Team Sweden coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson told a Swedish television and radio station his team is at least considering throwing today’s game against Slovakia in an attempt to avoid a tough matchup in the medal round.
"We're still debating what would be the best for our team," Gustafsson said on Monday when asked if losing today’s game would actually be preferable for his club.
Most books had Slovakia set as a –120 favorite for today’s game earlier this morning, but that line has since moved to anywhere between –140 and -170.
"We opened Sweden as a pick yesterday, but the line's been going crazy all morning," says Randy Stafford, oddsmaker at betcris.com. "We're going to have to go higher with this line to keep up with the action. Some books have gone up to -190 already."
"Now that we've taken this much action on the game, we have to keep it on the board, but we'll have to keep a close eye on it."
Sweden sits in third place in the Group B pool with a 3-1 record. As it stands right now, a third-place finish in Group B would pit that club against Switzerland, who has claimed second place in Group A. If Sweden loses, that matchup will be solidified. A Swedish win, however, could mean the Swedes would finish as high as first or second in Group A if USA upsets Russia today. That would mean Sweden would either face defending gold medallist Canada, or the talent-laden Czechs.
"We're going to go out and play. And whatever happens, happens. But neither of us (Sweden or Slovakia) will waste energy," Gustafsson told reporters today.
"We play late tonight, and we could both have an early quarterfinal tomorrow. With that short time between, we better be sure not to waste our energy."
The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) is also reporting that Sweden will sit starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in favor of backup Mikael Tellqvist.
"It's the first Olympic game I'm going to start and I'm really excited," Tellqvist told reporters. "I'm hoping I go in there and play well because it's my first game in three weeks. I know the Slovaks are a tough team. They're skilled and they can really move the puck."
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