It is finally time for the yearly event which all true hockey lovers have been waiting for since May last year. It is the 83 edition of the World Championship in Hockey and this time it takes place in Slovakia. Group A will play their games in Koice and group B will play their games in the capital city, Bratislava.
Sweden is the team to beat this year as they are defending champions, winning over Switzerland last year on penalties in Royal Arena (Copenhagen). The year before that, Sweden won against Canada in Köln on penalties as well. Last time a nation won 3 gold medals in row was Czech Republic between 1999 – 2001, so Sweden now have the chance to do the same, and chances are good.
Newcomers in this edition of the World Championship are Italy and Great Britain. While Belarus and South Korea will play in the 1st Division since they lost last year.
One more new thing in this edition of the World Championship is that they won’t change the number of players playing in overtime depending on how far the teams have come. Starting now, all games that end with a draw will play 3vs3 in overtime from the start.
Group Stage: 5 minutes 3vs3 and then penalties if no goal.
Quarter-final/Semi-final/Bronze game: 10 minutes 3vs3 and then penalties if no goal.
Final: 20 minutes periods 3v3 until someone scores a goal.
Let us take a deeper look at what each of the teams offers and what we can expect.
Group A:
Group A looks like to be a highly interesting group where we suspect that Canada, USA, Finland and Slovakia will go through. However, you should not underestimate Germany and Denmark which could surprise and take one of the playoff spots. We believe that it will be tough for France and newcomers Great Britain to match the bigger teams. However, we hope that the games will be as close as possible.
Finland
Finnish supporters have many reasons to be disappointed since big stars like Patrik Laine, Pekka Rinne, Mikko Koivu and Alexander Barkov turned down invitations to participate for the Finnish team. This year, Finland will have 18 newcomers in their team to participate in the World Championship. Many say that this is the worst team Finland have ever put on the ice. 7 of the players have participated in the World Championship before and 3 of them play in North America. However, none of them have any real experience from NHL. The most known player is probably Henri Jokiharju who played half a season in Chicago Blackhawks without scoring a goal,but managed 12 assists. The rest of the season he played in farming team Rockford IceHogs. Finland should be happy if they make it to the quarter-final.
First game: Finland – Canada 10 May 16:15.
Betting tip: Canada – 1,5 (1.91)
Placement: Quarterfinal
Player to keep an eye on: Kaapo Kakko
Odds to win the tournament: 24.00
Canada
It doesn’t come as a surprise that Canada are traveling to Slovakia with a team full of NHL players. Some players worth mentioning is Matt Stone, Kyle Turris and Sam Reinhart, and they are always gold favorites. Unfortunately for Canada, two of their biggest stars have turned down the invitation to participate; Sidney Crossby due to fatigue and John Tavares due to injury. However, with an average age of 24, Canada have a nice mix of young and experienced star players. You can be sure that they want to repeat their gold medal from Moscow 2016 when they won over Finland in the final with 2-0.
First game: Finland – Canada 10 May 16:15.
Betting tip: Winner first period: Canada (2.10)
Placement: Silver medal
Player to keep an eye on: Matt Stone
Odds to win the tournament: 3.65
USA
USA are ranked as number 4 in the world hockey leaderboard. However, they have not taken a gold medal in almost 60 years. The last gold medal USA won was back in the 60s, when there was a completely different type of hockey from what is being played now. This is evident by the fact that the average amount of goals per game was 11.13 in that tournament. USA have not been in a final since 1960, so the American supporters have not been able to celebrate for a while. The USA team is led this year by Jeff Blashill and some players worthy enough to mention are Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Eichel, Chris Kreider and the young super talent Jack Hughes. On the paper, USA have a competitive team, so it is possible for them to break this curse of no finals in 59 years.
First game: USA – Slovakia 10th May 20:15
Betting tip: Over 5.5 goals (1.86)
Placement: Fourth Place
Player to keep an eye on: Jack Hughes
Odds to win the tournament: 5.00
Slovakia
Host nation Slovakia will probably get a lot of energy from their home crowd. They will also do everything in their power to make sure that the home audience feel that they get a lot of value for their money. This nation have 4 medals under their belt and the last one is a silver medal after being defeated against Russia with 6-2 in Helsingfors in 2012. The dream for Slovakia is to win their second gold medal in front of the home crowd and you should never say never. They have a total of 6 NHL players in their roster, and some of the names worth to mention is Richard Pánik, Andrej Sekera and Tomas Tatar. Despite this, we still believe that they will have a hard time matching teams like Sweden, Canada and Russia. The bookies also seem to share the same thought, as itll pay 29x your stake if Slovakia win the tournament.
