Nhl Betting Canada

1. Hockey Betting Expert
2. Nhl Hockey Betting Odds
3. Hockey Betting Lines

PointsBet, a premier global sportsbook operator, and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced a new multiyear strategic partnership, naming PointsBet an Official Sports Betting Partner of. Welcome to BetNHL.ca – The Ultimate NHL Hockey Betting Website for Canadians. We’re Scott and Graeme, the owners of this site and men behind the tips. Scott is a Chicago Blackhawks fan and Graeme is a Montreal Canadiens fan. We alternate NHL Betting.

I recently got back from a trip to Montreal. While I was aware that hockey was a big deal in Canada, I wasn’t aware of just how popular hockey betting was until I visited. Canada is hockey-crazy, and I admit, the enthusiasm for it is infectious. I left wanting to learn more about it.

I decided to conduct a deep dive into hockey and find out why it is so popular. From Canadians watching it in bars to the huge numbers of people I saw betting on hockey from their phones, I had to know more. Here’s what I found out about why hockey betting is so popular in Canada.

To fully understand the current popularity of hockey in Canada, it’ll help to know a little bit about its history.

A Quick History of Hockey in Canada

• Hockey was first played in Canada in 1862.
• In 1875, the first indoor hockey game was played.
• The first female hockey game quickly followed in 1892.
• In 1893, the Stanley Cup was created. Back then it was called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup.
• In the early 1900s, international professional hockey leagues emerged, and Canada lost many top players to US-based leagues.
• The Ontario Professional Hockey League formed in 1908. This was the beginning of pro hockey in Canada.
• The National Hockey Associated formed in 1910, followed by the National Hockey League in 1917.
• In 1920, Canada won the Olympic Gold Medal for hockey in Antwerp. This was a matter of huge national pride and cemented hockey’s place in Canadian culture.

Canada dominated amateur men’s hockey for 30 years, between 1920 and 1950. Then, its first major rival, the Soviet Union, began to challenge its dominance with state-sponsored teams.

The rivalry between the two lead to the infamous Summit Series in 1972 – an eight-match clash between Canadian and Soviet players. Four games were played in Canada, and four were played in Moscow. Canada edged the win in the final game in Moscow. Paul Henderson scored the final goal with seconds left on the clock and snatched the victory for Canada.

This series ultimately lead to the professional game Canadians know and love today. Canada has since won another Olympic gold medal (2002) and has been a constant dominant presence in international hockey.

Today, ice hockey trails only second to golf in terms of participation in Canada. Stats released by Statista show that there are 637,000 registered ice hockey players in Canada.

As you can see, hockey goes to the very heart and soul of Canada. It’s interwoven in the country’s sporting history. Canadians have had several national moments of glory linked to hockey, and the sport would not be where it is today without Canada driving it forward. That is probably the main reason for the popularity of hockey betting.

Other Reasons for Hockey’s Popularity in Canada

Several sporting legends such as Wayne Gretzky have emerged from the sport. As a pro player, he inspired legions of Canadians to either play or follow hockey. You don’t get the nickname “The Great One” for no reason. His 894 goals helped earn him that name.

Tens of millions are poured into developing the sport and attracting talent. A quick look at the NHL salary cap will show that it increases almost every year. The salary cap dictates what teams may pay for players and is determined by the previous year’s revenue, among other things. In 2018, it was estimated that the average NHL team was worth $630 million. The US television deal with NBC alone is worth $187 million per year. There’s plenty of money for the promotion and development of the sport.
Like all sports, the highest-paid athletes inspire young people to get into the game. Players like Connor McDavid, who has earned more than $19 million, do wonders for the promotion of the sport among the Canadian youth. It gives them dreams and ambitions to play and participate in the sport.

Some Canadians I talked to told me that hockey is a central part of their communities. Hockey brings together players from lots of different religious and ethnic backgrounds and strengthens the bonds of the community. It’s a force for social good in the country.

