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The Olympic hockey tournament is set with the gold medal favorite Canadians playing the surprising Americans for all the marbles. America shocked Canada last week, but do the young Americans have another Miracle on Ice in them?
The last time these 2 teams met in an Olympic hockey final was in 2002 in Salt Lake City, where Canada beat USA 5-2. The USA has lost 5 of its 6 gold-medal meetings against Canada. Canada is seeking to become the first country to win a hockey gold medal at home since the Americans did so in 1980 in Lake Placid.
Canada got by Slovakia 3-2 in one semifinal while the USA crushed Finland 6-1 to set up an all North America match up for the gold medal. Team USA is the youngest team in the Olympic tournament and they are riding high not knowing they were not supposed to go this far. The Americans have not played or acted like such as young team, as they were not overly excited in the win over Finland and they have not trailed at any time in the tournament.
The Americans will have to get good forward play from Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, and Paul Stastny to pull off another shocker against Canada. In the game against Finland Kane had 2 goals and Stastny, who had struggled, had a goal and an assist. The Americans have pressured their opponents and pushed up their defense to try to get more offense. U.S. defenseman Brian Rafalski had 2 assists in the Finland win and he leads all American scorers with 4 goals and 8 points. The Americans can’t stop attacking, as they need to pressure Canada all game like they did in last week’s win.
Goalie Ryan Miller has arguably been the best goalie in the NHL this season and he has played great in the Olympic tournament. He will have to play well in this game for the Americans to have any chance. He thwarted the stacked Canadians lineup in the win last week and he will have to do so again for the Americans to get the gold.
Sidney Crosby leads team Canada and he will be counted on to pressure Miller with his shooting and passing. Jarome Iginla will have to help Crosby out, especially if the Americans really key on stopping Crosby. G Roberto Luongo has taken over for Martin Brodeur in goal and he has a tall task in this game to stop an American squad that is playing with a ton of confidence. If he gives up more than 1 goal and the Canadians lose he will not be a popular guy north of the border.
February 27th, 2010 9:29:24 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Hockey, Sports by Jason Green | No Comments
OLYMPIC HOCKEY DELIVERING AMAZING GAMES AND INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES – LATEST USA WIN OVER CANADA SHAKES UP ODDS!
NEW YORK, NY – Olympic hockey is always exciting and the 2010 games have delivered stellar performance after stellar performance. Most recently the US men’s team triumphed over a favored Canadian team and while it was no Miracle On Ice ala the 1980 games, it still has speculation from fans reaching a fever pitch as to who will take home the gold. This being the case, the largest, most successful sportsbook on the web, BetUS.com has once again beaten everyone to the punch and posted updated odds!
Analysts at BetUS.com posted the following odds on 2010 Olympic Hockey:
To Win Gold
- Canada 9/5
- Russia 5/2
- Sweden 4/1
- USA 3/1
- Czech Republic 10/1
- Finland 12/1
- Slovakia 25/1
- Switzerland 80/1
Leading Scorer
- Dany Heatley 6/5
- Brian Rafalski 3/2
- Evgeni Malkin 9/5
- Sidney Crosby 3/2
- Tomas Ekanec 3/1
- Jarome Iginla 3/1
- Tomas Plekanec 5/1
- Tore Vikingstad 5/1
Most Saves
- Henrik Lundqvist 10/13
- Evgeni Nabokov 10/11
- Martin Brodeur 10/11
- Evgeni Nabokov 10/13
February 23rd, 2010 11:30:13 PM GMT+5 | Posted in BetUS, Futures, Hockey by admin | No Comments
Yesterday the American hockey team pulled off the biggest upset since the ‘Miracle on Ice”, as they beat Canada 5-3. The Americans have a team of young stars, including yesterday’s star G Ryan Miller, and they were not supposed to challenge the star studded Canada team. Now with their win and the Sweden 3-0 win over Finland the Americans are the #1 seed in the tournament. In an interesting note the USA win over their neighbors from the north came only one day before the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice.
Canada was expected to, at least, play for a medal, but after their shocking loss to the Swiss they will have to beat a legit German team on Tuesday just to be in contention for a medal. Even if they beat Germany they will have to play the #3 seed of Russia, who should be the #2 seed, nut the loss to Slovakia dashed those hopes.
