Men's Team Will Start Gold Medal Hopes With Dominating Win Over Latvia

United States vs. Latvia, 3:10 ET

With the Summer Olympics, I know that my favorite thing to watch is the basketball games. As you're probably aware, I'm a big basketball guy, so it comes as no surprise. But, outside of that, I like the swimming competitions, some of the track competitions, and even the gymnastics are pretty cool. When it comes to Winter Olympics, I suppose hockey is the most exciting thing for me, but I remember watching the Figure Skating with my mom, so that's got a small place in my heart. I'd love to bet on it, but I feel like it would be a guess more than anything. I don't feel like the game between the United States and Latvia today will be a guess. I feel like the Americans are going to dominate.

The USA gets their first game of the Olympics here in the preliminary round. This is one of the sports that America is good at, but not necessarily considered the powerhouse. They are in a decent group with Latvia, Germany, and Denmark. This feels like one they should be able to win. They have essentially put together an All-Star team just as you'd expect with every player on the roster in the NHL. Perhaps what I like best about their team is the goalies. They have arguably the two best goalies in all of hockey on their team with Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger on the roster. Hellebuyck was in net when Canada defeated the US in the 4 Nations Face Off Final last year, so maybe this is a revenge tour for him. In fairness, he played great in the game, someone had to allow a goal, and it just so happened that he did. I'm excited to see Austin Matthews and Jack Eichel play together, and believe this could be one of the best teams the Americans have ever fielded. A gold is realistic and a silver might even be considered a disappointment this year.

Feb 2, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save on a Dallas Stars shot during the third period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

For Latvia, there isn't quite the same level of star power. Don't get me wrong, there are some players who are NHL guys on the roster, but not nearly to the level of the US. It seems like they have six players who are in the biggest league in the world, compared to literally everyone on the US roster. That's not usually a fair fight. That also doesn't mean that Latvia is going to just roll over and let America win. Is there a path that Latvia has to winning this game? I suppose you could make a case that in any hockey game there is a path. If a goalie stands on his head during the game and is able to get a shutout, I suppose anything is possible. However, the likelihood does seem fairly low. I think Latvia, even outside of games against America will struggle to score goals. They just don't have a ton of firepower, and their team doesn't have enough guys who can consistently push the issue against the US. 

The biggest question of this game is if the American team will get off to a slow start, or if they will come out blazing right out of the gates. The books fully expect this to be a domination from the US. the spread is 4.5 and the total is 6.5. I really don't envision Latvia scoring that many goals - and frankly would be surprised to see them score at all. I think the US easily wins this game by five or more and they are curently +124 to cover that -4.5 spread. I honestly can't believe I'm taking a -4.5 spread in hockey, but that is the distance between these two teams. 

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024