Tech Help Needed...how to watch Ranger Games

[IPv6Freely 2082]

I don't think there's much they can do about it besides jacking the price up and eliminating blackouts... Which.... I'd be all for. But unlikely to ever happen (at least not until the traditional television market finally dies it's inevitable death)

[CathyGo 15]

I'd be willing to pay a lot more for it to not have blackouts but their TV contracts stipulate them so not happening. I don't mind as much for local games especially if it's on a local cable network. When it's an away game that gets blacked out it irritates me. I don't have a TV or cable and as I'm moving in about 3 months there's no way I'm buying either of them. Gamecenter is my only option at that point.

[SirJW 207]

I'm gonna wait a few weeks and see if the NBC Live app shows enough games Perhaps the NHLNetwork app too? If not I think I'm gonna stay w/ Center Ice and get a Slingbox for the same price of one season of Game Center.

[pathfinder 8]

If the NHL ever figures out how many of us use VPN's to get around the blackouts things could get interesting.

i Know right!

Just for kick I keep switching countries. Its fun bouncing around.

[Meals 2]

Soooo....I love wataching on my iPad...but which is better Apple TV or Ruku Box for home? Router is right there so it would be hard wired...

[IPv6Freely 2082]

AppleTV, hands down.

[pathfinder 8]

ps3/ps4 would best. more options and plus you can rock Call of Duty.

[coryroth24 15]

If the NHL ever figures out how many of us use VPN's to get around the blackouts things could get interesting.

I'm listening...

[IPv6Freely 2082]

ps3/ps4 would best. more options and plus you can rock Call of Duty.

lol at 4-5x the price, sure.

[SirJW 207]

Doesn't Roku have more channels?

[Meals 2]

Seems like Roku has more channels to me, I was leaning more to that. I was wondering if they would come out with a new Apple TV soon.

I'd love a PS4/ Xbox 4...but I got new skates and I would know which one of those to buy either...

lol at 4-5x the price, sure.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

I dunno, I only use it for NHL, Netflix and iTunes. So never really thought about anything else.

[pathfinder 8]

I'd get the roku b/c you can watch amazon also where as apple does not.

have you thought about the fire TV? seams rather nice if your looking at an apple TV.

[JAG 20]

I watch on my PS3, but my buddy swears by his apple tV. I guess they all work just fine, its just a matter of where you put your money.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

I've honestly stopped using gamecenter completely at this point. There are better streams out there, higher quality and no delay (gamecenter can be almost two minutes delayed compared to live).

[camhockey16 5]

im surprised nobody is suggesting hockeystreams - it does have a cost but its still cheaper than gamecenter and has more options

[IPv6Freely 2082]

im surprised nobody is suggesting hockeystreams.com - it does have a cost but its still cheaper than gamecenter and has more options

Been using them for years. Not mentioned because it's very likely illegal.

[camhockey16 5]

the people i asked about it said it is not illegal because it is based in the netherlands and apparently the laws there dont restrict it? I always wondered about that too..

[IPv6Freely 2082]

Hey I'm not complaining, it's infinitely better than gamecenter :) I just keep it to myself just like my private torrent trackers. ;)

[Chadd 916]

the people i asked about it said it is not illegal because it is based in the netherlands and apparently the laws there dont restrict it? I always wondered about that too..

There is a reason so many of the streaming sites have been shut down over the years. I was under the impression that the relevant broadcast regulations were EU-wide.

[Souldriver 64]

So as someone who does all of this, and sees how it all goes down im going to clear some things up:

To me gamecenter>center ice bc, if available, you get both home and away streams, on any device (pc,ps3/4,xbox,roku,apple,android,etc.etc) and youre not restricted to things just with your cable hooked up to it. As long as your internet is up to snuff gamecenter will look a little better, at least it does to my eye. you also get all the extra highlights and stuff if you want as well as highlight and condensed game packages if you dont have 2 hours to watch.

