NHL GameCenter™ Sports App Review (iOS, Free)

Description

NHL GameCenter™ is the official app from the National Hockey League. It is the only hockey app that lets you watch out-of-market games live, see in-game highlights and stream live game audio.

NHL GameCenter™ Features include:
- Live Scores and Stats for Every Team and Player
- Live Game Simulation with Near Real-Time Shift Changes, Boxscore, and Play-by-Play
- Post-Game Video Highlights
- Video on Demand Content Including Videos from your Favorite Teams and the Best Selections from NHL.com
- Full Season Schedule and Standings
- Team Clubhouse
- League Leaders
- News from Around the League
- Customized Game Alerts
- Player Profiles with Headshots, Bios and Stats for all Active NHL Players
- Customize up to 5 Favorite Teams

Upgrade to NHL GameCenter™ Premium** for:
- Live Radio Broadcasts (home and away)
- In-Game Video Highlights
- Condensed Game Replays
One-time fee of $9.99 for access to the entire 2013-14 season


Upgrade to NHL GameCenter LIVE™ for:
- Live Out-of-Market Game Video (home and away)
- Access on Multiple Devices*
- All NHL GameCenter™ Premium Content


*Access for current NHL GameCenter LIVE™ subscribers is available for no additional charge, simply log in with an existing username and password.

** Verizon iPad and 4G LTE customers will get access to NHL GameCenter™ Premium and other exclusive content for FREE! Exclusive Verizon iPad content includes:
- Live NBC National Games
- NBC’s Inside the Glass
- Live Streaming of NHL On The FLY™
- Other Exclusive Video On Demand

Customer Reviews

• NOTICE

  by NO MAGNET

  Why don't they show the Olympics hockey game highlights? I'm pretty sure they were broadcast. That would be awesome if this app would have this feature.

• Women's hockey

  by Tdmwhit

  The Sochi update is great but I'd be better if they added women's Olympic hockey schedules scores stats as well.

• Nice App Overall

  by kwoodsetup

  Very easy to use, like that it shows your favorite teams started on the schedule. News and most relevant info accessible. Drop in rating due to the fact that updating the app reverted my "hide scores" setting and ruined a days worth of games. As a developer one should not destroy a users settings. It would also be nice if the hide scores setting also hid the scores and headlines from the game page, it would be more consistent if I could load the game page as if the game hadn't taken place yet. Otherwise the app works great on iPad and iPhone.

• Women's hockey?

  by do258

  Rather sexist to not include women's hockey as part of Sochi. Please address this oversight.

• Forced update??

  by drouu

  I wanted to check my team's game time tonight, so I opened the app today and got a popup saying "Update NHL Gamecenter to follow players in Sochi!", along with two button choices: "update now" or "quit app", and tapping outside the popup did nothing. Word of advice to the NHL and the NHL Gamecenter developers - do not render an app entirely unusable for a frivolous update. Ever. An app update on 4g with a poor signal can take A LONG TIME. And many of us DO NOT CARE about Sochi. Think about the end-user!!

• Hide the spoilers!

  by Ozgur_73

  This app used to display scores when you tried to watch the game after it was finished. Even if you chose to hide scores in Settings. They took away the scores on the game's splash page (thank you). But now that splash page still comes up with an article about the game and the title of the article spoils the outcome. Please, for those of us watching games at a later time, hide the spoilers! It's no use hiding the score if the same pages has an article with an 18 pt font headline saying 'Red Wings win at home.'

• Awesome

  by Austin #10

  Great app!! Get updates when I can't see pens games

• Great

  by NHLFanCanada

  This app is makes keeping up with favorite teams, live scores and standings easy. I highly recommend.

• Love it

  by HK Matrix

  I just love this app. The NHL has really gotten it's act together and made an app that truly allows u to view a game anywhere u have a connection. Giddy up.

• really good

  by MnM girl476

  this app is really good for watching games and highlights for your favourite teams.

• Please fix

  by Rsenese2

  After the latest update I can't seem to watch any games live despite the fact that I have gamecenter live and am not blacked out. Please fix this.

