2023 World Junior Hockey Championship: Canada vs. Germany Odds, Prediction
Coming into the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship with what was expected to be a very strong team, it’s safe to say Canada flopped hard in an upset tournament-opening 5-2 loss to Czechia on Monday night. The defending gold medal champions will look to rebound against Germany on Wednesday night. The German’s will be playing for the second straight day after dropping a 1-0 decision to Sweden on Tuesday afternoon.
Canada opened as a 5.5-goal favourite against Germany on the IIHF odds. The total is set at 7.5 goals.
2023 World Junior Championship Betting Odds
To put into perspective how shocking Canada’s loss was, consider that it was just the third time they have dropped the tournament opener since 1998 and first since 2016. Canada went on to lose in the quarter-finals in both of those tournaments.
Despite the upset loss against Czechia, Canada remains a +185 favourite to win the tournament. They would be the first team to repeat since their own streak of five straight golds from 2005-09 and the first country to win 20 gold medals in the tournament. Canada is -833 to open the scoring on Wednesday and -5000 to win the game in regulation.
Germany is still sitting as a +1946 long shot to win the tournament. This is their fourth consecutive year in the top division, although they’ve never medalled, with their best result being a fifth place finish in 1981. Germany is +340 to open the scoring against Canada and +3400 to win the game in regulation.
Canada and Germany last met in the preliminary round of the 2021 tournament in a 16-2 blowout victory for the Canucks. Germany was limited to 14 skaters because of COVID protocols. The game featured several future NHLers like Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook, who both just won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in the spring, while Tim Stutzle represented Germany.
Team Canada
With all the hype surrounding Canada heading into this tournament, the loss to Czechia was clearly a massive disappointment. Shane Wright, one of three Canadian players with NHL experience this season, opened the scoring on the power play. Projected 2023 first overall draft pick Connor Bedard also scored, but Canada couldn’t recover after allowing three goals in the second period. They outshot Czechia all three periods, however, and finished with a 38-27 shot advantage overall.
Goalie Benjamin Gaudreau was chased from the net on Monday after allowing five goals on 17 shots. Thomas Milic stopped all 10 shots faced in relief and was already scheduled to get the start against Germany. Head coach Dennis Williams said prior to the tournament, the plan was to rotate the goalies evenly between games, but it’s unclear if that will change after Gaudreau’s tough outing.
Team Germany
Despite losing in regulation, Germany made a positive statement in their tournament-opening loss to Sweden on Tuesday. After Sweden pummelled Austria 11-0 the day before, the Germans were able to hold out for a tightly contested one-goal loss. Germany allowed a single goal in the final minute of the first period which stood as the game-winner. They were clearly the better team in the third period, outshooting their European rivals 13-10 in the final frame.
German goaltender Nikita Quapp was the star of the game, stopping 43 of 44 shots faced. The netminder stopped a penalty shot, an extended five-on-three man advantage for Sweden and held the Swedes to no goals on five power plays.
Canada vs. Germany WJC Score Prediction
Canada 5, Germany 0