Is Time Warner Giving Me NHL Center Ice for Free?

I got the impression from this Deadspin post that Time Warner Cable would be giving its subscribers a free trial of MLB Extra Innings, the multi-channel pay service that provides access to virtually every major league baseball game. I tuned in this evening to see which out of market games I could pick up, but there was no baseball to be seen. Instead, the channels dedicated to MLB Extra Innings were occupied by hockey. In fact, I could watch any and every NHL game airing tonight.

If you're a central Ohio Time Warner subscriber, check out channels 621-630, plus the subsequent MLB channels, 641-650 for some out of town hockey. It's a great opportunity to see some out of market teams that we Jacket fans seldom get to see all season. I'm flipping between the Jackets-Stars game (on FSN) and the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game, mostly. But you can also see Toronto-Islanders, Edmonton-Minnesota, or even Montreal-Rangers. I haven't had the pleasure of watching most of these teams this season, except for the New York teams. Seems like they're always on Versus. Has anyone else noticed a heavy east coast/New England bias on Versus? Every time I tune in, they're always showing the New York teams, Philadelphia, Boston, or Buffalo. Sure, it's easier to air earlier starting east coast games, and yeah, a huge portion of the viewing audience lives on the east coast, but there's 30 teams in the NHL.

Thanks to the gift of NHL Center Ice, I'll get to see a few more teams before we head into the playoffs. However, I still have not managed to see the Panthers or Lightning, with the latter being a serious playoff contender. Maybe they'll play tomorrow or Saturday and I can catch them on Center Ice.