Canada mines for Olympic hockey gold
Pulling together a gold-medal team in a short amount of time won't be easy for coach Mike Babcock and Canada, but the Winter Olympic hosts are still even-money favorites to win the event. Off an easy 8-0 win over Norway to open play, the Canadians now meet a tougher Swiss squad in their next skate. Can Russia, 8-2 winners in its opener vs. Latvia, or the USA pull off an upset on the ice in Vancouver?
It’s the one event at the Winter Olympics that everyone wants to see – and to lay some wood on. The men’s hockey tournament is underway; 12 teams are in the running, and six of them have a legitimate chance of winning the gold medal in Vancouver.
Here they are, including their betting odds for gold before the puck dropped on Tuesday’s openers.
Canada (1-1)
The host nation started things off with a warm-up against Norway, whose hockey program is ranked No. 11 in the world by the IIHF. Canada was favored by 6½ goals (+100) on the puckline and cashed in with an 8-0 victory. This was a flawless performance by a team with outstanding goaltending – Roberto Luongo stopped all 15 shots by Norway – and a very potent power play led by the all-San Jose line of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley. But is Canada really worth twice as much as the second favorites?
The Canadians take on the Swiss Thursday evening (7:30 p.m. ET) with the hosts favored by 4½ (-105).
Russia (2-1)
The firepower on this team is just staggering. Russia (-4½, -110) pounced on Latvia Tuesday night and skated away with an 8-2 victory, led by two goals from Alex Ovechkin and one each from Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk. These are three of the most gifted scorers in the game, and they’ve got Evgeni Nabokov (also from the Sharks) behind them in goal.
Nabokov was also Russia’s netminder during their gold-medal run at the 2008 IIHF World Championships. Depth may be a question mark, since the team is relying on a number of KHL players, but many (like former Red Wings superstar Sergei Fedorov) have spent time in the NHL and can handle their roles.
Russia will meet Slovakia in the wee hours of Friday morning (12 a.m. ET, Feb 19), taking a two-goal spread as favorites into that one (-140).
Sweden (5-1)
The Tre Kronor have been a thorn in Canada’s side for over a generation now, winning Olympic gold in 1994 and again four years ago in Turin. But there might be just a little less jump in their stride this year with the retirement of Mats Sundin and the relative decline of 36-year-old veteran Peter Forsberg. The Swedes got underway Wednesday with a tough 2-0 victory over Germany, failing to cover the 3½-goal spread at -125. Henrik Lundqvist steered away all 21 shots; this is one of the top international goalies in the game today and a good reason to consider Sweden a value bet at this price.
USA (8-1)
If Lundqvist makes Sweden worth looking at, then Team USA must be a bargain with Ryan Miller between the pipes. But the American roster is lacking international experience, and they came up short at the pay window in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over pesky Switzerland. The Swiss covered as 2½-goal underdogs (+100) by scoring on the power play in the third period. Looking at the tournament as a whole, the U.S. and Canada should both benefit from playing on the NHL-sized rinks in Vancouver.
Next up for the Americans is a Thursday afternoon (3 p.m. ET) meeting with Norway. USA is favored by 5½ goals (+110) at TheGreek.
Czech Republic (15-1)
The Czechs trump everyone in the goaltending department at these Olympics. Tomas Vokoun leads the NHL with a .931 save percentage, but his Florida Panthers have flown under the radar in the Sun Belt as the No. 12 team in the Eastern Conference. Vokoun will need some heroics in Vancouver; the Czech side has fallen on harder times lately at No. 6 in the IIHF rankings. They were given a good run by their former countrymen from Slovakia on Wednesday night before finally winning 3-1 and paying out +115 as 1½-goal faves.
Finland (17-1)
All together, Finnophiles! This team has never won the gold, but the Finns came close to beating Sweden at the Turin Games, and there are easier things in the world than getting the puck past Miikka Kiprusoff. He was almost perfect in Wednesday’s 5-1 triumph over Belarus, giving Finland the cover at -2½ ( -133). They’re not known for their defense, but the Finns have an impressive array of scorers and pests and can never be ignored on a single-game basis.
