With Lubomir Visnovsky officially withheld (or self-withholding? or just mutual?) from the Olympics and Kyle Okposo deemed unfit for big ice, the New York Islanders players in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics are John Tavares for Canada and Michael Grabner and Thomas Vanek for Austria.
Below are the pertinent games, times and North American broadcasts for Austria, Canada and the U.S.A.'s opening round pool play. As you'll notice, if you want to follow Austria from North America, you'll need to get creative with your sleep.
Before we get to the schedule, a few rules to help understand what you're following:
- There are 12 teams divided into three groups, and the top four teams after opening round play get byes to the semifinals (so, three group winners and one second-place team).
- The remaining eight teams face off in single games (5th vs. 12th, 6th vs. 11th, etc.) to determine who advances to the quarterfinals against the four teams who received byes.
- All games are worth three points -- gee, how logical -- so a regulation win is three points, an OT/SO win is two points, and an OT/SO loss is one point.
Austria
Thursday, Feb. 13, vs. Finland
Grabner and Vanek open on the second day of play.
TV: NBCSN, SNET, 3 a.m. EST
Friday, Feb. 14, vs. Canada
Yes, the Austrians Canadians meet in the second of back-to-back games.
TV: USA, CBC, 12 p.m. noon EST
Sunday, Feb. 16, vs. Norway
If Austria hasn't stolen points in either of their first two games, they'll surely need to win this to avoid a deadly second-round matchup.
TV: USA, TSN2, 3 a.m. EST
Canada
Thursday, Feb. 13, vs. Norway
Tavares and the loaded Canadians get a relatively easy start to the tournament.
TV: USA, CBC, 12 p.m. noon EST
Friday, Feb. 14, vs. Austria
Let the intra-Islanders civil war commence.
TV: USA, CBC, 12 p.m. noon EST
Sunday, Feb. 16, vs. Finland
Canada and Finland close out opening round play in a game that will most likely determine which one gets a bye to the quarterfinals.
TV: USA, CBC, 12 p.m. noon EST
USA
No, the Isles have no U.S. Olympians, but since this is a U.S.-based site with a healthy chunk of U.S. readers, here's their schedule:
Thursday, Feb. 13, vs. Slovakia
No Okposo, no Lubo. But the U.S. best not slip up, because...
TV: NBCSN, TSN, 7:30 a.m. EST
Saturday, Feb. 15, vs. Russia
...their second meeting is against the hosts. Should be epic, even without references to 1980.
TV: NBCSN, CBC, 7:30 a.m. EST
Sunday, Feb. 16, vs. Slovenia
The Americans' "easiest" game comes in their final contest, and they'll likely need a full win to secure a bye to the quarterfinals or, worse, avoid a tough second-round match.
TV: NBCSN, 7:30 a.m. EST
Source: NHL
In the meantime? Oh, I don't know. Ice dancing sucks, but downhill skiing at 70 mph is pretty freaking awesome (and makes snowboarding look really, really slow).
We will have threads for various games -- and if you're trying to DVR things for later, we can't guarantee you won't see spoilers here. An Olympics this many time zones away from NHL headquarters means watch and read at your own risk.