play debut against Team Finland on Sunday, Sept. 18, and the next day they take on Team Russia, with both games on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. Team North America ends group play against Team Sweden on Wednesday, Sept, 21, at 3 p.m. on ESPN.

The Semifinals begin Saturday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 with the second Semifinal on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN. Game one of the best-of-three Final begins Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. on ESPN followed by game two on Thursday (8 p.m.) and game three on Saturday (7 p.m.), if necessary, both on ESPN2.

All coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS will also be available to stream live on WatchESPN across computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices via an affiliated video provider.

Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe and Team USA are in Group A. Group B is made up of Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia and Team Sweden.

ESPN’s World Cup of Hockey play-by-play commentator Steve Levy and analyst Barry Melrose will call all of Team USA’s games as well as the Semifinals and Final. Play-by-play commentator John Buccigross will call the remaining action alongside analyst Kevin Weekes. NHL Hall of Famers Brett Hull and Chris Chelios will provide studio analysis with John Saunders, Adnan Virk and Buccigross. See the full commentator release.

About the World Cup of Hockey

The World Cup of Hockey is a joint effort of the NHLPA and the NHL, in cooperation with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Eight teams — Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe, Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia, Team Sweden and Team USA — will compete in the two-week tournament, featuring more than 170 of the best players in the NHL. All tournament games will be played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, home of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs.

The eight teams are split into two Groups, Group A and Group B, for the Preliminary Round (Sept. 17-22), when each team will play its three Group opponents in a round-robin format. Placed in Group A are Team Canada, Team Czech Republic and Team USA, plus Team Europe, a pan-European roster of players from birth countries outside of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden. The four teams in Group B are Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden and Team North America, a selection of the top players from Canada and the United States who are 23 or under as of Oct. 1, 2016.

The top two finishers in each of Group A and Group B will advance to the Semifinals (Sept. 24-25), where each qualifier will face an elimination game against a team from the other Group. The two Semifinal winners will meet in the Final, a best-of-three series on Sept. 27, Sept. 29 and, if necessary, Oct. 1.

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Media Contacts: Diane Lamb at [email protected] or (860)-766-2245 (@Diane_ESPN);

Michael Skarka at [email protected] or (860)-766-1342 (@Michael_ESPN)