Canada World Championship Hockey Betting

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

IIHF: Home ice gives Canada edge

Playing the World Ice Hockey Championships on home ice for the first time in tournament history, Canada has a huge edge heading into Wednesday’s quarterfinals.



The Canadians are listed at 5:6 odds to win the tournament after cruising through the first part of the event with six wins and no losses. The home crowds will only get rowdier as they look to guide the star-studded team to the Gold Medal this Sunday.

Bet on Team Canada, Russia (2:1), Team USA (7:1) or any of the other favorites here at Sportsbook.com. Don’t forget that we’ve also got lines on all of Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchups, the semifinals on Friday and the Bronze and Gold Medal games this weekend.

Canada is trying to become the first team to win this tournament on home ice since the Soviet Union did it back in 1986. The last time the home team even made the finals was back in 1995 when the hometown Swedes lost to Finland in the final.

The biggest advantage for the Canadians, also benefits the Americans, and that’s the size of the ice surface. With the tournament being played in North America, the games are played on NHL-sized ice surfaces which allows both teams to impose their size and physical play on the skilled, European teams.

The North American ice surface is cut in width by more than 13 feet, allowing for a tighter, physical game with increased checking. This gives the both U.S. and Canada an advantage over skilled teams that tend to shy away from the physical play.

And while Canada’s record is perfect, the tournament favorites have been anything but perfect by their standards. Canada’s defense has struggled mightily at times, only to be rescued by the great goaltending of Cam Ward and Pascal LeClaire.

The Canadians were outplayed by the Americans in their round-robin meeting but pulled out a 5-4 victory. In the following game, a late goal by Rick Nash allowed Canada to slip past Norway 2-1. Team USA had little problem with Norway, pounding them 9-1.

The Canucks, as they usually do however, saved their best effort for their final game before the medal round. Canada showed how tough they can be when they show up at the rink focused, beating Finland 6-3 on Monday.

It was their best performance of the tournament so far and a perfect tune-up for the big games ahead.

Led by NHL superstars Nash, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal and Ryan Getzlaf, the Canadians have plenty of players that can put the puck in the net and that showed in their game against a Finland team that beat the U.S. 3-2 on Sunday in a bitter and controversial game.

The Americans will have a chance to revenge that loss as they meet the Finns in what should be a hotly contested quarterfinal. The first game between the two teams featured lots of hitting, intensity and even a fight in one of the most intense international hockey games in years.

Canada continues its quest for the Gold with a quarterfinal rematch with Norway and they expect to have an easier game this time around.