NHL Gamecenter Discussion

by gorgalor on Oct 3, 2009 6:35 PM EDT

As a Pittsburgh Penguins fan that once had access to DirecTV's NHL Center Ice package, my new living situation has stripped me of all ability to enthusiastically watch games at my leisure. I'm now fully employed as a corporate mercenary, and am renting a tiny room in a dysfunctional house far away from home during the week. My hopes and dreams of watching the Penguins defend their Stanley Cup were logistically crushed. Except for NHL's Gamecenter Live thingamajig I just found out about while watching the NHL network yesterday. It looks like an online equivalent of the Center Ice package, and is promoted at the same price point, with similar marketing materials. I was wondering if anyone else had experience watching Gamecenter, and if it was worth shelling out $159 for it?

Here's a screenshot of the product (and of Crosby scoring an own goal?):

More info here.

Poll

Have you heard of NHL Gamecenter Live before?

Yes, I've heard of it.

14 votes

No, Gary Buttman does a horrible job marketing the NHL.

2 votes

16 votes | Poll has closed

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Haha it’s not really Bettman’s fault. I mean, a few more banners here and there on hockey sites couldn’t hurt but it’s not really in his hands.

Personally I’m thinking about getting the online deal this year. I may have to move in a month or so and if I do I don’t want to go through the hassle of hoping my next cable provider will transfer my service over. So really I’m thinking sticking with watching games on my computer is the way to go for this season.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Oct 3, 2009 7:08 PM EDT reply actions

I’m using the ESPN360 NHL Center Ice service… I think they’re both generally the same service (NHL Gamecenter and ESPN360 NHL Center Ice).

Since I’m from Europe this is actually the only way to see all the games I want. I’ve used the service also last year, and prepaid for the whole season this year already. They’ve improved the quality of the streams a little bit, but still there’s no way you’re getting anything close to a HD signal via the internet. Anyway I think it’s the closest you can get to the DirecTV – so I recommend it:)

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Oct 4, 2009 5:40 AM EDT reply actions

one more remark… it was a post about it by FrankD a couple of days ago… here in Europe there’s no problem with blackouts, because there are no local or national TVs to conflict with the coverage… but if you’re in the US you may be need to check about the blackouts more carefully…

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Oct 4, 2009 5:49 AM EDT reply actions

ive never bought it myself, but i know people who have. its pretty nice, you can watch up to 4 games at a time i believe.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are your Stanley Cup Champions!!

by jetpen89 on Oct 4, 2009 8:35 PM EDT reply actions

I had Game Center last season

PRO: You get access to the replay archive, this season’s games aren’t available until 2 or 3 days after they air. However, you do get any game, any team, from the last 2 or 3 seasons, full length, any time you want it. Yes, I did go back and watch game 3 of the 2008 Finals like 5 times so I could see “The Shift” by Brooks Orpik. I also watched Jordan Staal’s hat trick game against Detroit early last year several times.

CON: You are not garaunteed to get the FSN-P video feed (in fact I would say it’s unlikely that you’ll get them from my experience). They really like to put Boston’s home announcers on for some reason. You will want to kill yourself because of it, trust me. And no, it doesn’t synch up with Mike Lange’s audio from the website so don’t even think about it.

PRO: You get to watch the Pens play hockey!!!!

CON: ….as long as they’re not playing on a national feed, or in a local market.

Note for anyone in NYC or the surrounding area: EVERY GAME AGAINST THE DEVILS, RANGERS, ISLANDERS, (possibly Sabers) AND EVEN SOME CANADIAN TEAMS WILL BE BLACKED OUT. So you better have access to MSG+, TSN, CBC or whatever network it’s on.

PRO: Video quality is OK. It looks decent on my 24" monitor, not HD, but as good as watching on a regular old television.

CON: You don’t get the playoffs, so you better have versus.

CON: Customer service is a joke. You will be on hold for the entire game. So if your feed dropped for some reason, just keep refreshing and hope for the best. I would say that I only lost the video feed for an extended period of time maybe two or three times. Each time I missed a period and a half or so. Still, for $160 I don’t think that’s acceptable. I experienced other drops that I fixed just by refreshing the page at least once a game. A minor annoyance, but not a deal breaker.

Conclusion: I shelled out for cable this year to get MSG+ to watch games against Devils, Rangers, Islanders, but I am still considering gamecenter for the other games. It’s cheaper than going out in manhattan to watch games.

by puckhead45_82 on Oct 8, 2009 3:47 PM EDT reply actions

Update

Just bought it to watch last night’s Pens/Flyers game. Glad I did, it was a great game (and I got FSN-P Feed, woo!). One note, they’re not showing any of the network tv commercials anymore. You just get a screen saying the game will be back shortly. I kind of miss seeing the local Pittsburgh commercials, made me feel more at home (now I have to go to youtube for the ‘superstar’ commercials, lol). DVR functionality requires you to download and install a separate program (I didn’t bother). I didn’t have any video problems that weren’t fixed with a browser refresh. Replay archive features all reg season and playoff games from the past 2 seasons. I am totally going to go watch finals game 6 from 2 years ago and then finals game 7 from last year. I suppose I would recommend it this year.

by puckhead45_82 on Oct 9, 2009 10:55 AM EDT reply actions