10 Places To Watch NHL Hockey Games Online

NOTE: Some of the sites listed here are no longer up. Please see our updated list (Places to Watch NHL Hockey Games Online in 2012) for additional sources.


While hockey is best enjoyed sitting on a comfortable couch watching a 47-inch LCD HDTV with surround sound, sometimes you'll need or want to watch a hockey game live on your computer. You could be traveling or at the office with no access to television. Maybe you're one of those unlucky people (like myself) who do not get Versus or TSN2 so you can't see all the games even with an NHL Center Ice package. Or maybe your favourite team plays out of your market and you can't watch any of their games. Maybe you live in a region where NHL games are rarely shown on television. Whatever the case may be, the ability to watch NHL hockey online comes in handy sometimes.

Today we're listing 10 ways that you can watch NHL hockey games online. Not all of these methods will work for everyone (some options are Windows only and others require you to live in a certain area or subscribe to a certain cable system) but with the help of this list you'll be able to find the method that works for you.

Please note that some methods discussed below may not be legal in your area. While we will do our best to describe the legality of each option it is your responsibility to conduct your own research to determine if using a service is legal in your situation. PenguinsExperience.com does not endorse or condone any illegal activities and strongly suggests that you only utilize legal means to watch NHL hockey online. Providing this list does not suggest that you violate the copyright or broadcasting laws of your region.

Service: NHL GameCenter Live
Cost: $30.99/month or $185.95 for the whole season
Features: NHL GameCenter is an official NHL.com service. You can watch up to 40 games a week and up to four NHL games at once. You can choose between the TV and Radio commentary feeds and select games allow you to choose from multiple camera angles. The service is available on Windows and Mac systems and the video quality is quite good.
Restrictions: Local blackout restrictions apply. Games televised nationally or locally within your market are unavailable. NHL GameCenter is not is not available in Europe or the Middle East.
Legality: 100% legal within the markets it serves.

Service: ESPN360 Europe
Cost: €6.99/day, €14.99/month or €79.99 for the whole season
Features: ESPN360 Europe is the official European service for watching NHL games online. Over 1000 games are streamed live every season and all NHL games are available in the archives within 24 hours of the game airing live. The service is available on Windows and Mac systems.
Restrictions: Local blackout restrictions apply. Games televised nationally or locally within your market are unavailable. The service is only available in Europe and is blocked in Africa, Italy and Russia.
Legality: 100% legal within the markets it serves.

Service: Yahoo! Sports
Cost: Free!
Features: Certain NHL games are streamed live by Yahoo! Games are available in different stream qualities from 100kbps to 700kbps. Games available online are marked with a "Watch It Live" icon beside the game's scoreboard.
Restrictions: Only one game is shown at any given time and games are not shown every day. The service is only available to users in the United States.
Legality: 100% legal within the markets it serves.

Service: Comcast Hockey Live
Cost: Free!
Features: Certain NHL games are streamed online by Comcast.
Restrictions: Only one game is shown at any given time and games are not shown every day. The service is only available to users in the United States who are subscribers to Comcast's Internet services.
Legality: 100% legal within the markets it serves.

Service: Justin.tv
Cost: Free
Features: Users on Justin.tv can share video online. There are hundreds of live channels available 24 hours a day. You may have to hunt around a bit, but several channels show NHL hockey games live. The service is available for PC and Mac users.
Restrictions: The content is shared by users and thus all games might not be available and some streams can be unreliable. You may have to hunt around to find a channel that is showing the game you want to watch.
Legality: It's a grey area depending on where you live. The service is not endorsed or supported by the NHL and the users are not authorized to rebroadcast the games. Justin.tv has faced legal action from the English Premier League, Britain's top soccer league, and several videos have been pulled from the service.

Service: ATDHE.net
Cost: Free
Features: The site streams several live sporting events every day, including some NHL hockey games. The service is available on Windows and Mac. This site usually has very high quality streams. You will need a good Internet connection.
Restrictions: Most NHL games are available, but not all. No videos are hosted directly on the site and thus the service can be unreliable at times.
Legality: Again, depending on where you live it may be illegal to stream copyrighted video or it may be illegal to watch it. The service is not endorsed or supported by the NHL and those sharing the videos are not authorized to rebroadcast the games.

Service: ChannelSurfing.net
Cost: Free
Features: ChannelSurfing.net provides links to live television streams. Some NHL hockey games are available. All streams play in Windows Media Player.
Restrictions: Only a few NHL games are available each night. As with the other video sharing sites, the service can be unreliable at times.
Legality: Like Justin.tv and ATDHE.net, depending on where you live it may or may not be illegal share or watch streaming video. The service is not endorsed or supported by the NHL and those sharing the videos are not authorized to rebroadcast the games.

Service: HockeyWebcasts.com
Cost: Free
Features: HockeyWebcasts.com provides links to sites that stream NHL hockey games online.
Restrictions: You will likely find many of the same videos linked here that you will find using the other services listed on this page. Not all games are available and the service can sometimes be unreliable.
Legality: Some links provided are legal (i.e. links to Yahoo! streamed games and audio feeds) but, as with the other sites, some videos streamed without permission.

Service: HockeyStreams.com
Cost: $3.99/day, $9.99/month or $49.99/year. Other pricing models are available depending on the length of registration and the quality of the stream.
Features: Every televised NHL game is streamed online, many in HD. The service is available on both Windows and Mac systems.
Restrictions: Windows Media Player or VLC Media Player is required to watch the streams.
Legality: Don't let the fact that this is a pay site fool you. I don't believe that the service is any more legal than any of the other non-official sources listed here. All broadcasts are copyrighted to the NHL and it does not look like HockeyStreams.com is authorized to rebroadcast the games.

Service: MyP2P.eu
Cost: Free
Features: MyP2P.eu provides links to games being shown online along with links to games that are being streamed directly from another user. Most, if not all, NHL games are available in relatively high quality. International hockey games (and other sports) are frequently shown as well.
Restrictions: You will likely need to download at least one of the following programs to view the games: VLC Media Player, SopCast, or TVU. Some of these programs are only available on Windows systems. The games are being streamed by users and therefore, like many other services listed, they may be unreliable. Using Sopcast or TVU can sometimes be confusing.
Legality: Like many other services listed, watching or sharing streaming copyrighted video may be illegal in your area. The service is not endorsed or supported by the NHL and those sharing the videos are not authorized to rebroadcast the games.




Hopefully this guide will help you out if you are ever in a situation where you need to watch a hockey game on your computer, rather than on your television. As with other situations where you are downloading or accessing any content online please be careful with what you install and/or run.

Also, please investigate the local laws in your region to determine the legality of sharing or viewing unauthorized copyrighted content online. You probably don't want to get fined or end up in jail for watching a hockey game.

Enjoy the games!