The odds to win the annual Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championship (WJHC) have been posted and its comes as no surprise that Canada is once again the favourite.

This year’s tournament will take place in Ufa, Russia from December 26, 2012 to January 5, 2013. Canada will be shooting for it 16th gold medal in the tournament, which officially began in 1977. Canada is the all-time leader in gold medals with 15 followed by Russia with 13.

Bettson.com, a large European-based sportsbook that accepts Canadian players, was one of the first online sportsbooks to post odds on the tournament. Canada is listed as a 2.30 (+130, 13/10) favorite to win a gold medal for the first time in four years. Russia is next at 3.80 (+280, 14/5) followed by defending champion Sweden at 4.40 (+340, 17/5) and the United States at 4.40 (+340, 17/5).

As is customary, this tournament will feature numeoorus future NHLers including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C, Canada), Seth Jones (D, USA), Aleksander Barkov (C, Finland), Elias Lindholm (C, Sweden), Valeri Nichushkin (RW, Russia) and 17-year-old Canadians C Nathan MacKinnon and LW Jonathan Drouin.

The complete odds shown are in decimal odds format below. To translate odds into American or fractional, please use our odds converter.

Odds to win 2013 World Junior Championship
Canada	2.30	2.15	2.00
Russia	3.80	3.00	4.00
Sweden	4.40	4.00	4.75
United States	4.40	6.00	6.50
Finland	7.00	15.00	15.00
Czech Republic	40.00	30.00	34.00
Switzerland	75.00	60.00	67.00
Slovakia	175.00	100.00	101.00
Germany	250.00	250.00	201.00
Latvia	250.00	300.00	251.00
Odds to win Group A
Sweden	1.47	1.37	OTB
Finland	2.40	3.80	OTB
Czech Republic	10.00	9.00	OTB
Switzerland	50.00	30.00	OTB
Latvia	250.00	200.00	OTB
Odds to win Group B
Canada	1.85	1.95	OTB
Russia	2.85	2.60	OTB
United States	3.20	4.70	OTB
Slovakia	55.00	51.00	OTB
Germany	150.00	150.00	OTB

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