Of course, there’s the uniqueness of the game itself. Some players I talked to described it as “flying on the ice.” Others said they had dabbled in other sports like lacrosse and golf, but they didn’t compare to the adrenaline rush of playing hockey. I’ve never played myself, but I believe them after watching a few games.

These reasons all combine to foster the popularity and growth of hockey in Canada. However, the main reason is still the first one – the sport is a matter of national pride and is deeply embedded in Canadian culture and sporting history. This is an original Canadian sport, and without Canada, there probably wouldn’t even be such a thing as pro hockey or hockey betting today.

Betting on Hockey In Canada

Another thing I noticed when visiting Montreal was how many players are betting on hockey in Canada. In the sports bar which I watched a game in, some punters were exchanging bet tips, talking about wins and losses, and placing live bets on their mobile phones.

I enjoy a bet as much as the next person, so I was curious to know what sort of wagers can be made for hockey betting online. Here’s what I found.
While Canadian bettors tend to stick to betting on the NHL and some international tournaments, some hockey betting sites offer action on Russian, Swedish, Czech, and other leagues. Hockey is also taking root in the UK and other countries abroad. There are plenty of games to bet on.

There are lots of options for live betting on hockey in Canada. Moneyline, puck line, regulation time, over/under, team to score next, bets on each period, team totals, total goals in the game, correct score, winning margins, and lots of other prop bets can be made. This offers Canadian hockey bettors lots of variety.

Canadian sportsbooks offer plenty of free bets on hockey. This is one of the main drivers behind the popularity of betting on hockey. With a 100% deposit match or a guaranteed money-back bet, there’s a lot more incentive to have a punt. A lot of players sign up at one Canadian betting site, claim the welcome bonus, and move on to the next. Others stick around and take advantage of weekly reload bonuses before each game.

Hockey betting is wildly unpredictable. This allows for exciting underdog bets and unlikely outcomes. Punters can make great returns on an unlikely bet if a key player is injured during gameplay, for example. Given the fast-paced, high-octane nature of the game, anything can happen. I talked to some players on hockey forums who always bet a small amount, like 5 CAD, on the underdog. They said that while most bets don’t turn out well, the value of the ones that do is greater than the total of the regular small losses.

Lastly, there’s a sense of patriotism to betting on Canadian hockey teams. This is especially true when they’re facing off against international rivals. I’ve even noticed some hockey betting sites playing on this and enticing Canadians to “bet on your national team.” Canadians are rightfully patriotic, and hockey betting gets mixed in with that.

Hockey Is Canada’s Game

I think what I discovered about the popularity of hockey in Canada can be summed up by the heading above. Hockey is Canada’s own game, and it has been a part of life in Canada for as long as anyone can remember.

Hockey was a relatively new sport for me before my visit to Montreal. Now that I know more about it, and have come to understand it, I’ve converted. I’ll be keeping a closer eye on hockey and placing some hockey bets in the future.

It’s addictive, and when you mix that in with your country’s history, national glory, and being pioneers of the sport, it’s easy to see why Canadians love watching, playing, and betting on hockey so much.

Hockey Betting Expert

As the most popular sport in Canada and being home to seven NHL teams, NHL betting is always in demand in high demand. Bettors in Canada want and need information about the NHL. Whether it is the best NHL sites, the best NHL bets, or just NHL betting tips, our page is full of information to help you have fun and success wagering on the National Hockey League.

When you understand how to bet on the NHL, you might want to consider also betting on other top competitions, such as the UFC, the MLB and the CFL.

Where to Bet on the NHL?

There are many online betting sites offering Canadians NHL betting lines on the NHL. Of course, not every site is worth your time and money. If you want to bet on hockey, these are some of our picks for the best NHL betting sites.

SportsInteraction

As the first online sportsbook licensed and regulated in Canada, Sports Interaction has a grasp on the Canadian market that few, if any, can match. That means excellent odds, great promotions, live betting, and futures on the National Hockey League.

