There will be a distinct Sabres flavor at the World Cup of Hockey when the tournament kicks off at Air Canada Centre on Saturday. Four of Buffalo's star players are competing: Jack Eichel for the under-23 North America team, Rasmus Ristolainen for Finland, Dmitry Kulikov for Russia and, thanks to a late addition on Wednesday night, Ryan O'Reilly for Team Canada.
For those not familiar with the World Cup of Hockey, it's an NHL-sanctioned international tournament returning for the third time and the first since 2004. Canada won that year, led by Vincent Lecavalier and Joe Sakic, while the Brett Hull-led United States won the tournament in its inaugural year of 1996.