A guide to watching the Rangers prospects at the WJC

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Jaroslav Chmelar was a late cut from the Team Czechia WJC squad.

Five New York Rangers prospects are on four of the eight teams at the World Junior Championships. That means you will have an opportunity to see a potential future Blueshirt in many games in the tournament.

Here are five future Rangers playing in Red Deer and Alberta in the tournament.  Forward Will Cuylle and goalie Dylan Garand on Team Canada, forward Brett Berard on Team USA, forward Kalle Väisänen on Team Finland and forward Jaroslav Chmelar of the Czech Republic.

Play begins Sunday and every game will be televised on the NHL Network.

There is a full schedule of games a little later.

The key games

The WJC format consists of preliminary round with four of the five teams in each group advancing to the knockout medal round.

Group A is made up of Canada, Germany,  Finland and Czechia.   Group B is made up of the United States, Russia, Sweden, Slovakia and Switzerland.

It’s important for teams to do well in the first round to get a good seeding for the quarterfinals and an easier opponent.

There are some marquee games you should be interested in.  For Team USA, their match-up with Sweden on December 29 is key. Their New Year’s Eve game with Russia should be must watch television.

Canada first really tough game will be their last of the first round when they take on Finland on New Year’s Eve.

You can see three Rangers prospects this Sunday when Canada takes on Czechia.

If you are dying to watch hockey with no Rangers game until Monday night, there are six WJC games that will be played before they drop the puck on that match.

The full schedule

Here is the full schedule of games.   Games with Rangers prospects are in italics.

Sunday, December 26
Germany vs. Finland   2:00 p.m. ET
Sweden vs. Russia 4:30 p.m. ET
Canada vs. Czechia  7:00 p.m. ET
Slovakia vs. USA  9:30 p.m. ET

Monday, December 27
Finland vs. Austria 2:00 p.m. ET
Switzerland vs. Russia 4:30 p.m. ET
Czechia vs. Germany 7:00 p.m. ET
Slovakia vs. Sweden 9:30 p.m. ET

Tuesday, December 28
USA vs. Switzerland 4:30 p.m. ET
Canada vs. Austria 7:00 p.m. ET

Wednesday, December 29
Czechia vs. Finland 2:00 p.m. ET
Russia vs. Slovakia 4:30 p.m. ET
Germany vs. Canada 7:00 p.m. ET
USA vs. Sweden 9:30 p.m. ET

Thursday, December 30
Austria vs. Czechia 4:30 p.m. ET
Switzerland vs. Slovakia 7:00 p.m. ET

Friday, December 31
Austria vs. Germany 2:00 p.m. ET
Sweden vs. Switzerland 4:30 p.m. ET
Finland vs. Canada 7:00 p.m. ET
Russia vs. USA 9:30 p.m.

MEDAL ROUND

Sunday, January 2
Quarterfinal  2:30 p.m. ET
Quarterfinal  5:00 p.m. ET
Quarterfinal  7:30 p.m. ET
Quarterfinal  10:00 p.m. ET

Tuesday, January 4
Semifinal 3:00 p.m. ET
Semifinal 7:00 p.m. ET

Wednesday, January 5
Bronze Medal Game  4:00 p.m. ET
Gold Medal Game  8:00 p.m. ET