NHL Gamecenter

[Ram 240]

Not a fan of games being blacked out because they are on NHL Network. I can understand Versus, but NHL Network is a premium channel in most cable and satellite packages. A bit bummed, but I guess the season's only starting.

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

Not a fan of games being blacked out because they are on NHL Network. I can understand Versus, but NHL Network is a premium channel in most cable and satellite packages. A bit bummed, but I guess the season's only starting.

It is especially annoying because they are just airing the feed of a different network. I'm just glad that Comcast moved NHLN to a regular cable package instead of it being part of the sports entertainment package that is like an extra $10 a month.

[wingfan1991 221]

anyone in Canada use NHL GameCenter online? do the blackouts effect us for Red Wings games? I have hockeystreams but quality isnt up to par and thinking of switching next year. DVR controls coming to HS which is what I need to have that GC has already.

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

anyone in Canada use NHL GameCenter online? do the blackouts effect us for Red Wings games? I have hockeystreams but quality isnt up to par and thinking of switching next year. DVR controls coming to HS which is what I need to have that GC has already.

Where are you in Canada?

[drumnj 459]

anyone in Canada use NHL GameCenter online? do the blackouts effect us for Red Wings games? I have hockeystreams but quality isnt up to par and thinking of switching next year. DVR controls coming to HS which is what I need to have that GC has already.

Yes....if the game is also being broadcasted on:

CBC, TSN/2, NHLNet-CAN, or your local market (i.e. Rogers SNET-Pac/Ont/East/West/...., RSN/RIS, LeafsTV, etc.)

Edited October 14, 2010 by drumnj

[brettq 7]

I just purchased Gamecenter because I recently moved to South Dakota.

Cable provider here doesn't offer VS or Center Ice . My fault for moving to South Dakota I suppose (Brighton originally).

Anyone else having issues with not being able to watch tonight's game on Gamecenter? It says the game is blacked out, but I am not offered any other coverage. It might be due to the fact that I just signed up (~10 minutes ago), but I can watch other games.

Edit: Sorry never mind, noticed tonight's game is on NHL Network. Too bad I'm not offered that either lol.

Edited October 15, 2010 by brettq

[ShanahanMan 473]

Feed tonight was a bit laggy, especially when the camera panned around the ice. Can't wait fir that PS3 app

[T.Low 1,011]

FYI, I work in tech support for Gamecenter Live, feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Here is a link to the Gamecenter Live FAQs for those interested, new features for this season are home and away video, the ability to stream directly to your PS3, Roku, or Boxee. NHL Vault (archives and classic games, included with GCL subscription) will be available on Sony Bravia Blu-Ray players and the iPad.

Also, for those making mention of hockeystreams.net, don't be surprised if that site gets shut down if it hasn't already been, the NHL is severly cracking down on unauthorized streaming sites charging money for hockey, (don't worry, I haven't told them about Drumnj, he doesn't charge)

Great info everyone, thanks.

Can GameCenter streams be "DVR'd" so to speak. On the west coast, the home games start at 4:30. I'd like to ride and do other things and then settle in and watch the game after dinner later in the evenning. Is that possible with the Gamecenter streams or do is that not how a stream works?

Thanks in advance.

Edited October 15, 2010 by T.Low

[tinyhockey 0]

Great info everyone, thanks.

Can GameCenter streams be "DVR'd" so to speak. On the west coast, the home games start at 4:30. I'd like to ride and do other things and then settle in and watch the game after dinner later in the evenning. Is that possible with the Gamecenter streams or do is that not how a stream works?

Thanks in advance.

well hockeystreams.com is the best I have used it for 3 years now with no problems, I just hook my HDMI cord from my notebook to my HDTv and get a great feed on the tv.

and also with the fox and dish problems what every area you live in you will not get to watch games from fox on the Center ice packege

hockeystreams is the place to watch your hockey games and many other sports

[Guest Shoreline]

the game is blacked out

Get used to that with Gamecenter. I tried it for two seasons. It's a waste, and I ******* hate after a long school day or work day sitting down to watch a Wings game and seeing a blank screen, wondering what I paid for. Get Center Ice for TV (which is going to have way less issues with blackouts unless you're [as a general note, I know you said you live in SD] in the Detroit area, in which case you should already be able to watch 90%+ of Wings games with basic cable) or go with Hockeystreams.com.

