The general public's indifference to hockey serves bettors well as oddsmakers are less diligent when coming up with hockey wagers compared to football, basketball and baseball.
HOCKEY WAGERS FAQS
Who invented ice hockey?
In 2002, the International Ice Hockey Federation officially recognized the March 3, 1875 game at the Victoria Skating Rink as the earliest eyewitness account of a specific game of hockey. The circumstances that surround that game, fulfill the IIHFs criteria for what can be recognized as the site of the first game of hockey.
However, there are 17th Century paintings which show people playing hockey on ice in The Netherlands. In Canada, the towns of Halifax, Kingston and Windsor also claim to be the birthplace of ice hockey. The Canadian city of and Montreal also claim to be hockey's birthplace.
Windsor is the Canadian town generally referred to as 'The Birthplace of Hockey' in the Canadian media, the town is also called 'The Little Town Of Big Firsts', because many things started there before they started in the rest of Canada. Canada's first college, King's College, was established in Windsor in 1789. It was the boys at King's College School who adapted an Irish field game to the ice of their favorite skating pond, called Long Pond. They called the game Ice Hurley which later developed into Ice Hockey.
Montreal is said to be the birthplace of modern hockey - where earlier versions of the game were developed, with the assistance of students of McGill University, to give the sport its first written rules and a structure that included officials, a defined goal area, a limited number of players, a defined playing surface, where it was played on skates with a stick and a puck.
How the game of hockey is played?
Hockey is a team sport played on a large surface of ice. Players wear ice skates with sharp blades that glide smoothly along the ice surface. Sticks in hand, player's battle to put the puck past the goalie into the opposing teams' net. Like soccer, the object of hockey is to score more goals than the opponent to win.
Do shootout goals count as a goal?
For wagering purposes, overtimes and shootouts count towards the final score. If a team scores in overtime or wins the shootout, the goal will count towards final score. So sides and totals are affected.
But for game statistics, the shootout does not count towards individual statistics. A shootout goal is not added to a player's total goals or total points. The losing team has one goal-against added to its season total. This holds regardless of how many goals are scored during the shootout itself.
How does a shootout in hockey work?
In international and collegiate hockey, if a game is tied after 60 minutes, it will be immediately followed by an overtime period. If there is still no winner, the game is decided by a shootout.
Each team selects five players. In turn, each player begins at center ice, skating in for one shot on goal. The team scoring the most goals in five attempts is the winner.
If the shootout is tied after all ten players have made their attempts, the competition continues in "sudden death" mode where the teams trade shots until there is a winner.
In the NHL, only three players per team are selected for the shootout.
What is a bender in hockey?
Short for ankle bender, a derogatory term for a player who bends their ankles when skating.
What is the origin of the phrase "hat trick"?
- A hat trick is where the same player scores three goals in a game but another player or players from the same side scores in between. In the NHL, the player is normally said to have had a 3-goal-game.
- A natural hat trick is where three goals are scored consecutively by the same player in the same game.
- In hockey circles, the term is said to come from the habit of a Toronto haberdasher presenting a new hat to any three-goal scorer in Maple Leaf Gardens. Another legend says that phrase came from the Biltmore Hat Company, which sponsored the Guelph Biltmores of the Ontario Hockey League. However, it seems that the phrase originated from the English game of Cricket and refers to a bowler taking three wickets with three successive balls - a very unusual achievement. Similar to the ice hockey version of events, the 19th century custom of a cricket club awarding a new club hat to mark the success, gave rise to the phrase which was first recorded in print in the 1858.
- Today's custom is for fans to throw hats onto the ice to celebrate the achievement.
What are the playing positions in ice hockey?
There are six players on the ice for each team during regular play and they line up as follows:
| Goalie / Netminder | ||
| Right Defense | Left Defense | |
| Right Wing | Center | Left Wing |