Make your plans now, 357 days in advance -- the first puck drops on the 2010 Olympics at noon ET on Feb. 16, 2010.

The U.S. will face Switzerland in the first game of the quadrennial hockey tournament, followed by host Canada facing Norway at 4:30 p.m. The other opening-day game features Russia against Latvia at 9 p.m.

Defending gold medalist Sweden opens its title defense against Germany at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 17.

The 12 countries have been split into three groups for the event, and the first six days of the tournament will feature round-robin play inside the three groups.

Group A features the U.S., Canada, Switzerland and Norway. Group B consists of Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Latvia. Group C has Sweden, Finland, Belarus and Germany.

The final day of the preliminary round could make for must-see viewing. At noon, Russia faces the Czech Republic, followed at 4:45 p.m. by Canada playing the U.S., and a clash between Sweden and Finland at 9 p.m. closes the day.

The top 12 teams regardless of group advance to the next round, with the top four teams receiving byes into the quarterfinals. The remaining eight teams will battle in a single-elimination playoff qualification round. Those four teams then advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played starting at noon on Feb. 24.

The semifinals will be played Feb. 26, at noon and 6:30 p.m. The bronze-medal game will be played at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27, and the gold-medal game will take place at 12:15 p.m. on Feb. 28.

All games will be played at Canada Hockey Place (also known as GM Place), home of the Vancouver Canucks, and Thunderbird Arena at the University of British Columbia.

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com.

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NOTE: This is the proposed schedule for the Men's Ice Hockey Tournament at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. It is subject to change.

VENUES: Canada Hockey Place (CHP), UBC Thunderbird Arena (UBC)

PRELIMINARY ROUND
Day	Date	Group	Time	Venue	Game	Home	Away
1	Tue 16.02	A	12.00	CHP	1	USA	SUI
		A	16.30	CHP	2	CAN	NOR
		B	21.00	CHP	3	RUS	LAT
2	Wed 17.02	C	12.00	CHP	4	FIN	BLR
		C	16.30	CHP	5	SWE	GER
		B	21.00	CHP	6	CZE	SVK
3	Thu 18.02	A	12.00	CHP	7	USA	NOR
		A	16.30	CHP	8	SUI	CAN
		B	21.00	CHP	9	SVK	RUS
4	Fri 19.02	C	12.00	CHP	10	BLR	SWE
		B	16.30	CHP	11	CZE	LAT
		C	21.00	CHP	12	FIN	GER
5	Sat 20.02	A	12.00	CHP	13	NOR	SUI
		B	16.30	CHP	14	LAT	SVK
		C	21.00	CHP	15	GER	BLR
6	Sun 21.02	B	12.00	CHP	16	RUS	CZE
		A	16.45	CHP	17	CAN	USA
		C	21.00	CHP	18	SWE	FIN
7	Mon 22.02	DAY OFF
QUALIFICATION PLAYOFF
8	Tue 23.02		12.00	CHP	19	QP1
			16.30	CHP	20	QP2
			19.00	UBC	21	QP3
			21.00	CHP	22	QP4
NOTES:
QP1 - if playing in Qualification playoffs, USA to play in the 12.00 game
QP2 - if playing in Qualification playoffs, CAN to play in the 16.30 game
QUARTER-FINAL ROUND
9	Wed 24.02		12.00	CHP	23	QF1
			16.30	CHP	24	QF2
			19.00	UBC	25	QF3
			21.00	CHP	26	QF4
NOTES:
QF1 or QF4 - if qualified, USA to play in either the 12.00 or 21.00 game
QF2 - if qualified, CAN to play in the 16.30 game
10	Thu 25.02	DAY OFF
SEMI-FINAL ROUND
11	Fri 26.02		12.00	CHP	27	SF1
			18.30	CHP	28	SF2
NOTES:
SF1 - if qualified, USA to play in the 12.00 game
SF2 - if qualified, CAN to play in the 18.30 game
BRONZE MEDAL GAME
12	Sat 27.02		19.00	CHP	29	BRONZE
GOLD MEDAL GAME
13	Sun 28.02		12:15	CHP	30	GOLD