Sports

SPORTS

Stanley Cup Fever?

Check Out These Web Sites for the Cure!

by Chuck Bednar

With the Stanley Cup playoffs in full swing, die-hard NHL fans will undoubtedly be looking for quality coverage online. But as any experienced Web surfer can tell you, finding what you need on the Net isn't as always as easy as it sounds.

The hockey faithful will want to start atNHL.COM, the official Web site of the NHL. This site is the place to be when searching for playoff info. NHL.COM includes a full Stanley Cup schedule and results, series previews, and analysis from former NHL goaltenders Brian Haywood and Greg Millen.

As if all that wasn't enough, NHL.COM also has the following:

* "Great Performance of the Day," which highlights the outstanding performance of an individual player.

* "Feature File," which keeps archives of the top stories throughout the postseason, just in case you missed something.

* Weekly analysis by another former NHL netminder, John Davidson.

* Video highlights from the previous evening's games.

* Clips of some of the greatest moments in Stanley Cup history, ready to be downloaded.

* A chat room.

* A detailed history of the Stanley Cup.

* "NHL4Kids," games and trivia for youngsters.

Also, NHL.COM will soon have inside information on Fox Sports coverage of the playoffs, a poll where readers can vote for the greatest hockey team of all time, a hockey trivia game and a fantasy game, where you can pick and lead your team all the way to the Stanley Cup. Coming in June, the site will have live coverage of the cup finals.

ESPN SportsZone and Slam! Sports also have the beat well covered. Both sites have tons of up-to-the-minute news and photos, live scoreboards, and plenty of analysis.

Fans who visit ESPN SportsZone will also want to check out "Darren Pang's Book on the Goalies," where the hockey guru offers his analysis of all the goaltenders involved in each series. This interesting feature includes sections on what the goalie is thinking, where to look if you're a shooter, how well the goalie plays outside the crease, and quotes from opponents about each.

While you're hooked on "The Zone," check out ESPN's Almanac, which lists Stanley Cup winners and MVPs as far back as 1892-93, and the ZoneMedia audio and video highlights section.

Slam! boasts great in-depth features and opinion columns, and offers a Canadian perspective on the playoffs. They packed in tons of info, including a huge photo gallery, "Cup Talk," series analysis, injury reports, and more. Plus, the site also has past winners of the cup and the Conn Smythe MVP award, as well as a detailed look back at the 1996 and 1997 postseasons.

The true hockey aficionado will also want to check out these first-rate team pages, and even if you're team's not still in it, take a look back at how well they did this season:

* Boston Bruins: This official team site has bios of all the team's players, including photos and stats, a schedule, arena and ticket information, and more. The Fan Center contains polls, a chat room, and the team address. This site also has a nice multimedia section with action photos, audio and video, and a page devoted to the Bruins' efforts to help the community.

* Buffalo Sabres: The official site of Sabres' hockey contains plenty of playoff info as well as a chat room, ticket and merchandise sales, arena info, team news, links to other hockey sites, and a mailing list. The Fan Feedback page is worth a close look, as is the trivia-packed Games page. Don't miss the Quick Links section, which is packed with standings, stats, a roster, a schedule, and the history of Buffalo's uniform.

* Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche home page has a fantastic intro, but you need Shockwave Flash to enjoy it. This is a beautiful site, totally dedicated to the playoffs. Its features include results and previews, total playoff overviews. The current series is analyzed to the extreme, listing the playoff history between the two teams, the key players to watch, the regular season match-up results, and stats.

* Dallas Stars: Another official site with another great intro (remember to bring along that Shockwave Flash!). Team information includes Stars, press releases, "Player of the Month," team history and profiles of the team's minor league affiliates. During the playoffs, check out "The Game." It has a list of scheduled broadcasts in the Dallas area (most are available online) and complete game highlights, injury reports, and the prior game's three stars in "StarsNet." Their multimedia page is one of the best, featuring screen savers, online postcards, photos, movies, wallpaper, etc.

* Detroit Red Wings: The official Detroit site has pages on trivia, history, ticket information, a schedule, team news, and the "cybershop" merchandise section. Click on the playoff link for a scouting report on their current or future opponent, game day photos, a roster, playoff history, a message board, live audio broadcasts, a chat room, and more.

* Edmonton Oilers: While the Edmonton team has no official home page, Oil Slick Magazine (featured last month in the best fan sites column) has player profiles, team history and records, rosters, schedule, news and box scores. Looking for more? It also has links, team contact information, and even the latest player salaries and nicknames.

* Los Angeles Kings: Catch up with all the latest Kings news here at the Los Angeles Times. The site isn't great, but it does have news, scores, records, ticket info and links to other Kings pages.

* Montreal Canadiens: The official Montreal site is available in English and French. No matter which language you choose, you'll wind up seeing news, player and team info, game notes, stats, previews, multimedia, merchandise and more. You just might not realize it.

* New Jersey Devils: This team page is called "Ice on Fire," and it really is red hot. In addition to video highlights, game reports, season stats, team history, and a really cool Shockwave intro, the Devils official site had some very interesting information. The "Jumbotron" gives you the current game's score and stats, and gives you the option of listening in on the action. "Devils Advocates" sponsors a fan-of-the-month contest to go along with team contact information and behind the scenes info. "Devils Arcade" has trading cards, playable games, and more fun stuff for kids on the way.

* Ottawa Senators: The Senators official page has all sorts of information on the players, the club's history and the front office, plus news, ticket info, stats, a scoreboard, and a mailing list. Check out the multimedia "Scrapbook," the free downloads, the NHL Awards and Rules sections, the "Puckinology" hockey lingo dictionary, and the home page of the team mascot. Plenty of interactive stuff for fans of all ages, too.

* Philadelphia Flyers: The Philadelphia Online Flyers page is jam-packed with wire news, a team scoreboard, video clips, a team directory, results, a bulletin board ("Talk Show"), injury news, and NHL odds.

* Phoenix Coyotes: The Coyotes home page has news, game day info, a team schedule, ticket info, and lots more. The "Fan Forum" consists of wallpaper, a guestbook, fan mail, video clips, photos, a chat room, trading cards and more.

* Pittsburgh Penguins: The Pens home page doesn't bear much resemblance to the other team sites. The focus is less on news and stats, and instead turns to lists of books available on the team and a special page devoted to the career of Mario Lemieux. Fans searching for playoff news could be disappointed, but this really is a good page overall.

* St. Louis Blues: The team's official site has a chat room, game broadcasts, info on their minor league affiliates, a link to their stadium's Web site, and a great section for kids. Oh yeah, it's got some playoff news, too.

* San Jose Sharks: Let me put it this way. The Sharks team page pretty much has the same features as most of the other sites, including a chat room, news, a stats page, etc. What makes it different? Check out the "Sharks Diary" for the players' take on life on the road, and "The Science of Hockey." Plus, there's "The Game," which tells the story of hockey from its traditions to its rules to its trophies and more, as well as info on women's hockey, NHL logo history, and educational games for kids starring the team's mascot, S.J. Sharkie.

* Washington Capitals: This site has all the news a Capitals fan could want, plus schedules, stats, records, ticket info, and tons of photos. Also check out the live game broadcasts and video clips. While you're there, sign up for the team's official email newsletter.

If all of these sites don't quench your thirst for hockey, check out Yahoo for links to all of these pages and kazillions more.

Drop the puck. The gloves are off. It's hockey night on the Web!

Chuck Bednar is a contributing editor and sports columnist for The Canada Post, and his work appears in several online publications as well. Bednar welcomes comments from readers, as well as all assignments from résumés to press releases to articles. He can be reached at cbednar@reporters.net.