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05/07/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Team Canada put to rest all doubts as to who is the best hockey-playing nation in the world with their golden triumph at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
But with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships set to begin Friday in Germany, international bragging rights are once again up for grabs.
Despite its Olympic success, Canada has not won a gold medal at the world championships since 2007 and has lost two consecutive finals to Russia.
Canada will be going into Germany with a youthful core of players, but they will be in tough against the veteran-laden Russians and the gritty Scandinavian nations Sweden and Finland.
The United States will also look to build on a solid year of international competition after capturing the silver medal at the Olympics and gold at the world junior tournament in January.
CONTENDERS
CANADA
At first glance, Canada's roster looks like a junior hockey all-star team. Leading the charge is 20-year-old Steven Stamkos, who tied Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead with 51 goals this past season. One could argue that last year's world championship was Stamkos' coming out party, as he posted seven goals and 11 points in nine games.
Six other players under the age of 20 will also make the trip, including Calder Trophy nominees Matt Duchene and Tyler Myers, and the 2009 first overall pick, John Tavares.
The only Olympian suiting up for Canada will be Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry.
Having already captured a Stanley Cup, Memorial Cup and Olympic and world junior gold, Perry only needs a world championship to become the second player in hockey history (the other being Scott Niedermayer) to lay claim to winning all five titles.
But if the Canadians plan on avenging the disappointments of years past, they need to receive stellar goaltending from 34-year-old St. Louis Blues netminder Chris Mason. Mason won gold for Canada at the 2007 worlds and will be head coach Craig MacTavish's go-to-guy in Germany.
Although they will be icing a young and inexperienced team - with the exception of Ryan Smyth, who will be playing in his eighth world championship - Canada still has plenty of depth and should be a heavy favorite to don the gold medal for the second time in 2010.
Players to watch: Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry, Tyler Myers.
RUSSIA
After a disastrous and embarrassing ousting at the hands of the Canadians in Vancouver, the Russians will be looking to exact revenge in a familiar way.
Russia enters the tournament as the two-time defending champion, having beaten Canada in the gold medal match by one goal each time.
The Russians are by far the most dangerous team in the tournament, boasting skilled snipers such as Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Semin, Maxim Afinogenov and Alexander Frolov. They will also look for additional offense from Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) superstars Sergei Mozyakin and Maxim Sushinski.
While the Russians have the firepower up front, there are question marks on the back end, with Denis Grebeshkov as the only NHL representative on the team.
In goal, Russia will rely on the Washington Capitals' Semyon Varlamov.
Despite its humbling defeat at the Olympics, Russia is still the top dog at the world championships and will be hungry to become the first reigning three-time champion since the Czech Republic did so between 1999-2001.
Players to watch: Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Mozyakin.
FINLAND
The feisty Finns are in the midst of a generational change, but the passion and determination they are known for remains as strong as ever.
Gone are the glory days of Teemu Selanee, Olli Jokinen and Saku Koivu. They are also missing current stars Mikko Koivu and Miikka Kiprusoff. But amidst the fading stars and absent talent, the Finnish "sisu" - a combination of guts, determination and perseverance - still prevails.
It also doesn't hurt they have a very talented and underrated goalie in Pekka Rinne.
If Finland is to finish in the top three in Germany, Rinne will have to steal the show, while Carolina Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokinen and Minnesota Wild winger Anti Miettinen will need to carry the offense.
Finland will be competitive as usual, as long as it plays the gritty, all-or- nothing brand of hockey it is known for.
Players to watch: Pekka Rinne, Sami Vatanen, Jussi Jokinen.
SWEDEN
With many of its big stars still fighting for Lord Stanley's mug, Sweden, like Canada, will turn to its youth at the worlds.
On defense, they boast two of the game's most promising youngsters in Victor Hedman and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the Phoenix Coyotes' sixth overall selection in 2009. Joining them will also be NHL rookies Carl Gunnarsson of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators.
Without the services of Nicklas Backstrom, the Sedin twins and Henrik Zetterberg, Tre Kronor will need a concerted effort up front if they are to get past the quarterfinals.
They will also need goalie Jonas Gustavsson to live up to the form he established in the Swedish elite league and carried over to the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs.
Despite missing some big names, the Swedes always play a solid game at both ends of the ice. With a good blend of veterans and youth, they will likely be contenders once again.
Players to watch: Magnus Paarjarvi-Svensson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Niclas Bergfors.
DARK HORSES
UNITED STATES
While it may come as a surprise to see the Olympic silver medalists as a dark horse, a Ryan Miller-less Team U.S.A. will be hard-pressed for success in Germany.
Instead of Olympians Miller or Tim Thomas, the U.S. will start either Scott Clemmensen or American Hockey League backstop Ben Bishop - a notable area of concern.
And although they will be well coached by New York Islanders bench boss Scott Gordon and Joe Sacco of the Colorado Avalanche, the lack of skilled forwards looks to be another cause for worry.
It would be unrealistic to expect the U.S. to medal in Germany, but if one of its goalies can step up while the rest of the team plays a hard-checking, fast- paced American style of hockey, they could upset.
Players to watch: T.J. Oshie, Chris Kreider, Kyle Okposo.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Although it is cliche, goaltending wins games, and when you have one of the best in the business, anything is possible.
Tomas Vokoun will have to play some of his best hockey if the Czechs hope to have even remote success in Germany.
While it will be interesting to see Jaromir Jagr and his circa 1992 mullet lacing up for the Czech Republic, the 38-year-old is hardly the game-changer he used to be.
It also hurts that most of the Czechs' high-profile NHLers have succumbed to injury or have declined invitation.
Quite simply, Vokoun will need to summon the spirit of Domink Hasek and dominate this tournament if the Czechs are to contend, something he is quite capable of accomplishing.
Players to watch: Jaromir Jagr, Roman Cervenka, Jakub Voracek.
While the world championships will always live in the shadow of the NHL playoffs in North America, and the end-of-season injuries and rejections reduce the talent pool, it still remains one of the premier events in hockey and will undoubtedly produce some great hockey moments over the next two weeks.
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Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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