The goal-a-game hockey betting progression system can be played as a 2-part AB progression or a 3-part ABC progression. For more information about how ABC progressions work check out our article on progressions.
Essentially, as the name of the system implies, you are betting on a hockey team to score at least one goal in a game. Now if you were to wager on a team to score a goal for the entire game it would be ridiculous odds, probably something crazy like -1400 or -3000. Obviously those are not intelligent wagers.
The way the system works is you bet on a team to score a goal in the 1st period. That is your A bet. If they score a goal you won your bet and the progression is over. Congrats. If they do not score a goal you place a live wager for them to score a goal in the 2nd period. This is your B bet. I typically only like to use an AB progression with this system, but if they do not score in the 2nd period you can then move on to the C bet for them to score in the 3rd period. An ABC progression is obviously riskier than an AB progression. Confused on how to place these progression bets correctly? Read the detailed article about ABC progressions.
This system works for the NHL and most European hockey leagues which also use the 3 period format.
One of the skills you will need to hone for this system is finding teams with decent odds for scoring a goal. If you wager on one of the best teams in the league such as the Florida Panthers (circa 2024) their odds to score a goal in the 1st period could already be something steep like -240. This means if you have to move on to your B bet for the 2nd period the odds will be even worse, probably something like -380 or your bookie might not even offer the single goal wager but over/under 1.5 goals instead. This can be frustrating which is why it’s better to do it on teams that are either underdogs in the game or not super highly favored.
How do you pick the right teams to run the progression on? This is up to you and your resources when it comes to all kinds of statistics about the teams that are playing, their roster, their goalie, etc. Use your tools and websites to determine which teams should have a good chance at scoring at least 1 goal in the game, or in the first two periods. You could look at the recap of NHL scores on any given day and see that there were no shutouts and think “wow, I could have run this system on every single team and they all would have won,” but be careful, shutouts do happen often.
One thing to keep in mind about this system is that if your 1st period wager does not win then it becomes a live betting system. You not only need sportsbooks that offer live betting, but you need sportsbooks that offer over/under 0.5 goals in a period for each team. If they don’t offer the 0.5 goals wager they might offer clean sheet, which we will go over in a separate article. Do your research and paper bet the system for awhile on your sportsbooks as a test, making sure that you will be able to have access to the necessary live bets. A lot of books will allow you to place the 1st period wager before the game starts.
Overall if you are disciplined and have the time to watch the scores and place the live bets this can be a very profitable system longterm.