Sam Reinhart captained Canada to gold at the U18 world hockey championships two years ago. (Photo credit: 5of7 / Foter / CC BY-SA)
Apparently, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations hasn’t seen the 2015 world junior hockey championship betting odds.
Scott Salmond told the Toronto Sun last week that he doesn’t believe Canada is the favourite at the 2015 world junior hockey championships, which will take place in Toronto and Montreal beginning Boxing Day.
“I certainly don’t think we are a favourite, and in a way that feels different,” said Salmond.
“For us, we feel like a bit of an underdog. Certainly I feel that way.”
Sportsbooks disagree, making Canada a +130 favourite to win world junior hockey gold on home ice. The United States is ranked second (+260), followed by Russia and Sweden (each +400).
Canada hasn’t won the world junior hockey championships since 2009 and finished out of the medals last year. However, there’s plenty of optimism about Canada’s chances of ending that drought this winter, especially now that Connor McDavid is expected back from his famous hand injury suffered earlier this year.
As the Sun article pointed out, McDavid is one of 13 players at the Team Canada selection camp who helped Canada win U18 gold in 2013.
“A core group of guys won an under-18 gold in Sochi that people, to be honest, probably didn’t think had any business doing that,” Salmond told the Sun. “There’s something to be said for that core of guys who will be back. And there are some coming back with something to prove and some real disappointment from last year’s experience.”
Canada will open the tournament Boxing Day against Slovakia in Montreal, where the red and white will be sizeable favourites. The big game of the round robin will take place New Year’s Eve, when Canada faces the United States — and McDavid faces Jack Eichel in a matchup of the projected top two picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.