Wild World - IIHF Hockey Championships Start Today

Team Canada and Team USA begin their quest for gold as the IIHF Hockey World Championships start this afternoon. Canada's first contest will be against Slovenia starting at 3:15 PM. Team USA will play against Team Latvia beginning at 7. For a complete schedule, check out this link.

Carolina netminder, Cam Ward will get the start in goal for Canada and he will be joined on the ice by team-mate Eric Staal who will also see plenty of action at center. The remainder of the Canadian roster is as follows...

Goalies: Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes), Pascal Leclaire (Columbus Blue Jackets), Mathieu Garon (Edmonton Oilers).

Defenders: Dan Hamhuis (Nashville Predators), Logan Pyett (Regina Pats/WHL), Jay Bouwmeester (Florida Panthers), Mark Giordano (Moscow Dynamo/RUS), Brent Burns (Minnesota Wild), Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks), Steve Staios (Edmonton Oilers), Mike Green (Washington Capitals), Ed Jovanovski (Phoenix Coyotes).

Forwards: Derek Roy (Buffalo Sabres), Patrick Sharp (Chicago Blackhawks), Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes), Chris Kunitz (Anaheim Ducks), Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators), Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks), Kyle Turris (Wisconsin /WCHA), Shane Doan (Phoenix Coyotes), Jamal Mayers (St. Louis Blues), Cory Emmerton (Brampton Battalion/OHL), Jason Chimera (Columbus Blue Jackets), Martin St-Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks), Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets), Sam Gagner (Edmonton Oilers), Jason Spezza (Ottawa Senators).

Head coach: Ken Hitchcock (Columbus Blue Jackets). Assistant coaches: Craig MacTavish (Edmonton Oilers), Mike Johnston (Los Angeles Kings), Pat Burns (Hockey Canada).

Tim Gleason will be the lone Hurricane playing for the Americans. Team USA's roster .....

Goalies (3): Craig Anderson (Florida Panthers), Robert Esche (Ak Bars Kazan/RUS), Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins).

Defenders (7): Keith Ballard (Phoenix Coyotes), Tom Gilbert (Edmonton Oilers), Tim Gleason (Carolina Hurricanes), Matt Greene (Edmonton Oilers), Paul Martin (New Jersey Devils), Mark Stuart (Boston Bruins), James Wisniewski (Chicago Blackhawks).

Forwards (13): David Backes (St. Louis Blues), David Booth (Florida Panthers), Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings), Adam Burish (Chicago Blackhawks), Jeff Halpern (Tampa Bay Lightning), Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), Phil Kessel (Boston Bruins), Peter Mueller (Phoenix Coyotes), Patrick O'Sullivan (Los Angeles Kings), Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils), Jason Pominville (Buffalo Sabres), Drew Stafford (Buffalo Sabres), Lee Stempniak (St. Louis Blues).

Head coach: John Tortorella (Tampa Bay Lightning). Assistant coaches: Mike Sullivan (Tampa Bay Lightning), Kurt Kleinendorst (Lowell Devils/AHL).

The remaining rosters can be found here.

WCSN.com is offering a great deal to watch the action. For just $4.95 you can either watch the games live, or use their "In Demand" option. That price is good for as many games as you can watch all month! Check out that offer here.

For even more information, check out the Tournament Homepage.

Cat Stevens