Olympic Hockey Game Preview: United States Versus Finland

United States -1 / Over-Under 5

With Olympic hockey betting coming down the home stretch, we have a match-up of two of the stronger teams in the tournament. When the United States takes on Finland it will be the unstoppable force meets the immovable object. The hard-hitting Fins will be all the gritty American team can handle, and sportsbook reviews could be referring to this game as the biggest test the Americans will face on their way to the gold.

If you bet on hockey then the first thing you want to look at is the over-under on this game. The number is five, and that is a lot to ask of these two teams. This will be a classic goaltending battle between two of the best goalies in the world. When Ryan Miller and Miikka Kiprusoff face off the result will be less than five goals. Miller blanked the Swiss in the quarterfinals and Kiprusoff was brilliant in the Fins win over the Czech Republic where he also recorded a shut-out.

The Fins have several things going for them. One of the main things is all-time Olympic hockey point scorer Teemu Selanne. The guy is 39 years old and there is talk that he could play in one more Olympics before he is done. Selanne is a premier playmaker and one of the smartest players in the tournament. Then there is the tank known as Jarkko Ruutu. He has been running over opposing players and terrorizing opposing goalies the entire tournament. He is fearless, huge and strong. The Fins also posses an amazing chemistry that most of the other Olympic teams do not possess.

The Americans have Chris Drury, Ryan Miller and Jack Johnson. It is rare that a player gets to improve his NHL career by playing in the Olympics because you are usually considered a hot commodity to be in the tournament in the first place. But Jack Johnson has increased his stock in the NHL with his play in this tournament, and his career will pick up when the NHL resumes.

If you like grinding hockey with superb goaltending then this is the game in this tournament that you have been waiting for. There are legends being born in this Olympic games and there are stories that hockey fans will not forget for a long time to come. This game will be talked about for a long time as well.

Take the under on the over-under. The United States will not score many goals and the Fins may not score any goals at all. The way that the Americans wore down the Swiss and eventually broke the armor of Jonas Hiller was a preview of what will happen against the Fins. The Americans are relentless, and it will be hard for the Fins to score when they will be spending most of their time chasing the Americans around. When the Fins finally do get into the American end they will have to put the puck past Ryan Miller, and that has not happened often in this tournament.

Pick: Team USA 2-0