NHL TV and Center Ice Online

[DyingAlive 27]

So come next season, I'm going to be starting college. With this move, I will not be able to enjoy the luxuries of home, a.k.a. Center Ice .

So here is my question: What is the NHL's online service for watching games live stream via the internet?

Is Center Ice online my option directly though NHL?

If anyone could enlighten me on this topic it would be greatly appreciate, how well the stream is, what the costs are, etc, etc...

[Doggy 130]

If I were you I'd learn a whole lot about this site:

http://www.myp2pforum.eu/

[WingMachine91 0]

me too! i am also about to be going to college, to penn state actually, and i now think i need to get center ice online to fulfill my red wings needs. what is the cost and how is the quality of the product. is it just like center ice but on the computer?

[DyingAlive 27]

If I were you I'd learn a whole lot about this site:

http://www.myp2pforum.eu/

Yeah, I'm aware of the streams that are available a lot through p2p sites. However, I don't really want a low quality crappy stream that I'm going to have problems with connections and stuff like that. Anything like that isn't usually the best quality. If Center Ice Online is more reliable and better I'd rather just get a subscription to that.

[Herr Hockey 0]

I also have a college issue with the Wings. I hear Michigan State doesn't have versus (can anyone confirm?) If that is the case, does anyone know of an online option for me to watch the first game of the season and the rest of the versus games?

ETA: I will be using the mac OS on a macbook

Edited July 19, 2008 by Herr Hockey

[CrossoverThrash 0]

Its ok, but myp2p is just as good alot of the times and is getting better, or get a slingbox

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

So come next season, I'm going to be starting college. With this move, I will not be able to enjoy the luxuries of home, a.k.a. Center Ice .

So here is my question: What is the NHL's online service for watching games live stream via the internet?

Is Center Ice online my option directly though NHL?

If anyone could enlighten me on this topic it would be greatly appreciate, how well the stream is, what the costs are, etc, etc...

I've never tried the Sopcast thingy before so I would be of no use helping out there. I did use NHL Center Ice Online last season without any special features to my laptop.

If you are just going to be watching games from your monitor without any hook-ups to a projector or TV or whatever, you can watch 4 games all at once, with audio for only one game.

Or, if you are just going to use it to watch primarily Wings games or one game at a time, you can enlarge it to one screen, or make the one game take up your entire screen. Honestly though, when I tuned into just one game, I didn't like it completely enlarged, seemed to be a little less quality on my laptop.

However, I did have problems sometime to where the game play was bumpy for short stretches, until it eventually corrected itself. I don't know if it was my laptop or due to being on a wireless signal, but keep that in mind as well.

Hope this helps!

[Doggy 130]

Yeah, I'm aware of the streams that are available a lot through p2p sites. However, I don't really want a low quality crappy stream that I'm going to have problems with connections and stuff like that. Anything like that isn't usually the best quality. If Center Ice Online is more reliable and better I'd rather just get a subscription to that.

Many of those crappy streams are better and more reliable than Centre Ice from what I've heard. Many of them also come from.... ta daaa... Centre Ice Online.

From what I hear, the only advantage is that you know you'll be able to get the game whereas its a question mark with p2p. Your choice though.

[Donaldjr2448 43]

I had Center Ice online last year, it got better throught the year. Be prepared to watch the games on a small screen because if the game is broadcast in HD when you go to maximize it, it becomes blurry!!! And if the Wings game is on VS or NHL Network, Center Ice blacks it out!! You can then either use Sopcast(which never worked for me) or Justintv.com, there are usually folks that broadcast the NHL Network and Versus on there, but you may have to search for a bit on the night of the game. Last season NHL Center Ice Online was $169 for the year. Unless I get a dish thsi year, I will buy it again!! Good Luck to you all in College next year!!

[58Miles2Joe 12]

Going the p2p route can be a harrowing ride at times. If you get as rabid about Wings games as I do there will be nights (about 10%) you will want to go on a rampage as you frantically, and fruitlessly, scramble to find a stream. However, there are other nights (probably 40%) where the stream is beautiful, and life is wonderful, and birds sing. The rest of the time (50%) it's a really low quality stream where you can only tell who is who on the ice by their position and skating style. At over $100 i'm torn almost 50/50 about whether to weather the p2p route again, or get the CI. Check out the free trial at the beginning of the year and then compare it to p2p.

