4 Nations final drawing 'Stanley Cup Game 7' interest
The inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off has been a huge success.
Canada's head coach, Jon Cooper, even went as far as saying "nothing's done more for hockey in a decade than what this tournament's done," according to Sportsnet's Chris Jonhston.
The event has been a pleasant surprise for the NHL in its first attempt to replace the non-competitive All-Star Game, and the appetite for best-on-best international hockey can be easily quantified by the action at sportsbooks.
"The round-robin game between Canada and the U.S. was the most-bet-on hockey event of the season," said Adrian Horton, head of North American trading at theScore Bet/ESPN Bet.
"Early action indicates Thursday's final will blow their first game out of the water based on the number of bets," Horton added. "It feels like a Stanley Cup Game 7."
The Americans won the round-robin meeting 3-1 and will host the Canadians in the final at TD Garden in Boston.
There's no favorite in the game, though. Canada and the USA are both -110 on the moneyline, meaning this game is a coin-flip despite the Americans' round-robin victory.
Team USA originally opened as -125 favorites, but that has since moved in Canada's favor. Connor McDavid & Co. have accumulated 57.5% of the bets placed on the moneyline and 65.9% of the handle (money wagered), likely one of the reasons for the shift in odds.
Canada also accumulated the most handle and bets on the tournament winner before the 4 Nations Face-Off began.
Plenty can change ahead of the final, which goes Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. But there's very little separating these two sides for now, and the stage is for what should be an incredible 60 minutes of high-intensity hockey.
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