Team Canada is coming to the Winter Olympics with the most talented hockey roster ever assembled.
Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and Cale Makar lead the way, but it’s the depth that makes this team truly scary.
Mitch Marner, Mark Stone and Crosby are expected to form the Canadians’ third line. Those three could be the No. 1 unit. 1 in almost any team in the world.
Anything short of a gold medal will be considered a huge failure for this team.
And anything short of a convincing victory over Czechia in their tournament opener on Thursday morning will be unacceptable.
Canada vs. Czechia odds, forecast
It’s easy to see why Czechia is the favorite for the dark horse of the tournament. There are plenty of NHLers throughout the program, and there are a few stars at the top of the list.
David Pastrnak is one of the best scorers in the world, Martin Necas is on pace for 98 points with the Colorado Avalanche this season and Tomas Hertl is the No. 1 center among them.
That trio will need to do a tough job offensively against the Czechs, but they have talented players behind them in Ondrej Palat, Radek Faksa, and Ondrej Kase, and a blue line that shows plenty of NHL experience.
And the Czechs may have the edge in this game in an important area: Scoring.
Although Canada is a very talented team in this field, they have a potential weakness in net.
Jordan Binington was great for the Canadians in the 4 Nations last year, and has a reputation as a big-game goalie, but he’s really tough against St.
Betting on the NHL?
From a numbers perspective, the answer will be Thompson, but Canada seems ready to lean on Binnington’s experience.
Czechia’s goal-scoring situation is very limited. Lukas Dostal will probably get the call, and he has every chance to be the Czechs’ villain in this tournament.
Dostal has been a role model behind the defensively poor teams in Southern California over the past few years, and he will need to bring that form with him to Milan on Thursday as he will be under siege from the whistle.
What worries the Czechs most is what happens when Pastrnak Necas and Hertl are off the ice. Even if those three win their minutes, it won’t be enough to cover the appeal that Czechia will take when they catch their breath.
Team Canada’s depth should be what turns this game into a race, which is why I like to sprinkle in a player or two on Cooper’s third and fourth lines to make an impact in a high event game.
I landed on Bo Horvat because of his value and scoring ability, but you can apply the same logic to others like Nick Suzuki and Brad Marchand, too.
As for the game, I think the Czechs have enough scoring punch to help get this tournament over a total of 6.5 goals.
Matches: Over 6.5 goals (+106, FanDuel)| Bo Horvat 2+ goals (60/1)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-time profitable sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He likes to use game theory to help football players win bracket pools, get long shots, and learn to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
