Can NHL games be watched on the internet in the US? Anyone have any experience in terms of costs & which websites have good download speeds?
The NHL has NHL GameCentre Live. Look at www.nhl.com under Video->Live Game Video.
I can’t speak to the quality.
Someone here told me that the GameCentre Live feed quality is pretty good, but your local games are blacked out on that service. I decided to get the cable Center Ice package, since I’m already paying for cable and the cost was not that much more than GameCentre.
ETA: Last year there were some live feeds for NHL games available for free on Yahoo Sports. I don’t know if they’re still doing that or not.
Also, consider going to a college hockey game, if there’s a decent team around you. At it’s worst, college hockey is a unexciting blowout with sloppy play and the student next to you alternating between screaming unimaginitive curse words and throwing up on you, but at it’s best, it’s the most crazy exciting spectating available, with involved, usually knowledgeable and (depending on the college) sometimes witty cheering.