How to Watch the NHL 2026-27 Season in Canada Without Cable

The puck has dropped on the 2026-27 NHL season, and it is the most confusing year in a long time for Canadian hockey fans. Hockey Night in Canada is no longer on CBC, Prime Video’s games have moved from Monday to Wednesday, and Monday night games now stream only on Sportsnet+. If you have cut the cord, or you’re thinking about it, this guide explains how to watch NHL without cable in Canada: who has the games this season, what you need at home, and how to set up a streaming device in a few minutes.

What’s new for the 2026-27 NHL season

There is more hockey than ever this year. Each team now plays 84 regular-season games, up from 82, for a total of 1,344 games. The season opened on Tuesday, September 29, with the Canadiens visiting the Maple Leafs and the Canucks visiting the Oilers in a Sportsnet doubleheader. The regular season wraps up on Saturday, April 10, with all 32 teams in action.

Here are the big dates still to come:

• November 12 and 14: NHL Global Series in Helsinki, Finland, with the Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken.
• December 18 and 20: NHL Global Series in Düsseldorf, Germany, with the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators.
• December 31: the Winter Classic, as the Utah Mammoth host the Colorado Avalanche outdoors at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
• February 5 and 6: NHL All-Star Weekend returns at UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders, for the first time since 2024.
• February 20: the Stadium Series, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Vegas Golden Knights at AT&T Stadium.

The first outdoor game of the season, the Heritage Classic between the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens, was played in Winnipeg on October 25.

Who broadcasts NHL games in Canada this season

These are the official Canadian broadcasters for 2026-27. Which games you can see on each one can also depend on where you live, because some games are regional.

Sportsnet and Sportsnet+

Rogers holds the national NHL rights in Canada under a 12-year deal that runs from 2026-27 through 2037-38. Sportsnet says it will show more than 550 games this season, including Saturday Night Hockey, the new name for the Saturday broadcast that replaced Hockey Night in Canada, with Ron MacLean still hosting. Monday Night Hockey started on October 5 and is exclusive to the Sportsnet+ streaming service. Sportsnet also has the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final, apart from a few early-round series.

Prime Video

Amazon’s hockey package has moved to Wednesdays. Wednesday Night Hockey is exclusive to Prime Video in Canada, in English and French, with at least 26 national regular-season games at no extra cost for Prime members. Prime Video also has two first-round playoff series and one second-round series each year.

TSN, RDS and TVA Sports

Bell Media’s TSN and RDS still carry some regional games. In French, TVA Sports holds the national French-language rights for the next 12 years.

What happened to CBC?

After decades of Saturday night hockey, CBC no longer broadcasts NHL games on Hockey Night in Canada. If you used to watch the Saturday game over the air, you’ll now need another way to watch.

Your options for watching NHL without cable

There are two main ways Canadian fans are watching hockey without a cable box this season.

1. Official streaming subscriptions

You can sign up for the official services directly: Sportsnet+ for most national games and Monday Night Hockey, Prime Video for Wednesday nights, and your team’s regional broadcaster for regional games. This works well if you only follow a few games a week. The catch is that following one team all season can mean paying for more than one service, so check each provider’s site for current prices and which games are included where you live.

2. One all-in-one streaming service

Many households would rather have one login and one app for everything. StreamSurfers gives you 20,000+ live channels and 54,000+ movies & series in one subscription, watched through our own app, SurfPlayer, on Firestick, Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV and Android phones. Hockey nights, other sports, news and your shows all sit in the same place. Take a look at our sports streaming page to see how it works for sports fans.

What you need to stream hockey on your TV

• A steady internet connection. For HD, around 10 Mbps available on the TV device is a comfortable starting point, and 4K needs much more. A stable connection matters more than the top speed, and a wired Ethernet connection is the most reliable. If the picture stutters, our guide on how to fix buffering walks you through the fixes.
• A streaming device. An Amazon Firestick or Fire TV, an Android TV or Google TV box, or an Android phone or tablet. Got a Samsung or LG TV? See our Smart TV guide.
• The app. SurfPlayer is our own app, built for StreamSurfers, so you don’t need to set up a third-party player.

How to set up SurfPlayer on a Firestick

It takes about five minutes, and you only do it once.

1. On the Firestick home screen, search for Downloader and install it. It’s free.
2. Go to Settings > My Fire TV > Developer options and turn on Install unknown apps for Downloader.
3. Open Downloader, type the code 5188273 and press Go.
4. Press Install, then Open.
5. Sign in with the username and password from your StreamSurfers email.

Want screenshots for every step? Follow our full Firestick setup guide, or the Google TV and Android TV guide. The steps are the same on Android TV and Google TV, using Downloader from the Google Play Store.

Tips for a smooth game night

• Restart before the puck drops. Restarting your streaming device before a big game clears out anything slowing it down.
• Plug in if you can. A wired connection beats Wi-Fi, especially in a busy house on a Saturday night.
• Watch the time zone. League schedules usually list Eastern Time, so a 7 p.m. ET start is 4 p.m. on the West Coast.
• Pause big downloads. Game updates and cloud backups share the same connection as your stream.

Try it free before the next big game

The best way to know if StreamSurfers works well on your internet and your TV is to try it during a real game. Order the free 48-hour trial on our site, and your login is emailed to you automatically within minutes. No card is needed for the trial.

When you’re ready, our plans are sold in whole months, from 1 month up to 12 months, with options for 1 to 5 connections so everyone at home can watch on their own screen. There are no contracts, and you can read the details in our refund policy.

Frequently asked questions