OT: NYI fan newly in St. Louis - Need Help watching games

[Volek25]

Hey boys/girls,

Long time member here but haven't posted or commented in quite some time. Active reader however. Was hoping someone on here can give me a hand. I recently moved to St. Louis with the wifey from NY and trying to figure out how I can be sure to catch and watch NYI games on TV.

Does anyone have a recommendation on what I should do? Sign up for Center Ice, NHL Network, etc??? Nice to live out here but I'm getting really nervous that I'm not going to get to watch our boys play and find the games somehow...

Any help or recommendations would be a godsend!!! Thanks so much and looking forward to puck drop. Let's Go Islanders!!!

Click to read more...

 

[PK Cronin]

NHL.tv is the best for out of market games.

 

[Bones45]

Wouldn't watching the local team be less painful?

 

[thedonger]

Hey boys/girls,

Long time member here but haven't posted or commented in quite some time. Active reader however. Was hoping someone on here can give me a hand. I recently moved to St. Louis with the wifey from NY and trying to figure out how I can be sure to catch and watch NYI games on TV.

Does anyone have a recommendation on what I should do? Sign up for Center Ice, NHL Network, etc??? Nice to live out here but I'm getting really nervous that I'm not going to get to watch our boys play and find the games somehow...

Any help or recommendations would be a godsend!!! Thanks so much and looking forward to puck drop. Let's Go Islanders!!!

i have nothing to add to help you, but you do have my condolences. lived in st. louis for 2 years(chesterfield) and hated every minute of it. i did develop a bit of a soft spot for the blues and their fans though.

 

[BMOK33]

Alot depends on your work schedule. I tend to work mostly shifts so I get NHL TV because I’m often not home for center ice.l and I have Comcast. If you have any cable provider other than Comcast I believe they all give you free subscriptions to MLB/NBA/NHL tv now if you buy extra innings, NBA full court, or NHL center ice. So in that case it just makes sense to just buy center ice since you’ll get NHL TV anyway at no extra cost

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Enjoy the ribs...

 

[seafoam]

My condolences.

Also if you have/intend to get cable, Center Ice is an option.

 

[Big L]

DirecTV and the Center Ice package.

 

[islesmb]

DirecTV and the Center Ice package.

This is what I do in SC.

 

[CupHolders]

I vote for nhl.tv on a streaming device connected to your tv. $140 for the year gives you league wide games with DVR functionality.

I like to start the games halfway through. This also allows me to skip the commercials and intermissions and still finish the game at its usual time.

 

[PK Cronin]

I'm still not sure why anyone uses the Center Ice package over NHL.tv, what's the benefit? NHL.tv can be streamed from anywhere, so you don't have to be home, you can pick which team's stream you want, and they offer a few other angles and information not available on a television if you're watching on your PC. The only benefit I can see is that you don't need a Roku, smart TV, etc.

 

[13th Floor]

I've been out of market for a while. Here's my rundown:

If you have or are going to get cable/satellite, that's the best option. Get Center Ice as part of your cable package and then you are golden. The only times you'll have a problem is when the Isles play the Blues (but it will be on the local channel that the Blues play on) or if we play in a nationally televised game (which you would get on that station, and is limited anyway).

Further on the cable/satellite option, I've found DirecTV as the very best option. In my years before cutting cable, I got every game in HD and SD for both broadcasts (so 4 total feeds). Sometimes when they play a Canadien team I only have the SD option for the Canadien feed, but both HD and SD for the Isles feeds.

Next best option is going with the local cable provider and getting Center Ice. The main drawback is sometimes I didn't get an HD feed for the game, but your mileage may vary and this was a while ago before I cut cable. It was rare, though.

The next option after that is to sign up for NHL.tv, which is not tied to a cable or satellite subscription. For me, the biggest benefit of Center Ice over NHL.tv is the ability to DVR. Being out of town and out of time zone, it's possible you miss the start of some games, so it's easy to just set up your DVR and then just watch from the beginning and fast forward through commercials. You may even catch up and then you are live.

