Olympic Hockey Update: USA May Be New Favorites

There was a lot of naysayers in regards to the U.S. hockey team.  Some said they lacked chemistry, despite their talent and likely wouldn’t even be able to nab the bronze medal at this years game, let alone have a shot at beating Russia. However, the US absolutely annihilated a Slovakia team on Thursday that many predicted to be the dark horse team coming into the Sochi Games.

It has become clear that despite the fourth best odds and rarely showing up on sports pundits favorites to win, that they may be the team that should be the favorites in the odds to take gold.

Slovakia was not precieved as a weak team coming into the games.  They are not to be confused with Sloveina that had 1000/1 odds of taking gold.  They are talented team featuring a total of 12 NHL players including Jaroslav Halak and Marian Hossa.  

Early in the game the U.S. took a 1-0 lead only to have their lead dashed by what should have been an illegal goal.  The USA did not let that stop them. Instead of letting the illegal goal become of a sign of things to come, they simply went off and dismantled the Slovakian hockey team.

The U.S. unleashed a wave of goals, scoring a total of six goals in 13:51 seconds of play. In the end they blew Slovakia out of the water 7-1.

The implications this game has on the rest of the games is interesting. Slovakia was suppose to be the team that took the games by surprise, instead it seems the U.S. may be that team.

Canada and Russia were the two big  favorites to win gold and since the games have started the future odds have been taking down, but I believe that after the U.S. made an elite group of hockey players look like a Middle School hockey team, they must be the new favorites to take gold.