First game: USA vs Slovakia 10th May 20:15
Betting tip: USA -1 (1.54)
Placement: Defeated in Quarter Final
Player to keep an eye on: Tomas Tatar
Odds to win the tournament: 29.00
Germany
Germany were able to achieve their biggest triumph in modern ice hockey when they won a silver medal in the Olympic Games which were held in Pyeongchang. They were only 11 seconds away from the gold medal when Nikita Gusev was able to equalise while his team was shorthanded. Later on, Kaprizov won the gold medal for OAR (Olympic Athletes of Russia) when scoring 7 minutes into overtime. This is probably a sign of a brighter future for Germany as the interest in hockey is growing in the younger generations. For this World Championship, Germany have 4 transatlantic players and 3 of them are regular players in the NHL. Dominik Kahun, Korbinian Holzer and superstar Leon Draisaitl will all be important players for this Germany team.
First game: Germany vs Great Britain 10th May 20:15
Betting tip: Germany -3 (1.60)
Placement: Defeated in group stage
Player to keep an eye on: Leon Draisaitl
Odds to win the tournament: 51.00
Denmark
Denmark have been a loyal competitor in the World Championship in the last 10-15 years, but they have never been able to match with the bigger teams. Their best placement so far was in Moscow in 2016 when they were able to reach the quarter-finals, where they lost to Finland 5-1. Since Denmark’s top division in Ice Hockey (Metal Ligaen) does not have high enough standards, the majority of the Danish players play in different leagues around Europe. Only 4 players in their roster play in local teams in Denmark. Unfortunately for them, Frans Nielsen, who is a regular player in Detroit, has turned down the invitation to participate this year. But Peter Regin another known player from NHL have accepted the invitation. We dont expect Denmark to set a new record this year, but it is always fun to see when things go the underdogs way.
First game: Denmark – France 11th May 12:15
Betting tip: Denmark to win (including OT) (1.71)
Placement: Defeated in group stage
Player to keep an eye on: Peter Regin
Odds to win the tournament: 67.00
France
France is also an underdog which should be able to avoid elimination, but they need to give all they have, since we dont know if Italy or Great Britain will cause an upset. There are a lot of anonymous names in their roster and they have as many as 18 players from French teams. Their big star, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, assistant captain in Vegas Golden Knights is unfortunately not in their roster, which doesn’t look too frightening. France might struggle in this World Championship.
First game: Denmark – France 11th May 12:15
Betting tip: Denmark to win (including OT) (1.71)
Placement: Eliminated in group stage
Player to keep an eye on: Florian Hardy
Odds to win the tournament: 67.00
Great Britain
People who are residents of other parts of the world will probably not know much about Great Britains current roster. Only 2 players play outside the domestic league; Joseph Lewis in ESV Kaufbeurena which is in the German 2nd division and Liam Kirk who plays in OHL-team Peterborough Petes. Great Britain have not participated in World Championship since 1994 where they lost all of their games. Last year they secured the contract when beating Hungary after penalties. It will be tough for Great Britain to hang on in this tournament. However, if do manage it, you would be able to call it an achievement.
First game: Germany vs Great Britain 10th May 20:15
Betting tip: Both teams to score (No) (1.41)
Placement: Eliminated to B-group
Player to keep an eye on: Jonathan Phillips
Odds to win the tournament: 1001.00
Group B
Group B this year consists of many classic national teams, including some nations that have increased their cogency the last few years. There is always room for some upsets every year and there are big chances that they will come from this group. Lets get through the group, shall we:
Sweden
The last two years winner Sweden has managed to get a great team this year as well. Including Calder Trophy nominated Elias Pettersson who is supposed to be one of the top producers for this Swedish team. Still, Sweden lacks some offense strength if you compare their roaster to opponents like Russia and USA. Sweden’s strength this year is their defense, together with two great goalies, king Henrik Lundqvist and Jacob Markström. If Sweden wants to go far in this series of World Cup, they need some additional top forwards from the NHL. If not, then the goalies must step up big time.
First game: Czech Republic – Sweden 10th of May 20:15
Betting Tip: Sweden -1 (2.00 odds)
Our placement tip: Gold
Player to have an eye on: Elias Petterson
Odds to win the Tournament: 4.50
Russia
Last time Russia won World Cup was 5 years ago, so you can believe that they lust for a gold medal. If they really wanna win this year, they have a great opportunity to do so. They have a great mix between top players in KHL and NHL, Including players like Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk and Kucherov. The amount of fire power in just these guys is quite astonishing. However, Russia sometimes play for each player for themselves and not like a team. The biggest question is if the Russian team can unite – If they can they are the favorites to win the gold.
