Canada vs. Germany Men’s Hockey Picks: Can Germans Get Another Famous Win?

The Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament is underway and since NHL players are not participating, there is a lot of uncertainty at play. Read on for our Canada-Germany picks.

The puck has dropped on the Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament and Team Canada will have its first game Thursday against Germany.

While Canada has the historical track record as the more powerful hockey nation, that is when the best players are involved. In this tournament without NHL players, the gap is tighter.

Here are my Canada versus Germany picks and predictions for Thursday’s Olympic Men’s hockey matchup (pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Canada vs. Germany Game Info

Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 10, 8:10 a.m. ET (9:10 p.m. local time on Thursday)TV: NBC Peacock, CBCLocation: Wukesong Sports Centre, Beijing, China

Canada vs. Germany Odds Analysis

Team Canada is favored at -215 on the Moneyline. Canada is -0.5 (-130) on the puck line.

The total is set at 5.5 goals, with the Over at +128 and the Under at -158.

Canada vs. Germany Picks

Canada -0.5 (-130) ???Over 5.5 (+128) ??

SEE ALSO: USA vs. China Men's Hockey Picks

Canada vs. Germany Predictions

Canada -0.5 (-130)

When the NHL decided that it would not be participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics, that put a whole lot of uncertainty into the men’s hockey tournament. If NHLers were participating, it would be easier to gauge the relative value of most of the players in this tournament. 

The Canadian roster returns three players from its bronze medal team from Pyeongchang 2018: defensemen Maxim Noreau and Mat Robinson, plus center Eric O’Dell. Team Canada has players with significant NHL experience, including Eric Staal, Daniel Winnik, and Jason Demers.

Canada also has some high-end prospects that could prove to be difference-makers in the tournament. Defenseman Owen Power was the first pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, two picks ahead of center Mason McTavish. Goaltender Devon Levi is a Buffalo Sabres prospect who has been outstanding at Northeastern University.

Germany finished one better than Canada with a silver medal in 2018 and has picked 10 players to return for this tournament, which includes forwards Dominik Kahun, Marcel Noebels, Mattias Plachta, and Patrick Hager. Tobias Rieder, Tom Kuhnhackl, and defenseman Korbinian Holzer join Kahun to bring NHL experience to this German roster.

The German roster might not have the same kind of name recognition, but Germany has shown in recent years that it is not a pushover in international play. In addition to beating Canada at the 2018 Olympics, Germany earned a victory over Canada at the 2021 World Hockey Championships when goaltender Mathias Niederberger stopped 39 of 40 shots in a 3-1 win.

Germany pulling off those wins against Canada should indicate the potential for this game to be tightly contested. Canada’s young NHL-level talent should give it the edge.

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Over 5.5 (+128)

These international hockey games tend to be lower scoring, especially when Germany meets up with more experienced hockey nations. In those circumstances, the Germans are not afraid to grind out a tighter result.

At the 2021 World Championships, for example, Germany lost the bronze medal game to the United States by a 6-1 score but had a total of five or fewer goals in each of the previous seven games.

Nevertheless, with little preparation time, it’s at least fair to wonder about how structured each team might be in the first game of the tournament. Taking Over 5.5 means not getting a push in a 3-2 game, and there is a risk in that potential outcome. But what is the Olympic hockey tournament without some risk?

SEE ALSO: All picks and odds. Be sure to check out SportsbookReview.com’s community forums and betting tools.

USA-Canada picks made 2/9/2022 at 11:25 a.m. ET