In what is becoming a budding international rivalry on the ice, Canada might be in tough against Czechia in the quarterfinals in Sweden. It's a rematch of last year's final and the Canadians haven't looked as dominant after starting the tournament hot.
Hello, old friend.
Into the knockout stage of the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship, Canada will need to go through Czechia in the quarterfinals, a rematch of last year’s Gold Medal Final, won by the Canadians.
Neither side is close to the same squad it was a year ago. Canada has just the third-best odds to three-peat at +280, but they’re a hefty -625 on the moneyline to advance. The Czechs, meanwhile, sit a distant fifth to capture the WJHC at +1,700.
Read below for my free World Junior Hockey Championship betting picks for Canada vs Czechia on January 2.
Odds courtesy of Sports Interaction as of January 1, 2024.
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It hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Canadians heading into Tuesday. After convincing wins to open against Finland and Latvia — outscoring them 15-2 across the two games — the Canadians were shut down by the host Swedes, losing 2-0.
They secured their spot in the knockout stage on New Year’s Eve, downing the Germans 6-3, but that was nowhere nearly as painless as the final tally sounds. The teams were tied 2-2 heading into the third period. Canada took the lead for good nearly halfway through the final 20 on a goal by Jordan Dumais.
With less than four minutes left, Canada finally put the game on ice with Macklin Celebrini delivering his second goal of the game. The 17-year-old — the youngest player on the roster and the man projected to go first in the 2024 NHL Draft — currently leads the team in scoring with four goals and eight points in four games.
Czechia lost their opener to Slovakia 6-2 and salvaged a point in a 4-3 OT loss to the United States, the current betting favorite to take it all. They also picked up wins against Switzerland and Norway. Remember that Czechia also announced themselves last year, thumping Canada 5-2 in their opening matchup of the tournament.
These teams have been familiar foes, with Tuesday’s tilt marking the eighth straight year they will have played each other at least once. For Czechia, getting another crack at the Canadians should make this a spirited event.
I like Canada to win, but Czechia to cover.
My best bet: Czechia +2.5 (+105 at SIA)
The moneyline has been overwhelmingly in Canada’s favor, with some books having them as high as -650. Czechia, on the other hand, can be found as long as +425 underdogs, with the shortest of those odds coming in at +375.
As for the total, Canada averaged better than five goals per game in the round-robin, while Czechia scored better than four per contest, while also surrendering 3.25 goals per game.
The total is set at 6.5 at most books, but you can find values in the seven-goal range.
Canada has won eight of the last nine head-to-head matchups in WJHC play.
Eric has been involved in sports media in many different capacities since graduating from journalism school in 1999, back when getting your own column in a newspaper was still considered a thing. He doubled down and graduated from broadcast journalism school five years later, which led to a move to Toronto and a career with The Sports Network (TSN). From behind-the-scenes production work, he moved into the digital realm, where he had his own hoops column (At the Buzzer), while regularly live streaming and chatting with fans during broadcasts as the character known as LeBlog James. He was also a key contributor to TSN and CTV’s Olympic programming during the 2012 London Games.
Eric eventually found his way into the sports betting field in 2016 and has been a mainstay ever since. He was tagged on Twitter as a Top 10 NBA sharp during the 2021 season and has been interviewed about basketball and his handicapping process on shows from Vancouver to India. Eric is now a jack-of-all-sports at Covers, where his predictions span the alphabet soup: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, F1, WNBA, Euro, and Copa.
When making picks, he focuses on finding value first and foremost, and ensuring readers have all the information they need to make an informed choice.
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