Olympic Men’s Hockey Preview – USA vs. Norway
Hey folks, looking for the best place on the web to get your USA vs. Norway Olympic hockey picks, and betting analysis? You’ve found it. Dave B will weigh in with his daily hockey predictions thru to the end of the 2010 olympic hockey tournament.
The 2010 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey schedule started on Tuesday February 16th. Next up is today’s action for Feb 18th at Noon Pacific time we get Norway vs. USA. We encourage you to check out Sportsbook.com and bet on the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey games and hockey lines online.
Tournament Preview: Group A features Canada, the United States, Switzerland and Norway. Group B features Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Latvia. Group C features Sweden, Finland, Belarus and Germany. After round 1 all teams are ranked. The winners of the four quarter final games will proceed to the medal round.
USA vs. Norway Live Odds
Moneyline: OFF
Spread: USA -5.5 (-115), Norway +5.5 (-125)
Over/under: 7.5
Team USA is 1-0 so far in the Round Robin portion of their tournament and are coming off a somewhat unimpressive 3-1 victory against Switzerland – a game in which the Americans failed to cover the Spread and failed to reach the Total on the over/under. Thursday night should be different as they take on a Norway team that is the bottom seed in the Olympic tournament.
For the United States, Thursday’s game is more important than one would think. A win would virtually secure them a Top four seed and guarantee them a place in the semi-finals. Because of the International Ice Hockey federation format of goal differential determining tie breakers, the Americans will need a good showing to better place themselves going forward.
For the USA, their first game played out like it should have. They started slowly but as the Game wore on; they developed chemistry between their lines and were satisfied with their overall effort. Ryan Miller, although not tested a whole lot was solid and their Defensive coverage was where they would have expected. Keep in mind that the American team was playing their first game together as a unit and that subtle improvements throughout the game were evident. It will be interesting to see how the chemistry has evolved after one game and a couple of practices.
Thursday’s game should be easier for the Americans – they are playing a weaker team and they have a confidence and familiarity that was lacking in their first game. Expect Team USA to come out flying and make a statement to their Sunday opponents, Canada. There will be goals a plenty and with Ryan Miller in goal, this game has all the makings of a blowout.
Team Norway appears to be happy just to be included in the Men’s Hockey tournament. They were only able to generate 15 shots on Canadian net minder Roberto Luongo despite five power plays.
Norway vs USA Free Gambling Pick
The lack of firepower was evident in the Team Norway’s first game, and the goal scoring mini-drought should continue for the overmatched Norwegians. This is simply not a competitive team that will be hard pressed to garner even one win in Pool A.
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