2015 IIHF World Championships: Preds players, schedule, format, teams and TV coverage

Now that the stalls in the locker room are empty and the second round is starting without the Nashville Predators, many players have turned their attention to the 2015 IIHF World Championships.

Nashville will be sending nine skaters to the tournament to represent four different nations:

Pekka Rinne will play for Finland in World Champs.

— Juha Hiitelä (@jhiitela) April 27, 2015

Roman Josi & Kevin Fiala (Switzerland) and Pekka Rinne (Finland) will represent their respective countries at the 2015 World Championships.

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) April 27, 2015

Add Seth Jones to the list of #Preds representatives at the 2015 World Championships.

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) April 27, 2015

Smith says no World Championship plans for him as of right now

— Kristopher Martel (@kmartel_sports) April 27, 2015

No Craig Smith, but Steve Moses and Jimmy Vesey are going to be suiting up for Team USA, and Filip Forsberg and Mattias Ekholm will dress for Team Sweden. Juuse Saros will also be tag-teaming with Rinne in Finland's net.

The annual tournament starts Friday, May 1st, and takes place in the Czech Republic. 16 teams will compete not only for the gold medal, but the tournament is also going to decide seeding for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Past World Championships and the 2014 Winter Olympics will also factor in to seeding. Broad Street Hockey has the breakdown:

The higher a nation finished in each of those tournaments, they more points they were awarded according to an IIHF formula. Following the 2015 tournament, teams ranked in the top eight will qualify directly for the 2018 Olympics, while teams below the top eight will have to go through a number of qualification games in late 2015 and 2016.

Who's Playing?

The 16 teams will be split up into two groups of eight for the preliminary round. Group A will play at O2 Arena in Prague, and Group B will play at CEZ Aréna in Ostrava.

How Are Points Awarded?
Much like how the IIHF breaks down the World Junior Championships, the tournament is on a 3-point system: 3 points to a team for winning in regulation; 1 point for both teams if the game is tied in regulation, and an additional point to the team that wins in overtime or a shootout; 0 points for losing in regulation.

The top four teams in each round will continue on to the playoffs, which start May 14th. The semifinals continue the next day, and the medal games will be on May 17th.

Who is On Each Team?

Teams will be adding players as NHL clubs continue to get eliminated from the playoffs. Visit the IIHF website for the most up to date rosters.

Complete Schedule

(Games with Nashville players are in bold.)

How Can I Watch?

If you're in the States, all Team USA games are going to be streamed through NBC's Live Extra app as well as on NBCSports.com. Five USA preliminary games will be live on NBCSN, with the other two being broadcast on tap delay.

TSN will have full coverage of the tournament in Canada, broadcasting 58 of 64 tournament games lives across its network.

Where Can I Get Highlights, Updates, and GIFs of Forsberg and Josi Looking Fly as Hell?

Well, right here, of course! We'll provide you with all the necessary information as the tournament continues.