Starting Saturday, Versus will air the World Hockey Championships live from Slovakia. With the time difference, most of the games will take place in the morning here in the States. And it’s nice to see former ESPN2 nhl2nite host and former Sirius XM Mad Dog Radio co-host Bill Pidto being a studio host for Versus for the World Championships. He’ll be joined by Matt Loughlin who’ll also host. New Jersey Devils left winger Zach Parise will join them.
Versus will air as many as 11 games from Bratislava, the site of this year’s Championships. Versus will also carry every game involving the United States. Here’s what’s on tap for Versus as coverage begins Saturday morning.
VERSUS TO AIR THE 75TH ANNUAL MEN’S INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEGINNING APRIL 30
NEW YORK (April 27, 2011) — VERSUS will air at least eleven games during the 75th Annual Men’s International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships, beginning on Saturday, April 30, at 10 a.m. ET when team USA faces off against Austria in the preliminary round live from Bratislava, Slovakia. This will mark the first time VERSUS will televise the round-robin tournament.
The network will air a substantial amount of the games throughout the 16-day tournament, including four preliminary- round games, at least three qualification-round games and at least one quarterfinal game. The network will air every game the U.S. team plays if they advance past the first round, but regardless of how far they go, VERSUS will also televise both semifinal games on May 13 and the Gold Medal contest on May 15.
VERSUS will also produce pre, intermission and post-game updates from the network’s Stamford, Conn., studio, providing viewers with expert analysis of the games before, during and after the hockey action. Bill Pidto and Matt Loughlin will alternate as hosts for the studio show along with Zach Parise, current New Jersey Devils left winger and member of the U.S. Olympic Team that won the silver medal in Vancouver last February.
There are a total of 16 teams participating in the round-robin tournament which are placed in four groups to play in the preliminary round. The top three teams in each group will advance to the qualification round, while the last team in each group competes in the relegation round, where the top two teams will automatically qualify for the next year’s World Championships. Preliminary round groups:
Group A (Bratislava): Russia, Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia
Group B (Košice): Canada, Switzerland, Belarus, France
Group C (Košice): Sweden, United States, Norway, Austria
Group D (Bratislava): Finland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Denmark
VERSUS’ preliminary round coverage of the 2011 World Championships is as follows (all times ET, subject to change):
Saturday, April 30 USA-Austria (Live) 10 a.m.
Monday, May 2 USA-Norway (Live) 10 a.m.
Tuesday, May 3 Canada-Switzerland TBD
Wednesday, May 4 USA-Sweden TBD
More stuff is on the way.
