ESPN to Televise Every Game of 2016 World Cup of Hockey

With the ESPN back in the NHL fold with this September’s World Cup of Hockey (a co-production between the NHL and the NHLPA), the sports network and the NHL today announced the broadcast schedule for the tournament.

Every game in the tournament will be shown across ESPN’s various platforms, including ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS as well as on WatchESPN on computers, smartphones, tablets and other connected devices “via an affiliated video provider.”

Things kick off on September 17 at 3:30 PM when the USA takes on Team Europe on ESPN2. One of the marquee matchups will see Team USA take on Canada in primetime on September 20 at 8 PM on ESPN.

The best two-out-of-three finals will take place from September 27 to October 1 with game one being broadcast at 8 PM on ESPN on September 27, game two on September 29 at 8 PM on ESPN2 and game three (if necessary) on October 1 at 7 PM on ESPN2. You can find the full schedule here.

Commentary teams will see Steve Levy (play-by-play) and Barry Melrose (analyst) call all Team USA games as well as the semifinals and finals. Brett Hull, Chris Chelios, John Saunders, John Buccigross and Adnan Virk will hold studio hosting duties. Buccigross and (former Devils goaltender and current NHL Network personality) Kevin Weekes will call the remaining games with Buccigross on play-by-play and Weekes handling analysis. Leah Hextall will serve as an ice-level reporter and Linda Cohn will act as a feature reporter.

All games will emanate from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The tournament will include eight teams: the US, Canada, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Team North America and Team Europe featuring some of the NHL’s best, including Kyle Palmieri and Cory Schneider of the Devils both on Team USA. Teams will compete in Group play with the top two finishers in each Group moving on to the semifinals and then to the finals. The tournament takes place from September 17 to October 1.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *