With a trip to the semifinals on the line, our World Juniors picks expect Canada's defensive dominance at even strength to be the difference.
It’s win-or-go-home time at the IIHF World Junior Championship at the Canadian Tire Centre, and Team Canada takes on Czechia in a quarterfinal bout on Thursday, January 2.
Our Canada vs. Czechia predictions and top hockey picks are calling for the Canadians to advance with a low-scoring win tonight.
Odds courtesy of bet365 as of 1-2.
My best bet: Under 5.5 (+115 at bet365)
Team Canada has been a defensive force without a single 5-on-5 goal allowed during this year’s tournament, and No. 1 goalie Carter George paces the tournament with a .964 SV% and 1.01 GAA. George also has a pair of shutouts, and he lands in a sneaky matchup against Czechia tonight.
Czechia has the highest team shooting percentage in the tournament (19.7%), and I’m not anticipating it being replicated tonight against George and the solid 5-on-5 Canadian team defense.
Of course, 19-year-old Michael Hrabal has also been excellent in goal for Czechia in his second stint at the event. He’s posted a rock-solid .926 SV% and 2.36 GAA.
Finally, while Canada definitely has improvement ahead of its tournament-low 5.8 SH%, I’m not anticipating the levee breaking entirely against Czechia tonight.
Canada moneyline
Under 5.5
Berkly Catton anytime goalscorer
Team Canada is a sizable favorite to advance to the semifinals, and while currently being highly criticized, this group has done a lot right. As noted, their 5.8 team shooting percentage is unsustainably low, and there are too many talented scorers for the piss-poor puck luck to continue.
Plus, defensively, they’ve been essentially perfect at 5-on-5.
Turning to center Berkly Catton, he paces the Canadians in shots on goal (22) while averaging the fifth-most ice time per game (15:09) among forwards. He hasn’t found the back of the net through the first four games of the tournament, but he’s positioned to succeed and has the shooting arsenal to cash in.
Catton’s potted 68 goals across his past 96 WHL games, after all.
The Canadians are the only team in the tournament yet to allow a goal at 5-on-5.
Not intended for use in MA.
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Neil Parker is, first and foremost, a sports fan. A huge supporter of the Cowboys, Cubs, and Maple Leafs, he has managed to parlay his passion into writing gigs at some of the top websites in the industry.
Neil takes a numbers-based approach to his handicapping and complements his in-depth statistical analysis with a keen eye on the markets to provide the best available odds. He loves to lean on his rolodex of idioms to offset his inner nerd. When it comes to wagering, he throws down on anything that catches his eye at bet365, Betway and BetVictor. He also keeps a close eye on CoolBet because the polar bear brand often has outlier NHL and NFL moneyline prices.
Neil graduated with honors from St. Thomas University in 2007 before completing his BEd at Acadia University in 2010. After teaching a myriad of courses and subjects, he found a groove delivering fun lessons to exceptional learners in non-traditional classroom environments. If his decade-plus teaching run taught him anything about sports betting, it’s to stay the course and use the summer – or offseason – to refresh and prepare to be better in the year to come.
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