Team Canada has been out-shooting their opponents, but the goalies, especially Miller, are playing great. New Jersey Devils’ G and team Canada G Martin Brodeur recently stated, “We’re throwing 45 shots at these goalies and they are making stops facing forward, backward, sideways. Eventually we’ll be more successful.” If they will be successful will remain to be seen, as they have a tough road to hoe in order to make it to the gold medal game.
Tomorrow Canada plays Germany in the qualification mach and if they lose that match be sure that team Canada will hear it from their fans.
The Americans are in a good spot for a medal and their youth has served them well. The US hockey team averages 5 years younger per player than the team that did not win a medal in Turin in 2006.
Miller will be under pressure no matter who the US faces in the next game and he will have to come up big for the US to win a medal.
Can Canada withstand the pressure and beat Germany? Can Russia and their big guns finally wake up and get to the gold medal game? Can the USA keep their momentum going with their young team? All of these questions will be answered in the next few days in Vancouver.
February 22nd, 2010 11:13:09 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Hockey, Sports by Jason Green | No Comments
Phoenix Coyotes vs. Dallas Stars
- The Coyotes have won their last four home games.
- The Coyotes have won six of their last seven home games.
- The Coyotes are 5-2-1 on the back end of back-to-backs this season.
- The Coyotes are 2-0-0 this season when that back end comes after a defeat.
- The Coyotes are tied with Chicago for the fourth-most home wins in the NHL with 22 (22-8-2 record).
- Only Carolina, Edmonton, and Toronto have fewer home wins than Dallas, Minnesota, the New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay, who have nine.
- The Stars have not won back-to-back road games this season, and they haven’t done so since Jan. 29 and Jan. 31 of last year, when they beat Detroit and Columbus.
- The Coyotes lost 4-0 in Dallas just last Saturday, but Phoenix is 2-0-0 at home against Dallas this season, winning 3-2 on Nov. 14 and 5-2 on Nov. 27.
- Phoenix has won four in a row at home against Dallas.
- The Coyotes are 6-1-0 in their last seven games against the Stars.
- Phoenix is 7-2-1 in the last 10 overall meetings between these two, and they’re 12-5-1 against the Stars since the start of the 2007/08 season. In that span, they’re 6-3-0 against the Stars at home and 6-2-1 in Dallas.
Feb. 13 NHL FREE PICK #2: PHOENIX ML -135 vs. Dallas
February 13th, 2010 2:43:52 PM GMT+5 | Posted in Free Picks, Hockey, Sports, Sports Betting by Griffdog | No Comments
NHL PICKS RECORD
Yesterday: 0-1
Year-to-date: 18-14-1
Season-to-date: 91-73-5
The last few days have been quite forgettable, to say the least. I’ve taken a lickin’ and kept on tickin’ before this season, so that’s going to be the case here. Let’s notch some wins and head into the Olympic break on a positive note.
Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils
- The Hurricanes have won their last five home games.
- The Hurricanes are 7-2-0 in their last nine home games.
- The Hurricanes have won their last four games overall.
- The Hurricanes are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games overall.
- The Devils are just 2-3-1 in February.
- The Devils are just 3-5-2 in their last 10 games.
- Since being 32-11-1 following a road win over the New York Rangers on Jan. 12, the Devils are just 5-9-2.
- The Devils are just 0-4-1 in their last five road games.
- The Devils are just 1-7-1 in their last nine road games.
- The Devils are 0-4-0 following their last four wins and 3-7-0 following their last 10 wins. Why is this relevant? The Devils were 20-6-0 following their first 26 wins this season, on the strength of six win streaks of three games or more.
- The Devils are 1-5-0 in their last six games after they scored four or more goals in the previous game (beat Nashville 5-2 last night).
Feb. 13 NHL FREE PICK #1: CAROLINA ML +110 vs. New Jersey
February 13th, 2010 1:23:19 PM GMT+5 | Posted in Free Picks, Hockey, Sports, Sports Betting by Griffdog | No Comments
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