The wait is finally over! The 2024 Stanley Cup will get underway on Saturday, April 20 as the Carolina Hurricanes host the New York Islanders. There’s plenty of action to look forward to and we’ll explain how to watch every Stanley Cup playoff online, wherever you are in the world.
It’s important to note that we’ll only be recommending official sources. Major sporting events like the Stanley Cup are often available on shady streaming sites, but we suggest you only use properly licensed sources. Official broadcasters have higher quality video and there’s no chance of the stream being taken offline for copyright violation partway through. There are plenty of ways to watch the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs officially anyway, so there’s no need to use unauthorized streams.
Most of the streaming services showing this tournament are region-locked. This means that you’ll need a VPN to use them while traveling abroad.
How to stream the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs abroad with a VPN
Unblocking geo-restricted services is easy, even if you’ve never used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) before. Follow the steps below to bypass regional restrictions and watch the 2024 Stanley Cup from anywhere.
Here’s how to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs online from anywhere:
- Start by signing up for a VPN if you haven’t already. We recommend NordVPN but Surfshark and ExpressVPN are two excellent alternatives.
- Next, download and install the software, taking care to get the right version for your operating system.
- Decide which geo-blocked platform you’d like to access abroad.
- Connect to a VPN server in the appropriate country. For instance, Sling TV is only available in the US, so you’d use an American server to unblock it.
- Try playing a video on your chosen service. It should begin immediately but if it doesn’t, you can fix most issues by clearing your cache and cookies, then refreshing the page.
These matches will be broadcast live, which is why we recommend making sure your VPN works well before they begin. This way, if you run into any problems, you should still have time to get help from your VPN’s customer support team and might not have to miss the start of a highly important game.
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How to watch the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs on US TV
In the US, you can watch the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs on ESPN, ABC, TNT, TBS, and TruTV. If you already have a cable TV subscription that includes these channels, you can simply sign in to them using your cable login credentials to start streaming.
It’s also possible to watch the above channels cable-free via the following TV streaming services: Hulu with Live TV (USD $76.99/month), Sling TV ($20 for your first month and $40/month thereafter) and YouTube TV ($72.99/month). Needless to say, Sling TV is by far the most affordable of these three options.
The platforms above are all geo-restricted, meaning you’ll have to either be in the US or using a US VPN server to access them. Don’t have a VPN yet? NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, meaning you can try it risk-free. If you’re unsatisfied or only needed this service to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs, you can simply cancel to receive a full refund.
Where else can I stream the Stanley Cup?
Canada
In Canada, playoff coverage will be split between Sportsnet and CBC. The good news is that if your cable TV package includes either of them, you can just log into their websites and watch online at no added cost.
Want to watch without cable? Sportsnet+ costs CAD $19.99 a month and includes every Stanley Cup playoff game. Another option is CBC Gem which offers fewer games but costs just $5.99 a month.
These services are only available in Canada. As such, you’ll need a VPN and Canadian IP address to log in from abroad.
UK
Viaplay Sports (Premier Sports) is the only platform showing the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs in the UK. If you’d like, you can add these channels to your existing Sky or Virgin TV subscription (and watch online using the Sky Go or Virgin TV Go apps) but the easiest way for most people to stream the playoffs is to sign up for the Total Monthly plan. This costs GBP £14.99 but unfortunately, there’s no free trial.
This service is region-locked and can only be accessed from within the UK. However, subscribers can log in from abroad by connecting to a British VPN server first.
How does the Stanley Cup work?
The Stanley Cup format is pretty straightforward. Sixteen NHL teams qualify for the first round, and take part in best-of-seven matches until only four remain from both the Eastern and Western conferences. The winners from round one then repeat this process until there are just two teams left.
These then move into the final round. The first team to win four games wins the Stanley Cup and the players receive championship rings. Note that the tournament ends the moment a team wins their fourth match; in other words, there’s no guarantee that all seven games will be played.
It’s also worth mentioning that these matches cannot end in a tie. If the score is level at the end of play, the teams will play an unlimited number of 20-minute, five-man overtime periods until one scores. This usually only lasts a few periods at most, but there have been two games in Stanley Cup history (Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Maroons and Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins) which required as many as six.
