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2016 World Cup of Hockey schedule

With these guys in it, the World Cup will be off the hook. Graig Abel/NHLI via Getty Images

From the official NHL release:

TORONTO -- The 2016 World Cup of Hockey will be played from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1, 2016, and eight teams -- Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden, Team USA, Team Europe and Team North America -- will compete in a best-on-best international hockey championship.

All tournament games will be played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, home of the NHL’s 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.

Live coverage of all tournament games will be provided by Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada and ESPN in the United States.

2016 WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY SCHEDULE

All Times Eastern (GMT -5)

All Games Played at Air Canada Centre, Toronto

Group A

Team Canada

Team Czech Republic

Team Europe

Team USA

Group B

Team Finland

Team North America

Team Russia

Team Sweden

Preliminary Round (round-robin)

Saturday, Sept. 17

Team Europe vs. Team USA, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2

Team Canada vs. Team Czech Republic, 8 p.m., ESPNEWS

Sunday, Sept. 18

Team Russia vs. Team Sweden, 3 p.m., ESPN

Team Finland vs. Team North America, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Monday, Sept. 19

Team Czech Republic vs. Team Europe, 3 p.m., ESPN2

Team North America vs. Team Russia, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Tuesday, Sept. 20

Team Finland vs. Team Sweden, 3 p.m., ESPN

Team Canada vs. Team USA, 8 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Sept. 21

Team North America vs. Team Sweden, 3 p.m., ESPN

Team Canada vs. Team Europe, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Thursday, Sept. 22

Team Finland vs. Team Russia, 3 p.m., ESPN

Team Czech Republic vs. Team USA, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Semifinals (single elimination)

Saturday, Sept. 24

Canada vs. Russia, 7 p.m., ESPN2

Sunday, Sept. 25

Sweden vs. Europe, 1 p.m., ESPN

Final (best-of-three)

Tuesday, Sept. 27

Game 1: Canada vs. Europe, 8 p.m., ESPN

Thursday, Sept. 29

Game 2: Canada vs. Europe, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday, Oct. 1

Game 3: Canada vs. Europe, 7 p.m., ESPN2 (if necessary)