2010 Winter Olympics Betting – Ice Hockey Preview
by Tim Furious
There’s no question that the focal point of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will be ice hockey. Every time an international hockey tournament is held, Canada expects to win the gold and anything less is deemed as an unmitigated, national disaster. The tag line of “the world is watching” is only circumvented by “Team Canada – Hockey Gold Or Bust”. BetUS has already released the 2010 Winter Olympics lines and we’ll be bringing you every game line, total and puck line you can throw your wallet at. Preliminary lines are already up, and the hosting country is listed as strong favorites. As the national coverage in Canada asks, “Do you believe?”
Team Canada -200
Failure will not be an option when Canada tries to defend its home ice against the entire world. Fans will pour in to hockey rinks bearing the red and white, drunker than Rip Torn using an ATM. The biggest issue facing Sidney Crosby (Penguins), Martin Brodeur (Devils) and Jarome Iginla (Flames) will be the unrelenting pressure to satisfy the need for championship gold from their countrymen. The other problem happens to be…
Team Russia +200
Two words followed by eight more: Alexander Ovechkin – the best hockey player in the entire world. The biggest game changer on the ice will be, perhaps, the biggest show stopper and spotlight stealer in the entire Olympics. While he’s won three medals (1 gold, 2 bronze) at the World Championships of hockey representing Mother Russia, Ovechkin has never once played at the grand stage of the Winter Olympics. This guy is as big a star as you can possibly imagine in hockey, and there is no bigger stage for hockey than at the games in Vancouver.
Ovechkin will also be surrounded by an insane amount of talent including Evgeni Malkin (Penguins), Alexander Semi (Capitals), Ilya Kovalchuk (Thrashers), Pavel Datsyuk (Red Wings), Sergei Gonchar (Penguins) and goalie Evgeni Nabokov (Sharks). No team besides Russia has a greater chance of matching the talent boasted by Team Canada which is why they’re as solid as an underdog team gets.
Team Sweden +500
The biggest story surrounding Team Sweden is how twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin (Canucks) will respond to the city of Vancouver suddenly turning on them. And while the city keeps an evil eye on the Sedins, the world of hockey will be glued to see the return of Peter Forsberg to glory.
Team USA +700
Team USA will try to do what their World Hockey Juniors did this recently by upsetting Team Canada, en route to winning their fourth gold medal at the Olympics. Considering how stacked Russia, Sweden and Canada are entering the games, the Americans will need another “Miracle On Ice” to have any hopes of seeing the podium, especially since they drew in to Group A, meaning they’ll have to get past Team Canada to get in to the medal rounds. This is not going to be an easy task for a team highlighted by youth with Zach Parise (Devils), Phil Kessel (Leafs) and Patrick Kane (Blackhawks) serving as the core of the team.
Team Czech Republic +1000
The only thing people will care about when it comes to this band of upstart hopefuls is seeing Jaromir Jagr on North American soil again.
Team Finland +1800
A lot of interesting story lines here, like having the Ruutu and Koivu brothers playing on the same team and being beaten over the skull with “Teemu is turning 40 years old!” piece that will certainly drown your eardrums during Finland’s games. Finland has yet to win a gold medal at the Olympics and the oddsmakers are giving them massive odds to end that streak, because it’s one that’s likely to continue.
Team Slovakia +4000
The only team flying to Vancouver to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics that hasn’t won a medal in Olympic history is Team Slovakia. Quite honestly, the only bet worth taking with Slovakia is if they’ll allow less than 10.0 goals against per game, and even then the odds of that happening would be the same as them winning the gold medal.
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