• Favorite team

  by Bsbrett3

  How do you change / add favorite teams?

• Me5000

  by Me5000

  Love this app. Thanks for updating with a Sochi section!

• Amazing app

  by Redhothair2

  This app is AMAZING I recommend it!

• boom. all the olympics info I need.

  by mills29

  nice update.

• WHY? WHY? WHY NO POWER PLAY NOTIFICATIONS?

  by Techdude Z

  ARE YOU GUYS KIDDING ME? STILL NO ALERTS FOR POWER PLAYS IN YOUR PUSH NOTIFICATION SYSTEM? POWER PLAY ALERTS are ALL I have been asking for when this version of NHL GameCenter came out BEFORE the start of the SHORTENED 2012-2013 NHL season. EACH UPDATE AFTERWARDS NO POWER PLAY ALERTS!!!! PLEASE READD POWER PLAY ALERTS TO YOUR PUSH NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND I'll give this 5 (DALLAS) stars. C'mon MLB At Bat added push notifications for iPad. I suggested it in a App Store review & they added it. WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS? I'm speaking for ALL FANS. For those fans who DON'T want to be ALERTED for POWER PLAYS just switch POWER PLAY ALERTS OFF. In the app go to Settings>Alerts> Select the team(s) you have ALERTS set for then switch OFF POWER PLAYS. ARE POWER PLAY ALERTS TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR? It would ALSO be fantastic IF while watching a game /condensed game on an iOS device you CAN adjust the Kbps (kilobits per second) so we DON'T get CHARGED DATA OVERAGES. Good work on iOS 7 support though. By the way as I stated in my LAST review you guys MIGHT WANT to HURRY UP & get tickets to WWDC 2014. WWDC 2013 SOLD OUT in 1:11 (71 seconds). You guys CAN get a DEVELOPER PREVIEW of iOS 8 to get NHL GameCenter READY for iOS 8. PS to ALL GameCenter LIVE subscribers who COMPLAIN that your FAVORITE team OR game of interest ISN'T AVAILABLE on GameCenter LIVE, you CAN ONLY watch OUT-OF-MARKET NON-NATIONALLY TELEVISED games on GameCenter LIVE. NATIONALLY TELEVISED games include: NBC, NBC Sports Network, NHL Network (US & CANADA), TSN, & CBC. Those LOCAL MARKET & NATIONAL tv networks pay a lot to distribute the games on tv & reserve the rights to those games. RESEARCH the package BEFORE you SUBSCRIBE.

• Great app

  by tbone98

  Easy to use and great!

• No doubt

  by Mcticklenuts III

  This app is literally my life now. Love it. I except it for who it is, unlike some people. Me and this app just kind of clicked...you know? We definitely have deep and lasting connection. I recommend this app to everyone, even they hate hockey. I force (and i mean FORCE) them to download it.

• Great app

  by Please help me it's annoying

  It is a great app but I know I'm not the only hockey fan that loves to watch fight replays. Maybe in the next update they should have video highlights with some fights in em instead of just having highlights of them scoring. Unless its a magical and unexpected goal then fine. But put fight highlights in this app.

• No app?

  by The racist Pinkyman™

  I love this app so much but the app isn't showing up on my app pages, when I go to the app on the AppStore, it says open, not purchase or install and when I press on it, nothing happens. So it thinks I have the app. Also when I search my iphone for the app using the search thingy, it doesn't show up still and I can't delete it and redownload it because it doesn't even show up

• Sochi Update - No women's hockey!

  by The Major59

  Did you forget women play Olympic hockey too?

• Standings need to be UPDATED please

  by # go bruins

  I can not see who is in what place out of the whole NHL. I wish it would be updated PLEASE!!

• What?

  by Bwhtr

  Hit the update and the whole app disappeared!