NHL.tv has a 'start from beginning' feature but it is hella wonky. First, you are never actually 'live', so even if you are watching in real-time, you have to be careful about any push alerts, friends texting you, going on social media or this forum, etc. You'll always be a bit behind. Second, the start from beginning gets ruined often. The fast forward only works in 30 second increments and sometimes will hit you with the SAME commercial that you can't fast forward. I saw the Geico He-Man commercial at least 700 times last season. Also, if you watch on your browser and you scroll all the way to the bottom of the streaming page, it shows you the final score even if you are watching from the beginning -- yea, it's stupid. Lastly, watching from your browser (including if you cast to your TV using Chromecast) gives you tiny hiccups every minute or so. It's really annoying and there's no way around it. I've read that others haven't had this issue if you watch through an app (like on PlayStation or Roku or something). Also, if you have NHL.tv and presumably don't have cable, you'll have to figure out another option to stream games that you are blacked out from (national telecasts, when they play the Blues, etc.) -- there are ways, just google it.

For me, I cut cable so I'm forced to use NHL.tv and I stream from my browser and then cast. I deal with the hiccups, got better at avoiding all the spoilers in terms of watching after the fact (since I'm on the west coast and games start at 4pm), and find workarounds for when I'm blacked out (from viewing rights, not from getting piss-ass drunk from watching this shit show for 3 decades).

 

[Quickdraw2828]

I've been out of market for a while. Here's my rundown:

If you have or are going to get cable/satellite, that's the best option. Get Center Ice as part of your cable package and then you are golden. The only times you'll have a problem is when the Isles play the Blues (but it will be on the local channel that the Blues play on) or if we play in a nationally televised game (which you would get on that station, and is limited anyway).

Further on the cable/satellite option, I've found DirecTV as the very best option. In my years before cutting cable, I got every game in HD and SD for both broadcasts (so 4 total feeds). Sometimes when they play a Canadien team I only have the SD option for the Canadien feed, but both HD and SD for the Isles feeds.

Next best option is going with the local cable provider and getting Center Ice. The main drawback is sometimes I didn't get an HD feed for the game, but your mileage may vary and this was a while ago before I cut cable. It was rare, though.

.

Thanks for this, I'm trying to figure out what to do this season also. I don't understand the difference in the bolded parts, aren't they the same?

 

[PK Cronin]

I've been out of market for a while. Here's my rundown:

If you have or are going to get cable/satellite, that's the best option. Get Center Ice as part of your cable package and then you are golden. The only times you'll have a problem is when the Isles play the Blues (but it will be on the local channel that the Blues play on) or if we play in a nationally televised game (which you would get on that station, and is limited anyway).

Further on the cable/satellite option, I've found DirecTV as the very best option. In my years before cutting cable, I got every game in HD and SD for both broadcasts (so 4 total feeds). Sometimes when they play a Canadien team I only have the SD option for the Canadien feed, but both HD and SD for the Isles feeds.

Next best option is going with the local cable provider and getting Center Ice. The main drawback is sometimes I didn't get an HD feed for the game, but your mileage may vary and this was a while ago before I cut cable. It was rare, though.

The next option after that is to sign up for NHL.tv, which is not tied to a cable or satellite subscription. For me, the biggest benefit of Center Ice over NHL.tv is the ability to DVR. Being out of town and out of time zone, it's possible you miss the start of some games, so it's easy to just set up your DVR and then just watch from the beginning and fast forward through commercials. You may even catch up and then you are live.

NHL.tv has a 'start from beginning' feature but it is hella wonky. First, you are never actually 'live', so even if you are watching in real-time, you have to be careful about any push alerts, friends texting you, going on social media or this forum, etc. You'll always be a bit behind. Second, the start from beginning gets ruined often. The fast forward only works in 30 second increments and sometimes will hit you with the SAME commercial that you can't fast forward. I saw the Geico He-Man commercial at least 700 times last season. Also, if you watch on your browser and you scroll all the way to the bottom of the streaming page, it shows you the final score even if you are watching from the beginning -- yea, it's stupid. Lastly, watching from your browser (including if you cast to your TV using Chromecast) gives you tiny hiccups every minute or so. It's really annoying and there's no way around it. I've read that others haven't had this issue if you watch through an app (like on PlayStation or Roku or something). Also, if you have NHL.tv and presumably don't have cable, you'll have to figure out another option to stream games that you are blacked out from (national telecasts, when they play the Blues, etc.) -- there are ways, just google it.

For me, I cut cable so I'm forced to use NHL.tv and I stream from my browser and then cast. I deal with the hiccups, got better at avoiding all the spoilers in terms of watching after the fact (since I'm on the west coast and games start at 4pm), and find workarounds for when I'm blacked out (from viewing rights, not from getting piss-ass drunk from watching this **** show for 3 decades).

