World Junior Hockey Final Preview & Pick: Canada Vs USA


Despite losing to the United States earlier in the tournament, Canada is nearly a 1:2 favourite to beat the USA in tonight’s World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal game.

As of this afternoon, Canada was listed as a  -180 favourite at 888Sport, -188 at Pinnacle and -193 favourite at Sports Interaction. British sportsbook William Hill made Canada an even bigger favourite, posting their odds at -222.

 

888Sport Odds

888sport-world-junior-final-odds

 

Canada is coming off an impressive 5-2 win over previously undefeated Sweden in the semifinal, when Canada overcame an early 2-1 deficit. The United States edged Russia in the other semi, needing a shootout to prevail 4-3.

The US downed Canada 3-1 in the final game of the qualification round. However, both teams had already guaranteed themselves spots in the quarter-final, so seeding was the only thing on the line in that contest. Canadian forward Dillon Dube told TSN.ca that his team took that matchup “lightly”.

The Americans finished pool play with a perfect 4-0 record, outscoring its opposition 17-6. They then squeaked by Switzerland 3-2 in the quarter-finals before downing Russia in the semis.

Canada’s only loss in the tournament was to the US. Canada won all 4 of its other games by 2 goals or more, though they needed to come from behind in both the quarters and semis (which may make them a good live bet if they fall behind early tonight).

The United States has defeated Canada in each of the last two times the countries met in the World Junior Hockey final, including in 2010 in Saskatoon.

Other Ways To Bet The 2017 World Junior Hockey Final

If you’re looking to put some money on Canada tonight but aren’t interested in risking $2 for every $1 you want to win, here are a few other options for you. Bodog is an excellent sportsbook to use for these bets since they offer all of them (and more), and you can deposit money with them using almost any credit card.

  • Puck Line: You can lay -1.5 on the puck line with Canada, which means they’ll have to beat the US by at least 2 goals in order to win your bet. Odds on that were +122 at Sports Interaction, +147 at Pinnacle and a very generous +155 at Bodog.
  • Regulation Time: The regulation time bet offered by most sportsbooks is a 3-way bet that includes draws. If you bet on Canada, they need to win in regulation time as overtime and shootouts are not included. Odds on Canada to win the game in regulation were -115 at Pinnacle and Bodog, and -139 at Sports Interaction.
  • Over/Under: The Over/Under for the number of goals scored in tonight’s final varies by sportsbook. Pinnacle and Bodog listed the Over/Under at 6, with Pinnacle paying +113 on the Over and Bodog offering even odds. If you want to bet Over 5.5 instead, Sports Interaction was offering that at -152 odds.
  • Live Betting: Live betting allows you to bet on the game while it’s in progress. If the US takes an early lead, you’ll get much better odds on Canada – or you might be able to bet Over 5 or even Over 4.5 if there is no scoring early in the game.
  • First Period: If you think Canada will get off to a fast start, you might want to play the first period line instead. You can either play the 3-way first period line, which would require Canada to win the first period in order to cash your bet (that paid +137 at Pinnacle and +130 at Bodog) or go a bit more conservative with a 2-way bet that will push (cancel) if the score is tied after 1 period (Canada paid -165 on that bet at Bodog).
  • Team Total: With the team total, you can simply bet on how many goals Canada will score tonight. Bodog is the only sportsbook we saw that is offering this bet. They were offering Canada Over 3.5 goals scored at +120 odds, and Canada Over 2.5 goals scored at -225.
  • Alternate Puck Line: +150 not good enough for you on Canada -1.5? You can hope for a blowout victory and shoot for a big score, with Canada paying +275 odds to win by 3 goals or more at Bodog.

For more betting options on tonight’s Canada/USA gold medal game, including which team will score first or even which player will score first (you can get some huge payouts on that bet if you’re right), visit Bodog.eu.

2017 World Junior Hockey Championship Betting Pick


Call us homers if you want, but Canada really showed us something last night in the semifinal. They didn’t panic despite going down 1-0 and 2-1 in the opening 10 minutes and having to change goalies. The biggest concern about Canadian teams when they host the tournament is how they’ll handle the pressure, and this team has responded very well. We also actually like the fact the US beat Canada earlier in the tournament, which should help guard against any sort of complacency by the Canadian side.

We don’t expect a blowout tonight, but we think the Canadians find a way to get the job done. We’re playing Canada -115 in regulation time, a bet we placed at Bodog.