For baseball fans, Boxing Day is almost like Christmas 2.0. The holidays can sometimes make us weary, like when you wind up spending your entire paycheck on gifts and then listening to a family complain about how they didn’t like their present (I thought you liked candles, Mother!) . Therefore, when December 26 rolls around, hockey fans know it is time to proceed from the gift-giving and get a present they will actually enjoy with the annual IIHF world junior hockey tournament. Here are the four groups that bettors must have in their radar to acquire this tournament’s 42nd edition.
UNITED STATES (+125)
Preferred on BetOnline and the champion, the United States is a good choice to take home the gold in this year’s tourney. They will be returning goaltender Joseph Woll, that was on the squad this past year and was exceptional in the 2 matches he played. The main incentive for this season’s edition of the U.S. roster is they’re coming seven players from this past year. At forward, Buffalo Sabres draft pick Casey Mittelstadt, who will get to skate before his home fans that were future’ll leads them. Bettors should be aware that no team has won gold.
CANADA (+160)
I’d be all over this pick but I am deterred by the recent history of choking in the big moment from backing my brethren. The Canadian team fell to the U.S. squad last year at a shootout after holding two different two-goal leads. Where the Canadians will probably be piled is about the blue line as most their defensemen were drafted in the top 15 in recent NHL drafts. While the Canucks have won this tourney 16 days, they haven’t won it since 2015 and at this value, the juice probably isn’t worth the squeeze.
FINLAND (+650)
A value pick, Finland has won gold in two of the previous four tournaments and may be a sneaky choice for bettors looking to cash in on the”each year” trend. The Finns are put in Group A with the Americans and will probably be put to create it. Their anticipated starting goaltender, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, is a Sabres draft selection and the Buffalo crowd will want to obtain a look at Robin Lehner’s potential replacement. Miro Heiskanen, the third overall pick from the 2017 draft, are also back to the blue line for the Finns and their forwards depth should carry them well with five returning forward from last year’s squad.
RUSSIA (+650)
The last time that the world championship was at Buffalo, back in 2011, the Russians dominated and took the gold. But this year’s squad doesn’t have the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko, Evgeni Kuznetsov and Artemi Panarin out there dominating. While this season’s version has plenty of skilled forward, it may be too much of an uphill battle to observe the Russians repeat that feat when they don’t have generational talent hitting the ice. Just one of their defensemen was drafted by an NHL team and most of their rearguards will come from the KHL. In +650, you would be better served to spend your Christmas money.
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