Sunday, May 14, 2017
2 p.m. local time

COLOGNE, Germany – Team USA had an optional skate at 9:30 a.m. at LANXESS Arena in advance of its game this afternoon against Slovakia (4:15 p.m. local/10:15 a.m. ET/Live on NHL Network).

A handful of players took part, including Brady Skjei and Kevin Hayes, the newest additions to Team USA. Both players had their tournament headshots taken prior to practice and got situated in their lockers. Skjei and Hayes, who arrived in Cologne yesterday mid-afternoon, have both played in one previous IIHF Men’s World Championship -- Skjei a year ago in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Hayes in 2014 in Minsk, Belarus.

Players have different routines prior to games with some preferring to get to the rink further ahead of the game than others. Team USA has two bus times from the hotel for games to accommodate the varying preferences, with one leaving three hours prior to faceoff and the other 45 minutes later.