Team Canada adds O’Reilly to replace injured Seguin

Studio World Cup of Hockey Pre-Game shows will generally precede ESPN’s coverage by 30 minutes.

But does that mean I won’t be watching it?

Canada plays Russia Wednesday in its final exhibition game.

Seguin also missed 11 of his team’s 12 playoff games recovering from his initial injury along with a strained calf that he suffered in Game 2 of the Stars’ first-round series against the Minnesota Wild. Meanwhile, the North American 23-and-under team starts Sunday the 18 against Team Finland at 8 p.m.

Gameplay begins for the championship at the Air Canada Center in Toronto on September 17, and continues through October 1 ahead of an October 12 start for the National Hockey League regular season.

Among those playing in the World Cup are recent Stanley Cup champions Sidney Crosby (Canada), Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist (Sweden), Evgeni Malkin (Russia), Matt Murray (North America) and Olli Maatta (Finland). Then, the single elimination semifinals run on September 24 and 25, while the best-of-three final takes place on Sep. The Russian squad earned a spot in the championship game after upsetting the top-seeded US team in the semifinal. You’ll compete against the rest of your draft round in a drink-off to decide what order the teams will draft the next round of players.

First up in Group A is the powerhouse, Team Canada.

At the risk of sounding biased; this has to be Carey Price. Even after their controversial offseason decisions, the Montreal Canadiens could contend in an otherwise weak Atlantic division if Price is able to stay in the crease. The only shocker would be if Canada doesn’t make it to the semis. The team must name a replacement by Friday.

Team USA has a very strong goalie trio in Ben Bishop, Cory Schneider and Jonathan Quick.

Many will be surprised not to see the Great White North on top of this group, and it’s possible that they could do it. Many thought this team was the most gimmicky thing the league could have done in this tournament. I’m one of these people. “Unfortunately it’s a guy getting injured, but I have a job to do”.

Commentators ESPN has assembled a veteran team of hockey voices in the booth, studio and reporting throughout the tournament. This is absolutely going to be the case as well once the official tournament begins as I’ll have to fire up the Xbox and play some matches each day after the live games end.

“We’ll get him in and get a look at him and go from there”, Nill said. North America boasts some of the brightest goaltenders in the game on their team. So for me personally I still have a goal to reach and an achievement to get by winning the World Cup of Hockey on NHL 17.

“Those pesky Finns” is a phrase you will hear in any worldwide tournament the Scandinavian country participates in.

So far I have yet to win the tournament with the U.S. as I’ve been stopped twice in my two challenges to obtain the prize. “They have a tight roster, and the tournament is hectic, so they didn’t have time to wait”. European countries like Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland and France are all represented under Team Europe.

Sweden are coming off a silver medal in the 2014 Olympics but their global prowess might stall a bit in the World Cup this year. It is far from being a shoddy defensive corps, but I do believe that they left some seriously good talent at home, most notably Subban, Giordano, and Kris Letang.