Best Sites for Betting on Hockey Online

Have you considered betting on ice hockey online? It couldn’t be any easier than it is today to get started. The first step is to join one of the best hockey betting sites.

Finding an ice hockey betting site on your own can be challenging. There are dozens of online sportsbooks and bookmakers and not all of them are worthwhile.

Put another way, how much money and time do you want to risk finding the best sites for betting on hockey online? Tens of dollars? Days? Hundreds or thousands of dollars? Weeks or even months?

The time and money’s not even the scary part. What’s scary is spending all that time and money and still not finding a top site for hockey betting.

The good news, though, is that you don’t have to. You can place your first online hockey bet in the next couple of minutes if you join one of the top hockey betting sites we endorse.

Where do our rankings come from?

They’re not just randomly selected, that much is for sure. Our rankings are deliberate. The #1 hockey betting site is there because it trumps all the sites below it. The #2 is better than the #3, #4, and #5 sites, but isn’t quite as good as the #1 site.

We review and rank every online betting site using a list of criteria. Most of our criteria is the same for every category we endorse sites for.

We share all this information in our reviews. This info tells you whether the betting site is safe and secure, if they have banking options you can use, and promotions you want to claim.

If the site fails miserably here, or in key areas like the gambling license or reputation, we won’t recommend them. It doesn’t matter how great their hockey betting lines are.

If everything checks out here, we move on to how great they are for people who want to bet on hockey games. Below, you’ll find a general idea of what we look for.

The criteria we mentioned earlier makes a difference in whether we’ll endorse a hockey betting site at all. But how relevant a site is will determine whether we’ll endorse them as one of the BEST ice hockey betting sites.

The bottom line is, we put a ton of effort into our reviews and rankings. For that reason, we know that you’ll have a great time betting on hockey for real money at any site we endorse.

You won’t find a better list of hockey betting sites online than these. We hold every site to a high standard and won’t hesitate to remove one if their standards drop.

It all starts with safety. We only endorse real money gambling sites that are worthy of our seal of approval, and you can learn more about how we rank to see what that means. Put simply, this is our guarantee to you that the site you’re about to join is safe and secure.

Why does safety matter so much? Think about it. You can join a betting site that has hundreds of hockey markets, promotions worth thousands, and all the bells and whistles. But does any of that matter if they rip you off?

No way. That’s why we start with safety and, if everything checks out, we move on to ranking them in other categories as described earlier.

What we want you to take away now is that you can’t go wrong joining any of the sites we recommend because, if anything, they’re safe and secure.

It just so happens that they’re great for ice hockey betting, too.

You can bet on hockey games offline. There are casinos, sportsbooks, and betting shops all around the world that will take your action.

But we recommend you bet on hockey online instead. There are many benefits to online betting. The following are a few of our favorites.

Don’t like crowds? We hear you.

That’s one of the many reasons why online betting is king in our books. You don’t have to travel anywhere and brave the crowds. All you need is an account with one of the betting sites we endorse, and you can make your bets without ever getting off your couch.

You don’t have to worry about traveling, inconsiderate people, or dressing to impress people you don’t know, much less care about.

One thing every sports bettor must learn how to do is price shop. Compare odds at more than one sportsbook to find the most valuable ones.

Have you tried to price shop at a brick and mortar sportsbook? You have to go from one bookmaker to the next. By the time you reach the second or third sportsbook, the odds have likely changed at the ones you just left.

Price shopping is so much easier online. For example, while writing this, we opened a of couple sportsbooks and compared the lines for the NHL All-Star Game. We found a discrepancy right away.

Sure, this is a nominal difference, but it’ll add up the more money you bet and the more bets you make. What’s more is that it can take seconds or maybe minutes to find the best price.

Think of how much extra you’re saving or making for a couple of minutes worth of work. Don’t you think it’s worthwhile to find the best prices?

We think so, and it’s a piece of cake when you bet on hockey online.

Another struggle you’ll experience betting offline is the variety of wagers you have to choose from. There isn’t a single sportsbook we know of that offers every single hockey bet you can make.

This is true for online betting sites, too. But there’s one advantage you have when you’re betting on hockey online.

You can join multiple sportsbooks and have them open simultaneously. Not only does this help you compare odds, but the more betting accounts you have, the larger the variety of bets you have to choose from.

This includes making wagers like moneylines, futures, over/unders, and props, on games from leagues like the NHL, ECHL, and the NAHL. You can even bet on the Olympic ice hockey games when that comes around every four years.

Think about the last time you made a bet in person. Did the casino or sportsbook offer you a free bet or a deposit bonus valued at hundreds or thousands of dollars?

We’ve been going to brick and mortar casinos for years and can’t think of the last time that ever happened to us. Oh, that’s right, because it never has.

But it happens all the time online. Join one of the best sites for hockey betting and you can claim promotions like these.

These are the most common promotions hockey bettors can take advantage of. They’re hit or miss at subpar betting sites, but not at the hockey betting websites we endorse.

