NHL ICE, the joint venture between IBM and the NHL,
located at http://www.nhl.com, has a variety of specials for
All-Star Weekend, including using real-time audio and still
video clips. Producer/GM Charlie Schmitt said plans are to
"present a very integrated approach" in providing All-Star
Friday Night and the game-oriented Saturday cybercast.
Friday night's cybercast includes a concert starring
Starship and Orleans. Saturday's audio game cybercast,
hosted by CBC's Greg Millen and WFAN's Samantha Ryan, will
include a pre-game and intermission reports and a post-game
show featuring live audio of press conferences. Schmitt:
"Our idea is to supplement TV, not supplant it." Browsers
can purchase All-Star merchandise and team merchandise
through "Hot Off the Ice," the official NHL Online Store, as
well as check team and league statistics, player interviews
and the opinions of contributors John Davidson (Fox) and the
CBC's Don Cherry and Greg Millen (THE DAILY).
LOOKING AHEAD: By next season, NHL.COM plans to
introduce NHL/IBM Real Time Scoring Systems, which will link
the site to every official game clock in the league,
providing up-to-the-minute statistics. Also in production
is IBM's NHL Digital Library, an electronic archive
featuring articles, photographs, audiotapes and videotapes
of games (NHL.COM).