Team Canada Still Big IIHF World Championship Favorites

Team Canada cruises into the IIHF World Hockey Championship quarterfinals as a big favorite against Belarus. 

Team Canada has secured a place in the World Hockey Championship in Prague, Czech Republic, but the tournament won’t be a success unless the Canadians bring home their first IIHF gold medal since 2007.

After thrashing Austria 10-1, Canada opened as a huge -1250 favorite to win in regulation for Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup against Belarus, which punched its ticket with a 3-2 win over Norway.

“It obviously shows we have a lot of skill on this hockey team and everybody can score,” Canada forward Matt Duchene after he had two goals and two assists in the blowout of Austria. “Everybody’s contributing pretty equally, that’s a really good thing, a sign of a really good team.”

That’s probably more than a bit of an understatement. Team Canada cruised through the group stage with a perfect 7-0 record, scoring 49 goals along the way. The Canucks also rested captain Sidney Crosby for the club’s last win and didn’t seem to miss a beat in allowing just 10 shots on goal. Duchene and teammate Jason Spezza are tied with Sweden’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the tournament lead with 11 points apiece.

The puck is expected to drop at 9:15 ET Thursday morning as Canada hopes to move past Belarus and into the semifinals.

Check out all of Sports Interaction’s IIHF World Hockey Championship odds here.