The bottom line is that you can’t go wrong gambling on hockey online. You can bet from home. You can make bets for as little as $1. And you can switch sportsbooks in a matter of seconds.

If you haven’t made the leap yet, you should create your first online hockey betting account now. You won’t regret it.

In the world of ice hockey, The National Hockey League (NHL) reigns supreme. As the premier ice hockey league in the world, the North American based league is home to the world’s best players. It’s the league that young ice hockey players worldwide dream of being a part of. The NBA is to basketball as the NHL is to ice hockey.

Originally starting with just four teams in 1917 Canada, the league quickly began expansion only a few short years later. In 1924, the NHL expanded to the US with the addition of the Boston Bruins to the league’s roster.

Growth continued through the 1990s as fans saw the league develop into an impressive 30 powerful squads. Further growth stopped until just recently with the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.

While there are other leagues with some popularity around the world, nothing compares to the NHL. When it comes to sports betting, you may find action on the smaller leagues but again, nothing like the level offered on NHL games and the season.

The ice hockey rink is a 200’ x 85’ enclosed area covered with ice. The rink is oriented long-ways or hot dog style if you want a visual. Within the enclosed area, the ice is separated into three main areas by lines on the ice.

On each end, there is a section known as the offensive or defensive section depending on the team. If it’s a team’s defensive section, then that’s where you will find their goalie and where the other team will be trying to score their goals.

The opposite side of the ice is reversed where the other team has their goalie, and the other team is trying to score their goals.

The area in the middle of these two sections is known as the neutral zone.  The edges of the neutral zone are designated with blue lines that also designate the start of the team’s offensive and defensive zones.

Towards the end of each defensive zone will be placed a net. If it’s the team’s defensive zone, they will have their goalie in that net. If it’s the team’s offensive side of the rink, they will be trying to score goals by getting the puck into that net past the other team’s goalie.

Teams win ice hockey games by scoring more goals than the other team. Goals are scored by getting the puck past the other team’s goalie and into their net. Each time the team successfully does this they are awarded one goal (point).

If the game is a tie at the end of regulation time, there is an overtime period. If the game is still a tie after that, there is a shootout period. This was also recently changed to ensure that every game has a winner and there are no ties. The details of all of these situations can be seen below.

Hockey games are split up into three periods. In professional hockey, each of these periods is 20 minutes long. This makes for a total of 60 minutes of regulation game time. The only score that matters is the score at the end of the full 60 minutes.

Each period is not treated as its own separate game, but a continuation of the previous. If at the end of the 60 minutes the score is tied, the teams will go into an overtime period.

In the National Hockey League (NHL), teams that tie during regulation play will compete in a single overtime period. This overtime period is five minutes in duration and has the teams compete 4-on-4 versus the normal 5-on-5.

If the game is still tied after the overtime period, the game moves to a shootout to determine a winner.

If the game is still tied after the overtime period, the teams will engage in a shootout to determine the winner. Each team will select three skaters who will take alternating attempts one on one against the other team’s goalie. The team that scores the most goals in the three attempts is the game winner.

If the teams both make the same number of goals in the first round of the shootout, they will begin sudden death shootout shots until one team makes a goal and the other does not. This system is in place to make sure that every game ends with a winner, mainly for the fans.

According to the NHL, fourteen percent of all NHL regular-season games in the 2003-04 regular season ended in a tie (170 games of 1,230).

Anytime there is a stoppage in play, the game needs to be reset. The face-off is much like the jump ball in basketball. Two players meet in a face-off circle, and the referee drops the puck in the middle. Both players react and try and get possession of the puck.

They can pull possession to themselves or tap the puck to one of their teammates who all are set at fixed positions around the face-off circle.

Face-offs are used at the beginning of the game and then at any stoppage in play from the referees or when the puck flies out of the rink and goes out of bounds.

As we’ve mentioned, hockey teams operate in terms of “lines”. Lines are like shifts and are comprised of five players (the goalie stays in the game for the entire duration).

Player substitutions usually happen as entire lines will switch out with players from the bench. These line changes happen during play (or during stoppages) and usually have to be expertly timed so as not to be caught off guard with no players on the ice.

Players are allowed to hop onto the ice as soon as the player they are replacing is within a few feet of the team bench. There are no limitations to how many line changes can occur during the game and there are no requirements that an entire line change together, though, this is common.

This is probably the most misunderstood rule in all of ice hockey. Hopefully today we can change that. Icing is called when an offensive player passes the puck from their defensive side of the rink into their offensive side (where they are trying to score), and it passes the goal line (the line the net is on) without anyone touching it.

If a defensive player gets to the puck first, then the play is whistled dead for icing.

The puck is then brought all the way back to that team’s side of the ice, and a faceoff occurs directly in front of their goalie. This is obviously not great because it gets the other team much closer to scoring.

The line that was on the ice and was responsible for the icing is forced to stay out on the ice as a penalty for doing so. This often happens as teams try and clear the puck out of their defensive zone so that they can get a line change in and get fresh players on the ice.