• Terrible

  by AS7765

  Live streaming doesn't work after update. Contacted customer service for refund and help, basically told me too bad. I'm extremely upset. Also, they double charged me this month. Should have got Center Ice :( Do not buy, absolute rip off

• Very much Lacking

  by Wu Letang clan

  This is a great app if you don't mind missing nearly every big game. It seems like every other game is in a blackout area. You pay just as much for this as you would for the center ice package and can't watch 20% of the games. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if every blackout wasn't a pens or hawks game and EVERY hometown game. I live in San Jose and a big reason I purchased the app was to be able to watch Sharks games on the go. Well, guess what? EVERY SINGLE SHARKS GAME IS BLAKED OUT. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but its absolutely ridiculous. Get rid of blackouts or drop the price. Also, there is no Xbox one app. So if you use your 360 or ps3 to watch the games and are planning to upgrade to next gen, note that you won't be able to run this app. I also have a droid phone which, by some completely spontaneous black magic, can no longer run the app. All around, I will most likely just buy the center ice package next time. Thoroughly disappointed.

• Annoying imposition

  by Oma and Opa

  Just ticked that I had to reinstall app for their Sochi updates. Couldn't it have just been an invitation to update it? I could have done that at my leisure.

• App Disappeared With Upgrade

  by BubsKG

  Upgraded my GameCenter premium and lost the app. Still have an icon but it won't open. Loved the previous version because it actually worked well. Now I have nothing.

• Ads are annoying

  by Bagofcrapp

  Very annoyed that before every single video highlight there is an ad. I would think the NHL makes enough revenue but apparently not.

• Update knocked out video

  by JfromChicago

  What happened?!? After updating, live video doesn't work, just hangs on the black NHL background screen. So many bugs....I want my $ back. Sad.

• Force upgrade?

  by STEVEss3133432

  Got an option upon opening to upgrade or "close app". No choice to open the app and not upgrade. I don't like forced upgrades so I found a third option. Uninstall.

• Weak

  by msharkm

  App was working well until today - won't work unless you install a new version - forced updates is a no-no in the App World. I don't care about the Olympics. Just give me the NHL scores and news.

• cant see conference standings

  by smithrs474

  no way to view playoff seeds

• App disappeared

  by Nijosc

  App disappeared with the latest update... I'm paying for this???

• Ads

  by The_Blob_Fish

  The constant full page ads that magically reappear every time one attempts to close them, not annoying. Sell me a paid version that has no ads. I'll begrudgingly pay it, you greedy developers.

• No scores

  by Wilsonjcobb

  I go to check scores and all I get are dashes where the scores are. Why are the scores not on there?

• Great idea if it wasn't terribly priced 5 stars

  by Nich59876

  $100 dollars 4 live games really!!!

• Disappointed

  by Disappointed-Fan10

  For those who attend games, doesn't have any features for when at the game, like 'MLB at the ballpark' does, to record games or arenas been to or upgrade seats.

• BEWARE

  by Jim17346

  DO NOT UPDATE TO THE LATEST VERSION. All they did was insert new ads under the guise of a content update. Even as a Gamecenter subscriber you have to suffer through the ads.

• The App Disappeared

  by JR Vanguard

  I liked the app before, but I just got the new update and now my app is gone

• Ads, Bugs, and No Cable Integration

  by NoBozos911

  This app smells of Buttman, squeeze every last penny out of your fans then treat them like crap. The NHL gets money from Cable and Advertisers, who get money from us the customer and the Networks, who get money from Advertisers, and then Gary Buttman puts Ads in the App! And for that you get buggy software that you can't see highlights in much less watch a game you already payed for without shelling out more money. The App can't scroll to the bottom of the game write-up, how do you screw up scrolling? Notifications that don't show up in the News section? Maybe someone could write a decent app for Hockey fans and charge a couple of bucks. Of course Buttman would probably sue, he is an ambulance chaser.

• Bummed update

  by rystar83471289378219

  Just updated to os7 for the iPhone. Now I'm not getting box scores and play by play. What gives???

• Theres no app

  by Ur mothers girl frend

  I downloaded the app after i watched a game on my friends phone. When i downloaded it the app doesnt show up on the app page. When i look at my purchased apps it shoes up and when i press the open button nothing happens. I cant delete it or anything.

• Great App

  by Peregrine 69

  This is a great app. I have almost no complaints. For you people who didn't figure out how to update, just pull up on the screen and it will show you the last time you updated. Recommend it if you like hockey.