Sports Interaction underlines the qualities needed to be a great hockey site, whether it’s for live betting or the more traditional ante-post markets. All sportsbooks quote for hockey but some will be better than others so it’s a case of finding out who they are.

Firstly, we are looking for value and that comes with odds that should be competitive in any hockey betting market from the money line through to the more obscure prop bets. Check a small range of prices and you can quickly see if your bookmaker is going to be competitive. The value should then be backed up with a choice of markets from the money line through to prop bets and live betting.

Bodog

Run by Canadian Calvin Ayre, Bodog is a great site to check out for some NHL betting. They run a crisp website with loads of hockey betting lines on every single NHL game.

For a long time, Bodog has been the Big Dog when it comes to Canadian Sportsbooks. It has an excellent reputation forged by having a sharp focus on Canadian customers and treating them with the utmost professionalism. There are many pretenders to Bodog’s crown so how does it stay at the top?

First of all, it’s this customer-driven approach. They frequently offer promos exclusively to Canadian customers and reward their loyal customers on a regular basis. Most importantly, when it comes to the betting lines Bodog has this covered too. Bodog has a superb line in Hockey betting. From futures to match betting to player props, they are all there.

You can bet on first to score, first to three goals, first period goals, team props and winning margins. On player props you can have NHL points leader, Top Goalscorer betting, Top Goaltender betting and Most Valuable Player betting.

You can also bet on the future markets for Stanley Cup and Eastern and Western Conference winners. There is also betting on the Moneyline and multiple team parlays. They have every angle covered. For a site as trusted and well known as Bodog it would be easy for them to skimp on betting markets, but they deliver every time. There is also a recently launched handy mobile site for betting on the go, the absence of which had held the site back previously. Bodog really looks after it’s Canadian customers.

Bet365

Bet365 offers an extensive number of markets on the NHL and is a great spot if you are looking for some live betting on NHL games.

Bet365 is big. You have so many options available, the hockey match would be over by the time you went through them all. Thankfully it is an exceptionally easy site to access and navigate. Even though it is a European based site, all the betting options available on Bodog and Pinnaclesports are present. It is open to all Canadian customers and has an excellent customer service department with fast withdrawals and plenty of deposit methods available.

It offers great bonuses and promotions, none more so than it’s 50% parlay bonus. It is also one of the few sites that stream Hockey games live. This means you can watch as games progress and be on top of your next bet at all times thanks to the live betting portal. It has a great mobile betting site which is accessible either through an app or browser.

There may be a bit of frugality from Bet365 when it comes to offering generous odds. We suspect this is because being European based, Bet365 isn’t fully conversant in all aspects of the game and tends to err on the side of caution. Despite this, Bet365 is a terrific site with all the betting options you could ask for.

888Sports

Another site that is trustworthy and with a great reputation is 888sports. First up, they are very focussed on attracting Canadian customers, offering $150 in free bets on NHL. This focus continues into their customer service and banking options, where Canadians will first of all be able to speak to an advisor either via live chat or the toll-free telephone line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Their customer service representatives are multilingual and they offer a sportsbook in English and French meaning that French-Canadians need not feel left out. They are also contactable on Facebook and Twitter, the use of which can resolve problems even quicker lest the site attract negative publicity.

• Sports Interaction
  Bet Now
  New customers only. Min $20 deposit. Max $200 CAD bonus. Rollover is 5x deposit + bonus.
• Betway
  Bet Now
  New Canada customers only. Opt-in required. Bonus based on 1st deposit of $10+. You will get a 100% matched bonus up to $200 based on your first deposit. Full terms apply.
• Bet365
  Up to $200 in Bet Credits for new customers at bet365
  Min deposit $10. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.
• Bodog
  Bet Now
  This bonus can only be redeemed on your FIRST DEPOSIT. Rollover is 5X Sports 5X Horses 40X Casino.
• Spin Palace Sports
  Bet Now
  1st Deposit - Free Bet up to $200 • New customers only • Min deposit $10 • 5x wagering at odds of 1.3+ to unlock free bet • Terms apply

Other NHL Hockey Betting Sites

The following sportsbooks operate in Canada and are very reliable: BetWay, BetZest, PowerPlay and SpinSports. They have some things in common: they work with a variety of deposit and withdrawal methods, have good customer services, generous odds and teasing bonus offers and promotions.

