Hockey’s greatest international rivalry gets reignited on Saturday night as undefeated Canada takes on Russia in the semifinal of the World Cup of Hockey as a heavy -385 favourite at sportsbooks, monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Canadians powered their way to the top of the Group A standings with three straight wins, extending their current winning streak in best-on-best tournaments to 13 games heading into Saturday night’s matchup at the Air Canada Centre.
Canada used cool efficiency while sweeping through the group stage, averaging over 43 shots on goal per game while outscoring opponents by a 14-6 margin overall, and has emerged as the clear -250 favourites on the odds to win the World Cup.
The Russians needed a victory over Finland in their final group stage contest to advance to the semifinals, and take on their old foes as +270 underdogs on the betting lines. The two rivals last clashed at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where Canada handed the Russians an embarrassing 7-3 quarter-final loss.
Russia was also bounced early from the 2014 Olympic tournament, bowing out following a quarter-final loss to Finland, and has failed to claim victory in a best-on-best international event since routing Canada 8-1 in the final of the 1981 Canada Cup.
Faced with the daunting task of stopping the Canadian juggernaut, Russia also sits well back on the World Cup of Hockey odds, pegged at +600.
In Saturday’s other semifinal, Group B winner Sweden hits the ice against the surprising Team Europe as healthy -235 chalk. The Swedes posted wins over Russia and Finland before wrapping up the group stage with a 4-3 overtime loss to Team North America in arguably the best game so far at this tournament.
Sporting +400 odds to claim their first major tournament victory since winning gold at the 2006 Olympics, Sweden would welcome a final matchup against the Canadians, who blanked Sweden 3-0 to take home the gold medal in Sochi.
However, the Tre Kronor cannot afford to look past Europe, which stung a heavily favoured Team USA with a 3-0 win in its tournament opener and enters Saturday’s clash at +1000 odds to win the World Cup.
Powered by a two-goal performance by the New York Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello, the Europeans followed up their opening win with a 4-3 overtime victory over Czech Republic.