• Great App

  by Peregrine 69

  This is a great app. I have almost no complaints. For you people who didn't figure out how to update, just pull up on the screen and it will show you the last time you updated. Recommend it if you like hockey.

• Radio cuts out

  by Owlnation1919

  Radio on NHL premium cuts out after about a min and you have to exit out and reload it. What's the point in premium if I can't listen to the games?! Would be 5 stars if worked.

• Why

  by B Hannon

  Won't let me get live

• Don't get it

  by Coolaman22

  This is the worst app I have ever downloaded!! You have to pay fricken $99.99 dollars to watch a season don't get this app or you'll be very sorry!!

• Great ,But...

  by Amazeda

  Amazing app I love the live videos. BUT there is 1 thing, it takes a while for the video to become hd

• Sad and unsatisfied

  by LAX_USA

  The sole purpose of purchasing Gamecenter Live is to watch your favorite teams on the go. But if I can't watch my favorite teams, why do I want to get this app?...please work out a deal with these Networks so we can watch Local games through this app, even if it means streaming their channel. I don't see why they'd say no? Then they're being watched by more people? And national blackouts are pointless too...the whole point of national is so everyone can see it...so why not on our phones?

• Gross

  by Zteelchainz

  How do you not have a players tab?!?! Haha brutal. You're too needy with all these bs fees. Make it cheaper to watch games.

• Brutal

  by Fred and Rosie

  Video does not load up! What am I paying for!!!!?

• Wish list: access to Official Reports

  by jaygl

  I prefer this app for checking NHL scores. One thing I would like to see added is easy access to the official NHL game reports (game summary, TOI, faceoff report, roster report, shot report). These are accessible on the web version of NHL.com in the boxscores but I would love to have them available through the app on my phone.

• Ads

  by 16grathwohle

  2 things, I'm paying for nhl gamecenter, I shouldn't have to click an X on some stupid Audi ad every time I go to an individual game Second thing is that for a few days after a game, I kept getting the same alert for a goal and a period end. I don't know why but it's gone now and I don't want it to happen again.

• News notifications are very frustrating

  by Parki3n

  The app works great for streaming games if you're a GameCenter Live subscriber. Blackouts are a major aggravation, but I doubt the developers can do anything about that. But Breaking News notifications are even more frustrating, and they can be fixed. They are often truncated, and clicking them takes you to the app, but not to the rest of the notification or the article. And there is nowhere in the app to find breaking news. Happens once or twice a day and I have to go to NHL.com myself to find the rest of it.

• WHY ALL THE HATE????

  by Paper Cut 611

  The app works fine! No crashes, or anything buggy that i found. I love that there are stats and a news feed AND LIVE COVERAGE!!!!!

• BS if ranger or red wing fan

  by CoolPig

  Every god darn time I try to watch a rangers or wings game, it says u are in a blackout area

• Tired of Blackouts!

  by JBradK

  I PAY for the service! Let me see ALL the Lightning games. I don't get, nor can I get, the NHLN!

• Scores don't even show up.

  by Youfreakinga

  I used to like the GameCenter app a few versions ago because of all of the highlights. But now, I have to click on the game and read the headline to know who won because numbers don't show up! Pretty frustrating. I have to use The Score for my scores and push notifications and this app if I want to see the highlights.

• Completely useful

  by LET'S GO BLUES!!

  This app totally helps when you, A: can't go to the game, or, B: you can't watch the game

• Standings haven't updated!!

  by STLBluesGuy1

  The standing haven't updated in 2 weeks. The standings from 2 weeks ago don't really matter to me. I would like to see the current ones. I have to leave this app to see the standings on a different app which I don't like to do because this app is so good. If the standings are updated to the current version everyday I will give 5 stars.

• Ap locks up

  by Hookkick

  If i leave the last game of the night before it has ended, and then click on the ap after the game as ended, I only get a locked up black screen and cannot get to the menu for news, standings etc. you would think for the price the ap would be a little more dynamic. May make me think twice about signing up next season.

