Rogers Gamecenter Live

[OilerPensfan97]

As for the question on Blackouts. Last year, there weren't blackouts of Oiler games and I live in Edmonton. Last year was the first time that this was the case, so I'm not sure if that is the plan again for this year.

Yes, this is correct and also applies to this year (See above post).

 

[bucks_oil]

I subscribed to both over the years, including both services last year.

I typically used them as follows:

GC: 1) via Apple TV app
HS: 2) via computer browser on HDMI to TV
HS: 3) via iPad AirPlay to Apple TV

1) had the best picture when my internet was on and "fresh". It occasionally would drop bitrate in "adaptive" mode and would get grainy, but rarely, rarely would buffer. Top quality product. Biggest beef: some nights you don't get the commercials/intermissions, and being east coast that would make me fall asleep during intermissions ... sounds funny, but being in the US, I appreciated the HNIC, the Canadian commercials and the "immersiveness" of commercials tieing it all together

2) Perhaps not as crystal clear as GC, but at it's best, HS is a very close contender. The stream reliability has better this year than ever before. Full commercials and home or away feed are awesome. GC really has tough competition. Oddly though... I can't reliably airplay the computer/browser feed to my apple TV, so wired was required

3) Hockey streams iOS version was the most reliable for airplay... so if I went to bed (no computer hooked up) I'd use this method...

Oddly, I got so used to using 2 & 3 that I almost forgot that I paid for GC. So... both are good choices.

I think GC is moving in the right direction with reducing the number of blackouts, but it is still such a big turnoff (come playoff time especially, when NBC/CBC are showing the games... and in NBC's case, on NBCSN which is not available Over The Air.

These online streaming services should be *alternatives to a cable subscription (just like Hulu, HBO Now, Netflix are to TV), and if they were, there would be no legit/legal reason for HS to exist. We should all be able to choose which service we want to pay for to get the hockey that isn't available OTA. I wish they'd figure that out.

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

That is changed since the new Rogers GCL. Even if you are in the tv region, if Rogers has the rights to the game (which they do for just about everyone except for Winnipeg), it is shown on GCL without blackouts.

Do you also have Sportsnet on your cable package? The way it reads on their website is that they will blackout in-market games, unless you also have it in your cable package. So if you don't have cable, they will blackout the in-market games.

"Scenario: A Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVEâ„¢ subscriber tries to watch an in-market game

If the subscriber does not have the corresponding channel within their TV package, that game will not be available within Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVEâ„¢ (it will be blacked out).
If the subscriber has the channel within their TV package, but the TV package is not from a participating TV provider, that game will not be available within Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVEâ„¢ (it will be blacked out).
If the subscriber has the channel within their TV package and the TV package is from a participating TV provider, that game will be available within Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVEâ„¢ (the stream will start)."

 

[KCC]

Hey Jeff, I was thinking of subscribing to GCL too, but aren't the Oilers games blacked out if broadcast on TV (not including national broadcasts)

Thanks

There will be blackouts if you live in EDM. Another route you could go through is vpn which will lift the blackouts. It allows you to also get the American Netflix if you have the Canadian one etc.

 

[Alawishis]

I had NHL game center , not the Rodgers product but the one sold from the NHL site. It's pretty much the same thing as Rodgers GCL but you don't have access to the mobile client or anything like that. Only streaming on the PC. I got a special deal for $75 for the year. The quality was quite good and no issues with lag or freezing. The only lag was in the players on the ice Nothing a coaching change won't fix.

Seriously I was impressed with the quality last year -quality of the stream that is.

 

[Trizent]

Just to chime in, had it on the Roku as well and it was fantastic for me. Really enjoyed it. No lag, full HD broadcast.

Picture quality surpassed cable + satellite.

 

[TheGuyInTheChair]

I lived in Edmonton last year and had gamecenter was able to watch Oilers games even if they were on tv

 

[Stud Muffin]

Still think Centre Ice is the best service. No problems at all.

 

[Patch101]

I switched over from GCL to HockeyStreams this year.
Cost really, and the ****** Cdn dollar.

$99 vs $179 (plus add 30%), big enough difference to go that way and give it a go this year, and works with my Roku as well.

a big plus is the $99 is for the whole year, and you can freeze it as you please. So if I go away for 3 weeks on vacation or the oilers don't make the playoffs
I can save all those times towards next season I believe. So I might only need to pay for 6 months next time.

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

Still think Centre Ice is the best service. No problems at all.

I agree, but you have to have a cable package if you want to order it. If I could get it without paying for cable that I don't want, then I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

[Oilers10]

I had GCL I couldn't believe I paid close to $200 for NHL games and quite a ffew of them were blacked out. I mean isn't that the point of the service so you don't miss any games? It kind of pisses me off they expect me to have cable service as well. I never renewed.

I'm trying hockeystreams this year see how it goes. No blackouts and I can watch Nurse or Draisaitl or Reinhart in the AHL. This was a no brainer for me as cable TV is expensive garbage.

