I'm thinking about getting gamecenter ice, and im wondering what the famous "blackouts" dates mean? Specially considering that im located in MTL? Are they games that can be shown on local networks?
Thanks a lot in advance!
I'm from Montral and have the centre ice package (videotron)
You will get to see pretty much everygame. The only time there seems to be a problem is if the Bruins play the leafs or sens saturday night (hockey night in canada)for some reason CbC doesn't always release the game to "centre ice"
I've been paying for this package for 10+ years and there will typically be 1-2 blacked out games per year (always seems to happen with Ottawa). I can live with that, it's the 5-6 games per year that are not broadcast in HD that infuriate me.
What a world we live in where a standard broadcast is no longer tolerable.
For a Bs fan living in Montreal, it's the best option out there, short of getting one of those 'gray market' U.S. dishes.
Thanks a lot guys! Im scrutinizing my options cuz i cant stand bell service anymore specially with the habs homerism....the thing is I would be cutting my cable service, so therefore wouldnt be able to see those b's - scabs games, if those are the blackout games. Sens or leafs, if on a saturday I guess CBC online is an options...Aaaanyway thanks a lot!
Any game that's on any local station is blacked out.
That includes RDS, RIS, RDS2, TSN, TSN2, TVA Sports, CBC, etc.
So that means no playoffs as well...
I was a subscriber for the last two years, but I thought it was too expensive for what it is, so I switched to a gray market one I won't name.
The NHL.com quality is excellent besides that. You also get condensed games (20 minutes of highlights), full games (48 hrs later if I'm not mistaken) and archived full games.
I'm thinking about getting gamecenter ice, and im wondering what the famous "blackouts" dates mean? Specially considering that im located in MTL? Are they games that can be shown on local networks?
Thanks a lot in advance!
I subscribed in 2008 and quit it this year because of the blackouts.
1. If a game is on CBC, it is blacked out.
2. If the game is on Versus, it is blacked out.
3. If the game is on TSN, it is blacked out.
4. If the game is on Sportsnet, it is blacked out.
Once you add up all the games against Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and any afternoon games on Versus against other American teams you really lose a lot of games. I also figured that winning the Cup would add more games to their schedule that would be on TSN that would also black me out from watching.
There were close to 20 games and ALL of the playoffs where I was unable to watch the Bruins when I paid for that sole purpose. Not worth it this season as the defending Cup champs.
Any game that's on any local station is blacked out.
That includes RDS, RIS, RDS2, TSN, TSN2, TVA Sports, CBC, etc.
So that means no playoffs as well...
I was a subscriber for the last two years, but I thought it was too expensive for what it is, so I switched to a gray market one I won't name.
The NHL.com quality is excellent besides that. You also get condensed games (20 minutes of highlights), full games (48 hrs later if I'm not mistaken) and archived full games.
This was the same for me in Vancouver. It really wasn't worth it and I ended up going to other sites because the one I was paying for was blocking me from watching. Go figure.
I really think its catered for the American market where there are entire States that have zero hockey teams, and I mean youth, high school, college hockey teams let alone NHL/AHL.
For me it's awesome. I only get the VS games here and with my schedule I usually have to DVR those anyway. Our top sports channel ESPN has just over zero % hockey coverage. Center Ice and GameCenter are all some of us have.
Here in Seattle, I basically don't have any games blacked out except games that are on Versus/NBC (which I get anyway). This is Center Ice I'm talking about though, not NHL.com's Gamecenter. I don't imagine they would black out much here, no local team and all.
Black outs are because of the exclusive riight that a channel have paid the nhl.I am a Bruins fan from Mtl and i possess centre ice and all the others sports channels because of the black outs so i dont miss one game.The best option is bell telefibe because they offer the double hd hockey games than videotron on the centre ice package(7 hd channels vs 3 hd channels).
I am currently using nhl.com/gamecenter.... I am kinda disappointed this year because of the blackouts I get when a game is on TSN2 or RDS(why should I be forced to watch Bruins and Montreal play in French?).... these are not "Standard" channels... Plus the app for the Boxee Box is garbage and I end up watching the game on my computer most of the time....
I think its kinda funny that I pay for watching games legally on my computer and sometimes end up having to watch them on an illegal stream.... NHL really needs to work on these regional blackouts.
I'm not sure the rules behind the blackouts, but it's basically every game and always look to channel 215 (NHL Network) if you can't find it listed in the Center Ice area. I find the Bruins are on either NHLN or VS. more and more often.
The part I'd love to know is how Center Ice decides which teams' broadcast you get to watch. I find it's NESN maybe 70% of the time.
It's so worth it though. For the price of 2 good tickets, you get every game. Love it!
center ice can't decide whether i'm in the panthers or the lightning market so it just blacks out both.
and fox sports florida and sunshine network aren't interested in cooperating since there have been times where instead of hockey, there's "inside the miami heat" or fishin'! on instead.
Center Ice is the only way to go for out of town fans.
I remember comparing the cost to my buddie who got every Canucks PPV game here and the cost of that was $15.99 per game or $169.95 for the year, for about 13 or 14 games.
So in essence you could get Center Ice for the same price, it is a no brainer.
center ice can't decide whether i'm in the panthers or the lightning market so it just blacks out both.
and fox sports florida and sunshine network aren't interested in cooperating since there have been times where instead of hockey, there's "inside the miami heat" or fishin'! on instead.
Is this on tv or online we're talking about? Because I'm probably going to be moving back from RI to Ontario and I'm desperate to keep watching my B's.
I am currently using nhl.com/gamecenter.... I am kinda disappointed this year because of the blackouts I get when a game is on TSN2 or RDS(why should I be forced to watch Bruins and Montreal play in French?).... these are not "Standard" channels... Plus the app for the Boxee Box is garbage and I end up watching the game on my computer most of the time....
I think its kinda funny that I pay for watching games legally on my computer and sometimes end up having to watch them on an illegal stream.... NHL really needs to work on these regional blackouts.
This pretty much sums it up for me. I don't have a problem at home usually, but I do recall a couple times where the B's were scheduled on TSN2, but there was something else that took over the slot. So one could not watch the game anywhere. Big fail by TSN and NHL.
But what gets me is when I travel in the states, I understand that it's being broadcast nationally, but hotels that carry Versus in the rooms are few and far between. (Blacked out hockey game in Georgia, really?) I usually wind up watching a low quality feed, or just listening to the games. I may change things out next year, I'll see how it goes this year.