• Silence the DING DING FOR ALERTS

  by MY Nickname 44

  I like the app for what it is but I have turned off all alerts except my team because I DO NOT NEED A DING EVERYTIME SOMETHING HAPPENS IN THE LEAGUE or with other teams I follow- there should be a way to keep alerts without sound- this is really annoying - I considering the full version but after reading the reviews - not so sure I want to spend +$50 to get annoyed

• Blackout

  by JULIEN MARCIL

  Blackout...

• Blah eh

  by Scrabble God

  Unreliable. I use NHL through my Roku and it is a pain. Customer service blows, too many blackout games. Kind of a waste.

• Stats

  by Anderhockey

  Need to add Team stats like pp% and pk% Otherwise great app

• Awful

  by Shaz3811

  This app does not work at all

• The best place for game audio

  by malarsie

  I'm completely blind so watching the games on TV just does not do it for me. There are a few other apps that play the audio but their fees are always very hit or miss. I love the audio in this app and the reliability is excellent! Some of the buttons could use better labeling but beggars can't be choosers.

• New ads are disgusting

  by MHShockey33

  This is a great app. It truly is. But your new bouncing around the screen ads make me want to throw my phone through the wall they are so annoying. Is a fraction of a cent worth the aggravation to users. Frankly it's bush league for any quality mobile app to annoy the users to game clicks and far, far below the quality and integrity of the NHL brand.

• Fine app, notifications are terrible.

  by Mac B from Tennessee

  Glad to see there are more granular control of notifications. Still there are no power play notifications, those are sometimes important and nice to know. Also I had to unsubscribe to league "Breaking News" push alerts because of the amount of asinine information deemed to be "breaking news". I cannot possibly imagine why concert announcements for the outdoor games would be so important you had to let me know RIGHT EFFFING NOW.

• Not good

  by D6802014

  I go to watch a game and it it shows me the result of the game (in big letters so I can't miss it) right on the main page for that game. I do have it set not to show me scores. So much for that.

• Great

  by Lily02

  I love how easy this app is to use and how you can watch highlights and goals all In all a great app

• Love it!

  by 67pat

  I love it! It is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool! Very useful for hockey fans. I have Gamecenter Live so that is a really good one.

• Amazing

  by 103199131657

  This app is sweet because you get awesome videos and updates on your favorite teams!!!

• Notifications won't stop, even a week later!

  by Jessica Skarzynski

  Last week I started receiving multiple notifications for a game, a total of 56 in one night - every time a new notification would pop up, every previous pop-up would appear too, and it couldn't be stopped. Now today, I got a game start notification, and promptly had 7 additional notifications pop up, from LAST WEEK'S GAME. Deleting!

• This was working fine last season

  by Alec rezyrk

  Am I the only one who app doesn't even appear on their phone?? and when I hit open on the App Store nothing happens. This was working fine last season , I'm trying to see what my teams are doing $$

• ?

  by Epichockeylover

  AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Repeated notifications

  by Dplunks

  When a game starts or period ends, I get the alert twice and it repeats other updates about the game randomly.

• Been great until now.

  by Jdkdodokf

  It's been sending two notifications of the same thing every alert.

• Unable to link GCL accounts

  by Dayno66

  I can login in and everything, just can't restore my purchases no matter how many times I try to.

• Good app but

  by The young irishman

  It needs injury reports and news feeds for specific teams

• Needs better commentators

  by NCIS: Agent Matt

  I think you should choose the way u watch the highlight of the game because sometimes if the away team scores they don't seem to be happy so I think you should give people the power to choose

• Disappointed, all about the

  by Disappointed-Fan10

  For those who attend games, doesn't have any features for when at the game, like 'MLB at the ballpark' does, to record games or arenas been to or upgrade seats. 'Attention: APP developers please add this feature.' Basically, it's only value is schedule, rosters, stats, and out of market non-national televised games. Can't even add schedule/games to calendar. Oh and you pay $150 to watch out of market non-national televised games. This is great for those who live in another market than their favorite team, but this is bad for people like my girlfriend who can only watch games on her phone or Apple TV, but can't watch her favorite local team.

