by Dan Adkisson
The “National Hockey League” (better known as the ‘NHL’) is a professional ice hockey league in North America consisting of 32 teams, divided into two conferences (Eastern and Western). Each conference is comprising two divisions. At the end of the regular season, eight teams from each conference compete in the playoffs to play for the Stanley Cup and become league champions.
The league has a large following. According to data on the website of consumer and market data company Statista, the league’s Facebook account had a following of 4.66 million on Facebook as of March 2024, and the Chicago Blackhawks had the highest fan base, with a following of 2.6 million on the social media platform. The Boston Bruins came in next at 2.1 million and the Detroit Red Wings at 1.9.
As with most spectator sports, the NHL is the subject of online betting and offline betting. Below is a look at why the league is so popular for sports betting fans, how NHL betting works and some tips for anyone new to betting on the sport.
What makes the NHL so popular for betting fans?
Ice hockey is exhilarating. It’s fast-paced and fans like nothing more than cheering on their favorite team as their heroes try to put the puck in the back of the net. In Canada, which has seven teams in the league, carry a passion for ice hockey in their blood.
Couple this with the fact that wagering on games is much more accessible now and you have a winning formula. Fans can make games even more exciting for themselves and potentially earn a little extra money from their passion for the sport. Additionally, sports betting operators, especially online, offer superb bonuses and promotions so punters can get even more out of their money.
How NHL betting works
When it comes to NHL betting, operators set three main types of odds:
• Decimal: can include your stake and, to work out what you win, you bet the decimal by your stake.
• Fractional: indicate how much you’d win and shows that number divided by how much you have to risk e.g. 10/1 means that if you risk $10, you can win $100.
• American: show what you’d have to bet to win $100. A plus sign indicates the team or individual is an underdog, whereas a minus sign makes it a favorite. If you see a team on the betting lines at +165, you’d win a $165 with $100, whereas if you see -$195, you’d have to bet $195 to win $100.
There are three main types of betting in ice hockey:
• Moneyline: a straightforward bet on who will win a game
• Puck line: the NHL equivalent of the point spread, in which the team the punter wagers on must either lose or win by a certain number of points for the punter to win
• Over/unders: a bet on whether the combined number of goals scored will be higher or lower than the number the sportsbook forecasts.
Other types of betting include parlay betting, which involves betting a single amount on the outcome of multiple games for a larger payout; props betting, which entails betting on aspects of the game not relating to the final score, such as first goal scorer or the number of goals scored in a certain period of time; and futures betting, including betting on who will win the Stanley Cup.
How to bet on NHL ice hockey
Making a successful bet is no easy task, but there are ways you can increase your chances of winning. Here are some tips if you’re new to betting on ice hockey:
Keep up to date with hockey news and events
It’s essential to know what’s going on in the hockey world so you can make informed decisions. Research the league, teams and players. What do the stats tell you? Is any team losing a lot lately? Are any key players injured? Are any players in exceptionally good form?
Research head-to-head results
When two teams come up against each other, it’s always good to check the history of the encounters and whether one team is dominant against the other. This can give you the confidence to bet one way or another. NHL teams meet each other several times during the season, so there’s plenty of data available.
Check the referee
Who will be refereeing the game? Some referees like to let the game flow and will permit more misdemeanors and violations more than others. If you check the referee’s track record and find they have a reputation for’ issuing red cards, you might anticipate a sending-off and use this in your betting decisions.
Ice hockey is an amazing sport, both to watch and to wager on, and you can be sure of drama and excitement in every match. If you’ve not tried wagering before, why not make the most of the promotions and offers sportsbooks run to make a little wager?