Hockey season has begun a little earlier than usual this year because of the World Cup.
Eight teams (Group A: USA, Canada, Team Europe, Czech Republic; Group B: Sweden, Russia, Finland and Team North America) will compete for World Cup supremacy over the next month.
Over the last few days, we’ve heard about multiple players pulling out of the tournament because of injury, but today, the real stuff begins.
Each team’s training camp opens today and here’s where each team is currently located:
Canada: Ottawa
USA: Columbus
Czech: Prague
Team Europe: Quebec City
Finland: Helsinki
Team North America: Montreal
Russia: Saint Petersburg
Sweden: Gothenburg
Put the ⚽️ away, gents. Soon time for 🏒. #WCH2016 #TeamNA pic.twitter.com/xGEGIW2lgu
— Team North America (@TeamNA_WCH) September 5, 2016
Team Russia's first official #WCH2016 skate is underway! pic.twitter.com/GuwudeeFwE
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 5, 2016
Not the best shot ever taken of Henrik Lundqvist but that is him. #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/dGafeB99rK
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) September 5, 2016
The first pre-tournament game begins on Thursday, Sep. 8, as Russia hosts the Czech Republic in Saint Petersburg.
Canada and Team USA will kick-off their pre-tournament action against each other the following day on Sep. 9 in Columbus.
The round robin portion of the tournament starts on Sep. 17 with Team USA playing Team Europe followed by the Czech Republic and Canada.
Format:
The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals (single elimination) on Sep. 24 and 25.
The top team in Group A will play the second place team in Group B and the top team in Group B will play the second place team in Group A.
The winners of the semifinal games will play each other in a best-of-three series beginning on Sep. 27. Game 2 will be Sep. 29 and if necessary, Game 3 will take place on Oct. 1.