NHL Network Online Launch 4/9/08

Its like Nirvana on my Laptop: The Launch of the NHL Network On Line.

During my lunch break yesterday, while streaming to NHLLive on my work computer, I started surfing through my favorite hockey sites and came across this article on our own Islanders tem website. (http://islanders.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=359838) And then I wondered… HOW THE HELL DID I MISS THIS??? Was I sleeping? I'm on NHL.com every day, I missed the information on the launch date for this ground breaking technology?

I quickly went to NHL.com and there it was at the top, the NEW NHL Network On Line. I clicked on the link and it was as if I just opened the last Christmas present under the tree...the big one...with my name on it. The design is striking, the content amazing and the fact that I could actually WATCH the NHL Live show that I’ve been listening to faithfully for years, just made me giddy.

And then I thought about it… I’m going to get fired. I’m never going to work again!!! How can I have this accessibility while I’m supposed to be working? It’s one thing to just be listening to the show, it’s another to want to WATCH it.  And watch I did.  My computer was on overload as I kept clicking back and forth from my work program windows to the website to watch EJ and Don doing their schtick with the NHL store in the background.

Even the commercials are sleek, crisp and well produced.  I clicked through category to category in sheer amazement. There are seven button choices: Game highlights, Podcasts, NHL Radio, a Playoffs Channel, Livewire (which is the live feed where NHL Live can be seen daily from noon - 2 pm), and NHL Productions Presents. This is simply Hockey Heaven. Archives filled with content I have never seen; Podcast archives of radio shows I’ve missed. I could have cried.

I immediately contacted ITV VP extraordinaire, Josh Bernstein, to tell him how amazing this was and he asked me if the feed was ‘choppy’. Nope, it was beautifully clear and perfect. “Our site will look like that soon enough.” he told me.

BE STILL MY HEART!! I can’t take this! This is like crack for a puck junkie like me. What can I say except…?

THANK YOU NHL!! THANK YOU NEULION!!

Check it out, and let me know what you think.