The defending Olympic gold medalists are, somehow, a relative sleeper to win gold this time around in Vancouver.  Everyone is talking about Russia and Canada (for good reason), but the betting value is definitely an educated pick on one or more of the other teams involved in the greatest hockey tournament of all time.

At Sports Interaction, Canada is listed as the favorites at a staggering -143 and the Russians are next in line at +200.  Next, is where we see a massive value jump.  Sweden is the third favorite at +650...that's right 13/2 on the defending champions who are bringing, arguably, a better roster to this year's event.

Olympic hockey always comes down to goaltending.  The Swedes will have an experienced Lundquist who has been there before and is back to playing at the top of his game right now...he had an awesome final start with the Rangers on Sunday and looks to be peaking at the right time. 

Team Sweden will be led offensively by Henrik and Daniel Sedin who are 1000x better players than they were four years ago.  The twins will be playing in their home arena and will ensure that Team Sweden will have the crowd support advantage in all games other than a matchup against Canada.  The Swedes will also lean on other stars like Forsberg, Alfredsson, and Backstrom to add some support scoring.  Sweden caught a tough break when Red Wings' star Tomas Holmstrom was ruled out of the Olympics...but the pipeline of Swedish stars in Detroit lead directly to Johan Franzen who was named as his replacement late last week.

The Swedish blue-line is, once again, one of the top defensive groups in the event and will be led by one of the greatest defensemen in the history of the sport, Nicklas Lidstrom.  His support cast will include Kronwall, Ohlund, Enstrom, Tallinder, and (my pick as the break-out player of the tournament) Johnny Oduya of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Yes, I'm Canadian.  Yes, I want Canada to win gold.  But, I'm betting with my head instead of my heart in this case and taking the value of Team Sweden at +650.

If you want an even longer long-shot take a close look at Finland at +2000.  Miika Kiprusoff is having a fantastic season and is certainly used to the hostile environment at Vancouver's GM Place as a member of the hated Calgary Flames.  A roster that includes Saku and Mikko Koivu, Kapanen, Jokinen, Ruutu, Filppula, Lehtinen, Selanne, Timonen, Peltonen, and Hagman could very well be a factor when the gold medal match rolls around on February 28th.

Happy wagering, and enjoy the show.