Types of NHL Bets

As the world’s top hockey league, the NHL draws eyes from all over Canada and the world. The popularity of the league means there are many types of bets available on the NHL.

NHL Moneylines

The most frequent type of bet placed on the NHL is moneylines. The NHL, like the MLB, is a hyper-competitive league, with the difference between the top and bottom teams not overtly negatable.

Nhl Hockey Betting Odds

The competitiveness of the teams means moneylines are frequently in the range of -120 to -250 for favourites and +100 and +225 on the underdog. Moneyline odds offer better value if you bet on them with the tie option (meaning the game goes to overtime).

NHL Point Spreads

NHL point spreads, called NHL pucklines, are almost always a 1.5-goal handicap. When betting on an NHL puckline, the favourite needs to win by 1.5 goals to cover. Pucklines are used to get extra juice on the favourite when you are confident, they will win by multiple goals. The underdog on the puckline offers a smaller return but is a safer bet as they can win the goal or lose by a goal and still cover.

Pucklines make the last minutes of games exciting. When the net is empty and the favourite is leading by a goal, the chance of an empty goal is make or break on puckline wagers.

NHL Game Totals

NHL game totals or NHL over/under betting lines are a popular bet hockey on games. Most NHL over/under lines are set between 5.5 goals and 6.5 goals. The concept of NHL game totals is simple. You are betting if the two teams playing will score more or fewer goals than the line.

Using a 5.5 game total, a bet on the over hits if the two teams score six or more goals and under hits if the goal total is five or less. Game totals can also be whole numbers. For example, a game total of 6.0 can result in a push. A push means the two teams combined to score six goals. In the event of a push, your bet is refunded or voided on a parlay.

The odds on most NHL over/under lines are -110, with lines adjusting sometimes adjusting by 10 to 20 points depending on the teams and how the public is betting.

NHL Prop Betting

NHL props are a fun way to bet on NHL games. NHL props involve betting on the performance of a team or player. Some props include whether a specific player will score, how many goals a team will score, or what player will have more points.

Some props are on a single game, while others are bets over a longer period of time. These longer NHL prop bets are highly popular on the 2020 NHL restart with the tournaments for seeding offering plenty of NHL betting lines.

NHL Futures

NHL futures are bets on the outcome of the season and playoffs. The most popular future NHL sites offer is on what team will win the Stanley Cup. Other futures are available on what teams the Stanley Cup, what team will win their division, and point total over/under for the season.

NHL futures are also available for player awards. You can bet on what player will win the Art Ross, Rookie of the Year, or even unique bets such as “will a player score 60 or more goals this season.” NHL futures are long terms and odds will adjust, especially on who will win the Stanley Cup, throughout the season.

NHL Live Betting

Live betting on NHL games has grown in popularity in the last few years. Live betting always to wager on hockey games in progress, with odds and betting options adjusting as the game is played.

Live betting options available on NHL games include moneylines, game totals, puck lines, and some game props (for example what team will score the next goal). Odds on these lines consistently move as the game takes place.

NHL Betting Tips

To help you have more success betting on the NHL, we have some helpful NHL betting tips below. Use them to make the best bets on hockey.

Riding the Hot Goaltender

Few, if anything in hockey can lead a team to success as much as a hot goaltender. They can carry a team for a few weeks at a time and help that team reel off a string of wins. You should check the stats of each team’s goaltenders (season stats, last five-game stats, and splits against the opponent) before you bet on a game. Also, make sure the team is playing their starting goaltender and not putting their backup in.

