NHL players won’t compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics, completely changing the dynamic of their men’s hockey tournament in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Four years after the United States made it to the bronze medal match, Team USA isn’t expected to perform nicely.
Team USA’s roster of amateurs ranks sixth in terms of medal odds. Five other teams have better than 10/1 chances. The Olympic Athletes of all Russia, who are able to compete, though not officially for the country because of a widespread doping scandal, are favored to win gold.
Canada won the gold trophy in 2014, defeating Sweden in the finals. The defending champs are tied for the second-best odds, although the Russian athletes are considered four times more likely to win the tournament. Sweden has the Very Same chances as Canada, followed by Finland and the Czech Republic.
There is plenty in the tournament of NHL experience, although no current NHL players have been allowed to compete at the 2018 Games. Canada leads the way with 5,444 combined NHL games played on its roster. Those players have totaled 2,140 career points.
The Russian athletes aren’t much behind Canada using 1,955 NHL points. Team USA has a 518-game experience edge over the Russian athletes when it comes to their time at the NHL, but the U.S. athletes have scored 739 fewer points.
Brian Gionta will play for Team USA after spending 16 seasons in the NHL and totaling 312 points. His best season came 12 decades ago when he scored 48 goals for the New Jersey Devils.
Team USA’s defense is full of former NHL players, such as Matt Gilroy, James Wisniewski, Jon Blum, Chad Billins, Bobby Sanguinetti, Noah Welch and Bobby Butler. John McCarthy played in 88 career NHL games, and Jim Slater totaled 138 points . The championship is made up of 12 teams which have been split into three classes. After playing everyone in their respective group, each of the teams advance to the removal stage and therefore are seeded based on their group documents. The three group winners and the best second-place team get a first-round bye.
The men’s hockey tournament begins Wednesday, Feb. 14 and finishes with the gold medal match on Feb. 24.
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