VANCOUVER 2010 CANADA VS GERMANY ICE HOCKEY LATEST ODDS

Despite underwhelming pretty severely in their opening fixtures at the 2010 Winter Olympics, Team Canada are virtual certainties to dispose of Germany in their knock-out fixture today. Certainly Canada can’t conspire to cock this one up, and you’ll find that popular UK bookmaker Ladbrokes has listed Canada at a miniscule 1.02 for the outright victory. That’s right, if you wager $100 on Canada, you’ll walk out with $102 if they get the victory. A 60 minute draw, sending us to overtime, pays out at 15.0 while the Germans to win pays a whopping 29.0.
The puck drops at 4:40 Pacific Time at Canada Hockey Place in Vancouver. 
The over/under for the match is set at 6.5 with the edge given to the over. Clearly, the bookies expect Canada to run up the score here and I don’t think they’re counting on Canada to ship too many goals, as Roberto Luongo has been recalled in between the pipes after two confounding performances from Martin Brodeur.
Canada’s over/under has been set at 5.5 with both ways paying 1.85. Germany’s over/under is 0.5 with the over favoured at 1.53 while they are 2.37 to effectively be shut out.
Canada pays out at 1.14 to score the first goal while Germany is 6.0 to take a surprise lead. No goals in the match at all pays 34.0. Even Canada on a (-3.5) handicap pays out at a mere 1.4. Germany to keep it close and win the match (+3.5) is a very solid 2.75. It looks like the bookies expect a Canadian victory by around 6 goals to be paying close to even money. Canada (-4.5) pays 1.75 while Germany (+4.5) rewards at 2.0.
If you think Canada will start strongly, try backing them to win the 1st period (-1.5) at 2.0. If you think they will produce a three goals or more performance in the first half (which isn’t unlikely if they play to potential) you’re looking at a 3.75 price for Canada (-2.5) in the first period.
In terms of the correct score betting, The lowest-priced option is either Canada 5-0, 5-1 or 6-1 which are all listed at 12.0. 7-1, 4-1, 7-0 and 4-0 pay out at 15.0.
The big question comes down to just how hard Canada are going to play. Are they going to come storming out of the gates and give 110% in a match that they know they’re going to win? They face a tough tie with Russia after this fixture, so will they keep things on the low boil while trying to conserve stamina for Alexandre Ovechkin and Co.? I think Canada are under a lot of pressure at the moment and they need a convincing win to get the momentum back in their favour. This is the last “easy” game Canada will have.