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Category Archives: NHL Betting
By Paul W. Fitzgerald Ah, But It’s Good on Ice For NHL betting enthusiasts, the NHL Grand Salami just might be your ticket to winning big. While some may assume that the term Grand Salami is related to the meat you buy in the grocery store or from a scrumptious order on a plate at [...]
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NHL Betting
The National Hockey League (NHL), which is the top professional hockey league in North America and the entire world, is bet much less than it should be. The primary reason for this has to be with the fact that of the four major professional sports in the US, hockey is the least popular.
Because there is less focus on this sport than on others such as football and baseball, you’ll often find that handicappers spend less time on it. The result is that if you keep up on the latest happenings in hockey, you’re bound to find some good buys at various sportsbooks.
The Sport
There are 30 NHL teams that are divided equally into two conferences—Eastern and Western. In each conference there are three divisions with each division housing five teams. Of the 30 teams, six are from Canada and 14 from the US.
In the Eastern Conference, there are the Atlantic, Northeast and Southeast Divisions and in the Western Conference there are the Central, Northwest and Pacific Divisions. Each team plays a total of 82 games.
The NHL has a hard salary cap like the NFL. This was adopted in an attempt to try to control costs and to create more parity in the league. It has certainly accomplished the former and to a degree has been successful in achieving the latter.
There are 23 players on a roster with 20 dressing for each game. There are 18 skaters and 2 goalies per contest. At any given time, there are five skaters and one goal tender on the ice. Of the five skaters, two are designated as defensemen and three as forwards. Players shift on and off the ice when a whistle stops play and also when play is in progress.
The game is played over the course of three 20-minute periods with 15- or 17-minute intermissions taken after period one and two. In the regular season if a game is tied at the end of regulation time, the teams play one five-minute sudden-death overtime. If at the end of OT the game is still tied, the teams engage in a shootout.
Three players from each team participate in the shootout with each getting one attempt to score on the opposing goalie. If at the end of the first shootout round the game is still tied, the teams then play a sudden death shootout.
Unlike other sports, a team’s standing is calculated by how many points they have. A club is given two-points for each win, including those victories in overtime or after the shootout. They receive one-point for a tie if they do not win in OT or during the shutout. In the standings these games are designated as OTL (Overtime Loss).
In each conference each division winner and then the next five top teams from each conference make the playoffs. The teams participate for the Stanley Cup. When a club wins the Stanley Cup every player’s name is put on the cup as are the names of the coaches, owners, GM, other executives and important personnel.
NHL Season
As it is with other sports, the NHL has a three-part season. The first is composed of exhibition play and is held in September. The regular season runs from October through April. The Stanley Cup playoffs run from April to the start of June.
In the course of an 82-game season, teams play 24 games within their division, meeting with each club six times. They also play 40 games against teams outside of their division but inside their conference. That’s four games versus the teams outside of their division but within their conference. The remaining 18 games are played versus teams in the other conference with two games being played against three teams and one game against the other dozen.
In the playoffs there are four series with the first featuring 16 teams in eight five-game series. The second round has eight teams playing in four seven-game series and the third four teams in two seven-game series. The final round is between the winners of round three and is for the Stanley Cup. It is also a seven-game series.
The NHL also has an All-Star event that includes an evening of skills competition and a game. The All-Star games tend to favor offenses as there tends to be a wealth of goals scored in this exhibition contest.
Best NHL Bets
The majority of bets made on NHL games involve the puckline, which works the same way as the runline in baseball. You may also wager on the over/under and make a moneyline bet. Parlays are also available.
You’ll be able to wager on various futures too, including the winner of the Eastern and Western Conferences and the winner of the Stanley Cup. There will also be numerous props, which may include the league MVP, which is designated by the Hart Memorial Trophy, and the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the player voted the best goaltender. Other bets may be made on who will win the James Norris Memorial Trophy for best defenseman, the Calder Memorial Trophy for top rookie and the player with the highest level of skill and sportsmanship, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
Other awards include the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is given to the Stanley Cup playoff’s MVP, and the Jack Adams Award, which is presented to the top coach. Other props may be made on the team with the most points, the single points champion (goals and assists), the most goals scored and the goalie with the lowest goals against average.
10 NHL Betting Winning Tips
There are some aspects of this sport that are important to utilize when making a bet on a game and some key handicapping tips that can help increase your chances of winning your bets.
1. Look for arbitrage opportunities in hockey. Most books do not closely monitor the sport and you may be able to bet on each team in the same game at separate sportsbooks and win no matter what.
2. Always pay close attention to a goaltender’s goals against average and save percentage. Goalies can win games. They’re like pitchers in baseball.
3. In the Stanley Cup playoffs a hot goalie can be the difference maker.
4. Also, check how many shots on average a goalie is seeing and how many his team is taking on opposing goalies. This will tell you a lot about a team’s defense. Compare these stats to those of the goaltender. This process will help you determine which clubs need a standout performance from their goalie to win.
5. Monitor all injuries, especially those related to top scorers and starting goaltenders.
6. Look for moneylines and pucklines that are skewed due to the fact that handicappers have not caught up to a change on a team such as an injury or trade.
7. Look at the over/under when a top goal scoring team is up against a weaker defensive team with a goalie who is struggling. Consider the over heavily.
8. Superstar scorers win games.
9. Bet against the lower three teams in each conference when they play the top three teams in each conference.
10. Overall, you want to bet on teams that have a high plus differential when it comes to points for versus points against.
NHL Betting Bargains Are There
If you understand hockey and know how to handicap it, then you should be wagering on it. When it comes to sports betting, the NHL is severely under-bet. There are a lot of great betting opportunities and a playoff season that offers up to 89 games. Take advantage of the numerous chances you have to make money on the NHL.
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