[wingfan1991 221]

Where are you in Canada?

Toronto

Yes....if the game is also being broadcasted on:

CBC, TSN/2, NHLNet-CAN, or your local market (i.e. Rogers SNET-Pac/Ont/East/West/...., RSN/RIS, LeafsTV, etc.)

Ok cool so either way I get to see all the wings games cause I'm on Rogers and have all those tsn/sportsnet/NHL network.

[Guest Crymson]

Get used to that with Gamecenter. I tried it for two seasons. It's a waste, and I ******* hate after a long school day or work day sitting down to watch a Wings game and seeing a blank screen, wondering what I paid for. Get Center Ice for TV (which is going to have way less issues with blackouts unless you're [as a general note, I know you said you live in SD] in the Detroit area, in which case you should already be able to watch 90%+ of Wings games with basic cable) or go with Hockeystreams.com.

Those games which are blacked out on GC are almost always blacked out on CI as well. Any being played on NHL-N, Versus, NBC or a local network will be blacked out in the USA.

Edited October 15, 2010 by Crymson

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

Get used to that with Gamecenter. I tried it for two seasons. It's a waste, and I ******* hate after a long school day or work day sitting down to watch a Wings game and seeing a blank screen, wondering what I paid for. Get Center Ice for TV (which is going to have way less issues with blackouts unless you're [as a general note, I know you said you live in SD] in the Detroit area, in which case you should already be able to watch 90%+ of Wings games with basic cable) or go with Hockeystreams.com.

GCL blackouts and CI blackouts are going to be the same. It clearly advertises that the service is for up to 40 out of market games per week. If you live the the Wings' viewing area and signed up expected to see the Wings then you are just plain stupid.

Toronto

Ok cool so either way I get to see all the wings games cause I'm on Rogers and have all those tsn/sportsnet/NHL network.

Yeah, you shouldn't be affected by any blackouts unless the Wings are on CBC, etc.

Edited October 15, 2010 by Howard He Do It?!

[Guest mjtm77]

Hey guys I have not had much time to read into this thread. And I have some questions Iam looking at getting hockeystreams or gamecenter. which one do you guys think will be better and will I be able to hook it up to my tv somehow? and if I can will it show on my tv in hd? anyway sorry if these questions sound stupid and thanks in advance

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

Hey guys I have not had much time to read into this thread. And I have some questions Iam looking at getting hockeystreams or gamecenter. which one do you guys think will be better and will I be able to hook it up to my tv somehow? and if I can will it show on my tv in hd? anyway sorry if these questions sound stupid and thanks in advance

I have GCL and it's the best out there. I hook my laptop up to my TV and the games look great, damn near HD. There is a PS3 app in the works that will let you stream games in HD directly to your TV. Be aware that there are blackouts, locally and nationally.

Never used hockeystreams but it is illegal and under cuts the NHL.

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

Any news on the PS3 app?

[ShanahanMan 473]

Any news on the PS3 app?

Wondering the same. Would really save the headache of having to attach the comp. to the TV every time I wanna watch a game.

[Guest Shoreline]

I know this reply is a little late but what the hell..

Hey guys I have not had much time to read into this thread. And I have some questions Iam looking at getting hockeystreams or gamecenter. which one do you guys think will be better and will I be able to hook it up to my tv somehow? and if I can will it show on my tv in hd? anyway sorry if these questions sound stupid and thanks in advance

I purchased just one month of hockeystreams and a couple things come to mind (unlike the previous poster who tried to give a half assed comparison, I actually have had both and thus in a better position to critique):

1) No blackouts, which plague GCO (this is my single biggest reason to give GCO the finger as it's not fan friendly)

2) Quality on HS is slightly exaggerated, especially on WMP streams, but a more consistent feed than GCO ***

3) Works fabulous on my iPhone if I want to stream it there over 3G or Wi-Fi.

