2016 World Cup of Hockey rosters to be announced March 2

Rosters for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey will be announced on March 2, the NHL announced Thursday. All eight teams will reveal their 16-man rosters, then executives from the teams will hold media availability sessions to discuss their decisions. If you're in Canada, Sportsnet will air a three-hour special beginning at 4 p.m. ET to cover the action.

This year's World Cup of Hockey, which represents the event's return after a hiatus, is set for September and will be held in Toronto. The format is slightly modified from the past World Cup tournaments, with six national teams and two special "all-star teams" participating.

The eight teams that will compete this year are the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Russia and the Czech Republic, plus Team Europe and Under-23 Team North America. Based on early projections, several Blackhawks players should be expected to play. Here's a quick breakdown of where those guys will be:

Blackhawks projected for 2016 World Cup of Hockey rosters

United States: Patrick Kane

Canada: Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford

Russia: Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov

Finland: Teuvo Teravainen

Sweden: Niklas Hjalmarsson, Marcus Kruger

Team Europe: Marian Hossa

Here is when the different countries will announce their initital 16-man rosters:

Team Russia: 3 am ET via press release

Team Finland: 4 am ET via press conference in Helsinki

Team Czech Republic: 11 am ET via press conference in Prague

Team Sweden: 12:30 pm ET at the MSG Training Center

Team Europe: 4:30 pm ET on SportsNet’s Hockey Central

Team North America: 5:15 pm ET on SportsNet’s Hockey Central

Team Canada: 6:05 pm ET on SportsNet’s Hockey Central

Team USA: 6:45 pm ET on ESPN’s SportsCenter