From the press release:

All PS3 users in North America and Canada can download the NHL GameCenter™ application for free. This means users that do not have a subscription to NHL GameCenter LIVE can still have access to a wide range of NHL® content through the NHL GameCenter application, including features such as post-game highlights, team schedules, standings, player stats and full NHL scoreboard.  

NHL GameCenter LIVE™ subscribers can stream game broadcasts in HD by downloading the NHL GameCenter application from PlayStation Network on their PS3 system. In addition to offering live hockey games (subject to blackouts), NHL GameCenter LIVE also allows subscribers to watch full-length and condensed replays of the current season games they missed (48 hours after they air, no blackouts) and relive NHL history with unlimited access to over 800 classic games from NHL Vault™.  

Additional features of NHL Vault™ include: 

• Classic Games: Relive historic hockey moments from classic games dating back to the 1960s.
• Condensed Games: Catch up on games you missed with 10-12 minute extended highlights.
• Game Archive: Watch full length replays of all games since the 2008-2009 season.

I tried it out, and all I can say is, WOW! The features are almost overwhelming; you can pick the home or away feed for a game, fast-forward to the highlights, watch vintage games…there’s just so many options. You’ll never be bored again. It’s 3 a.m. on a Saturday? Watch the 2011 Winter Classic or a Habs game from the ’70s! Another feature I like is that many of the broadcasts are exactly what you’d see in that city. Frankly, I’m amazed at just how bad the commercials are in St. Louis.

The awesomeness of NHL GameCenter also includes the NHL GameCenter app, which I just downloaded. There’s a free version and a paid version, though the free version has a surprising amount of features. It’s an easy way to keep up with all the games that are going on.

As always, the Caps games are subject to blackout restrictions if you use the service in the DC area, but you can watch the game or the highlights the next day through the service. To download the application, go to the “Media & Apps” category in the Playstation Store from your PS3 and launch it from the TV/Video Services icon of the XMB. The free version is available, and the paid version costs $159 for the season and includes NHL Vault.  Below are some screen shots of the PS3 application. If you’re looking for a fun, informative way to watch a game, this is it!

Disclaimer: I received a voucher code to test the application.

WRC’s Jim Iovino is running this project for the Channel 4′s web site, and he’s tailoring the discussions for each round to address emerging topics. So for the start of the second round Jim asked local hockey media to tally up the number of blows likely directed at Mike Green’s head by Tampa. JP delivered a great quip:

Number of times Mike Green will be targeted with a head shot: 0. The League takes the issue of head injuries very seriously and would never let one of its star players — who recently missed two months due to a concussion (or two, depending upon where you get your news) — be the target of such tactics.

Just kidding. He gets targeted once. Per shift.

We told WRC that our “Matchup to watch” involved this series’ specialty teams.

Matchup to Watch: Tampa Bay’s first power play unit versus the Capitals’ PKers. The Lightning had the league’s sixth-best extra-man unit during the regular season (20.5%) and went white hot with the extra man against Pittsburgh (29% — third-best in the postseason). The Caps were the league’s second-best penalty killing team in the regular season (85.6%), and almost perfect at 95% against the Rangers. But Tampa possesses weapons up front on the power play that the Rangers sorely lacked. Tampa’s only real chance to pull off the upset to is draw the Caps into a number of penalty killing situations and to capitalize on a good many of them.

There’s some fantastic analysis and insight with this project, so give it a look before you head down to Chinatown tonight or meet up with your fellow soliders in the Red Army at a local watering hole. We’d like to chime in again for WRC for in-kind collaborations with our new media colleagues two more times this spring.

: )

You ought to follow this link to the file and survey how common a common prediction for series length there is among the amassed voices. And perhaps leave a comment of appreciation for NBC for pursuing the fun filing. We love participating in these collaborative projects, especially at this time of year.

But there’s more**. Dmitry Chesnokov has chimed in with a great subtext to this spot. Alexander Semin is somewhat conspicuous in his absence in the commercial; turns out, he was a part of principal photography but left out in final editing. Dmitry offered his Twitter followers today an image of Semin’s role in driving a “getaway golf cart” for the ESPN espionage caper.

** Yes, we know Dmitry was kidding with his tweet. Obviously that picture wasn’t even taken in the US, much less Bristol. But it would have been funny, no?

This ’24/7′ preview clip of Brooks Laich is highly suggestive that we’ll be afforded some terrific reflections and perspectives in this series. Here Brooksie makes the claim that hockey is the best game in the world, and the athletes who play it are the world’s best athletes. We agree on both counts.

Last night I made my first appearance on 106.7 the Fan, again to chat about the new hockey season. That station has expressed interest in having OFB on every week during the season, likely on Wednesdays. And our blogger colleague JP is a notable contributor to the Fan as well. Immediately prior to my segment last night, 106.7 had the impressive hoops blog Bullets Forever on to chat about the upcoming season on the hardwood. There is such passion and commitment in so many of the local blogs covering our teams, and it’s exciting to see local Big Media recognize this and invite their participation. It’s a small sacrifice for me to stop in the studio on my commute home, or chat with radio hosts for 10 minutes in the evening from the comfort of home. It just seems like a terrifically healthy and fun engagement and synergy.

I don’t want to leave out the Washington Post, which will be including the preview views of some local hockey bloggers in its season kickoff section. It wasn’t all that long ago that bloggers generally were viewed with suspicion and even resentment in these parts by traditional media. No longer, clearly. Somebody should share our story with the PR folks out in Edmonton and up in New York, perhaps.

One other fun development to share. It had been custom with our visits to Comcast to tape our TV segment and repair to makeup and remove our madeup faces (I sit in that chair getting worked over longer than anyone). Tonight, however, Thaler stopped us in mid-wipe facial swipe and ordered us into another studio to record two separate segments for the outlet’s digital enterprise. So now a single visit to Comcast is almost certain to generate multiple products that include bloggers, for both traditional television and digital broadcast. And all of these products we’ll be able to share with our readers.