The 2014 World Junior Hockey Championships are just around the corner. Teams are already in Sweden, where the tournament will be taking place, participating in exhibition games and trying to find some chemistry for the tournament, which begins on Boxing Day.
The groups for the tournament are as follows:
Group A: Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia and USA
Group B: Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland
Even though there are 10 teams in the tournament, there are really four main favourites and maybe 6 who are being given any real shot at winning the tournament this year. Online sportsbook Bodog.eu (Bovada.lv for Americans) already has tournament winner odds available. Here they are:
- Canada 7/4
- Russia 3/1
- Sweden 3/1
- USA 3/1
- Finland 14/1
- Czech Republic 25/1
- Switzerland 40/1
- Slovakia 100/1
- Germany 300/1
- Norway 500/1
Free Pick
Canada is once again the tournament favourite, like always heading into the World Juniors. That said though, they haven’t won the tournament since 2009. They were on a 5 tournament winning streak until then, but now it’s been 4 years since they’ve won. In that span the United States have won twice, with the Russians and Swedes each also winning one of the tournaments.
The Canadians do have the most depth on the roster on paper and this time around they may have a goaltender who can carry them deep, which has been a problem for Team Canada in recent years. The starter will either be Jake Paterson or Zach Fucale, and each seem like they will be better options than the past few starters Canada has had. Fucale in particular has had success in pressure situations having won the Memorial Cup last year with the Halifax Mooseheads.
Overall, Canada deserves to be the 7/4 favourites in this tournament, but as we all know anything can happen in the elimination games, so it’s a very big risk taking a team that has shorter odds than 2/1.
Team USA, Sweden and Russia also always send strong teams to this tournament and the fact that the tourney is in Sweden this year may help the home country. The Swedes have at least made the semi-finals in each of the last 6 years, winning the gold once. This year there team consists mostly of players playing on clubs in Sweden, with only 4 members of their roster having chosen to play junior in North America.
I personally think that Team USA is the best option at 3/1. They have won 2 gold medals in the last four years and always seem to send a top team to the World Juniors.
It’s going to be a great tournament to watch, especially as a Canadian because we take such pride in how our National Teams perform. This time around the World Juniors will just a tune up for the Olympics, which is where the majority of National Pride will come from for this year.
The gold medal game will be played on January 5th, at 7pm GMT, which translates into 2pm EST. This will be the same day as at least one of the Wild Card playoff games. Check out BetOnSuperBowl.com to learn more about the NFL playoffs and how to place your bets on that.
As for the World Juniors, I suggest creating an account with Bodog.eu (Bovada.lv for Americans), funding your account and placing your wager in the hockey futures section.
Tagged With : hockey • IIHF • Team Canada • Team Sweden • Team USA • World Junior betting • World Juniors