Hockey is Canada’s game. Hockey is the sport that our country takes the most pride in, pays the most attention to and has the most emotional investment in year in and year out. This passion spills over into betting on hockey where Canadians make up a large percentage of hockey betting handle during the NHL season or international tournaments such as the World Juniors.
This page will give you all of the information you will need to start betting on the game of hockey right here in Canada. Below, I’ve outlined the best 3 sportsbooks for NHL betting in Canada, provided a detailed breakdown of the three most popular bets you can make on a hockey game, and also included a simple step by step guide to get your first hockey bet placed online within minutes.
Pro Tip: Hockey is a very high variance game. You will go through hot and cold streaks, and because of this it’s very important that you manage your bankroll wisely.
I personally find the most value in big underdogs when betting on hockey, but this does open me up to long losing streaks at times. That said, a few big underdog hits can wipe away a losing streak quickly so as long as I manage my bankroll and don’t allow myself to overextend chasing losses, I am able to profit long term by picking dogs in the right spots.
These are the three best sportsbooks for Canadians interested in betting online. They each see Canada as a growing market for sports betting and are committed to growing their brand here in Canada by offering a great product and service to Canadian bettors.
All three of the above sportsbooks are licensed by iGaming Ontario to operate in the regulated Ontario gaming market, while also serving the rest of Canada.
Click on any of my reviews above to learn more about each of the sportsbooks. I breakdown the sites in depth, looking at betting options (they all offer a ton of hockey bets), features, deposits/withdrawals, customer service and more.
If you truly want to make a profit betting on hockey then you should really open an account with all three betting sites. The odds can vary significantly between the sportsbooks, so having an account with each can ensure that you get the best return on each bet you make.
For example, Sports Interaction is notorious for offering the best lines industry wide on big underdogs. If the Canucks have odds of 3.05 at the other sites, there is a good chance that Sports Interaction will have them at odds of around 3.20. This works the other way as well, with Sports Interaction often having the worst odds for favourites.
Popular Hockey Betting Options
There are three main bet offerings on a hockey game. The first and most popular is the money line bet, which is simply a wager on which team will win the game, and the others are the puck line and over/under. I will look each of these three betting options, as well as another bet I like to place (regulation time) in detail with examples below.
Money Line
The money line bet is simply a wager on which team will win the hockey game. In the NHL, with shootouts used to break ties, there is always a winner, so this is a very popular wager with only two possible outcomes.
Here’s an example:
In this example the Edmonton Oilers are at home hosting the Avalanche. The Oilers are the favourites with odds of 1.74. This means that if the Oilers win then your payout would be 1.74 x your wager amount. So a $100 bet on the Oilers would pay out $174, which would be $74 in winnings.
On the flip side, a $100 bet on the Avalanche would payout $215 for $115 in winnings based on the odds of 2.15.
Puck Line
The puck line adds a spread of 1.5 goals to the game. So the team favoured to win the game must win by 2 or more for a puck line bet on them to win, while the underdog must either win or lose by 1 or fewer goals for their puck line wager to hit.
Continuing with the above example the Oilers have odds of 2.80 against the -1.5 puck line. A puck line bet on the Oilers pays out if Edmonton wins the game by 2 or more goals.
On the flip side, Colorado must win the game outright or lose by just 1 goal for their puck line bet to pay out at odds of 1.45.
Over/Under
The third of the popular bets that you will usually see displayed on the main page for hockey bets is the over/under wager, also known as the total. With this bet you are wagering on the total number of goals to be scored in the game by both teams. The sportsbook will set a total (usually 5.5, 6.0 or 6.5 in the NHL) and you can wager on whether the total number of goals scored will be over or under that total.
Continuing with the Colorado vs Edmonton example you can see the over/under is set at 6.5, with the over 6.5 a slight favourite at odds of 1.78, and the under 6.5 goals less likely at odds of 2.05.
For example, if the game finishes 4-3 for Edmonton then the over 6.5 will hit and any bets on the over will be paid out at odds of 1.78. If the game finishes, say 2-1 for Edmonton then the under bets would be the winners.
Regulation Time
There are several other bets you can make on a typical hockey game other than the main three. To see the full list of betting lines for a game at SportsInteraction.com you need to click on the team names header.
One of these other bets is the regulation time bet and it’s a wager that I often make. Regulation time bets in hockey are also known as 3-way bets because there are three possible outcomes: Team A, draw, Team B. If the game goes into overtime the bet is graded as a draw.
Let’s look at an example to show you the difference in odds by betting either team to win the game in regulation time:
The odds for the Oilers moved from 1.74 (money line) to 2.15 (regulation time), while the Avalanche odds moved from 2.15 (money line) to 2.50 (regulation time). If you think Edmonton wins this game in regulation, but don’t want to take the puck line which requires them to win by 2 or more goals, then perhaps the regulation line odds of 2.15 would look appealing to you.
Pro Tip: I like to take regulation time bets for teams with awful shootout records. Certain goaltenders can struggle in shootouts, so it makes sense to bet these teams in regulation because the chances are they would lose if the game went to a shootout.
The flip side can also be true with certain goaltenders being highly successful in shootouts, so I would bet the regulation time line against these goalies because a shootout win would be unlikely.
Three Step Guide To Start Betting On Hockey
If you’re ready to place your first hockey bet online, follow this quick 3 step guide:
Step 1. Open a Sportsbook Account
First you will need to open an online betting account at one of the three sportsbooks I recommended above. For this guide I will be using Sports Interaction from here on out. They are our top rated betting site for Canadians, and I think they are a must have for hockey bettors due to the great value you can find on big underdogs.
Next it’s time to fund your account. Sports Interaction accepts Visa, MasterCard, Interac e-Transfer, Online Banking and paysafecard deposits. You can see all of the deposit methods available on our Sports Interaction review. You will have no problem getting money into or out of your SIA account.
Step 3. Bet On Hockey
It’s time to place your bets!
Once at the Sports Interaction website you can find all of the hockey betting options by clicking on the ‘Hockey’ from the Top Sports menu in the left sidebar. This will bring you to the ‘Featured’ hockey page, which will generally feature the NHL betting lines for that night. You can also select the ‘Events’ tab and navigate to any of other hockey leagues and competitions from the left sidebar.
Select the odds of the bet you want to place, enter your Stake amount on the Bet Slip, and click ‘Place Bet’ to make your hockey wager.
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