Olympic hockey betting, odds stacked against Team USA

If the United States will take the top spot on the podium at the men’s hockey tournament in Sochi, they’re likely to have to take action since the underdogs.
The chances to win the gold medal in hockey at Sochi heading into the tournament have america at 6/1, which puts them behind Canada (2/1), Russia (12/5), and Sweden (9/2) about the Olympic baseball gold medal odds listing.
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Finland, decimated by injuries in the past few months with Minnesota Wild’s Mikko Koivu and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Valtteri Filppula both out, is at 11/1 chances, with the Czech Republic in 12/1.
Switzerland in 25/1, Slovakia in 33/1, and Norway, Latvia, Austria, and Slovenia are major all longshots at gaming stores such as Sports Interaction.
The Americans sit in Group A of the tournament along with Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, together with the Russians preferred at -200 across the USA (+175) to complete top spot in group action at the event. Slovakia is at +1000 on those chances, with Slovenia well back at +10000.
The United States plays its first game of the tournament 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 miss the tournament for the Slovaks because of injury.
The Slovaks are +260 underdogs for Thursday.
The American team will then take on Russia in a showdown match on Saturday before rounding out preliminary action against Anze Kopitar, we mean Slovenia, where should be a gimme game on Sunday. All those games are set to get underway at 7:30am ET.
In both of the other groups, Canada is the obvious favorite at -650 to acquire Group B over Finland (+350), Norway (+5000) and Austria (+10000), with Sweden at -200 to win Group C within the Czech Republic (+175), Switzerland (+800), and Latvia (+10000).
While it dominates the headlines, hockey isn’t the only Winter Olympic sport where fans can wager. There are odds on every occasion along with futures and props on which country will win the most medals.