Hockey is a vastly growing sport that provides incredible action, excitement and best of all, provides a realistic positive wagering expectation for the handicapper. It offers the advantage of a lot of games every night as opposed to just on the weekends and—currently at least—the fact that they're actually playing as opposed to the NBA. The sheer volume of games also allows us to amplify the success of 58+% handicapping and do so on a nightly basis. We will assume that you are all familiar with the basics of hockey and how the game is played and how to bet on it.

The most common line in hockey is the straight moneyline side play. This is just like in baseball betting, where one team will be a -160 favorite and their opponent a +140 underdog. Like baseball, the spread between favorite and dog will vary from sports book to sports book. The outcome of this bet is simple to determine—if the team you bet on wins the game, you cash your bet. For purposes of this bet it doesn't matter whether your team wins in regulation, overtime or a shootout session.

Another common hockey wager involves a combination of the moneylne and a 'puck line' which is essentially a pointspread type device that requires the favorite to win by a certain number of goals (usually -1.5) and the underdog to lose by less than the same number (+1.5). Before the NHL lockout and the ensuing rules changes the most common puck line was +/- ½ goal. Now this moneyline is available at only a few sportsbooks which determine the outcome of the game on the results of regulation time play only. In other words, if a game finishes in a tie underdog players win and favorite players lose regardless of what happens in overtime or shootout periods.

Roughly 13-14% of all NHL games end regulation time in a tie and about 27% are won by one goal - these are important numbers to know when betting into either of the above lines. A goal is usually said to be worth 60-70 cents on the money line and a half goal is worth 30-35 cents. The Money Line is usually more favorable for the player but we still need to shop for both lines because there is always the possibility that the Puck Line could be better for the side you want, albeit rarely.

Wagering on the NHL is exciting and dynamic because there are so many variables to account for and the truly astute player will find value often. Value is what we are after and it is more tangible in hockey than almost any other sport. The basic handicapping principles that a handicapper would apply to basketball, football and baseball all apply to hockey betting - it is that dynamic! The fact that the linesmaker utilizes a spread that encompasses football, basketball and baseball lines support this point. In basketball the schedule and 'superstar' matchups parallel their ice cousins. In hockey you will see defensemen and defensive experts assigned to "shadow" and shut down an opposing sharpshooter just as you would see a defensive forward in basketball tasked with shutting down the other teams' star forward. This "chess game" within the hockey game starts when line changes are designed to either get, or avoid, a certain line matchup. Home teams in hockey have the last line-change before all face-offs so they can get the personnel out that they want.

Because of the similar number of games played, use of the schedule is also similar in both hockey and basketball as you can 'circle' games ahead of time identifying a potentially road-weary opponent visiting a well-rested host, something that is often missed by the casual/recreational handicapper. This alone will turn up value during a season. Similar now to football, hockey games are impacted by many more players than other sports and these 'extras' play crucial roles. Basketball teams may go 7 players deep but hockey teams use 3-4 lines of three players regularly and 3 or more defensive pairings to go with the goalie (that's at least 16 important players). In baseball a pitcher can be up to 70% of the betting line and actually have that much impact on the outcome of the game - in hockey, goalies such as Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins can often win games and championships through great individual effort.