I've been using Gamecenter and NHL.tv for around 7 years and have always been able to play games from the beginning. It even asks if you want to start from the beginning or not. Buffering also isn't a problem that I encounter, it's almost always as smooth as watching television. I watch on my computer or via a Roku on my television. The delay is really slight, maybe a minute at most, so it doesn't bother me a whole lot. It also has a built in DVR function that allows you to go back and watch any game from the season.

The commercial part is true. It's incredibly annoying to watch the same commercial (literally the same commercial) back to back to back. Also, there have been a few times, specifically when they were transitioning from Gamecenter to NHL.tv, that the hidden score thing didn't work properly. Haven't had an issue with that in a while though. Can't say I ever scrolled down to the bottom though.

 

[BTrotts19]

Going to see the Isles in St Louis in January with a few buddies (part of our annual roadtrip game). If you decide to go to the game, let me know and if you want we can meet up for a beer-I suspect there will not be many Islander fans at the game

 

[13th Floor]

Thanks for this, I'm trying to figure out what to do this season also. I don't understand the difference in the bolded parts, aren't they the same?

My bad if I confused. It's the same product (Center Ice), but it works slightly differently through each provider. When I used it through Spectrum, I would sometimes get an HD feed option and sometimes wouldn't. But once I moved to DirecTV, I would get an HD feed for every single game (for every team as well).

 

[13th Floor]

I've been using Gamecenter and NHL.tv for around 7 years and have always been able to play games from the beginning. It even asks if you want to start from the beginning or not. Buffering also isn't a problem that I encounter, it's almost always as smooth as watching television. I watch on my computer or via a Roku on my television. The delay is really slight, maybe a minute at most, so it doesn't bother me a whole lot. It also has a built in DVR function that allows you to go back and watch any game from the season.

The commercial part is true. It's incredibly annoying to watch the same commercial (literally the same commercial) back to back to back. Also, there have been a few times, specifically when they were transitioning from Gamecenter to NHL.tv, that the hidden score thing didn't work properly. Haven't had an issue with that in a while though. Can't say I ever scrolled down to the bottom though.

Ugh, the commercials.

You are right about the delay, it isn't a huge issue. But it's worth pointing out for anyone who gets push notifications. Sometimes it can burn you, but it doesn't bother me much.

As for the spoilers -- if you go in to the settings and shut off the scores, you are usually OK. Do you watch on your browser? When I watch on my browser, I get that 'hiccup'. If I cast, it usually goes away (unless I mirror the tab, then it's the same thing). But the absolute worst is, even if you have the scores off and you scroll down in your browser while watching a DVRed game (to where the box score is), it then pops up a bar on top with the final score. Has that ever happened to you?

 

[PK Cronin]

Ugh, the commercials.

You are right about the delay, it isn't a huge issue. But it's worth pointing out for anyone who gets push notifications. Sometimes it can burn you, but it doesn't bother me much.

Yeah, I don't get the push notifications because I know I'll get the game spoiled. I do my best to avoid texts when I know I'm going to watch and/or the people who are also fans know to ask, "are you watching?" before sending anything.

Halsey commercials. Those f***ing Penguins NHL commercials. The god damn Sharks one too. I think I get a Toyota one and those are four that "rotate."

As for the spoilers -- if you go in to the settings and shut off the scores, you are usually OK. Do you watch on your browser? When I watch on my browser, I get that 'hiccup'. If I cast, it usually goes away (unless I mirror the tab, then it's the same thing). But the absolute worst is, even if you have the scores off and you scroll down in your browser while watching a DVRed game (to where the box score is), it then pops up a bar on top with the final score. Has that ever happened to you?

Oh, the box score thing did happen to me a few times, you're right. I just stopped scrolling down, and I have three monitors set up so I don't touch the stream once it's set up. I watch in my browser most often, or watch via my Roku on my television for a few periods and switch to the browser for the last period. Never have a hiccup. My computer is pretty decent though, so maybe that's why I'm not having issues?

 

[Sparksrus3]

Hey boys/girls,

Long time member here but haven't posted or commented in quite some time. Active reader however. Was hoping someone on here can give me a hand. I recently moved to St. Louis with the wifey from NY and trying to figure out how I can be sure to catch and watch NYI games on TV.

