The 2010 Winter Olympics are on the horizon and betED.com has unveiled Olympic Betting Odds for a number of events, including men’s ice hockey.
Anyone familiar with the National Hockey League or ice hockey in general will not be shocked to see Canada as the overwhelming favorite to win the gold medal in men’s hockey.
The Canadian team is a -105 favorite in Olympic Hockey Betting odds at betED.com.
The team expected to provide the biggest challenge to Team Canada is Russia, which is at +175, followed by Sweden at +425.
The U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team is at +675, while the longest shot is Norway at +45000.
Other events that betED.com is currently taking wagers on include Alpine Skiing, Curling, Ski Jumping, and Biathlon.
The XXI Olympic Winter Games, or the 21st Winter Olympics, will be held Feb. 12 to Feb. 28, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. Most Alpine Skiing events are being held at the nearby resort town of Whistler.
Both men’s and women’s ice hockey events will held at General Motors Place, home of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.
This will mark the first time since NHL players were given permission to play for their country in the Olympics that the games will be held in a NHL city. And it will also be the first time the Winter Olympic hockey tournament has been played on a standard-sized NHL rink, which is smaller than Olympic or international rinks.
Teams qualified for the men's tournament based on International Ice Hockey Federation world rankings for 2008.
The men’s teams are split into three groups of four teams, with each team playing three games in the preliminary round. Teams are then ranked 1 to 12 based on points accumulated in the preliminary round. The top four receive byes to the quarterfinals; the remaining eight play for the remaining four quarterfinal positions.