Long Road Trips

It is not uncommon for teams in the NHL to embark on a few long road trips each season. These stretches are often the hardest parts of an NHL team’s regular season. However, these stretches also offer some of the best value when betting on the road underdog. Checking out a team’s strengths on the road, what goaltender they are starting, and how many days rest they have during the trip will help you make better bets and find a better value.

Underdog Value

Unlike the National Basketball Association or National Football League, the difference between the best and worst NHL teams is much smaller. Even the worst of the worst in the NHL still win 30-35% of their games. The fact they win so much means there is a lot of value betting on underdogs in the NHL. If you look into their splits against opponents, the injury report, and the goaltenders, you can find some great underdog to bet.

Best Sportsbooks for Betting on the NHL

It is now time to start betting on the NHL. We recommend trying one of the sportsbooks we recommend below as they accept Canadian bettors, offering amazing hockey betting odds, and are most importantly safe, reliable, and secure.

NHL Betting FAQs

How to bet on the NHL in Canada?

There are two ways to bet on the NHL in Canada – either by using a provincial sports betting service or by signing up for an online sportsbook. Online sportsbooks have multiple advantages over betting services such as Pro Line. Online sportsbooks offer better odds, allow for single bets, have great bonuses and live betting.

Where can I bet on the NHL?

On this page, we list the best NHL betting sites. The sites with the best odds, great bonuses, secure transactions, and fast payouts.

What types of bets can I make on the NHL?

There are many types of bets you can place on the NHL. The most popular pregame bets are moneylines, game totals, player props, and the puck line. You will find some of these wager types available during the game with NHL live betting. There are also NHL futures available.

Is live betting available on the NHL?

Yes, live betting is available on every NHL game.

What are the most popular bets on the NHL?

The most popular bet on NHL games is NHL moneylines. Due to the competitiveness of the league, moneylines offer great value on NHL games. Game totals are also very popular, while the puck line and NHL props round out the most common bets placed.

Can I parlay multiple NHL bets?

Yes, you can bet on many NHL games – up to 12 at once on some NHL sportsbook. Online sportsbooks allow for a decent amount of mixing when parlaying your NHL bets. You can also parlay NHL bets with other sports.

• Spin Palace Sports
  Bet Now
  1st Deposit - Free Bet up to $200 • New customers only • Min deposit $10 • 5x wagering at odds of 1.3+ to unlock free bet • Terms apply
• Betway
  Bet Now
  New Canada customers only. Opt-in required. Bonus based on 1st deposit of $10+. You will get a 100% matched bonus up to $200 based on your first deposit. Full terms apply.
• Bodog
  Bet Now
  This bonus can only be redeemed on your FIRST DEPOSIT. Rollover is 5X Sports 5X Horses 40X Casino.
• Bet365
  Up to $200 in Bet Credits for new customers at bet365
  Min deposit $10. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.
• Sports Interaction
  Bet Now
  New customers only. Min $20 deposit. Max $200 CAD bonus. Rollover is 5x deposit + bonus.

Hockey Betting Lines

Hockey Betting Rules

As with any sport, you should always check for any specific betting rules that apply. Log on to your bookmaker’s site and there should be a very extensive section marked either as ‘terms and conditions’ or, more simply, ‘rules’.

Scroll through and hockey should have its own section where you can read up on any terms that need to be kept in mind. One of the more common stipulations comes with the dead heat rule which can sometimes apply to the money line bet in the event of a drawn game. Many bookmakers will simply carry the bet over into the overtime period but others may apply the dead heat ruling where a fraction of the win odds is paid out.

Check also on any rules relating to abandoned matches but in general, while there may be a lot of text to work through, it is advisable to check this section, particularly if you are going to bet on hockey on a regular basis.