Hockey is a widespread sport. Such sporting events gather millions of fans all around the world. Though the popularity of hockey betting is high, there are lots of opportunities to gain on.

Actually modern hockey is usually associated with one league – the NHL. Let’s overview all the details connected with it in order to puzzle out in such a gambling.

What is the NHL itself?

The NHL is the National Hockey League, the strongest and most prestigious hockey tournament in the world, featuring Canadian and American professional teams. Hockey teams qualify for the playoffs at the end of the regular season for the Stanley Cup, the most prestigious ice hockey trophy on the planet.
Actually every stickhandler dreams to play in the NHL as the most worthful platform and also because of the salaries running into the millions of dollars per year.

Which types of bets on hockey can be found?

As in hockey betting the stakes variety is huge, let’s divide them in two categories: common and special.
Among common ones are specified bets on:

• the main time;
  In hockey, as in most sports, there is a standard line with 3 outcomes. At its odds, gamblers may gamble on a draw or a win for one of the teams.
• the total;
  The number of pucks scored in a game is considered to be the total. As a rule, in hockey betting it’s always at or around 5.5 pucks. Also there is an individual total (the number of goals scored for the first or second team), where the odds usually vary around 3.0.
• the forechecks.
  Often there are even odds between 0.5 and 1.5, in case one of the teams looks like a potential winner. Over a handicap of more than 1.5 is very uncommon. One puck is known to be enough to win, so betting on a potential winner with a handicap of one and a half or more is rather risky.

Among special offers there are such ones:

• on the exact score.
• The score in regulation time is taken into account. This type of stake is a hard-to-predict in hockey betting.
• on the double chance;

It’s about putting on 2 possible outcomes of a hockey match at the same time. There are three variants:

• 1X – on the victory of the first crew or a draw;
• X2 – on the victory of the second crew or draw;
• 12 – on the victory of the first crew or victory of the second one.
• on the ‘pass’;
  It includes predicting the tournament performance (efficiency) of a team, the winner or the next stage (Stanley Cup winner, division winner, who will make the NHL play-offs, group stage winner or World Championship winner, etc.).
• on the stage, when the match will end;
  Here you may find three possible outcomes: regular time, overtime and shootout.
• on the next goal.
  It’s a rather interesting type of stake, which is perfectly applied for gambling in a live mode.

What is a pre-match analysis in hockey betting? How to analyze the teams properly?

To succeed in gambling it’s essential to make a pre-match analysis. A heap of statistical data and its significance will help you to predict the winner or the loser more precisely. Not to talk about nothing, a good analysis must include many aspects, such as:

1. the current shape of a team;
   Whether the teams are on a losing or winning streak, what the match totals of these opponents’ matches are. Often an outsider who is in good shape is going to defeat a stronger one.
2. the previous performance of the crews;
   This factor may include the stats of home and away matches, for instance. Once again, both the outcome of the games and their results should be investigated. Often teams show very different results when playing away and at home.
   If the match is not at the beginning of the season, you should analyse the results of the current year’s matches between the opponents.
3. the rivalry evolution;
   It’s not unreasonable to remember the history of the rivalry last season. Information on previous years is not that relevant for the NHL, as transfers between crews make significant adjustments in their strength.
4. the changes inside the crew;
   Such changes like a new coach, release of a reserve goalkeeper, injury of a key player can have a significant influence on the outcome of a match. The last two have a negative effect on the result of the team, while the first has a positive effect. Often the team wins the next match after the new coach arrives.

What more to count on while betting on hockey betting?

However, many particularities are found, if you are a new fresher (inexperienced gamester), mind these ones:
Remember, before you place your first bet on hockey and start looking at the odds, be especially careful and look at the rules of the betting company in question first. The thing is that most bookmakers take offers on regular game time, while other bookmakers prefer to emphasize on overtime and sometimes even shootouts. For you it’s better to find offices, which accept all variants.
High frequency of setting matches and tournaments allow to specify the shape of the teams clearly and observe objective statistics. Mention that there is a need to analyze only the most recent games and confrontations, don’t dig into the previous year’s tournaments.
The discipline also includes frequent penalties. This is a very special thing, which often means that one crew is on the power play and the other, on the penalty kill.
Live stakes are the most profitable options here, as they are the most predictable and passable.

To sum up: is hockey betting worth trying?

Taking into consideration all the details of such a gambling, you may see how sophisticated the market is. However, it doesn’t mean the gaining is reduced because of the complexity. Indeed, to be at your best is easy – just study, analyze, bet and profit – the result will not make you upset.