The clock is ticking. Just under 199 days until #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/Ku0iSJ6G93
— NHL (@NHL) March 2, 2016
Wednesday marked the deadline for teams to submit their preliminary 16-player rosters for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, set to take place starting on Sept. 17 and run as late as Oct. 1.
Five Flyers players were selected to preliminary rosters for their respective countries.
Three Flyers will represent the Czech Republic. Forward Jake Voracek, defenseman Radko Gudas and goaltender Michal Neuvirth were all part of the Czech's preliminary roster.
Mark Streit was selected for Team Europe. Team Europe consists of all countries in the European region, excluding Russia, Sweden, Finland and Czech Republic.
Sean Couturier was also selected for Team North America, a team consisting of the best players 23-years-old and under from both Canada and the United States.
Notably absent from the North American team was defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. Claude Giroux was also absent from Team Canada's first 16 selections. Among other Flyers snubs were Evgeny Medvedev, who many believed would qualify because Team Russia was not granted permission to tap into the KHL for their selections.
They will have to wait for the final announcement, where the last seven players for each country are revealed, in June.
The remainder of the rosters will be announced on June 1, when the rosters increase by seven to feature the final 23 players.
All games will be played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and televised on ESPN.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
