Who Will Win the Gold in Mens Hockey at the Vancouver Games

Who will win the gold in mens Olympic hockey at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics? In the last week most of the teams have announced there line ups. There haven't been too many surprises. Some folks in Calgary are a wee but upset that some of their players didn't make the Canadian mens hockey team. A few were surprised in Ottawa that newly engaged Mike Fischer was left off Team Canada but happy to hear Alfie wouldn't play for Team Sweden if he was still injured.

So who are the Olympic hockey gold medal contenders? It is widely thought that Canada has the strongest hockey team. Even Sports Illustrated wrote that Canada had an awesome team and they were the team to beat. However, has the Turin Olympics demonstrated, one bad day can blow everything.

Canada
The hometown team has to be given the nod for the gold medal. For Canadians anything less than a double gold in the hockey events will be a failure. Team Canada will be the most talented team in the hockey tournament. Team Canada will also benefit from the decision to use NHL-sized ice surface (as opposed to a larger international sized ice surface). The motivation to win gold at home will be incredible. Well-rounded Canada has all the ingredients to win gold. There is unbelievable scoring talent, starting with Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla and Ryan Getzlaf. The defense will be stacked with strong and tough players like Chris Pronger and Dion Phaneuf. There is also a depth of talent between the pipes. Although goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur were injured, Canada is certain to be strong in goal.

Russia
Russia also has a hot hockey team competing at the Vancouver Olympics. This hockey team will be built around an impressive list of top scorers in the NHL. Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin lead the Russian hockey team. These guys are rivals in the regular season so their chemistry might be off. Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk will add to the heavy Russian fire power. It is thought that Russia might have its strongest group of goalies ever: Evgeni Nabokov, Ilya Bryzgalov and Nikolai Khabibulin. It was the Russian hockey team that destroyed Team Canadas chances of a gold medal at the Turin Games in 2006.

Sweden
This team won the last Olympic gold medal. This time they may be without the scoring power of Daniel Alfredson who is nursing an injured shoulder. The other stars of this 2006 gold medal-winning squad are getting a bit older, so the young guys will need to step up their hockey game. Forward Henrik Zetterberg will be responsible for the lion's share of the scoring. However, the offense is strong with Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Nicklas Bäckström. It remains to be seen whether Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin will be on the roster. Nicklas Lidstrom is still be among the best defensemen in the world and he will be a factor for team Sweden. Gold medalist, Henrik Lundqvist, will undoubtedly be strong for the Swedish hockey team.

Finland
This Finnish Olympic hockey team shocked the world by winning the silver medal in mens hockey competition at the 2006 Turin Olympics. However, his team thrived on the international-sized ice, something it won't have at the Vancouver Olympics. Forward Teemu Selänne is getting on in years but he will still be Finland's top player while Olli Jokinen, and Mikko and Saku Koivu will help with the scoring.

Other teams such as Team USA also have strong chances. Out of the four hockey teams detailed above, Team Canada has to be expected to win the Olympic gold medal in hockey.