OT: Watching Hockey in Ontario

[Rizzy13]

Hey everyone,

I've got a few questions about watching Leafs games. Hopefully this is the right board. We have Bell right now and it's quite expensive. No one really watches much and have quite a few themes in our package. The only channels I need are CBC, TSN, TSN2 (maybe not this), Sportsnet, LeafsTV all in HD. And CTV for Arrow.

All of this currently comes to $70 with Bell because of how the packages are organized. I just want to be able to watch my Leaf games in HD. I also have a Budweiser Goal Light that I like that is synced with Live TV.

What is the cheapest possible solution to go with here? I would just get NHL gamecentre, but all Leaf games are blocked in Ontario. Also, I don't want to watch any games on my phone or computer. I want to watch them on TV.

I have PS3, PS4 for the NHL Gamecenter app so it's difficult to switch around the IP stuff to get access to Leaf games. I can also watch Arrow another way. What's the best way to go here. $70 for CBC, Sportsnet, TSN and Leafs TV is just ridiculous.

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[Cor]

It's either streaming or Bell/Rogers

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

Hockeystreams.

There's the odd irritating night where it just won't work properly throughout a game, but for the most part it's really good. All NHL + AHL + CHL games on demand, no blackouts, and it's cheaper than GCL.

 

[Rizzy13]

Hockeystreams.

There's the odd irritating night where it just won't work properly throughout a game, but for the most part it's really good. All NHL + AHL + CHL games on demand, no blackouts, and it's cheaper than GCL.

Sweet, never heard of that site. Anyone else have any experience with this site/service? Hmm, really considering this for the upcoming season.

How often do you have one of those irritating nights?

 

[Cor]

Just an FYI, there are no more blackouts starting next season. Those got abolished with the new NHL/Rogers TV deal. Believe it applies for GameCenter as well

 

[Rizzy13]

Just an FYI, there are no more blackouts starting next season. Those got abolished with the new NHL/Rogers TV deal. Believe it applies for GameCenter as well

Oh that's sweet and good to know. Thanks! Hmm, contemplating paying for gamecentre or using this hockeystreams thing. The delay between Live TV and gamecentre can be annoying at times, especially with the goal light. With the hockeystreams it says only 0-3 seconds or something vs. 30-90 seconds which is awesome. Gamecentre would render the goal light useless.

Also, having gamecentre is a little more convenient. Can download the app on ps3, ps4, vita etc. With hockeystreams, gunna have to use media servers and stuff.

 

[Diatomic]

is there still going to be HNIC every saturday?

 

[Cor]

is there still going to be HNIC every saturday?

Yes, but HNIC is now a product of Rogers. It will be on both CBC and Sportsnet, and after 4 years, just on Sportsnet.

 

[Rizzy13]

is there still going to be HNIC every saturday?

Not sure how it'll work, but I believe so yes. Don Cherry will be back. Not sure if it'll be called HNIC.

 

[Rizzy13]

Yes, but HNIC is now a product of Rogers. It will be on both CBC and Sportsnet, and after 4 years, just on Sportsnet.

Good to know, you're good with this stuff lol. Thanks

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

Sweet, never heard of that site. Anyone else have any experience with this site/service? Hmm, really considering this for the upcoming season.

How often do you have one of those irritating nights?

Not too much. I can probably count the number of times I had problems with it over this past season on one hand, and even then I couldn't tell you if it was the website itself or just my internet connection. I recently started streaming the games through VLC instead of on the website and it seems to work better that way. In any case, definitely look into all the system requirements on the website and make sure you're good before setting up an account.

It's great if you're really into watching the minor league stuff, or random games across the NHL. If you're doing it mainly just for the Leafs, then GCL might be a safer bet, just on the off-chance that Hockeystreams were ever busted and shut down in the middle of a season or whatever. But I think the package I got was like $60 or something like that for all NHL, AHL, CHL, Olympic games, HBO 24/7, Tradecentre, etc., so it's a great 'bang for your buck' option, if you don't have a wife or kids or anything and basically just spend all your time watching hockey.