Does anyone have a recommendation on what I should do? Sign up for Center Ice, NHL Network, etc??? Nice to live out here but I'm getting really nervous that I'm not going to get to watch our boys play and find the games somehow...

Any help or recommendations would be a godsend!!! Thanks so much and looking forward to puck drop. Let's Go Islanders!!!

Here's your out. Now we know you really want to stay an islander fan . The wifey buys you some Blues boxers and a Brayden Schenn sweater and it's see ya wouldn't want to be ya . Don't worry we will be here when you move back . Good luck in the Midwest

 

[Skip To My Lou]

I will always go with NHL.tv. I watch it a lot on my Xbox or laptop to watch out of town games. My one issue with it is that if you're starting a game late, there's essentially no way of skipping through the commercial breaks (if there is, can someone tell me lol).

However, if you're looking to record games that you may potentially miss, then maybe get the Center Ice package so you can DVR the games. They're both solid options.

 

[13th Floor]

Yeah, I don't get the push notifications because I know I'll get the game spoiled. I do my best to avoid texts when I know I'm going to watch and/or the people who are also fans know to ask, "are you watching?" before sending anything.

Halsey commercials. Those ****ing Penguins NHL commercials. The god damn Sharks one too. I think I get a Toyota one and those are four that "rotate."



Oh, the box score thing did happen to me a few times, you're right. I just stopped scrolling down, and I have three monitors set up so I don't touch the stream once it's set up. I watch in my browser most often, or watch via my Roku on my television for a few periods and switch to the browser for the last period. Never have a hiccup. My computer is pretty decent though, so maybe that's why I'm not having issues?

Hmm, it might be the computer, but it only happens with NHL.tv (and nothing else). When I escalated to their support, they told me that the stream that you get via an app (which includes casting) is actually different than the stream than the stream you get via the browser, and that was part of the reason.

I dunno, hopefully it's gone this year because it was really annoying. It's sometimes really wonky to try and start from the beginning, cast, skip commercials and intermissions, and not spoil the score.

 

[islescoop]

I prefer the DIRECTV package. Find myself often fast forwarding the game watching it in two times Speed which is nice when tying to catch up a to live or any time Nelson is in the ice. Last year used nhl stream and no option to watch while fast forwarding..

 

[PK Cronin]

Hmm, it might be the computer, but it only happens with NHL.tv (and nothing else). When I escalated to their support, they told me that the stream that you get via an app (which includes casting) is actually different than the stream than the stream you get via the browser, and that was part of the reason.

I dunno, hopefully it's gone this year because it was really annoying. It's sometimes really wonky to try and start from the beginning, cast, skip commercials and intermissions, and not spoil the score.

If you use an adblocker, I know that messes with the stream too. I had all sorts of issues while using an adblocker when I first started with NHL.tv

 

[Volek25]

Hey all, instead of responding to everyone's comments individually, I just wanted to send a big thank to all you guys for your input. Looks like since I'm with the Charter/Spectrum cable provider and I don't really like to watch too many games on a device, I'm usually watching either on TV or live, i'm going to look into the Center Ice option. If it's no good this year, then I can always try NHL TV next season.

I will say the Midwest is a HUGEEEEE change of life, since I'm coming from living on the Upper East Side of NYC for the past 8 years or so. Its been a welcome change how laid back it is out here and the easy pace, but there's nothing like NY and I'm sure I'll get tired of these super friendly locals.

Either way, thanks for the follow up on this everyone and looking forward to the season. I'll definitely be going to a bunch of Blues games and of course, will be at the Isles/Blues game in January out here in STL, so anyone interested or going, lets connect....Thanks!

 

[IODCPiper]

I have

Hey boys/girls,

Long time member here but haven't posted or commented in quite some time. Active reader however. Was hoping someone on here can give me a hand. I recently moved to St. Louis with the wifey from NY and trying to figure out how I can be sure to catch and watch NYI games on TV.

Does anyone have a recommendation on what I should do? Sign up for Center Ice, NHL Network, etc??? Nice to live out here but I'm getting really nervous that I'm not going to get to watch our boys play and find the games somehow...

Any help or recommendations would be a godsend!!! Thanks so much and looking forward to puck drop. Let's Go Islanders!!!

I have the nhl center ice package though verizon fios. Have had it for a while and have no issues. not sure about streaming games