ESPN Announces Commentator Schedule for World Cup of Hockey Pre-Tournament

ESPN has assembled a championship caliber commentator team for its World Cup of Hockey 2016 coverage and the studio and on-site teams will make their debuts during pre-tournament action beginning Thursday, Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. ET when Team NORTH AMERICA meets Team Europe on ESPN2. John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes will call the game. Steve Levy and Barry Melrose will make their debut Tuesday, Sept. 13, when Team Finland plays Team USA at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Chris Chelios and Brett Hull will provide studio analysis for all pre-tournament games. Linda Cohn will host studio segments on September 8 and 9. Adnan Virk, a native Canadian, will host September 13 and 14.

All 12 pre-tournament games will be available to stream live on WatchESPN across computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices via an affiliated video provider. Those not televised are available on ESPN3.

World Cup of Hockey Pre-Tournament Commentator Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Telecast	Location	Network
Thu, Sep 8	8 p.m.	North America vs. Europe John Buccigross, Kevin Weekes	Quebec City, Quebec	ESPN2
Fri, Sep 9	7 p.m.	Canada vs. USA John Buccigross, Kevin Weekes	Columbus, OH	ESPNU
Tue, Sep 13	7 p.m.	Finland vs. USA Steve Levy, Barry Melrose	Washington, DC	ESPN
Wed, Sep 14	7:30 p.m.	Canada vs. Russia Steve Levy, Barry Melrose	Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN2

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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