NHL players will not compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics, entirely changing the dynamic of their men’s hockey tournament in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Four years after the United States made it into the bronze medal match, Team USA isn’t expected to perform nicely.
Team USA’s roster of amateurs ranks sixth in terms of decoration chances. Five other teams possess better than 10/1 odds to finish the tournament in first place. The Olympic Athletes of all Russia, who are able to compete, although not formally for the country because of a widespread doping scandal, are favored to win gold.
Canada won the gold trophy in 2014, beating Sweden in the finals. The defending champs are tied to the second-best odds, though the Russian athletes have been considered four times more likely to win the tournament. Sweden has exactly the Very Same chances as Canada, followed by Finland and the Czech Republic.
No current NHL players are allowed to compete at the 2018 Games, but there’s plenty from the tournament of NHL experience. Canada leads the way with 5,444 combined NHL games played with its roster. 2,140 career points have been totaled by those players.
The Russian athletes aren’t far behind Canada with 1,955 NHL points. Team USA has a 518-game experience advantage over the Russian athletes in regards to their time at the NHL, but the U.S. athletes have scored 739 fewer things.
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, including Matt Gilroy, James Wisniewski, Jon Blum, Chad Billins, Bobby Sanguinetti, Noah Welch and Bobby Butler. John McCarthy played in 88 career NHL matches, and Jim Slater totaled 138 points . The tournament is made up of 12 teams that have been split into three groups. After playing everyone in their respective group, all the teams advance to the elimination stage and are seeded according to their group documents. The three group winners and the best second-place team undergo 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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