Canada's been dominant in recent outings against Latvia, and our World Juniors picks expect more of the same on Thursday night.
Team Canada will look to make it two wins in a row with a victory over Latvia at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday, December 27.
Canada is among the favorites to win the entire event, and Latvia will have its hands full if it wants to avoid relegation. As such, our top Canada vs. Latvia predictions expect the Canadians to win convincingly.
Odds courtesy of bet365 as of 12-26.
My best bet: Canada -6.5 (+114 at FanDuel)
In a tournament often dominated by 19-year-olds, the Latvia team has four 16-year-old players and just a pair of NHL draftees on the roster. Latvia only has eight skaters aged 19.
The depth of this Canadian roster was heralded as its calling card entering the tournament, which includes 21 NHL draftees and four returning players. The Canadians have 15 19-year-old skaters.
Canada is a warranted huge favorite and has beaten Latvia four consecutive times by a 41-4 combined score, and the Canadians scored double-digit goals in three of those meetings.
I’m expecting the trend to continue because this Canadian squad has capable scorers on all four lines, and I also expect this to be a motivated bunch. A notable narrative leading into the tournament was focused on who didn’t make the club, so I anticipate a top-to-bottom effort and another tidy game for the Canadians.
Canada registered 41 shots in its 4-0 win over Finland on Thursday, while Latvia lost both its exhibition contests 5-1 to Czechia and Switzerland, and the Canadians have far more offensive firepower jumping the boards than those two clubs.
Latvia will likely turn to Linards Feldbergs in the net, and he has some international experience from last year’s tournament, but his .899 SV% for the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the QMJHL hardly jumps off the page. Aksels Ozols also saw brief action in last year’s tournament, but I don’t think he’ll start the opener.
It’s also worth noting both Latvian goalies are just 6-feet tall, so neither has a commanding presence in goal. Likely Canadian starter Carson Bjarnason is 6-foot-3, for comparison. Expect a convincing win from the Canadians.
Canada -5.5
Over 7.5
Bradly Nadeau anytime goalscorer
There aren’t many SGP options available, and a number of sportsbooks aren’t offering them for the Canada-Latvia clash, either.
This bet365 SGP doesn’t offer long odds, but I like Bradly Nadeau to have a solid game skating on the No. 1 line. He’s playing for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL and has collected six goals and nine assists across 22 games in his first professional season.
Nadeau has also jumped into an NHL game already, and linemates Calum Ritchie and Easton Cowan are both returnees for Team Canada.
Canada has beaten Latvia four consecutive times by a combined score of 41-4, and the Canadians scored double-digit goals in three of the meetings.
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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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