The National Hockey League (NHL) might not be as popular internationally as the NBA or the NFL - but it’s the one travellers come home talking about the most. Ice Hockey is just such a frenetic, lively spectacle that it has to be seen live to be properly appreciated.

Like all major sports leagues around the world, the NHL has committed to mobile-only ticketing for its events. There are a handful of different ticketing platforms that have been adopted by the clubs to facilitate this - e.g. Ticketmaster, AXS, etc - but the process for each is similar.

Regardless of which destination your clients are visiting, here's what you can expect for NHL tickets booked through a Sports Where I Am partner solution:

How National Hockey League ticketing works

For NHL tickets booked through a Sports Where I Am solution, here are the steps involved:

• 1. A customer email address will be required when booking in Helio.

  Most leagues, teams & venues around the world have made a push towards mobile ticketing in the interest of security & convenience. This means that we require a customer email for sports & events bookings so that the ticket transfer can be sent directly to your customer.
  
  
  
  We only use this email address for ticket delivery, though, and we will not send your customer any follow-up marketing materials. 

• 2. We send instructions & mobile ticket transfer directly to your customer.

  
  
  

  When the tickets are ready to be transferred, we'll send instructions directly to the customer email address supplied.

  In almost all cases, the end customer will be required to create an account (and possibly download an App) in order to accept their ticket transfer. We’ll send the relevant instructions to the customer email supplied.

• 3. After accepting the ticket transfer, the customer will access their tickets on their mobile device.

  
  
  After accepting the ticket transfer, the customer will access the tickets on their mobile device to scan in at the gate on game-day.
  
  This will likely be via Ticketmaster - but it could also be via SeatGeek, AXS or other similar mobile ticketing platforms adopted by the home team.

Key dates for the NHL ice hockey season

A yearly calendar for NHL generally looks like this:

• June
  
  • The schedule is announced for the following season. Tickets available soon after.
• September - October
  
  • Pre-season games are played.
• October - April
  
  • The NHL regular season is played during these months: Each team plays 82 games in this time.
• April - June
  
  • The NHL postseason - culminating in the Stanley Cup Finals - is played at this time.
    
    

JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC

Ice Hockey seating categories explained

Many of our partners have requested a simplified booking process for their travel customers. That's why our NHL ticket options are conveniently split into three broad sections: Budget, Regular and Premium.

As a rough rule-of-thumb, this is how that generally looks:

The 'best' ice hockey tickets are generally considered to be "on the glass", that is, as close to the glass barrier separating the spectators and the game as possible. As with most sports, the long-side view is considered to be a better way to see the action at both ends - but it's arguably less clear-cut with ice hockey than it is for other sports.

• An example of a view from a 'Budget' seat category at an ice hockey game. These are usually in the upper tiers and/or at either end of the rink. (Note: This is a rough guide only)

• An example of a view from a 'Regular' seat category at an ice hockey game. These can be in the upper tiers with a more side-on view of the rink - or they might be closer to the rink at either end. (Note: This is a rough guide only)

• An example of a view from a 'Premium' seat category at an ice hockey game. Generally these tickets are close to the ice with a good view of either end. (Note: This is a rough guide only)

There are, of course, a number of exceptions to this, depending on the specific NHL venue and the sections that a team might have set up. But the above is a general guide only.

Popular NHL destinations:

Los Angeles ↗ Las Vegas ↗ Dallas ↗