For me a roku or apple tv looks and works the best as at times the microsoft and playstation stuff just stops working. they also offer a good range of other options.

Streaming sites steal/intercept the feeds from other places, but guess what? its all coming from the arena and trucks at a set resolution. If its only coming from there in 720p you cant make that any higher, yes you can display it on a 1080p hd display and it will look good but the base is 720p. For hockey i would be more worried about display speed than resolution until 4k hits mainstream. Gamecenter automatically adjusts bit rate as well for internet connection speed so you dont get any interrupt or choppyness in the action, which in most cases, is way more noticeable and irritating to the viewer than a small bit rate drop.

As for how they get away with those streaming sites, well.... i dont know. Maybe some weird law loop, maybe they arnt found out yet, maybe there is bigger fish to fry. the nhl is doing huge things with technology to enhance almost all of its aspects a streaming site might not be its biggest concern.

[Chadd 916]

The biggest issue that I have with the official NHL product is that so many feeds get blacked out. I travel and I'm in hotels constantly, I was routinely seeing 3-4 games blacked out and when combined with crappy hotel internet connections, it simply wasn't worth the cost. When they work out the excessive blackout issues, I would consider trying it again.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

As for how they get away with those streaming sites, well.... i dont know. Maybe some weird law loop, maybe they arnt found out yet, maybe there is bigger fish to fry. the nhl is doing huge things with technology to enhance almost all of its aspects a streaming site might not be its biggest concern.

That's why despite having talked about it a few times in this thread, I haven't mentioned the name... trying to not ruin a good thing :)

The biggest issue that I have with the official NHL product is that so many feeds get blacked out. I travel and I'm in hotels constantly, I was routinely seeing 3-4 games blacked out and when combined with crappy hotel internet connections, it simply wasn't worth the cost. When they work out the excessive blackout issues, I would consider trying it again.

Yup, if there weren't blackouts I wouldn't bother with streaming sites. I'm pretty much never able to watch a Kings game here.

Like with everything piracy-related (including music, movies, TV) all you have to do is make it accessible and a decent value (not necessarily "cheap"), and I'll gladly open my wallet. At this point Game Center fails in the accessibility aspect.

Oh, add to that the ability to watch all the other leagues (AHL, OHL, ECHL, etc), as well as the World Jrs, Olympics, All-Star games, etc... Game Center can't compete there.

[camhockey16 5]

that was something i thought was weird too - hockeystreams actually gets the games in higher fps up to (60fps) than what you can get with gamecenter (30fps) - i'm not sure how

i agree the blackout stuff is garbage - i thought i read something recently that said they were going to stop blacking out games or maybe that was the NFL not NHL..

[Souldriver 64]

The biggest issue that I have with the official NHL product is that so many feeds get blacked out. I travel and I'm in hotels constantly, I was routinely seeing 3-4 games blacked out and when combined with crappy hotel internet connections, it simply wasn't worth the cost. When they work out the excessive blackout issues, I would consider trying it again.

When traveling it should see your IP is out of the area of the blackout and you should view hometown games. Once again that depends on where the ip is. Blackouts for national games is kind of just convenience for me, sometimes while working at the computer i dont want to turn the TV on behind me to see the game. This is a cable provider problem not a game center problem. Its now used as a way for cable companies to keep cable cutters from completely severing. This will be solved soon....but then again we as american tax payers payed for every school in america to be laid out in complete fiber 4 TIMES OVER, the cable companies tasked to do the job just took the money. Look at tidal 2 for more to make you feel nauseated.

that was something i thought was weird too - hockeystreams actually gets the games in higher fps up to (60fps) than what you can get with gamecenter (30fps) - i'm not sure how

i agree the blackout stuff is garbage - i thought i read something recently that said they were going to stop blacking out games or maybe that was the NFL not NHL..

Gamecenter does 60fps at 720p on 4500 bit rate, this may only available on apple tv, roku, psn, xbox. Reason why its not on pc, *is maybe*, bc of how its run out of the browser. not sure on that though.