Ice Hockey Betting: Bet on NHL and other Big Events

Ice hockey is among the most technical sports in the world - a fast-paced, team-based sport with exhilarating gameplay. With hundreds of millions of fans worldwide, ice hockey betting is enjoyed everywhere, not just in Canada (contrary to popular belief). Let's look at how to do hockey betting right and find bookies with better odds that accept bets on hockey from all over the world.

Best Events For Hockey Bets

Betting on NHL

For many, the famous NHL is synonymous with ice hockey itself. This league boasts an incredible 106-year history and is based in North America. This sports league is the pinnacle of professional ice hockey, so many punters hurry to place bets on it when it's underway. The NHL hosts 32 top teams, and its regular season runs for 6 months, from October to April. It's easy to see why it's so attractive for hockey betting: a long-running top-tier league with 82 games a season. Plenty of space to go around here!

Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup is the sports trophy received by the NHL playoff champion at the end of each professional season. That's what people mean by "winning the Stanley Cup" - it means winning the NHL!

Since the NHL is the most prestigious event in Ice Hockey, virtually every sportsbook extensively features NHL matches on their platforms. Expect to see every single match covered, with a wide variety of bets markets, from simple Moneylines, handicaps, and props - you name it!

NHL Playoffs

The playoffs are the most exciting part of the entire league. Only 16 teams from the original 32 can advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The NHL playoffs pit wildcard teams against division winners in the first round, gradually increasing the heat as the athletes - and ice hockey betting fans - reach the grand final.

Betting on SHL

But ice hockey isn't just the NHL, you know! Other regions boast high-level professional leagues. The SHL, established in 1975, is the highest-level league in Sweden. Since ice hockey is huge in Sweden, the SHL includes 14 teams - and although it lags behind the level of the NHL in skill, it's not by that much. SHL bets are included on most sportsbooks, with decent - although smaller - ice hockey betting market selection. Live betting on SHL is also an option on big bookies like Bet365, thunderpick.io, Stake.com, and many others we'd recommend.

Betting on KHL

For bettors with particularly deviant tastes, KHL bets are for sure an option we'd recommend. This league is considered to be just behind the NHL. Sadly, the league is located in the country of Russia, and its satellites, so spectating it may be a problem, and betting on it may be even more so. While some bookies still allow betting on KHL, many refuse to host their matches on their platforms.

Popular Ice Hockey Betting Markets

Some characteristics of ice hockey make it suitable for some betting markets while making others less interesting. Let's take a look at some of the popular hockey bet options. If you're a beginner in ice hockey betting, we'll also give some pointers on where to start.

Hockey Moneyline Bets

Unsurprisingly, the simplest and most popular form of betting - the moneyline - is also the most-used option in ice hockey. To readers unfamiliar with the sports betting terms - this form of betting is a simple wager on the match's outcome. Although ice hockey is similar to football (or soccer, if that's what you prefer), ties are impossible in high-tier leagues like NHL, so the moneyline bets include only matchwinner - no option to bet on a tie if it's not there!

Hockey Totals

Hockey is an example of an extremely low-scoring sport, so sportsbooks adjust their total bet thresholds accordingly. The average number of points scored by both teams per team is just around 3 pucks, so the average totals threshold on most bookies is set to 6. After all, when we bet on ice hockey totals, we count both teams' scores together - hence the name.

Hockey Totals Example

Let's take a match between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens. The bookmaker sets the odds for the game's score to end Over 6 points at 1.76 (in decimal odds) and Under at 2.00. If we decide to bet on Under, we would need the combined score of both teams to be 5 or less. If the score is 7 or above, we lose our bet. However, if the score lands at exactly 6, our bet is declared a "push bet" and is refunded.

Hockey Props

Proposition bets focus on individual events within a hockey match over the game's total score or outcome (although it's possible to bet on the score in the form of player props). Talking about player props - this is the most popular kind of ice hockey prop bet. In player props, punters wager on individual player performances - as long as the player we've chosen performs up to par, it doesn't matter whether their team wins or loses!

Hockey Props Bet Example

We might want to put down a bet on Brendan Gallagher, a winger for the Montreal Canadiens. This particular bookmaker offers the option of a totals bet—but there's a catch. In this case, we'd need Gallagher to have just one goal scored to win a bet since the bookmaker's threshold is set to 0.5.

Hooks In Hockey

You might have noticed that the bookmaker posted a half-point score threshold, even though hockey doesn't actually feature half-points in its rules. This is not a mistake—this is called a "hook," and it's used to eliminate the possibility of a bet ending in a tie and getting refunded. Nobody likes wasting their time!