 

[Rizzy13]

Not too much. I can probably count the number of times I had problems with it over this past season on one hand, and even then I couldn't tell you if it was the website itself or just my internet connection. I recently started streaming the games through VLC instead of on the website and it seems to work better that way. In any case, definitely look into all the system requirements on the website and make sure you're good before setting up an account.

It's great if you're really into watching the minor league stuff, or random games across the NHL. If you're doing it mainly just for the Leafs, then GCL might be a safer bet, just on the off-chance that Hockeystreams were ever busted and shut down in the middle of a season or whatever. But I think the package I got was like $60 or something like that for all NHL, AHL, CHL, Olympic games, HBO 24/7, Tradecentre, etc., so it's a great 'bang for your buck' option, if you don't have a wife or kids or anything and basically just spend all your time watching hockey.

Sweet, thanks for the info. Yea it says $110 for a year, or $70 for 6 months. I'd go with the yearly package to watch all of the draft and stuff. I don't have any kids or anything lol so yea I can just watch hockey all day. Even right now, when other games are on, I usually don't watch them, but I'd like to have the option. I watch every single Leafs game though. It says you can use it with PS3 and I have a Smart TV with DLNA so hopefully all works out. I wouldn't mind trying it out for a year definitely.

Right now they're on an invite basis. So I have to sign up and wait for them to accept it or whatever. Thanks a lot for the information. Super appreciated.

How is the quality compared to HD games on TSN, CBC, Sportsnet? I live for that quality on my TV! Also how far back do you lag from live TV? Just curious again

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

Sweet, thanks for the info. Yea it says $110 for a year, or $70 for 6 months. I'd go with the yearly package to watch all of the draft and stuff. I don't have any kids or anything lol so yea I can just watch hockey all day. Even right now, when other games are on, I usually don't watch them, but I'd like to have the option. I watch every single Leafs game though. It says you can use it with PS3 and I have a Smart TV with DLNA so hopefully all works out. I wouldn't mind trying it out for a year definitely.

Right now they're on an invite basis. So I have to sign up and wait for them to accept it or whatever. Thanks a lot for the information. Super appreciated.

How is the quality compared to HD games on TSN, CBC, Sportsnet? I live for that quality on my TV! Also how far back do you lag from live TV? Just curious again

It seems pretty dead-on with live TV. I only ever tried the two side-by-side once, but there wasn't any noticeable delay. Maybe half a second or something like that.

One of the downsides with Hockeystreams IMO is that if your connection isn't good enough for 3200kbps HD, the only other option is 800kbps SD, which is still watchable but not a whole lot better than the free streams you can get on FrontRowSports or whatever. If you have a good enough connection, though, the 3200kbps runs fine and looks great. Obviously some minor league games aren't the greatest quality, because they aren't broadcast on TV so it's just a feed of the jumbotron with radio commentary over top, but it's never anything unwatchable.

 

[Rizzy13]

It seems pretty dead-on with live TV. I only ever tried the two side-by-side once, but there wasn't any noticeable delay. Maybe half a second or something like that.

One of the downsides with Hockeystreams IMO is that if your connection isn't good enough for 3200kbps HD, the only other option is 800kbps SD, which is still watchable but not a whole lot better than the free streams you can get on FrontRowSports or whatever. If you have a good enough connection, though, the 3200kbps runs fine and looks great. Obviously some minor league games aren't the greatest quality, because they aren't broadcast on TV so it's just a feed of the jumbotron with radio commentary over top, but it's never anything unwatchable.

Sweet, thanks for the info again. My internet is pretty good. I have 15mb download. Now I'm really tempted to try this out. Thanks man.

 

[Baarle*]

Get rid of all cable/satellite whatever you're using. Buy gamecenter/hockeystreams and use one of the many free VPN extensions that get around blackouts or country restrictions. You'll have access to any hockey game, draft, trade deadline (with hockeystreams at least). CTV also posts every episode of their shows online within hours of it airing, so just watch it the next day.