*** -- to emphasize #2, I had GCO and the streams constantly went to s***, especially the larger ones. And surrounding your TV thing, that's exactly what I do. My desktop PC's graphics card has 2 DVI ports, one of which has a DVI cable that goes into my HDTV, making Windows treat the TV as a second monitor (I will point out that a simple VGA connection works just fine too, doesn't have to be DVI). I start the stream, drag it over to the TV, full screen it, voila. Now, since it has been on my TV, I can give a direct comparison to the quality, offhand, of the stream on my 1080P HDTV, of both GameCenter versus the satellite version of Center Ice. The best I saw DTV offer me is 1080i, though it's far better an idea to watch in 720p than 1080i as 1080i makes following the puck more of a hassle -- interlaced sucks for sports and games. In comparison, the HS feeds using WMP (I still have yet to try their Silverlight streams as I'm not a fan of installing a bunch of browser media players on my PC) look better than SDTV, but not quite as good as 720p.

I believe HS feeds are phasing out WMP which means I'll have to use Silverlight. Hopefully their streams with that are slightly better (I'm very picky) as I've seen some ATDHE streams which are both free and better, a handful using what looks like some European ESPN feed. Without a doubt though GCO's biggest issue is the blackouts (way too much s*** blacked out) and holding a high quality stream, and while that may not technically be their fault on the blackouts problem, it's your choice as a consumer to choose which best fits your type of service. Obviously they don't get the message to try and jump the blackout hurdle and improve their service if you just simply buy and ***** about it. So I give the edge of quality streams to GCO (with an asterisk), but consistency of streams and availability (which to me matter a lot more than the quality -- and I still haven't tried HS Silverlight streams so I dunno if those are better quality) go way to HS.

Edited October 31, 2010 by Shoreline

[hankzet40 233]

I found it odd on Thursday that both the commercials and the intermission were blacked out on the Detroit feed and it told me to watch the Phoenix feed for their intermission show. Last night was normal but Detroit's was the only feed available.

[soultrain 43]

i hate comcast so much that i bought gamecenter. the picture quality is good better than the tv package that is offered in my area...it is a little shaky even when you use what they say - firefox and the new flash player...they do black out games just like comcast...but they offer you so much more content than anybody else and i don't have to set my dvr. i watch them on my hdtv - i use my macbook - connected a mini dvi to hdmi cable for video and and 1/8 inch to rca for the audio...pretty sweet and like $15 bucks cheap. the gamecenter live package isn't perfect (choppy picture) but i watch 3+ games a night so, its worth it to me....and i made my dad pay for half

Edited October 31, 2010 by soultrain

[soultrain 43]

Get used to that with Gamecenter. I tried it for two seasons. It's a waste, and I ******* hate after a long school day or work day sitting down to watch a Wings game and seeing a blank screen, wondering what I paid for.

Talked to my dads best friend who lives downstate MI...he had the same black out problems with the tv package he bought so he canceled it and bitched them out for it. I think it is bulls*** that they do that too, but i live in north California where gamecenter or the cable package only black out sharks games.

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

I feel no remorse for people who don't understand the blackout policy.

[Guest Crymson]

Hockeystreams has released a feature that allows one to stream games on Xbox360 and PS3.

I feel no remorse for people who don't understand the blackout policy.

The largest issue I have with Center Ice is that it does not include the NHL Network. Many games are played on the NHL network, and those who have Center Ice are still forced to shell out more money in order to have every game available to them. It's silly.

[soultrain 43]

The largest issue I have with Center Ice is that it does not include the NHL Network. Many games are played on the NHL network, and those who have Center Ice are still forced to shell out more money in order to have every game available to them. It's silly.

agreed.

[ilmickeyli 40]

With the upcoming Game Center live for ipad im debating game center, but from the trials i've had with it the quality isnt worth the price - i'd rather pay for center ice.