The last time the Italians played in men’s ice hockey at the Winter Olympics, Sweden won the gold medal.
That was the 2006 games, when Italy was also the hosting nation in Turin.
They return in 2026 with 100/1 odds at DraftKings to win gold in Milan — the longest odds of the 12 competing nations.
Italy opens up the tournament against the Swedes on Wednesday in the biggest David vs. Goliath matchup in the preliminaries.
Team Sweden is brimming with premier NHL talent. From William Nylander to Lucas Raymond, Mika Zibanejad, and Filip Forsberg, they bring formidable scoring depth at best-on-best play. That’s backed by arguably the most seasoned defensive corps in the Olympics via Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin, and Erik Karlsson.
This is essentially the same roster from the 4 Nations last year, with a couple of tweaks, including the addition of Gabriel Landeskog after his miraculous recovery from a knee injury that kept him out for nearly 3 NHL seasons.
The rivalry between Canada and the United States is the predominant theme of these games, but you can never count out Sweden, which is priced at +650, the third-best odds on the board.
Italy has no NHL experience across the board. Most of its roster competes in the ICEHL, a Central European league with most clubs based in Austria. ICEHL is ranked outside of the top 10 professional hockey leagues in the world.
Betting on the NHL?
It’s not often you can bet a game with NHL talent on the ice featuring a Puck Line of 5.5 goals or a -50000 favorite on the moneyline. The disparity between these two is large enough to lay those goals.
Sweden had a disappointing showing in the 4 Nations, losing all three round robin games. It fell to the U.S. in the IIHF World Championships semi-final in the spring.
This should be a no-mercy tone setter as the Swedes bid the Italians, “Ciao.”
THE PLAY: Sweden -5.5 (+114, DraftKings)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.