Sunday afternoon will mark the culmination of what has been a very eventful Men’s Olympic Hockey tournament. It is being played by two teams that have a little revenge on their minds – the US wanting to avenge a Gold Medal final loss eight years ago in Salt Lake City and the Canadians wanting to avenge a 5-3 loss to the Americans during the Round Robin portion of the tournament.

Moneyline Odds: Canada: -210 : USA: +160
Sunday 3pm EST on NBC
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Team Canada had been on quite a rollercoaster ride during the 2010 Olympics. They started somewhat slowly against Norway, had a “hiccup game” against the Swiss and then fell flat against the USA in the Round Robin. Canada was relegated to the Qualification Round to the chagrin of most Canadians. Who could have predicted that an extra game and a little humble pie was what Team Canada needed to find their groove and to reach their potential? Canada dismantled Team Germany and defeated a stubborn Slovakia to earn a spot in Sunday’s Gold Medal final.

For Team Canada, it is not the veterans that have been getting it done in these Olympics. Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger have had flashes in this tournament but have also disappeared at times. It is the youngsters that have been leading the way. Shea Webber and Drew Doughty on Defense and Ryan Getzlaf, Correy Perry and Jonathan Toews on offense have really carried Team Canada to this point. The veteran presence of Martin Brodeur in goal for Canada was an experiment that largely failed, handing Canada’s International Hockey reigns to Roberto Luongo who has played good, mistake-free hockey thus far.

The youth movement is on for Canada’s International Hockey program and it is a good thing. Canada is going to need every bit of their youthful energy to slow down the high flying Americans on Sunday.

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Team USA has been on quite a roll during this Olympic tournament. They are 5-0 and show no signs of letting up. The Americans have fed off of their underdog roll so far but have emerged on everyone’s radar now. General Manager Brian Burke built this team to be difficult to play against. He picked players with speed, grit and a physical element and it has worked wonders. They have developed a tremendous chemistry and they enjoy a surprisingly balanced attack with a different player stepping up seemingly every game.

Team USA is not the collection of established Superstars that Team Canada is, they are a group of young , budding stars that we will be hearing from for a long time. The future of USA Hockey has developed quicker that most imagined – here they are in the Gold Medal Final of the Olympic Games. The youthful Patrick Kane, Zach Parise and Paul Statsny have been excellent for the American squad, they young defense that includes Jack and Erik Johnson and Brian Rafalski have been stellar and goaltender Ryan Miller is demonstrating to the world why he is regarded as the beast goalie on the planet right now.

Sunday’s Gold Medal final is one that not many predicted but is one that is deserved. Like it or not, the Canada-US rivalry has supplanted the Canada-Russia rivalry that dominated the International Hockey world for the past 40 or so years. Canada will battle nerves but I think that they learned enough from their 5-3 loss to the Americans during the Round Robin to improve and defeat Team USA for Gold on Home Ice. “Oh Canada” will be sung by every Canadian with a voice on Sunday afternoon!

USA vs. Canada Pick: Team Canada in a 5-4 thriller! (The Total currently sits at 5 ½ goals – it is something to ponder as well when making your Gold Medal bets) – Courtesy of Dave Bond: Betus.com News Feed: Featured on Handicapperspicks.com

Boise State vs. New Mexico State
Free Pick: New Mexico State -7 (February 27th 2010 – Tom Freese)
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Boise St is 13-15 overall and they are 3-10 in Conference Play. Forward Ike Okoye scores 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds a game. Forward Robert Arnold scores 10.5 points a game. La’Shard Anderson scores 10.2 points a game. Daequon Montreal scores 10 points a game. The Broncos score 73.3 points a game. Boise St is 2-5 ATS off a straight up win and they are 3-7-1 ATS their last 11 meetings with the Aggies. New Mexico St is 18-9 overall and they are 10-3 in Conference Play. Jahmar Young scores 21 points a game. Guard Johnathan Gibson scores 18 points a game while shooting 40.7% from behind the arc. Forward Troy Gillenwater scores 13.8 points a game. Forward Wendell McKines scores 11.2 points a game. Center Hamidu Rahman scores 10.6 points and 8 rebounds a game. The Aggies score 78 points a game and they 12-3-1 ATS their 16 league games and they are 8-1-1 ATS their last 10 Saturday games.

Tulsa vs. East Carolina
Free Pick: Tulsa -9.5 (February 27th 2010 – Steve Merril)
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Tulsa is in a funk right now; the Golden Hurricane have lost four straight games and five of their last six overall. However, all five of those losses have come against very good teams in UTEP (twice), Memphis, Marshall, and Duke. There’s no shame in losing to any one of those teams, so the recent bad run by Tulsa isn’t as bad as it seems.