Pulling together a gold-medal team in a short amount of time won't be easy for coach Mike Babcock and Canada, but the Winter Olympic hosts are still even-money favorites to win the event. Off an easy 8-0 win over Norway to open play, the Canadians now meet a tougher Swiss squad in their next skate. Can Russia, 8-2 winners in its opener vs. Latvia, or the USA pull off an upset on the ice in Vancouver?
It’s the one event at the Winter Olympics that everyone wants to see – and to lay some wood on. The men’s hockey tournament is underway; 12 teams are in the running, and six of them have a legitimate chance of winning the gold medal in Vancouver.
Here they are, including their betting odds for gold before the puck dropped on Tuesday’s openers.
Canada (1-1)
The host nation started things off with a warm-up against Norway, whose hockey program is ranked No. 11 in the world by the IIHF. Canada was favored by 6½ goals (+100) on the puckline and cashed in with an 8-0 victory. This was a flawless performance by a team with outstanding goaltending – Roberto Luongo stopped all 15 shots by Norway – and a very potent power play led by the all-San Jose line of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley. But is Canada really worth twice as much as the second favorites?
The Canadians take on the Swiss Thursday evening (7:30 p.m. ET) with the hosts favored by 4½ (-105).
Russia (2-1)
The firepower on this team is just staggering. Russia (-4½, -110) pounced on Latvia Tuesday night and skated away with an 8-2 victory, led by two goals from Alex Ovechkin and one each from Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk. These are three of the most gifted scorers in the game, and they’ve got Evgeni Nabokov (also from the Sharks) behind them in goal.
Nabokov was also Russia’s netminder during their gold-medal run at the 2008 IIHF World Championships. Depth may be a question mark, since the team is relying on a number of KHL players, but many (like former Red Wings superstar Sergei Fedorov) have spent time in the NHL and can handle their roles.
Russia will meet Slovakia in the wee hours of Friday morning (12 a.m. ET, Feb 19), taking a two-goal spread as favorites into that one (-140).
Sweden (5-1)
The Tre Kronor have been a thorn in Canada’s side for over a generation now, winning Olympic gold in 1994 and again four years ago in Turin. But there might be just a little less jump in their stride this year with the retirement of Mats Sundin and the relative decline of 36-year-old veteran Peter Forsberg. The Swedes got underway Wednesday with a tough 2-0 victory over Germany, failing to cover the 3½-goal spread at -125. Henrik Lundqvist steered away all 21 shots; this is one of the top international goalies in the game today and a good reason to consider Sweden a value bet at this price.
USA (8-1)
If Lundqvist makes Sweden worth looking at, then Team USA must be a bargain with Ryan Miller between the pipes. But the American roster is lacking international experience, and they came up short at the pay window in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over pesky Switzerland. The Swiss covered as 2½-goal underdogs (+100) by scoring on the power play in the third period. Looking at the tournament as a whole, the U.S. and Canada should both benefit from playing on the NHL-sized rinks in Vancouver.
Next up for the Americans is a Thursday afternoon (3 p.m. ET) meeting with Norway. USA is favored by 5½ goals (+110) at TheGreek.
Czech Republic (15-1)
The Czechs trump everyone in the goaltending department at these Olympics. Tomas Vokoun leads the NHL with a .931 save percentage, but his Florida Panthers have flown under the radar in the Sun Belt as the No. 12 team in the Eastern Conference. Vokoun will need some heroics in Vancouver; the Czech side has fallen on harder times lately at No. 6 in the IIHF rankings. They were given a good run by their former countrymen from Slovakia on Wednesday night before finally winning 3-1 and paying out +115 as 1½-goal faves.
Finland (17-1)
All together, Finnophiles! This team has never won the gold, but the Finns came close to beating Sweden at the Turin Games, and there are easier things in the world than getting the puck past Miikka Kiprusoff. He was almost perfect in Wednesday’s 5-1 triumph over Belarus, giving Finland the cover at -2½ ( -133). They’re not known for their defense, but the Finns have an impressive array of scorers and pests and can never be ignored on a single-game basis.