 

[NAF]

I had GCL I couldn't believe I paid close to $200 for NHL games and quite a ffew of them were blacked out. I mean isn't that the point of the service so you don't miss any games? It kind of pisses me off they expect me to have cable service as well. I never renewed.

I'm trying hockeystreams this year see how it goes. No blackouts and I can watch Nurse or Draisaitl or Reinhart in the AHL. This was a no brainer for me as cable TV is expensive garbage.

How long ago did you subscribe to Game Center? There are no longer any blackouts, and you don't need a cable service to sign up.

 

[bone]

How long ago did you subscribe to Game Center? There are no longer any blackouts, and you don't need a cable service to sign up.

Well technically they say you need to subscribe to the appropriate cable channels to get the in-region games (provided they are shown by a Rogers channel which isn't an issue in Oiler's region). However, they didn't have a way to verify that as of last year. Don't know about this year though. I'm noticing on my ios app that there is a TV Service Provider login setting, but only Videotron is on there, so there may be something coming down the pipe on this that will force us to verify through our cable service providers that we have Sportsnet.

 

[n7]

Well technically they say you need to subscribe to the appropriate cable channels to get the in-region games (provided they are shown by a Rogers channel which isn't an issue in Oiler's region). However, they didn't have a way to verify that as of last year. Don't know about this year though. I'm noticing on my ios app that there is a TV Service Provider login setting, but only Videotron is on there, so there may be something coming down the pipe on this that will force us to verify through our cable service providers that we have Sportsnet.

I see the wording specifying you will need to verify with your TV provider's login credentials. I have zero interest in paying for TV and Gamecentre, so this is garbage.

I had Gamecentre for the last part of last season and the playoffs, and it was great, but no TV stuff was required or ever asked for.

 

[Oilking83]

I had gamecenter last season. It was free for Rogers share everything plan members if I recall correctly. No blackouts either I caught just about every game.

 

[bone]

I see the wording specifying you will need to verify with your TV provider's login credentials. I have zero interest in paying for TV and Gamecentre, so this is garbage.

I had Gamecentre for the last part of last season and the playoffs, and it was great, but no TV stuff was required or ever asked for.

Completely agree with you here. We'll see how it plays out, if it is like last year, I'll sign up, but not if they put this in effect.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Who the hell still has a cable subscription in this day and age?

:/

 

[phillipsj89]

Canucks fan coming in peace. Just thought I would chime in on Hockeystreams.

It was a no brainer for me. My wife and I started cutting cable at the beginning of last hockey season so I needed something. I decided on hockeystreams. For the most part streams were VERY good. I had a small issue about half way through the year, but i later found out it was related to my internet provider throttling my bandwidth on certain sites (hockeystreams.com was one of them). I switched providers, no problem since.

Also, I'm a big WHL fan so that was really the selling point for me. You also get all international games (World Juniors ETC.) They do tend to show most UFC fights, although they like to keep it hush hush so their servers don't crash... happened multiple times last year (all during UFC fights.)

As for the legality of this, they are based in Netherlands, what hockeystreams is doing is legal there. Furthermore, the NHL doesn't encode it's streams, so if you know the direct URL you have all the rights in the world to view it.

Now, with the NHL switching its website over to MLBAM... no one really knows what's gonna happen. You can likeely bet the landscape will change in the next 2-3 years, but in the meantime. Dig in.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Canucks fan coming in peace. Just thought I would chime in on Hockeystreams.

It was a no brainer for me. My wife and I started cutting cable at the beginning of last hockey season so I needed something. I decided on hockeystreams. For the most part streams were VERY good. I had a small issue about half way through the year, but i later found out it was related to my internet provider throttling my bandwidth on certain sites (hockeystreams.com was one of them). I switched providers, no problem since.

Also, I'm a big WHL fan so that was really the selling point for me. You also get all international games (World Juniors ETC.) They do tend to show most UFC fights, although they like to keep it hush hush so their servers don't crash... happened multiple times last year (all during UFC fights.)

As for the legality of this, they are based in Netherlands, what hockeystreams is doing is legal there. Furthermore, the NHL doesn't encode it's streams, so if you know the direct URL you have all the rights in the world to view it.

Now, with the NHL switching its website over to MLBAM... no one really knows what's gonna happen. You can likeely bet the landscape will change in the next 2-3 years, but in the meantime. Dig in.

IMO because of this, this will be the last year hockeystreams will be showing NHL games.

 

[phillipsj89]

IMO because of this, this will be the last year hockeystreams will be showing NHL games.

Yea, I'm betting MLBAM will encode the streams, which then makes Hockeystreams very illegal (in NA)

 

[Bank Shot]

I switched over from GCL to HockeyStreams this year.
Cost really, and the ****** Cdn dollar.

$99 vs $179 (plus add 30%), big enough difference to go that way and give it a go this year, and works with my Roku as well.

a big plus is the $99 is for the whole year, and you can freeze it as you please. So if I go away for 3 weeks on vacation or the oilers don't make the playoffs
I can save all those times towards next season I believe. So I might only need to pay for 6 months next time.

I can't get hockeystreams to work on my tablet.

I need to watch games on vacation.