• Agree with grips about black-outs and ads

  by Phiveo5

  I understand why certain games are blacked out, but it really is excessive. The NHL really ought to negotiate with the networks to allow more games to be watched via GCL. What are the network's big gripes with getting games to a wider audience, airing those same commercials via GCL? And I agree with the complaint that the in-app advertising is out of hand.

• Latest version worthless

  by squibbydog

  Doesn't show scores for games in play. Every game is - - Will show stats, video, etc. but not the actual score.

• Terrible!!

  by MajorTom1973

  Having to sign in every time I want to listen to a game is a massive problem. Plus, pages don't always load in properly.

• Horrible app for paid customers

  by Dgoods22

  For the resources you guys have this app is horrible user experience. Constantly logs you out, says no data connection , Ads even with GCL subscription and touch response disappears sometimes. Such a ripoff. All the new update did was force location info so you can't watch games that are supposed to b blacked out. I would rather watch lower quality on streaming sites. They work better and no blackouts. Greedy freakin corp that doesn't support the thing that keeps it going; THE FANS.

• Love the app but…

  by Sam's iPod Touch 3rd Gen.

  Take off the adds. They are really annoying how the pop up every 5 seconds. I will give five stars then.

• Way too many ads

  by JBoening

  The ads in this app are debilitating—their frequency and their implementation. You can't even watch a thirty second video without watching a thirty second commercial (no exaggeration). You can't even look at a scoresheet without the nhl collecting a profit from their sponsors. Plus, the ads don't load consistently, so often the app appears to stop responding when, in fact, an ad has failed to load properly.

• Small bug

  by ullislanaro

  I'm having a small bug where it doesn't show the time but just says (null) also one thing stupidly enough I am a huge NY rangers fan that moved to Sweden hoping that with the NHL premium or whichever one costed 100$ would let me watch the games but no, it says blackout area so I do some research and I see that it isn't supported in Sweden. It is supported in the least hockey countries in the world but not here where everyone plays hockey and watches it so I am asking please make it supportable in Sweden... I would pay for next year too... Thx

• Needs NHL vault

  by GETSOME...YEAH!!!

  I pay $150 a year for premium. I sometimes enjoy watching older games and should be able to with this app. Also there should be a stronger notification that says that games aired on NHL network will be blacked out. I can't watch a rangers game if it's aired on NHL network which is ridiculous. I understand how blackouts work but it's awful. I won't re up until both these issues are resolved. The app is a well working piece of software, however.

• Amazing

  by Best director

  It is an awesome way to keep up with NHL and sends u notifications that u want about what's going on and I think it's a great app to have and telling the scores is the best part so u should all get it for those NHL lovers

• Nhl app

  by Skkkrrrillllexxxx

  This app is very useful and awesome

• Penalties

  by Kevinmango

  The penalties in the box scores are completely incorrect. Every fighting major is listed as boarding. And there have been a lot of "head butting" and "butt ending" penalties lately, apparently.

• Too many Blackouts!

  by kevindeluca1

  Regardless of what the fine print says, the NHL game Center app must get its geographic regional licenses in order before this app can be any better. Far too often and my unable to watch the game because I am in a blackout region. I paid a lot of money for this app to watch my team and now I cannot. Extremely disappointed.

• Waste

  by Peet Stuff

  I spent 10$ for the radio broadcast yet seems like almost every game I get cut off at a certain point more than once. Money well spent.

• Do something better

  by MedStudent89

  C'mon guys...you can do better. I'm grateful that sounds for push notifications finally work...but I can't customize them? It's incredibly limited for I can actually do with this app despite paying good money.

• Ads

  by Jim17346

  DO NOT UPDATE TO THE LATEST VERSION. All they did was insert new ads under the guise of a content update. Even as a Gamecenter subscriber, there's ads.

• Poor updating of scores..

  by yo GIG

  It's sad, you would think the NHL App would be on top of the scores in the NHL, but it's the last App that does... Even the Yahoo Sports App blows this away ( sad ). Fix

• What happened!?!?

  by Not4suku

  Amazing update! It completely erased the app from my iPad. Ummm......it's gone

• Tampa bay

  by Disneynerdmickeymouselightning

  Go tampa bay lightning

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