NHL 2021 Adaptations

Welcome to the ‘Introduction to Betting on the National Hockey League’ guide. What follows will encompass the foundational markets of betting hockey [always evolving], which markets to avoid, various forms of information to be dissected, and a discussion on betting philosophy and volume. The audience for this article is not simply people who want to open up their first sports betting account and wager on the NHL.

I see it as rather an overlap between those who are already hockey fans and wish to be profitable month-to-month bettors, and those who are already familiar with sports betting but are looking to expand into a new sport. Or perhaps you are a mix of both and would like to simply refresh your approach. Either way I believe there can be something here for everyone. I am not here to lecture anyone on their approach to hockey betting, but rather only share mine which has been successful based on the time and resources that I have. Which brings us to the first topic.

The NHL Season

Now typically here I jump into a summary of the endurance needed for a team to play above-average hockey from October through to June. However this is a season unlike any other and you need to keep that in mind for your NHL picks. The first significant differential is the length – 56 games. Second, the travel – all teams have been categorized on their geographical location (as best as possible) and, more critically, will only play each other so the distance and schedule will not be. Next we will only be starting playoffs about a month later and the amount of games is to remain the same though the opponents will only stem from this year’s divisions for the first two rounds. Players have been granted the choice to opt-out of the season.

Some teams will look different because of it, but not drastically. Additionally, some teams will be playing with fans in limited capacity. There is also the possibility certain home games could be moved to a remote location or another club’s rink. The NHL will be required to have contingencies for a plethora of probabilities and likely some eventualities.

There is obviously not going to be any of the usual breaks – the one week off each team gets during the season, a brief couple days over Christmas, and the All-Star Break. That said more teams have had increased time, by about two months, ‘off’. Not to mention that even many of the teams which did return to play during the summer only did so for a few weeks or month at most. So this piece a little teaser for what is to come and I’ll be expanding on everything above. I think the most critical point as we prepare for the upcoming season is to… ‘expect the unexpected.’