First game: Russia – Norway 10th of May 16:15
Betting Tip: Russia -3 (1.62 odds)
Our placement tip: Bronze
Player to have an eye on: Nikita Kucherov
Odds to win the Tournament: 3.50
Czech Republic
One of the teams in this group that can really cause some damage to the teams mentioned above. They dont have so many NHL players in their roster, instead most of their players comes from the european leagues but dont underestimate them. Since most of their players are based in Europe, they are used to play together and they have a very disciplined system. With strong defence and super fast breakways. Have an eye open for Jakub Voracek, Filip Chytil, Jakub Vrana and Ondrej Palat, especially in powerplay.
First game: Czech Republic – Sweden 10th of May 20:15
Betting Tip: Czech Republic to win Including OT (2.65 odds)
Our placement tip: Eliminated in Quarter Final
Player to have an eye on: Jakub Voracek
Odds to win the Tournament: 12.50
Switzerland
Switzerland is one of these nations that have taken huge steps over the past few years, reaching silver medal last world cup after penalties shootout against Sweden. It is the second team in this group that can really do some damage and change the outcome of the tournament. Having players like Roman Josi, Yannick Weber, Kevin Fiala and Nico Hischier from NHL combined with top players from all around Europe, Switzerland always manage to surprise one way or another.
First game: Switzerland – Italy 11th of May 12:15
Betting Tip: Switzerland -3 (2.20 odds)
Our placement tip: Eliminated in Quarter Final
Player to have an eye on: Kevin Fiala
Odds to win the Tournament: 26.00
Norway
Norway is a smaller hockey nation if you compare them to their Scandinavian neighbours. However, popularity for ice hockey is steady increasing every year so more and more players will come in the future, especially now when Mats Zuccarello is showing the way. Their team at the moment consists of a few AHL players together with players from the top european leagues. They also have a few NHL players, which is not participating from start. However, if luck is on their side and they join in, they can go quite far in the tournament. A good scoring line together with strong discipline usually works quite well in the world cup.
First game: Russia – Norway 10th of May 16:15
Betting Tip: Norway to win or Draw (9.50 odds)
Our placement tip: Eliminated in the group stage
Player to have an eye on: Andreas Martinsen
Odds to win the Tournament: 101.00
Latvia
As normal Latvia comes with a team with its core playing in KHL team Dinamo Riga. Which is always quite hard to play against, due to the close-knit group it creates. They also have a few NHL players to boost the group with. Together with one of the best fans in the World Cup they can be quite dangerous. However, due to the other teams roster, we believe it will be quite hard for Latvia to go far in this edition of the World Cup.
First game: Latvia – Austria 11 maj kl. 16:15
Betting Tip: Both Teams to Score at least Two Goals (1.86 odds)
Our placement tip: Eliminated in the quarter final
Player to have an eye on: Teodors B?ugers
Odds to win the Tournament: 101.00
Austria
Austria does not have a horrifying roster on the paper. They dont have their NHL players Michael Grabner, Andreas Nödl or Thomas Vanek in their lineup. However, same as Finland and Norway they have one NHL player in their team, Michael Raffl which plays in Philadelphia Flyers. They should have a better team then Great Britain and Italy, so avoiding being eliminated looks quite good. Konstantin Komarek can also be quite important for this Austrian team as he comes with a great season behind him in SHL with 39 points in 49 games.
First game: Lettland – Australien 11 maj kl. 16:15
Betting Tip: Latvia to win (including OT) (1.62)
Our placement tip: Eliminated in the group stage
Player to have an eye on: Michael Raffl
Odds to win the Tournament: 501.00
Italy
Italy has had a turbulence journey in previous years of World Cup. They have been going up and down from A World Cup to B World Cup the last 10 years. Each year they have either been downgraded or upgraded a division and if they are gonna follow the pattern, they will be downgraded this year. However, Ivan Deluca, Diego Kostner and Thomas Larkin will be important players for Italy. If they can keep Italy from being eliminated, who will then be eliminated instead?
First game: Schweiz – Italy 11 maj kl. 12:15
Betting Tip: Both teams to score (1.32)
Our placement tip: Downgraded to 1 division
Player to have an eye on: Ivan Deluca
Odds to win the Tournament: 1001.00
We have a fantastic tournament upon us with 16 nations sharing the same goal. We hope for even and intensive games with full with entertainment. Now you have received a smaller look on each of the teams and took part of our betting tips. It is now time to rest your back in the tv-sofa and enjoy ice hockey in world class with stars like Ovechkin, Kane, Stone, Lundqvist, Pettersson and many more. Make sure to place your bets using the link below, for the little extra!
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