With the NHL schedule coming out last week it was confirmed that NHL players will be participating at the Sochi Olympics in Russia this year. Following that announcement many countries named the players they would be inviting to their development camp, which gave an idea of the front runners as to who would be selected for each team. Without missing a beat online sportsbook Bodog.eu (Bovada.lv for Americans) has already posted odds to allow bettors to wager on the 2014 Olympic Champion.
Early 2014 Sochi Olympics Men’s Hockey Odds
Here are the odds:
- Russia 11/5
- Canada 9/4
- Sweden 4/1
- USA 6/1
- Czech Republic 17/2
- Finland 10/1
- Switzerland 20/1
- Slovakia 25/1
- Norway 200/1
- Latvia 400/1
- Austria 900/1
- Slovenia 900/1
It may come as a bit of a surprise that Canada is not the favourites to win the tournament, but when you consider the fact that Russia will be at home and the tournament will be played on a larger ice surface this time around then you can begin to understand why Russia may be the team to beat.
Prediction
Russia has a team filled with star power up front and they may be riding Bobrovsky in net. That said their defense doesn’t have the big names of the other clubs and they haven’t performed that well internationally of late. They failed to medal at the last World Championships and have not won the gold since NHL players have been allowed in the Olympics. I don’t like Russia at close to 2/1 odds here even though they have the home ice advantage.
Canada at 9/4 is almost identical to Russia’s odds. They did pull out the win at home on a small ice surface in Vancouver in 2010, but failed to medal in 2006 in Italy. Canada hasn’t medaled in the past four World Championships and the large ice surface will affect a team full of NHL stars who have less experience on the big ice surface. Goaltending is another big question mark for Canada and these two problems combined will likely affect the team. I don’t like Canada at 9/4 either.
I do like the United States at 6/1. The States came very close to winning gold in Vancouver and they invited 16 of the players from that team back to their orientation camp this year. I expect they will go with a different type of lineup that can skate more effectively, but their star players are all in their primes and should be able to come together for this tournament. They also have some of the best goaltenders to choose from with Quick, Howard, Anderson and Schneider likely to battle it out for the starting job. At 6/1 I don’t think you can go wrong placing a wager on the Americans in this one.
Slovakia at 25/1 is a decent long shot selection. I’m surprised that the Slovaks odds are longer than that of Switzerland when you take into account that Hossa, Chara and Gaborik will don the jerseys of their country possibly for the last time. The team will be composed of mostly NHL players who have experience on larger ice and once you have the talent to make the NHL anything can happen in a tournament like this. In Vancouver the Slovaks reached the semi-finals and gave Canada a scare their so I wouldn’t underestimate this team. If Halak can get hot this is not a team to take lightly.
Sweden, The Czech Republic and Finland all also have a shot and I think the oddsmakers are fairly correct with each of their odds. Sweden will have a very strong team and has just as good a chance at winning gold as either Russia or Canada in my opinion. For the Czechs or Finland to win they will have to get lucky and have strong goaltending, but this is very possible, especially for Finland with likely Rask or Rinne backstopping the Finns in Sochi.
Favourite Bets: USA 6/1 and Slovakia 25/1
If you want to bet on this tournament this early, head over to Bodog.eu. You will find the odds under the ‘Hockey Futures’ tab.
Tagged with: Canada • Mens Hockey • Olympics • Russia • Slovakia • USA