Canada vs. Czechia Men’s Olympic Hockey: Quarterfinals Preview, Odds and Prediction
It’s a rematch in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament as Canada and Czechia prepare to meet in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Puck drop is 10:40 a.m. from Italy’s Arena Milano.
These teams opened the tournament against each other, with Canada cruising to a 5-0 win.
As a result, the Canadians are heavy -1600 favourites to win, with the puckline set at 3.5 and the total pegged at 6.5.
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Canada vs. Czechia Men’s Olympic Hockey Betting Odds
Canada’s opening shutout win over Czechia wasn’t a one-off result as they also dominated Switzerland 5-1 and France 10-2. After winning Group A, the Canadians also clinched the No. 1 overall tournament seed with the best goal differential at plus-17.
Czechia bounced back from the loss to Canada with a 6-3 win over France before a 4-3 overtime loss to Switzerland. Finishing third in Group A, Czechia narrowly scraped by Denmark 3-2 in the qualification playoffs to reach the quarterfinals.
The updated futures board has Canada remaining as the gold medal favourite at -155, while Czechia is a +4500 long shot.
Now let’s get to the math. Assuming Sweden beats Latvia to earn the final quarterfinal berth, Czechia will have the hardest path to win gold because the tournament is re-seeded after the quarterfinals.
That also means Canada technically has the easiest path to gold because they are the top overall seed. If the favourites win every game in the tournament from this point, which rarely happens, Canada’s path to gold would see them face Finland in the semifinals and the United States in the gold medal game.
Team Canada
There was a bit of an injury scare for Team Canada on Tuesday as Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett did not practice. However, head coach Jon Cooper shutdown fears quickly, describing the absences as “maintenance days”. Defenceman Josh Morrissey is also on track to return to the lineup after suffering an undisclosed injury in the tournament-opener.
You can’t talk about Canada without mentioning Connor McDavid, who leads the tournament with nine points (2G, 7A) in just three games. That puts McDavid two points shy of tying the record for most points in a single Olympic Games with NHL participation. Finnish stars Teemu Selanne (6G, 5A) and Saku Koivu (3G, 8A) each had 11 points in the 2006 Torino Olympics.
Jordan Binnington will get the start in net after posting a 26-save shutout against Czechia to begin the tournament. Binnington did allow two goals on just 14 shots against France, but Cooper and the Team Canada staff have made it clear it’s Binnington’s net going forward.
Team Czechia
It was an eventful second period for Czechia against Denmark as all five goals in the game were scored in the middle frame. Martin Necas, David Kampf and Roman Cervenka had the Czech goals, while Lukas Dostal turned aside 22 of 24 shots faced.
Necas has paced Czechia throughout the tournament. The Colorado Avalanche star has scored in three straight games and he is tied for second in tournament scoring with seven points (3G, 4A). David Pastrnak, however, has been a bit of a disappointment. Pastrnak managed to produce four points in four games, but with only one goal, Czechia will need him to find another level if they want to get past Canada.
The biggest key to upsetting Canada will be Dostal, although it’s a lot to ask given he’ll be playing the second half of a back-to-back. However, the Anaheim Ducks netminder has been nothing but confident saying the back-to-back won’t be a problem because he’s used to it from his time playing in the top Czech and Finnish leagues.
Canada vs. Czechia Prediction
Canada: 5, Czechia: 3
Best bet: Puckline +3.5. This won’t be a repeat of the tournament opener. Czechia has the talent to keep this close, but the depth of Canada will ultimately win out.