If the United States will take the top place on the podium in the men’s hockey tournament in Sochi, they are likely to have to take action as the underdogs.
The odds to win the gold medal in baseball at Sochi heading to the championship have the United States in 6/1, which places them behind Canada (2/1), Russia (12/5), and Sweden (9/2) on the Olympic hockey gold medal odds listing.
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Finland, decimated by injuries in the past few weeks with Minnesota Wild’s Mikko Koivu and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Valtteri Filppula both out, is fifth at 11/1 odds, together with the Czech Republic in 12/1.
Switzerland in 25/1, Slovakia in 33/1, and Norway, Latvia, Austria, and Slovenia are important all longshots at gaming stores like Sports Interaction.
The Americans sit in Group A of the tournament along with Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, together with the Russians favored at -200 across the USA (+175) to finish in top spot in group action at the event. Slovakia is at +1000 on these chances, with Slovenia well back at +10000.
The United States plays its first game of the championship on Thursday, when they’ll take on Slovakia as -325 favorites at the sportsbooks. The Slovakia roster is headlined by Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa, and St. Louis Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak, while Columbus Blue Jackets forward Marian Gaborik will overlook the tournament for the Slovaks because of trauma.
The Slovaks are +260 underdogs for Thursday.
The American group will then take on Russia in a showdown match on Saturday before rounding out preliminary action against Anze Kopitar, we imply Slovenia, in which ought to be a gimme game on Sunday. All of those games are set to get underway at 7:30am ET.
At the other two classes, Canada is the clear favorite at -650 to acquire Group B over Finland (+350), Norway (+5000) and Austria (+10000), together with Sweden at -200 to win Group C over the Czech Republic (+175), Switzerland (+800), and Latvia (+10000).
Once it overlooks the headlines, hockey is not the sole Winter Olympic sport where fans can wager. There are chances on every event along with futures and props on which country will win the most medals.