Who’s Favored, Anyway?

Canada has nearly all its best players yet remains an underdog to the United States entering the championship round of the World Cup of Hockey.

At least that’s what the Canadians insisted as they began to prepare for the best-of-three series, which begins tonight at the CoreStates Center.

“The U.S. is the team to beat,” Canadian coach Glen Sather said. “They ended up in first place in the tournament. We’re playing in their country. I think they should be very comfortable over there.”

The suggestion that the United States, where whole sections of the country find hockey an arcane sport, is a favorite over Canada, where the game is woven into the national fabric, was laughed off by the Americans.

“They’re just trying to get in our heads,” forward Keith Tkachuk said. “They’re the favorites, and they know it.”