The National Hockey League has faced off its 2011-12 season and content purveyor In Demand is presenting an 18-day freeview of the puck sport's out-of-market package.
Cable systems are offering their digital customers NHL Center Ice from Oct. 6-23 without charge.
With NHL Center Ice, digital-cable customers can watch up to 40 live out-of-market NHL games every week across 14 channels, including a number of enhancements to enrich their viewing experience. Customers who order the package by Oct. 30 will save with the early bird price -- four installments of $42.95 each or a total of $171.80.
Among the providers offering the package distributed by In Demand this season: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Bresnan Communications, Charter Communications, Midcontinent, Verizon FiOS, plus a number of independent affiliates.
Here's a scorecard of NHL Center Ice's 2011 package enhancements:
Multi-screen Mosaic: The rotating mosaic of multiple screens shows all the live action games being played around the league, along with score, time clock and channel location is back for another season. The multi-screen mosaic can be found on the "Game 14" channel of the system's package lineup.
Same-day replays: Each live game is encored approximately one hour after live play ends so that fans can see games they might have missed. Each game will replay in its entirety, repeated continuously overnight and the next day, on the same channel, until the following day's live games begin.
Dual-feed telecasts: Whenever possible, In Demand will deliver both the home and visiting team broadcasts of the same game so that fans can choose which telecast and home-team announcers they want to watch.
Stat Channel: A live source for scores, statistics, game previews, game recaps and schedule information. This can be found on the "Game 13" channel of the system's package lineup.
HD contests: The package also offers many games each week in the enhanced format, with availability varying by system.
