Olympic Hockey Odds: Team USA vs. Canada

The pressure of a hockey-mad nation is on Roberto Luongo today. (AP Images)

Might Sunday’s U.S.-Canada game be the most anticipated hockey matchup in history? For Canadians it sure might be, as all that’s on the line is national pride and a potential Olympic record. While the U.S. will win the overall medal count (Canada will finish third)   – setting a record with 37, breaking Germany’s record of 36 back in 2002 -- Team Canada is currently tied with Norway’s 2002 effort with 13 gold medals as the most in one Games. So the Canadians can stand alone as the gold medal standard with a victory on Sunday afternoon in Vancouver. It’s being called the hottest ticket in the history of Canadian sports.

Canada is -1 on the Bodog’s Olympic odds, with the total at 5.5 goals. Bodog also has a ton of prop odds available on this game, a rematch of the 2002 gold medal game in Salt Lake City – won by Canada. That was the last time Canada won gold, while the U.S. men have won hockey gold twice: at Squaw Valley in 1960 and at Lake Placid in 1980 in the Miracle on Ice. Only five players on the U.S. team were born the last time the Americans won the gold. Sunday also marks the 50th anniversary of the Squaw Valley victory. Other than the U.S., no country has ever won an Olympic gold on its home soil.

The Americans, the only unbeaten team in the tournament, will need a huge game from goalie Ryan Miller, who stopped 42 of 45 shots in last Sunday’s 5-3 win over Canada. He has a .954 save percentage and 1.04 GAA in this tournament, the best marks of any goalie. Counterpart Roberto Luongo, who wasn’t in net in the first matchup with the U.S., has a .919 save percentage and 1.75 goals-against average in four Olympic games. Luongo doesn’t really have a reputation as a big game goalie, but he did win gold for Canada at the World Championships in 2003 and 2004.

The Canadians have the edge pretty much everywhere but in goal. Team Canada’s Sharks line of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau has been dominant. Yet it’s Jonathan Toews who is a tournament-best plus-9. Sidney Crosby (three goals, six points) has yet to have a defining game and was minus-3 last time against the U.S. And I haven’t even mentioned Jarome Iginla, who had two goals in the gold medal game in Salt Lake City eight years ago. It’s an unprecedented collection of talent.

The final will be aired live in all time zones by NBC. The first U.S.-Canada game was shown on MSNBC, where it was seen by 8.2 million people, according to the Nielsen Co. That tied election night 2008 as the most-watched event on that network.

It’s the final event of these Olympics before the Closing Ceremonies. What a great way to go out. Game on!

The NHL is back on Monday – get your odds all season at Bodog