Simply do all this on your laptop, use an HDMI to connect to your tv and voila. You'll pay about $70 for 6 months of hockeystreams, everything else is available for free.

 

[Baarle*]

It seems pretty dead-on with live TV. I only ever tried the two side-by-side once, but there wasn't any noticeable delay. Maybe half a second or something like that.

One of the downsides with Hockeystreams IMO is that if your connection isn't good enough for 3200kbps HD, the only other option is 800kbps SD, which is still watchable but not a whole lot better than the free streams you can get on FrontRowSports or whatever. If you have a good enough connection, though, the 3200kbps runs fine and looks great. Obviously some minor league games aren't the greatest quality, because they aren't broadcast on TV so it's just a feed of the jumbotron with radio commentary over top, but it's never anything unwatchable.

Even with the low quality broadcast option on HS, the audio is still far superior to anything you'll find from a free stream.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Even with the low quality broadcast option on HS, the audio is still far superior to anything you'll find from a free stream.

i was about to say that.
and the picture quality is still better than regular streaming. i'm upping my membership for the yearly. (i forgot that they'd have the draft weekend as well so crap). hockeysteams is worth it, imo. that's what i'd get.

 

[Rizzy13]

Man this is great info. I think after free agency this year I'll switch over to hockeystreams and give it a try for the year. Thanks everyone. Anyone have a still of hockeystreams on a tv by any chance haha, getting carried away here

 

[Daisy Jane]

Man this is great info. I think after free agency this year I'll switch over to hockeystreams and give it a try for the year. Thanks everyone. Anyone have a still of hockeystreams on a tv by any chance haha, getting carried away here

i think you are too. stop overthinking it. just get it.

 

[Rizzy13]

i think you are too. stop overthinking it. just get it.

Yes sir!

 

[Daisy Jane]

Yes sir!

ahem. ma'am

sorry - LOL i'm grumpy until I have my tea in the morning. but you were really over thinking it. the quality is great, you can watch it on your hdtv with no issues, and you get anything/everything hockey related. (ie: we got 24/7 the lottery, so it makes me assume that the draft will be covered too and UFA frenzy).

and if you missed a game you can go back and watch it.

 

[DD03]

Sweet, never heard of that site. Anyone else have any experience with this site/service? Hmm, really considering this for the upcoming season.

How often do you have one of those irritating nights?

I've used Hockeystreams all season. I haven't had a singe problem with it except for when the playoffs started. But they fix them right away, and there's always people around. You get UFC ppvs too with hockeystreams, so its a pretty sick deal.

 

[rojac]

Just an FYI, there are no more blackouts starting next season. Those got abolished with the new NHL/Rogers TV deal. Believe it applies for GameCenter as well

I believe this is incorrect. I think the "no blackouts" thing was referring to Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday games that are covered by the national deals. Games on other nights are still regional and will be subject to blackouts.

Maybe if I feel like it later, I'll find a link that supports my point of view, but otherwise I'll just say that we'll see for sure in October.

 

[rojac]

Yes, but HNIC is now a product of Rogers. It will be on both CBC and Sportsnet, and after 4 years, just on Sportsnet.

Actually, I don't think they've said that. I think what happens with CBC and Saturday night hockey after those four years is something that will be revisited once the parties see the result.

It's also probably more accurate to say "Rogers stations" rather than "Sportsnet" because CITY will also be showing games.

 

[Rizzy13]

ahem. ma'am

sorry - LOL i'm grumpy until I have my tea in the morning. but you were really over thinking it. the quality is great, you can watch it on your hdtv with no issues, and you get anything/everything hockey related. (ie: we got 24/7 the lottery, so it makes me assume that the draft will be covered too and UFA frenzy).

and if you missed a game you can go back and watch it.

my apologies, ma'am :$. Yea I just spoke to my dad, TV gone after free agency! Thanks a lot for the tips.