With the Nashville Predators out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association announced Wednesday that Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn would be joining the national team for the World Hockey Championship.
The Kostitsyns join fellow Predators Martin Erat (Czech Republic), Roman Josi (Switzerland) and Craig Smith (USA) at the World Championship, while the Russian Hockey Federation confirmed Wednesday that Nashville winger Alexander Radulov won't be playing because of knee surgery.
The brothers are expected to play their first game for Belarus on Saturday against Slovakia.
Andrei, making his seventh appearance at the Worlds, had 16 goals and 36 points in 72 games this season with the Predators and Montreal Canadiens. Sergei, 25, had 17 goals and 43 points in 75 games with Nashville this season. It will be his second time playing in the tournament.
Both brothers have been playing together since the Canadiens traded Andrei to the Nashville Predators in February. The brothers also played parts of three seasons together in Montreal.
