The Canada vs. USA start time is 3:00 EST. Canada is the prohibitive favorite and Bodog says they will take home the Gold Medal.
While Team USA may have the always brash Brian Burke to thank for their mix of grinders, goal-scorers, no-names and stellar goaltending, Team Canada has general manager and former Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman to thank for putting together an A-Team of athletes.
"It comes down to character," said Yzerman, "and we believe we've got 23 guys with great character."
And speaking of which, Team Canada has Eric Staal, Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla. These guys have tightened things up and their line is eager to explode on the Americans. Boy do they want a rematch of last Sunday's game…with a different outcome, of course.
Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews are three of the strongest forwards going into the gold medal game and they're more than ready, too.
Canada's loss to the US resulted in the team getting an extra game to sort things out and iron out any wrinkles. Players that maybe weren't entirely confident about things at the start of the tournament had an extra game to gain the confidence needed to crush Russia.
Canada's win over Slovakia wasn't an easy one, but in looking back at their loss against the Americans Team Canada coach Mike Babcock had this to say: "We were too easy on Miller last time. We won't be this time."
And it would be unfair to the +18,000 fans expected to be on hand at Canada Hockey Place to rule out Roberto Luongo's popularity in Vancouver. As the captain of the Vancouver Canucks and the starting goalie for Team Canada, Luongo knows his role and he's ready to play the game of his life at the Vancouver Olympics.
"You work for something like this your whole life," Luongo said. "It's all about seizing the moment now."
Canada has won three straight with Luongo in net and is 4-0-0 when Luongo plays. He's got a .920 save percentage (stopping 81 of 87 shots), a 1.75 goals-against average and one shutout.
And finally, let's not forget that this final game is being played in Canada, the "host with the most" gold medals at the 2010 Olympics. With an entire nation believing…this has to be a game worth its weight in gold.
Things get underway at 12:00 p.m. Pacific, 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
Get your Olympic hockey betting at Bodog Sportsbook.
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