Hockey betting is already being affected by the Olympic hockey schedule. The NHL is going to take a two week break in February for the Olympics but each team is still going to play the same amount of regular season games. That means a lot of games crammed together for those making a hockey bet.
Hockey betting has more games on the board this month because the NHL is trying to make up for lost time during the Olympic break. The Chicago Blackhawks, who have been leading the NHL, have already played 10 games this hockey betting month and they have five more to play. That is an insane number of games for a team to play in a single hockey betting month. “It’s a lot of games,” said Chicago’s Marian Hossa, “You have to take care of your body and be smart with your free time. You have to make sure you get lots of rest because the games are bunched up because of the Olympics.”
Those that make a hockey bet will see that the Olympic break begins on February 15th. Chicago has a number of players who will play in the Olympics including Hossa. He and his teammate Tomas Kopecky will play for Slovakia. Patrick Kane will play for the United States while Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook will play for Canada. The rest of the Blackhawks will get some time off for those two weeks. “I don’t do a whole lot,” defenseman Brian Campbell said, “I don’t think anybody does a whole lot else besides playing hockey, sleeping and eating. It’s a challenge but every team, obviously, is facing it. It’s tough mentally and physically on the body. I don’t think I’d want to do this every year.”
Chicago is one of the teams in hockey betting that are really paying the price for the Olympics. They have to play an eight-game road trip. It is bad enough playing a six game road trip, which Chicago did earlier this season as they went 4-1-1 on the trip for those that make a hockey bet but this time it is eight games long.
As the Olympics get closer it will be important to consider the schedule of each team as you make a hockey bet. Some of the teams will benefit because they are at home. Others may pay the price in hockey betting because they are on the road. Chicago is good enough they may be able to survive the road games in hockey betting but many other teams will not.