Tonight, Tulsa takes a huge step down in class as they travel to East Carolina and take on a team that is simply playing out the string. The Pirates are a dismal 9-18 on the season, and considering they are facing a desperate Tulsa team in dire need of a win, they can expect to be on the losing end once again. East Carolina has been repeatedly waxed by good teams this season. In fact, of their 18 losses, 12 of them have come by double digits.

Despite Tulsa laying over East Carolina in terms of talent, we cannot make them a Best Bet tonight for a couple of reasons. First, and foremost, they are a fragile team right now. Tulsa was the preseason conference favorite, and since they’ve underperformed, there’s concern that their psyche is shattered. They could very well name the score here, but if they are not fully focused and fail to bring their ‘A’ game, they’ll be hard-pressed to win by double digits. Secondly, Tulsa is just 4-7 on the road this year with all four wins coming by 7 points or less. Those two reasons are enough to downgrade Tulsa to Free Play status even though they are the superior team in this game.

LSU vs. Auburn
Free Pick: Auburn -8.5 (February 27th 2010 – Rob Vinciletti)
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On Saturday the free play is on Auburn. Game 622 at 7:00 eastern. The Tigers are 21-3 vs teams who average 65 or less with several big covers. When they play losing teams they have won 19 of 22 and have cashed 6 of the last 7 Saturday games. Tonight they catch an LSU team that wont remind anyone of the days when Shaq played there. LSU is 1-12 in the conference this year with their lone win coming on Thursday night at home vs Arkansas. Look for them to regress back to normal tonight as they are 0-10 on the road losing by an average 18 points per game. When they have home loss revenge they are 0-4 and have failed 3 times vs the spread. They lost and failed to cover every time this year on the road in this range as a dog. Take Auburn tonight. On the Saturday card I have the WAC Goy with a huge Power angle that has cashed 21 of 22 times. I also have a Triple angle NCAAB Total, The Big DOG 90% TV game and a Last Home game System Side. We went 5-1 Last Saturday and much like Last weeks big play I expect this WAC GOY game to win with no problem. NBA will be on the late report. For the free play take Auburn. RV

Portland Trailblazers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Free NBA Pick: Portland -4 (February 27th 2010 – Big Al McMordie
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At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Portland Trail Blazers minus the points over Minnesota. Portland has won two of its first three games on this five-game road trip, although the loss came last night, by four points, in Chicago as a 3.5-point underdog. Minnesota is mired in a big slump, as the Timberwolves have won just one of their previous nine games, including a blowout loss last night in Oklahoma City. Tonight, we’ll take the road-favored Trail Blazers, as Portland falls into a 64-35 ATS system of mine. What we want to do is play on any .550 (or better) road favorite of less than eight points that failed to cover as a road underdog its last time out, if it is matched up against a .399 (or worse) opponent off back to back losses. Portland is a super 27-13 ATS as a road favorite, and Minny is 28-41 ATS at home its last 69. Take Portland. Good luck, as always…Big Al McMordie.

Al McMordie is having a terrific week, CASHING 4 of his 5 Releases here. Last Saturday, Big Al SMASHED the Books with his Sun Belt Conference Game of the Year on Louisiana Monroe, and Al has another HUGE Conference Game of the Year Winner today out of a 76-33 ATS System. Get on it.

Niagara vs. Manhattan
Free Pick: Niagara -3.5 (February 26th 2010 – Tom Freese)
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Manhattan is 10-17 overall and 4-12 in Conference Play. Guard Rico Pickett scores 17.8 points a game. Guard Darryl Crawford scores 14.5 points and 6 rebounds a game. No other player on the team scores more 7.9 points a game. The Jaspers score just 64.6 points a game and they shoot just 68% from the foul line. The Jaspers are 0-5 ATS off an ATS win and they are 9-25-1 ATS their last 35 home games vs. a team with a losing road record. Niagara is 16-13 overall and they are 8-8 in Conference Play. Guard Tyrone Lewis scores 16.7 points a game. Forward Bilal Been scores 13.6 points and 9.9 rebounds a game. Guard Rob Garrison scores 11 points a game. Guard Anthony Nelson 10.2 points a game. Forward Demetrius Williamson scores 9.8 points a game. The Purple Eagles score 72.5 points a game. Niagara is 24-9 ATS their last 33 games as favorites of 0.5 to 6.5 points and they are 4-0 ATS their last 4 road games vs. a team with a losing home record. PLAY ON NIAGARA -