Joe Champion
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It’s a huge day for American hopes in the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday, with the women’s hockey team going for gold against old rivals Canada in the gold medal game at 11:10pm ET. Canada is the -120 favorite, with the USA women at +168 with FanDuel Sportsbook.
Then, at around 9:30pm ET, skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin bids for gold in the alpine combined event, after crashing out of both the individual slalom events at the Games. Let’s take a look at today’s big events.
Winter Olympics women’s hockey final Canada vs USA analysis
All eyes turn to the ice on Wednesday night in Beijing, where the USA and Canada renew their rivalry in the women’s gold medal game. Canada made it 4 wins in a row over their biggest rivals when they claimed a 4-2 win in the teams’ preliminary-round match last week, but two of those victories came in overtime and there is likely to be little between the teams again when they meet tonight.
The American team dominated statistically in their pool clash — outshooting Canada 53-27 as goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens made a remarkable 51 saves — and that offers hope that they can turn the tables on their northern neighbors.
Canada won the preliminary game in Pyeongchang 4 years ago before the U.S. won the gold with a dramatic overtime win, and that should give the defending Olympic champions hope.
Winter Olympics women’s alpine combined best bet: Mikaela Shiffrin (-120)
Beijing 2022 has been an Olympics to forget for America’s queen of the slopes, Mikaela Shiffrin, but the she could yet enjoy a change in her luck by winning gold in the alpine combined, for which she heads the market at -120.
Shiffrin failed to finish in both slalom events before finishing down the field in the super-G and the downhill, but her versatility across all disciplines makes her a prime candidate for success in the combined, which features 1 downhill run and 1 slalom run.
The 26-year-old from Vail, Colorado, set the fastest downhill time in practice overnight and, given her prowess as a slalom skier, she looks poised to finally deliver gold in an event in which she holds the world title. The women’s alpine combined starts at 9:30 pm ET.
Winter Olympics men’s freeski halfpipe best bet: Alex Ferreira (+450)
Nico Porteous is the hot favorite for gold in the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe, which starts with the qualification runs this evening, but the New Zealander faces stiff competition from 3 Americans in Aaron Blunck, Alex Ferreira and defending champion David Wise, while Canada’s Brendan Mackay will also have his sights set on a medal.
Double X Games winner Porteous has raised the bar with runs which include back-to-back 1620s, but Ferreira, another 2-time X champion, believes he can match the Kiwi and the 27-year-old could improve on his performance at Pyeongchang 2018, where he claimed silver. He enjoyed World Cup results of 1-2-2 before a lesser showing at Mammoth last time.
Qualifying for the men’s freeski halfpipe begins at 11:30 pm ET on Wednesday with the final runs taking place on Friday evening.
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