Russia and the US have been common foes in finals of recent events, with the Americans beating the Russians 1-0 to claim Paralympic gold at Sochi 2014 and, more recently, winning the 2015 World Sled Hockey Challenge 2-1 in overtime, just a week ago in Leduc, Canada.

The two nations will start as favourites to progress from Group B, which also contains Germany and Italy, with the top two positions in the group securing qualification for the semi-finals.

Group A will see the defending world champions Canada take of the Czech Republic, Japan and Norway in a round robin format.

Canada have won the World Championships three times and currently have one more title than the US having gone unbeaten throughout the 2013 edition of the tournament held in Japan and South Korea.

Teams who fail to qualify for the semi-final stage of the tournament in Buffalo will take part in relegation playoffs, which will result in two teams being relegated to the B-Pool tournament in 2016-2017.

The Championships are due take place from April 26 to May 3, with the Czech Republic and Norway getting the group phase underway.

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