Russian team leads final 2018 Winter Olympic men’s hockey gold medal odds

The final ice hockey odds before the 2018 Winter Olympics have come in, and it’s no surprise to see the Russians leading the charge once again. While Russia does not have an official team for Pyeongchang due to a doping scandal that banned the country from competing under their flag, they did have enough players to form a hockey team under the Olympic banner.

Thanks to the odds given by Bovada, we now know where all 12 countries stand. With two days before the opening ceremonies, the Olympic Athletes of Russia are favored to take home gold in the men’s tournament. Team USA is placed sixth in the latest odds.

The Russians opened as the favorites back in October, and not much seems to have changed in the oddsmakers’ minds despite the ban given to the country. Russia has not medaled in the last three Olympic games, as their bronze in 2002 was the last time the team saw the medal podium.

Russia’s last gold in hockey was from the 1998 Calgary games when the team was still under the Soviet Union banner.

Thanks to the lack of NHL support, the KHL has supplied most of the Russian team you’ll see on the ice. Former NHLers such as Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, and Alexei Marchenko will headline the team, making them a formidable opponent for normal hockey powerhouses like Canada and Finland.

As for Team Canada, their deep hockey pool isn’t as electric as an NHL roster would have been, but talented players like Rene Bourque, Mason Raymond, and Wojtek Wolski are the reason the team has the second-best odds in the tournament.

Team USA, on the other hand, will be led by veterans Brian Gionta, Mark Arcobello, and Chris Bourque. While the United States will ice a competent roster, it will be an uphill battle to the medal podium.

Where Team USA will likely excel is on the women’s side, where the Americans came away with the best odds (10-13) of that tournament. The Canadians, however, are right on Team USA’s heels with 11-10 odds in the eight-team pool.

The full betting lines and props have been released for the 2018 Winter Olympics, with the total for United States gold medals being set at 10.5 after opening on Wednesday.