Slovakia vs Russia – Gambling Picks 2010 Olympic Hockey

Olympic Men’s Hockey Preview – Slovakia vs. Russia

Hey folks, looking for the best place on the web to get your Slovakia vs. Russia 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 9:00pm Pacific time we get Russia vs. Slovakia. 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. The rest will duke it out for a playoff spot according to seeds.

Slovakia vs. Russia Live Odds

Moneyline: OFF
Spread: Slovakia +2.5 (-125), Russia -2.5 (-115)
Over/under: 6.5

The best matchup of the three games on Thursday’s Olympic Men’s Hockey schedule takes place between the Gold Medal contender Russian Federation and the Slovaks, who will be looking to make a statement with a solid effort. This game does not fall under the category of tune up games as the Slovaks bring a fairly solid team to the 2010 Olympics.

The Russian Federation (1-0) will be looking to build on their 8-2 victory over Latvia in their first game of the 2010 Olympic Men’s Hockey tournament. The Russians looked fast, tough and surprisingly calm in their first game as they jumped out to a huge lead, only to give up a couple of late goals. The Forwards on the team lived up to expectation and the suspect defense played well. Their goaltending was OK but will only get better as the tournament wears on. The Russian Federation had their tune up game and Thursday night’s game will act as a real test.

Team Slovakia (0-1) has the unenviable task of facing the powerful Russians approximately 24 hours after facing another Medal contender, the Czech Republic. They could be a tired team, not only from playing two games in 24 hours, but also from the emotion that is part of playing for your nation. Slovakia still boasts a fair amount of talent with Marion Gaborik making a surprise start and producing a goal, Marian Hossa, and Jaraslav Halak in goal.

The Slovaks will certainly be a tougher test for the favored Russians. They deserved a better fate last night against the Czechs. Tomas Vokoun stole that game for the Czech Republic. Although tired, look for Slovakia to play much of the same way that they did last night – with maximum effort and speed.

Thursday’s game should be entertaining indeed with both teams employing a run and gun style. The Russians will prevail, but look for the Slovaks to keep it close with Jaroslav Halak (who is used to facing 45 shots per night with his NHL club the Montreal Canadiens) being the best player on the ice.

Right now, the spread reflects how good a team that the Slovaks are. At the present time, the Russians are only favored by 2.5 goals and the Total sits at 6.5. Look for the Russians to capitalize on a tired Slovakian team, especially after their emotional loss to their cross border rival. Russia should be able to cover the spread and exceed the Total too.

Russia vs Slovakia Free Gambling Pick

The Russians are simply too talented and too Hot to handle.

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