Wednesday kicked off the start of Olympic Men’s Hockey with the Czech Republic playing Sweden and Latvia playing Switzerland. The United States’ first game was on Thursday when they played Slovakia.

Based on what former players, experts, and all around fans are predicting, my picks are different from everyone else’s.

I have Sweden beating Russia in the gold medal game and Canada beating Finland in the bronze medal game. In 2010, Canada beat the US to win the gold in their home country. I have a strong feeling that the same momentum and confidence from hometown fans will propel Russia into winning the silver medal.

The only reason I have Russia making it to the Gold Medal game is because of the location of the Olympics. Just like with Canada in 2010, Russia will only get as far as the fans want to take the team. Not to take anything away from the team itself, but Russia isn’t deep enough to truly compete if the Olympics were in any other country.

Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin headline the Russian team. Ovechkin leads the NHL with 40 goals and Malkin is in the top 10 in points.

Unfortunately for Russia, Sweden is too good and by far the deepest team in the Olympics. You know you have a deep team when the “weakest” player is goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who won the Vezina Trophy for best goalie in the NHL two seasons ago. Three Blackhawks players will get playing time for Sweden: Marcus Kruger, Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarrson.

The Blackhawks have 10 players making the trip to Sochi, representing four different countries. In addition to the three players on Sweden, Patrick Kane will represent the United States for the seond time, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp will play for Canada for the second and first time respectively Michal Rozsival will play for the Czech Republic for the first time, and Marion Hossa and Michal Handzus will represent Slovakia for the fourth and third times. With 10 players, the Blackahwks have the most players goint to Sochi.

As you may have noticed, I don’t have the US medaling. This is a far fall from where they finished in 2010. I expect the US to finish fifth. This team has a lot of the same players from the 2010 team; however, the other teams in the Olympics have gotten much better while the US has stayed the same. Unlike Sweden, the goalies are the biggest question marks for the United States. Jonathan Quick, Jimmy Howard and Ryan Miller are the three goalies, and it’s expected that Quick will be the starting goalie.

All three goalies have had experience under pressure. Ryan Miller was the MVP of the last Olympics, helping to win the silver medal for the US. This time around, Quick has become the best goalie in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup in 2012. Bobby Ryan was left off the Olympic team, which was a shock for not only him, but the entire NHL.

Sticking with the goalie theme, Finland has the best goalies by far. With Tuukka Rask, Antti Niemi, and Kari Lehtonen, it doesn’t matter who will start, because no team will be able to score more than two goals on Finland. Still, I highly doubt Finland will be able to score more than two goals per game, so the goalies will have to carry this team.

Olympic hockey is different than normal NHL hockey. There is checking, but penalties aren’t taken and the rink is bigger than standard ice. This means that teams have to be faster, have finer puck possession, and be on their toes defensively.

This doesn’t mean that offense isn’t important. Canada has the best forwards who should score the most goals, but they can’t win every game 7-6. With Sidney Crosby, Patrick Sharp, Jamie Benn and Martin St. Louis, Canada is unstoppable on the offensive side of the puck. The biggest blow to Canada is the fact that Tampa Bay Lightning forward, Steven Stamkos, isn’t playing. He suffered a broken leg in November and isn’t cleared to play in the Olympics.

The Olympics are always an interesting time. Dark horse teams do find a way to win. Maybe Latvia will pull an upset and win gold. Maybe Russia won’t make it out of the preliminary rounds. All that I ask for is quality hockey and a great gold medal game.