Sweden Offering Up Sweet 2010 Odds

January 17, 2010 in Breaking News, Sweden by hockey

Why betting on Sweden at the Vancouver Olympics could be one of February’s best deals.

DESPITE taking gold at the last Winter Olympic Games and having a roster littered with NHL stars, Sweden is being viewed by bookies like Sportsbook.com as a six to one outsider for this year’s Olympics, making a wager on the Scandinavians all the more attractive.

Compared to front runners Canada and Russia – ranked as even-money and two to one respectively – Sweden has so far failed to gain the admiration of those writing the odds, although they finished first four years ago in Turin. With a month left to go before the games begin, bookies have Sweden at the unlikely odds of six to one to win the competition outright.

The Sedins could be a Spark for Sweden

One man’s trash though, is another man’s treasure and given that several of the team’s frontline players are only returning from injury just in time for the tournament, Sweden could yet earn the title of Olympic dark horses.

First off, the current long odds are taking into account the fact that the major stars of the Swedish team including Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel Alfredsson who both recently recovered from injuries sustained during the NHL season. Zetterberg recently started playing again, while Alfredsson was expected to be out for another 2 weeks, though he’s already made his return for Ottawa. As well, Detroit Red Wings defensive studs Niklas Kronwall and Nicklas Lidstrom are still both recovering from injuries.

Zetterberg, Lidstrom and Kronwall were all staples of the 2008 Detroit Red Wing Stanley Cup team and their time spent away from the team due to injury has shown in the Wings’ holiday-season record. Currently fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot, the Red Wings dearly need these three Swedes back in the line-up for the team to experience success again. As well as bringing success back for the Red Wings, the health of Zetterberg, Lidstrom and Kronwall brings offensive power to the Swedish line-up that bookies are currently undervaluing.

Age can also be attributed to the odds. In 2006, supporters in search of a scapegoat blamed age for the misfortune of the Canadian Olympic team, which for 2010 has become much younger. The Swedish team of 2010, however, has not changed much since the 2006 victory, with such players as Peter Forsberg being named to the team who is more than long in the tooth.

Key Goal for Sweden in Turin

Luckily for the Swedish team though, they are most certainly going to place in the top four after the round robin, which means they have a bye to the quarter finals. This rest will be more beneficial to the older Swedish team than to the Russian or Canadian teams which are more youthful.

From then on it is a single elimination. If the Swedish team makes it to the quarter finals, which it more than likely will with a bye, they become quite dangerous. They have two of the top players in the game in Zetterberg and Henrik Sedin, who is currently ranked first in the NHL in total points. They also have some strong youth potential in the lineup with the likes of Patric Hornqvist who has been carrying the Nashville Predators to their impressive record this year. That Zetterberg, Thomas Holmstrom, Kronwall, and Lidstrom all play for the perenial powerhouse Red Wings will add to the chemistry in the Swedish offense and strengthen the team.

Lastly, between the pipes they have Henrik Lundqvist who never turns away from a challenge (look at the January 12th NHL game where he stopped all 45 shots faced in regulation only to lose in a shootout to none other than Martin Brodeur).

Add all this up and you’re looking at a Swedish Team that no one should want to face come single elimination and one of the best values bets at the 2010 Olympics Games in Vancouver.

From Whistler for 2010HockeyBetting.com,

Steveo