• Former NHL Goalie Darren Pang Joins Team as Tournament Reporter and Analyst
• Cohn, Virk, Buccigross to Host Studio Coverage with analysts and NHL Hall of Famers Hull and Chelios
• World Cup of Hockey Preview Show Sept. 16 Hosted by Toronto Native Virk

ESPN’s championship caliber commentator team begins coverage of the World Cup of Hockey 2016 Saturday, Sept. 17, from Toronto’s Air Canada Centre at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 when Team USA faces Team Europe in group play. The top team of Steve Levy and Barry Melrose will call the action.  ESPN’s John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes will call their first tournament game at 8 p.m. that night when Team Czech Republic faces off against Team Canada.

Former NHL goalie Darren Pang, who previously provided analysis for ESPN’s NHL coverage, will join the team as a game analyst and between-the-benches reporter for select games.

Linda Cohn and Toronto native Adnan Virk will host studio coverage throughout the group play stage of the tournament. Buccigross will take over as studio host for the Semifinals and Final when Levy and Melrose are in the booth. Coverage will feature NHL Hall of Famers Brett Hull and Chris Chelios in the studio for every game during the tournament. Virk will host the two-hour preview show on Friday, Sept 16, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 with commentary and analysis from the entire Toronto-based group.

World Cup of Hockey Tournament Commentator Schedule

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.

See full tournament release

See more information on ESPN’s coverage of the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

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 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)