[Rick 42]

Question to the people who had NHL Center Ice Online:

So there wasn't any blackouts for the FSN games? Just the NHL Network, NBC and Versus?

I wouldn't mind paying for it if I get the FSN Detroit feeds.

Can you also watch the feed from the opposing teams network too?

[Doggy 130]

Question to the people who had NHL Center Ice Online:

So there wasn't any blackouts for the FSN games? Just the NHL Network, NBC and Versus?

I wouldn't mind paying for it if I get the FSN Detroit feeds.

Can you also watch the feed from the opposing teams network too?

Yeah it's blacked out when FSND has the game. FSN has the local boradcast rights. That's when you need sopacast or the like.

[Rick 42]

Yeah it's blacked out when FSND has the game. FSN has the local boradcast rights. That's when you need sopacast or the like.

aw, damnit.

thanks for letting me know.

I guess I can forget about my plan to drop my cable service.

Do you recieve the FSND feed when streaming from Australia because your not in the local viewing area or becasue you have an IP address outside the state of Michigan?

[Doggy 130]

aw, damnit.

thanks for letting me know.

I guess I can forget about my plan to drop my cable service.

Do you recieve the FSND feed when streaming from Australia because your not in the local viewing area or becasue you have an IP address outside the state of Michigan?

Center Ice isn't available in Australia.

All local telecasts are blacked out so Michigan residents won't see any FSND broadcasts on Center Ice Online.

P.S. - Nice avatar and name.

Edited July 31, 2008 by Doggy

[pavyaz19 1]

I had Center Ice Online last year...

FACT:

After a month into the season the NHL signed an exclusive deal with DirecTV to show 50 select games only on DirecTV and NHL Network.

Since Detroit is a premiere team, many of these games were part of this deal.

MANY DETROIT GAMES WERE BLACKED OUT BECAUSE OF THIS!

I complained many times, but no help and no discount even though when I paid, it was for the full season before this special "deal" which helped the NHL gain many, but cost us fans.

Also, games on Versus and NBC will be blacked out online.

[Doggy 130]

I had Center Ice Online last year...

FACT:

After a month into the season the NHL signed an exclusive deal with DirecTV to show 50 select games only on DirecTV and NHL Network.

Since Detroit is a premiere team, many of these games were part of this deal.

MANY DETROIT GAMES WERE BLACKED OUT BECAUSE OF THIS!

I complained many times, but no help and no discount even though when I paid, it was for the full season before this special "deal" which helped the NHL gain many, but cost us fans.

Also, games on Versus and NBC will be blacked out online.

Not all NBC games but yeah.

[Rick 42]

Center Ice isn't available in Australia.

All local telecasts are blacked out so Michigan residents won't see any FSND broadcasts on Center Ice Online.

P.S. - Nice avatar and name.

That is kind of a bummer. I should have known that thinking I could watch the wings without paying for TV was too good to be true.

My name really is Rick and I went by Ricky for most of my childhood but I haven't lived in a trailer yet.

I wish netflix would hurry up and get TPB seasons 6 & 7 already.

[Doggy 130]

That is kind of a bummer. I should have known that thinking I could watch the wings without paying for TV was too good to be true.

My name really is Rick and I went by Ricky for most of my childhood but I haven't lived in a trailer yet.

I wish netflix would hurry up and get TPB seasons 6 & 7 already.

Yeah, same here. Name that is.

And seasons 6 & 7 are great. You'll love 'em.

[Chelichic 12]

I also have a college issue with the Wings. I hear Michigan State doesn't have versus (can anyone confirm?) If that is the case, does anyone know of an online option for me to watch the first game of the season and the rest of the versus games?

ETA: I will be using the mac OS on a macbook

You heard right. MSU and UofM do not carry Versus. As for what to watch online... not sure... the sites ive watched are alright for an internet feed. I usually end up listening over the net on 97.1 the ticket.

