The World Championships get under way with four games on the tournament’s first day in Russia. Several top seeds, including Canada and the hosts will play and there are names of interest to Canadiens fans in each game.
Group A Preliminary Games
9:15 AM ET: Sweden vs Latvia
The Swedes are looking to get off on the right foot in this tournament. Sweden only has six NHL players on its initial roster, but still have some familiar names including Canadiens prospect Magnus Nygren. Latvia will be relying on NHL All-Star Zemgus Girgensons to stay out of the relegation round in their group, presumably with Kazakhstan, Norway and Denmark. The game will be shown on TSN2 in Canada
1:15 PM ET: Czech Republic vs Russia
Two Canadiens will be going head to head in this one as Tomas Plekanec and Alexei Emelin are both to play for their respective sides. The Czechs are relying on only three NHL players, while the Russians can rely on several top players including Artemi Panarin and Pavel Datsyuk. Also of note is Russian forward Vadim Shipachyov, who has been rumoured to be of interest to the Habs. The game will be shown on TSN 1/3 and RDS in Canada
Group B Preliminary Games
9:15 AM ET: USA vs Canada
Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher will play his first senior international game for Canada in this one and will be joined by Connor McDavid, Corey Perry as Canada starts their title defence. Mike Condon is part of a very young American team (average age just over 23) that includes seven players from the NCAA plus presumptive number one pick Auston Matthews. The game will be on TSN 1/3/4 and RDS in Canada
1:15 PM ET: Finland vs Belarus
The presumptive number two pick Patrik Laine and his fellow World Junior Championship teammates Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen will join seven NHL players as they take on Belarus. The Kostitsyn brothers will play in this game for Belarus, who has no NHL representation. The game will be on TSN 4/5 in Canada
All games will be streamed here. It is subject geo-block. TSN Go will be streaming all of the games as well in Canada.
