Bad Statistic For U.S. Hockey Team

If you are a hockey fan you know what it is like when two great teams collide.  You also know the reason that the point spread never extends past 1.5 for any given team. If two hockey teams are talented either one could win.

There are so many factors that come into play in a game. These factors could tip the favor from one team to another as the game progresses.  If you got one player who is not firing on all cylinders that could mean the game for your team.

Team USA, who has defeated Russia and dominated the dark horse favorite Slovakia, is a team that is firing on all cylinders at the moment. In fact, there greatest strength is that all its players are playing well together and are playing at their very best, because a hockey team is only as good as its worst player on the ice, and at the moment team USA does not have “worst player.”

However, there is a disheartening statistic for the Americans. Teams that win all three games in the group round tend to not win gold.  Sometimes they do not even place.

Since 1998, when the NHL began sending players to the Olympics, teams that finished the group rounds undefeated were then either knocked out in the quarterfinals or settled for a silver medal (or in the case of Canada in 1998 settle for fourth place).  The U.S. hockey team is all too familiar with this trend as they went 3-0 in the group rounds in 2010 and went on to settle for a silver medal.

An early loss, especially one in the group rounds, which have little medal implications, perhaps motivates teams to step it up more when the games matter more.  Whatever the case the U.S. will be looking to avoid this trend and buck this statistical anomaly this year.

Does this stat mean the U.S. does not have a shot at gold?  No, it is just a stat they will need to overcome.

When the future betting opened up at Bovada (it has since closed) the U.S. was ranked as the fourth team most likely to take gold.  They have since beaten Russia, who had the second best odds. That has to say something for this team.