Does anyone know enough about KHL and Euro leagues to cap this well?
Also note, it's a weird system. The 3 group winners plus the best 2nd place finisher get a bye through to the Quarter finals. The other 8 play off to meet them there.
Group A
Canada -200
Czech Republic +225
Switzerland +600
South Korea +10000
Czech Rep have 16 KHL players on the roster and Canada has 12. The other two only have players from their home leagues and will probably get smashed by the top two.
Need to do more research on the Czechs and Cannucks before firing but think that +225 might be worth a shot.
Group B
Russia -667
United States +350
Slovakia +2000
Slovenia +10000
Russia should easily top this group. Tough to pick a true clear 2nd place finisher I think. Think USA might be a bit over valued there. Would prob take a shot on Slovenia to come 2nd in group if a book offers it. I'm probably way off though, as the books think Slovakia the better chance. And USA will probably do a miracle on ice with the college kids. Might just lay off this group totally in the end. Still 5 days to decide.
Group C
Sweden -167
Finland +150
Norway +1600
Germany +1400
A bit like Group A, I think Sweden and Finland will smash the other two who only have home league players. But Finland hasn't even announced a team so hard to guess who might top this one.
Another wrinkle to consider. Even though the best 2nd place group finisher gets a bye into the Qtrs, they will almost certainly face the next best 2nd place group finisher in the quarters (as they play off against the lowest ranked team to get there).
Then the winner of that will have to play the best of the group winners in the Semi Final.
This means not just topping your group, but being able to have a better goal difference than any other group winner, will be a serious advantage in getting to the final.
Sooo... which group has the worst two teams who are going to give up masses of goals?
The odds say the Russia/USA group but I don't think the Slovs are going to be the walkovers those odds suggest.
I'm thinking Group A with Korea and the Swiss, both unranked hockey nations, is going to be the one to produce the top group qualifier.
It should also produce the best 2nd place finisher too, who has a tough path from there, and if they got through that, would then be quite likely to face their other Group A partner again in the Semi Final. I suspect both teams will know what the need to do and pretty much ensure one of them get top seed in qtrs.
Sorry for the long brain fart, but looking at the tournament system I think one of the semi finals is quite likely to be Canada v Czech Rep.
The other one is tougher to intuit from the system, but I think it's pretty certain the other semi-final will involve Russia v either Sweden/Finland/USA.
There will be a playoff for the Bronze medal between Canada/Czech v Whoever Russia beat in the semi. I expect whoever has to face Russia in that game will be giving it everything and still get smashed. I am suspecting they may not back up as well as the loser of the first semi. So Canada and Czech are best chances to medal overall I think.
Early bets;
Gold Medal: Russia +120 3u
Any Medal: Czech Rep +175 1u
Also note, it's a weird system. The 3 group winners plus the best 2nd place finisher get a bye through to the Quarter finals. The other 8 play off to meet them there.
Group A
Canada -200
Czech Republic +225
Switzerland +600
South Korea +10000
Czech Rep have 16 KHL players on the roster and Canada has 12. The other two only have players from their home leagues and will probably get smashed by the top two.
Need to do more research on the Czechs and Cannucks before firing but think that +225 might be worth a shot.
Group B
Russia -667
United States +350
Slovakia +2000
Slovenia +10000
Russia should easily top this group. Tough to pick a true clear 2nd place finisher I think. Think USA might be a bit over valued there. Would prob take a shot on Slovenia to come 2nd in group if a book offers it. I'm probably way off though, as the books think Slovakia the better chance. And USA will probably do a miracle on ice with the college kids. Might just lay off this group totally in the end. Still 5 days to decide.
Group C
Sweden -167
Finland +150
Norway +1600
Germany +1400
A bit like Group A, I think Sweden and Finland will smash the other two who only have home league players. But Finland hasn't even announced a team so hard to guess who might top this one.
Another wrinkle to consider. Even though the best 2nd place group finisher gets a bye into the Qtrs, they will almost certainly face the next best 2nd place group finisher in the quarters (as they play off against the lowest ranked team to get there).
Then the winner of that will have to play the best of the group winners in the Semi Final.
This means not just topping your group, but being able to have a better goal difference than any other group winner, will be a serious advantage in getting to the final.
Sooo... which group has the worst two teams who are going to give up masses of goals?
The odds say the Russia/USA group but I don't think the Slovs are going to be the walkovers those odds suggest.
I'm thinking Group A with Korea and the Swiss, both unranked hockey nations, is going to be the one to produce the top group qualifier.
It should also produce the best 2nd place finisher too, who has a tough path from there, and if they got through that, would then be quite likely to face their other Group A partner again in the Semi Final. I suspect both teams will know what the need to do and pretty much ensure one of them get top seed in qtrs.
Sorry for the long brain fart, but looking at the tournament system I think one of the semi finals is quite likely to be Canada v Czech Rep.
The other one is tougher to intuit from the system, but I think it's pretty certain the other semi-final will involve Russia v either Sweden/Finland/USA.
There will be a playoff for the Bronze medal between Canada/Czech v Whoever Russia beat in the semi. I expect whoever has to face Russia in that game will be giving it everything and still get smashed. I am suspecting they may not back up as well as the loser of the first semi. So Canada and Czech are best chances to medal overall I think.
Early bets;
Gold Medal: Russia +120 3u
Any Medal: Czech Rep +175 1u