[Guest Shoreline]

The decision is tough for me because I really hate cable/satellite TV and paying up the ass ($35 is too much for me since I watch none of the channels that were offered through some lowest-tier, generic package) for a ton of channels I don't EVER watch. I haven't so much as turned the damn thing on a single time since Game 6 of the Cup Finals. Online would be more appealing to me, but as mentioned above the Wings are prime targets for blackouts due to the NHL Network. While I certainly don't just watch the Wings, even though they're my team, they are the prime reason I subscribed to NHL Center Ice for satellite for the last 6'ish years, sans 1 for lockout. I was happy the NHL Network was put on cable and satellite, but damn, why f*** it up for us paying customers? Someone really needs to pull some league representative's heads out of the sand because along with the non-existent ticket drops which went along with the cap drop, they aren't helping people at all who want to watch their favorite team and aren't in the local market.

Edited August 2, 2008 by Shoreline

[b.shanafan14 733]

Going the p2p route can be a harrowing ride at times. If you get as rabid about Wings games as I do there will be nights (about 10%) you will want to go on a rampage as you frantically, and fruitlessly, scramble to find a stream. However, there are other nights (probably 40%) where the stream is beautiful, and life is wonderful, and birds sing. The rest of the time (50%) it's a really low quality stream where you can only tell who is who on the ice by their position and skating style. At over $100 i'm torn almost 50/50 about whether to weather the p2p route again, or get the CI. Check out the free trial at the beginning of the year and then compare it to p2p.

I'm in Milwaukee, WI going to school and last season I got Center Ice Online because I'm on campus doing school work alot. I found myself using CI either on my arch studio computer or at home connected to my TV using an S-Video cable, but the black outs are inferiorating especially since Red Wings are the highlight of my day a lot of the time and sometimes you don't know its blacked out until the second you go to watch it. There were times with p2p I thought "why'd I even get CI" but about 25% of the time I was like 58m2j and furious because you either can't find a stream or its tremendously slow and s***ty so you get the audio with flashes of buffering video. I'll prolly end up getting CI online again this season since its convenient, you can watch already played games on-demand which helps pass the time, and p2p is unreliable if you want good quality games consistently. But as 58m2j says, try the free trial they have for the first week or two and compare it to p2p streams and make the decision then.

[Hank Dats 'N Homer 81]

hey, i too will be going away, attending MSU, so i have been facing the same issue. I also work at Best Buy, so i may have a solution for some of you guys. I dont know how many of you know or have hear about the Sling Box but from the customers i have talked to who have purchased it, it sounds like it would work perfectly for everyone in this situation.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1188561003217

Basically if you moving out of a house that has cable already you can forget about paying a TV bill in your new apartment. You can watch and control cable from you parents place on your laptop free of charge. The way i figure it, if you are going to pay 150 for the CI package plus your regualr cable bill, but your parents are already doing it at there place its a waste of money. As long as you have a computer, which im sure all college students these days do, youre pretty much set. If you have a TV with an S-video or a flat panel LCD Tv with VGA, DVI or HDMI you can hook the computer right up to it and watch it like you are watching your own cable...only free. haha. Just thought i would throw my two cents in there since some of you are saying your paretns get the CI package anyways and others are saying that they dont have Versus where they are going. This would solve both problems.

It basically streams a TV cable connection to an internet website that you would log into, so all you really need is an internet connection. You can change the channel directly from your compuer. Kind of cool and convienent. Im thinking about doing it so i can watch some TV in the middle of class when the teachers are babbling on about some nonesense. haha.

Edited August 3, 2008 by Hank Dats 'N Homer

[wingschamps 0]

I've tried to sign up for CI online and it says that it can't be accessed from my broadcast region. Anyone else having that problem?

[b.shanafan14 733]

I've tried to sign up for CI online and it says that it can't be accessed from my broadcast region. Anyone else having that problem?

I can't get into it either. Its probably locked until the preseason starts. Hopefully they give it an upgraded look from last year...

[wingschamps 0]

i just called and they said it says that for everyone and it should be available by the weekend.