USA vs China: America's youth will defeat the hosts

On February 10, China will play their first-ever Olympic Games qualifier. How will Ivano Zanatta's side fare in their home opener? The USA will spoil the Chinese hockey celebrations.

The lack of NHL players has been particularly harmful to the North American teams. While many Canadians play in Europe, the Americans do not leave their continent that eagerly, and as a result, it has proven to be difficult to field a squad for the major tournament of the past four years. For that reason, the roster for the Stars and Stripes boasts a plethora of student league representatives, while experienced players can be counted on one hand. The USA national team similarly applied for the Olympics 2018, but they could not accomplish anything, crushing the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals 2:3. Now, under the leadership of David Quinn, the Americans will try to reach the medals of the Games.

The Chinese team was a team that had never competed at the Olympics before. Moreover, the representatives of the Celestial Empire have never even made it to the elite group at the world championships, so the tournament in Beijing will be a historical event for them. The Chinese played their last official matches in 2019 when they played in one of the lower divisions at the World Cup only to finish in last place in Serbia, Croatia, Australia, Spain, and Belgium. The Chinese have drawn their line-up for the 2022 Olympics from KHL club Kunlun, which will feature several naturalized players and be coached by Italian Canadian Ivano Zanatta.

Never before in history has there been a tournament where the USA and China national teams could meet each other. The upcoming clash will be the opponents' debut in the history of their relationship.

The USA have brought an experimental squad to the Beijing Olympics, with several experienced hockey players from European leagues and the rest being students from American universities. You have to realize that even these youngsters are great hockey players, and many of them will be tearing up the NHL shortly. Although the Chinese team will play on home ice, it will be difficult to count on their success, as the backbone of their team is Kunlun, who have lost their last 14 games in a row even in the KHL and are hopeless outsiders in the league. As a result, we'd have to bet on Team USA to win with a handicap (-2.5) for 1.75.

The same Kunlun, which has reincarnated as China's national hockey team in the last month, shows reckless, fun, and productive hockey in the KHL. In 48 meetings with the Dragons, 299 goals have already been scored (6.23 goals per game on average), which is a respectable total. It's unlikely that Ivano Zanatta's charges will change anything at the 2022 Olympics since it would be foolish to torment the home crowd with a dismal defeat, while it would be better to please them with an open game against the American youth. With this in mind, we would expect Total Over 6.5 pucks for 2.00.

Nick Shore is a forward who has managed to play for nine different clubs in four leagues over the past five years. The endless changes of teams brought the American to Sibir in Novosibirsk, where he suddenly opened up and became the top scorer for the Snowflakes. In 49 games played, he has already scored 26 points (10 goals + 16 assists), while Andrei Martemyanov's squad is certainly not one of the most productive in the KHL. The 29-year-old hockey player is obviously in great shape, so a bet on Nick Shore Total Over (0.5) point for 1.72 is worth considering.