Open Thread: World Cup of Hockey And Traverse City

With the World Cup of Hockey kicking off this afternoon, and the New York Rangers playing in Traverse City, we’re in for an exciting day of hockey. Not to mention, there will plenty of players expected to make the Rangers roster in action, so that’s an added bonus.

Team USA will be facing off against Team Europe in the opening game of the World Cup tournament, and it’s expected to be a good one. After a rather lengthy string of exhibition games, the real games start this afternoon, which means we finally have some meaningful hockey. With the United States being in the same group as Canada, they will be looking to take an early advantage and get a win under their belt.

As for the Rangers in Traverse City, they will look to rebound after a disappointing 4-3 loss in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes. Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey, Robin Kovacs, and Malte Stromwall are all back in the lineup this afternoon after having strong outings yesterday.

Where to Watch:

Traverse City - Rangers vs Stars: NHL.com
World Cup - Team USA vs Europe: ESPN 2 (US) / Watch ESPN

Projected Lineups:

New York Rangers

Jimmy Vesey - Cristoval Nieves - Ty Ronning
Ryan Gropp - Reid Duke - Pavel Buchnevich
Robin Kovacs - Tim Gettinger - Malte Stromwall
Michael Joly - Steven Fogarty - Zachary Zborosky

John Gilmour - Calle Andersson
Sean Day - Sergey Zborovskiy
Colton Bobyk - Zachary Malatesta

Brandon Halverson
Joseph Raaymakers

Team USA

Zach Parise - Joe Pavelski - Blake Wheeler
James va Riemsdyk - Derek Stepan - Patrick Kane
Max Pacioretty - Ryan Kesler - T.J. Oshie
Justin Abdelkader - David Backes - Brandon Dubinsky

Ryan Suter - Erik Johnson
Ryan McDonagh - John Carlson
Jack Johnson - Matt Niskanen

Jonathan Quick
Ben Bishop.

Enjoy the games!