Wild players almost all back in town; World Cup of Hockey schedule, information

One week from Thursday, Wild players report for the start of training camp.

Afternoon from Minneapolis. Today, believe it or not, is my 10-year anniversary at the Star Tribune and I suppose officially begins my 11th season covering the Wild and 21st year covering the NHL (including the 2004-05 lockout).

So, yes, I have now officially covered the Wild longer than America's team, the Florida Panthers.

Down at Braemar Ice Arena, the fellas are pretty much all back in town. In fact, many have been skating there since Aug. 17. There was a time in the NHL when players used training camp to get in shape. That is definitely no longer the case.

Pretty much the only players not yet in town are Mikael Granlund, Christian Folin and Nino Niederreiter, who's in Portland doing his usual pre-camp power skating instruction with his old junior team and many of the minor-leaguers or bubble players.

Today, Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella and Michael Keranen joined the fray.

Two young guys continue to stand out to me. Defenseman Matt Dumba is a thoroughbred in these skates. He's flying and basically leads many rushes, essentially taking advantage of the freelancing that can occur when coaches aren't allowed in the rink. Tyler Graovac looks like he'll really make a push for a job.

Also, check out tomorrow's paper and my blog later. I talked this week with Niklas Backstrom. I overwrote the article, so check out the blog later as well because some of the stuff I chop from the article I'll post on the blog.

As the players were getting out of the locker room this morning, the World Cup of Hockey schedule and info came out. Most interesting was the best two out of three final, which really excited Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu.

Still, opinions are split as to whether the all under-23 team and the European team takes away from the tournament's luster or it helps. Parise, for one, thinks the competition will be better than the Olympics because it's all NHLers and doesn't include some of the smaller nations. Some players think it takes away from the Olympic feel of the World Cup.

Here's some information on the tournament (cut and pastes from NHL press releases):

2016 WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
Finalists Will Vie for Championship in Best-of-Three Series
All Games Will Be Played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto
Tickets Go on Sale Oct. 14
TORONTO (Sept. 9, 2015) – The National Hockey League (NHL®) and the
National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) announced today the
schedule for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. From Sept. 17 to Oct. 1, 2016,
eight teams – Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Finland, Team Russia,
Team Sweden, Team USA, Team Europe and Team North America – will compete in
a best-on-best international hockey championship.
The two-week tournament, featuring more than 150 of the best players
in the NHL, will progress from the Preliminary Round to the Semifinals and
ultimately the Final. All tournament games will be played at Air Canada
Centre in Toronto, home of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs®. A select number
of tickets for the event will go on sale to the public Wednesday, Oct. 14
at Ticketmaster.ca. Click here to sign up for ticket information,
announcements and special offers.
The eight teams are split into two Groups, Group A and Group B, for
the Preliminary Round (Sept. 17-22), when each team will play its three
Group opponents in a round-robin format. Placed in Group A are Team Canada,
Team Czech Republic and Team USA, plus Team Europe, a pan-European roster
of players from birth countries outside of the Czech Republic, Finland,
Russia and Sweden. The four teams in Group B are Team Finland, Team Russia,
Team Sweden and Team North America, a selection of the top players from
Canada and the United States who are 23 or under as of Oct. 1, 2016.
The Preliminary Round schedule will put the spotlight on two of
international hockey's fiercest rivalries on Tuesday, Sept. 20, when Team
Canada and Team USA face off in Group A and Team Finland and Team Sweden
meet in Group B.
North American archrivals Canada and the United States have faced off
for the top prize in several international finals, including the 1991
Canada Cup, 1996 World Cup of Hockey, 2002 and 2010 Olympic Winter Games
and the 2004 and 2010 IIHF World Junior Championships. The Nordic powers
Finland and Sweden have met in the finals of the 1995 and 2011 IIHF World
Championships, the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and the 2014 IIHF World Junior
Championships.
The top two finishers in Group A and Group B will advance to the
Semifinals (Sept. 24-25), where the first-place team from each Group will
face an elimination game against the second-place team from the other
Group. The two Semifinal winners will meet in the Final, a best-of-three
series on Sept. 27, Sept. 29 and, if necessary, Oct. 1.
Live coverage of all tournament games will be provided by Sportsnet
and TVA Sports in Canada and ESPN in the United States. A complete
broadcast schedule will be announced at a later date.
2016 World Cup of Hockey Schedule
All Times Eastern (GMT -5)
All Games Played at Air Canada Centre, Toronto
Group A Group B
Team Canada Team Finland
Team Czech Republic Team North America
Team Europe Team Russia
Team USA Team Sweden
Preliminary Round (round robin)
Saturday, Sept. 17
Team Europe vs. Team USA, 3:30 p.m.
Team Canada vs. Team Czech Republic, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 18
Team Russia vs. Team Sweden, 3 p.m.
Team Finland vs. Team North America, 8 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 19
Team Czech Republic vs. Team Europe, 3 p.m.
Team North America vs. Team Russia, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 20
Team Finland vs. Team Sweden, 3 p.m.
Team Canada vs. Team USA, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 21
Team North America vs. Team Sweden, 3 p.m.
Team Canada vs. Team Europe, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 22
Team Finland vs. Team Russia, 3 p.m.
Team Czech Republic vs. Team USA, 8 p.m.
Semifinals (single elimination; A1 vs. B2, B1 vs. A2)
Saturday, Sept. 24
Semifinal 1, TBD
Sunday, Sept. 25
Semifinal 2, TBD
Final (best-of-three)
Tuesday, Sept. 27
Final Game 1, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 29
Final Game 2, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 1
Final Game 3, 7 p.m. (if necessary)