What is the 2016 World Cup of Hockey?
The 2016 World Cup of Hockey will feature eight teams competing for a best-on-best international hockey championship: The eight teams participating in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey are Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden, Team USA, Team Europe and Team North America.
Who is organizing the tournament?
The tournament is a joint effort of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) and National Hockey League (NHL®), in cooperation with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Under whose rules will the tournament be staged?
The 2016 World Cup of Hockey will be played on NHL-sized rinks using NHL rules and officiated by NHL officials.
When and where will the tournament be staged?
The tournament will take place from Sept. 17 - Oct. 1, 2016. All games will be played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, home of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs.
Where can I find information about tickets?
Tickets are available at for the event will go on sale to the public Thursday, Nov. 12 at Ticketmaster.ca.
How many players will each team have?
Each of the eight teams will have a roster of 23 players: 20 skaters and three goaltenders.
What is the tournament format?
The eight teams will be divided into two Groups of four, and each will compete in three tournament games within their assigned Group in a round-robin format. The top two finishers in Group A and Group B will advance to a single-game Semifinal, where the first-place team from each Group will face an elimination game against the second-place team from the other Group. Winners of the Semifinal games will advance to a best-of-three Final series.
Group A
Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe, Team USA
Group B
Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia, Team Sweden
Who is eligible to be selected for Team North America?
The players for Team North America were selected from a pool of the best young hockey players from Canada and the United States. Those players must be 23 or under as of Oct. 1, 2016 (i.e., must have a date of birth on or after Oct. 2, 1992) and will be available for selection exclusively by Team North America.
Who is eligible to be selected for Team Canada and Team USA?
As North American players 23-and-under will be available for selection exclusively by Team North America (see above), each player for Team Canada and Team USA must be 24 or older by no later than Oct. 1, 2016 (i.e., must have a date of birth of Oct. 1, 1992 or earlier).
Who is eligible to be selected for Team Europe?
Team Europe is comprised of a pan-European roster of players from birth countries outside of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden - in short, all of the other European countries who are developing world-class hockey players in ever-increasing numbers. Countries such as Austria, Belarus, Denmark, France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland (among others) will all be eligible for representation on Team Europe.
Will the tournament have a dedicated website?
Yes. Launching on Sept. 9, 2015, WCH2016.com will serve as the official and most comprehensive and timely source of tournament news and information.
Who will be providing live coverage of the games?
ESPN owns the exclusive U.S. media rights on television and radio, with most games to appear on ESPN and ESPN2. ESPN International has the exclusive rights in over 20 countries served by its Pacific Rim and Latin North networks. Additionally, live access to coverage of the event on ESPN networks will be available through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One via an affiliated video provider. Sportsnet has exclusive English-language media rights and TVA Sports the exclusive French-language media rights in Canada to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The deal covers all tournament games and includes television, online and mobile rights.
