NHL GameCenter launches on Xbox Live

The NHL season officially starts tomorrow, folks, and after months without the sport, fans are most likely eager as ever to finally see their favorite team take the ice again. On top of that, Microsoft has announced that NHL GameCenter is launching on Xbox Live today, just in time for you to get settled in and start watching the games again.

While there still may be a lot of controversy over the 2013 season, Microsoft and the NHL are hoping to get your minds off of the ending lockout with its new Xbox Live app. Of course, you'll need a Gold membership in order to take advantage of the new app (as well as any app for that matter), but you're all set in that respect, you'll be able to open up the app now and get going.

NHL GameCenter features most of the things you'd come to expect out of a sports app, including live scores, standings, and statistics, a "Season Central" hub that shows you team schedules, and the ability to watch live games and replays, so long as you pay a $50 fee that will last the entire season. Then again, local games are blacked out.

There's also what's called the NHL Vault, where you'll have on-demand access to over 800 classic games. With this, you can watch some of the best Original Six battles from the 1960s or check out the best games from the Stanley Cup Playoffs throughout the years. The app is available now in most countries, except for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

[via Major Nelson]