In even simpler terms, you can’t whack the puck from your defensive side of the ice to the other side without anyone touching it just to clear it out of the way so you can change out players.

If you do, the puck comes back, and the players have to stay on the ice.

Another one that clicks the box of misunderstood a lot is offsides. The rules are simple, though. The puck has to be the very first thing to enter the team’s offensive side of the rink.

This means that you can’t have a player camped out down by their goal waiting for a long pass from their team. They must all wait for the puck to cross into the offensive side of things first.

The one caveat to this is that a defensive player is able to send the puck back into their offensive zone as long as the other team has offensive players in their zone.

Players will receive penalties if they are caught breaking any of ice hockey’s rules. The rules are in place to protect the players and to protect the integrity of the game. Penalties come in all shapes and sizes with the punishments ranging from mild to severe as well.

The two main categories of penalties in ice hockey are Minors and Majors.

Minor penalties are ones that are, well, minor in nature. These are not gross misconduct and happen quite often throughout a typical ice hockey game.

Punishment for a minor penalty involves the player being sent to the penalty box for two minutes. The penalty box is an enclosure next to the rink where the player is forced to sit to serve out their punishment. While they are in the penalty box, their team is forced to play one player down.

This is known as a power play for the other team as they now have an additional player and a huge advantage.

If the team on the power play scores, the offending player is allowed to leave the penalty box. Here’s the list of minor penalties:

**This penalty is the only one that can be four minutes instead of two, though in actuality it is two two-minute penalties that are called.

If the team on the power play scores during this penalty, the player remains in the box and his team remains down a player for the full duration of the penalty. The most common major penalties include:

Attached to a major penalty will be a Game Misconduct call sometimes. A Game Misconduct call is a player getting ejected from the game.

If they have time left to serve on a major penalty, a member of their team must sit in the box for them, and the team continues to play a man down.

While the NHL started out with a humble four teams in 1909, it has slowly expanded to its present-day state of 31 teams. 24 of these teams are locating in the US, and 7 of them are in Canada. An NHL team usually has 23 players officially on the roster and 20 active for each game (dressed).

The teams are split into two conferences – the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Within each conference, there are two Divisions set by geographical area.

In the Eastern Conference, you have the Atlantic Division and the Metropolitan Division, and in the Western Conference, you have the Central Division and the Pacific Division.

The Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions each have eight teams. The Central Division has seven teams, and the Pacific Division has eight teams. The full breakdown of where each team resides is listed below.

The regular season of the NHL for each team is 82 games. For each team, this is split up into 41 home games and 41 games on the road.

Teams in the Eastern Conference play a total of 28 games within their division. This is four games against each of the other seven teams. They also play 24 games against the teams within the other division of the Eastern Conference.

This is three games against each of the eight teams. They then play every team in the other conference twice, once at home and once on the road.

Teams in the Western Conference play a total of 26 or 29 games within their respective division. This breaks down to four or five games against each of the other six or seven teams respectively.

They then play either 21 or 24 games against the teams in the other division within the Western Conference. They then also play every team in the other conference twice, once at home and once on the road.

Slots are awarded based on points earned for how the teams perform each regular season game. Teams receive two points for every win, one point for every loss in overtime or shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation.

This is an interesting system as they reward teams for tying in regular time as opposed to only awarding them points for an outright win.

Based on the points listed above, the teams will be ranked within their division. The teams with the most points will be at the top, and the teams with the least points will be at the bottom.

At the end of the regular season, the top three teams in each division will make the playoffs plus the next two teams with the highest points within each conference.

Both of those additional teams can come from the same division.

This works out to a total of 16 teams making the playoffs with 8 coming from each conference. The teams then compete in a bracket-style tournament with each round consisting of a best of seven series.

The first team to win four games will move on to the next round of the playoffs, and the losing team is eliminated.

In each round, the team that was the higher seed coming into the playoffs will have home-ice advantage. Home ice means that four of the seven games will be played at their home arena.

Once one team reaches four wins, though, the series is over.

All seven games are not always played.

Each conference will have its eight teams play down to a winner who will be dubbed the Western or Eastern Conference Champion. These two teams will then meet in the Stanley Cup Championship.

This is a best of seven series to determine who will be crowned the season Champions and take home The Stanley Cup (the trophy awarded to the champs).

The Stanley Cup may be the biggest piece of history associated with the NHL. The cup itself is just a big trophy, but it’s the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to any professional sports team.

The Stanley Cup, though, is also used to refer to the Championship series that determines the yearly Champion in the NHL.

As the NHL is the premier ice hockey league in the entire world, it’s not surprising that it’s also the league that offers the most betting action.

While sportsbooks occasionally offer action on smaller ice hockey leagues, you’re always going to find more betting options and bet types with the NHL.

Taking the time to do extensive research on a lesser league may be profitable, but you may find yourself limited in the number of games and types of bets offered. With the NHL, this will never be a problem as the league continues to show signs of growth.

Use the following pages to improve your chances of making money betting on hockey online.