Hockey Hotline Faceoff.com is the site for fans of the sport in North America and abroad who want their voices heard

Islanders center Alexei Yashin (below) isn't the most popular
person in Ottawa. After refusing to honor his contract with the
Senators and holding out for the 1999-00 season, Yashin, who
returned to play last season, was traded to New York in June and
landed a 10-year, $87.5 million deal. Through Sunday the
Islanders had the best record in the Eastern Conference, and
Yashin was dating supermodel Carol Alt. Life isn't fair, but
Ottawans have a place to vent at faceoff.com, a website that
offers the user the opportunity to respond to every story found
on it and continue that dialogue with other users.

The Sound Off feature is only one reason this site is a must
bookmark. With a European editor stationed in Edmonton, the site
covers not only the NHL but also leagues in nine countries
outside North America. The foreign reportage zeroes in on former
or future NHLers. Last week, for instance, the link to the
Swedish leagues had a story on the four-goal performance of Red
Wings draft pick Henrik Zetterburg in Sweden's 5-2 victory over
Finland in a tournament. The site also provides high quality NCAA
and North American minor league coverage.

A user can follow all NHL matches on the Game On scoreboard or
stick with one game, for which stats and play-by-play are revised
every 30 seconds. The site posts a preview for every NHL
game--which a user can have delivered automatically to his desktop
via e-mail--and lists player injuries and salaries, thanks to Face
Off's 22 correspondents and 14 columnists from eight newspapers.
Says executive editor Tim Doyle, "We like the idea that fans come
to us for more than the game stories."

--John O'Keefe

COLOR PHOTO: LOU CAPOZZOLA