NHL series

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The National Hockey League (NHL) series, is a yearly (except 1992) EA Sports' hockey video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada since 1991.

Contents

[edit] Features

The NHL series has introduced brand-new features for years. The Free-4-All mini-game was introduced in "NHL 2005," letting gamers compete with each other by scoring goals on one goaltender, either in a certain time limit, or until someone scores a certain number of goals. With appropriate settings, defensemen can be incorporated into the game, making it more challenging.

The NHL is not the only league in more recent games: Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Sweden's Elitserien and Finland's SM-liiga were introduced in "NHL 2004," and the game has expanded to include the Czech Republic's Tipsport Extraliga in "NHL 07." The American Hockey League (AHL) made its franchise debut in "NHL 08." Before "NHL 07," users could only use European teams for Exhibition and Season modes. Now, users can bring a European team into Dynasty mode.

A revamped Create-a-Player feature is available after being taken out of "NHL 2005." Gone are the pre-modeled faces to choose from and in comes facial sculpting, inspired by that of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour videogames. Create-a-Team has remained the same. Players have the ability to recreate defunct or vintage teams, or start new ones with plenty of logos and jersey designs to choose from. The Hartford Whalers logo is not included due to the fact that the city of Hartford owns the team's rights and has prohibited the team's inclusion in the game. However, in "NHL 2001", there is a Hartford jersey selectable for Carolina in any modes. Create-a-Team is unavailable for the "NHL 07" Xbox 360 game. A Shootout mode is introduced in "NHL 07," simulating a true-to-NHL shootout. It is used to get Xbox 360 players familiarized with the game's new Skill Stick, as well as a means to practice shooting. Users have the ability to turn shootout rules on or off. Note: Shootout options in actual games will always be on.

The World Cup of Hockey was a feature in "NHL 2005", coinciding with said event featuring authentic rosters and uniforms. Infamously, it has been relabeled as EA Sports' World Tournament from "NHL 06" onward with fantasy jerseys, which were modified by substituting the team logos with flags and randomizing the jersey designs because of the lack of the IIHF license. Rosters in "NHL 06" were based on the Olympic rosters of the year.

[edit] Installments

[edit] "NHL Hockey" (1991)

NHL Hockey.
NHL Hockey.

The first version of the game, titled "NHL Hockey," was released in August of 1991 for the Sega Genesis. It was considered the most realistic hockey game of its time. The game used a vertical view, which was unique at the time since most previous hockey games used a horizontal or top-down view. It also features a National Hockey League license, so all of the team names and logos are used. However, lack of a license from the National Hockey League Players' Association NHLPA resulted in all players being referred to by their numbers rather than names. The Mega Drive version was released soon after, titled "EA Hockey" and featured international teams. However, this change is merely cosmetic, as most team colors could be tracked to NHL teams. Although the game has all of the NHL teams that existed at the time, the only competition present is the Playoffs, either decided in one or seven matches.

[edit] "NHLPA Hockey '93"

NHLPA Hockey 93
NHLPA Hockey 93

The next release, "NHLPA Hockey '93", had an NHLPA license but not an NHL license. So, the game included all player names and numbers but not real team names or logos. Instead, teams were identified by their city and colors. This means that the New York Islanders were referred to as "Long Island," even though the official name designated the team as such. Also introduced were Tampa Bay and Ottawa to the 22 teams of "NHL Hockey". The Genesis version also included EEPROM battery saving, which allowed one to save lines and the ongoing Playoff, rather than use passwords.

The game also started a dispute between EA and the ice-hockey ruling. In the game, injured players often bleed, misaimed shots can break the glass behind the net, and the instruction manual makes references to injuring opposing key players, stating "Player injuries — it's a part of the game. Knock key opposing players out of the game with an extra hard body check."

A glitch in the game, which makes scoring extraordinarily easy, is found when one wraps around the right side of the near-side net. The goalie will never switch sides, allowing for a quick put in every time.

[edit] "NHL 94"

Neither the NHL nor the NHLPA approved these additions to the game, and thus fighting and blood were removed in the next version, NHL Hockey 94, since they are considered harmful to the sport's image[citation needed]. Single period and entire game player injuries remained. This could be seen as the motivator for EA's creation of Mutant League Hockey, with its emphasis on fighting, blood, and miscellaneous bad sportsmanship. NHL '94 is included as #47 on IGN's Top 100 Games of All-Time and is named All-Time Greatest Sports Video Game by Boston.com and various gaming forums.

Rom images of NHL '94 are hacked (see Rom Hacking) by many enthusiasts so that rosters, logos, rules, and other aspects of the game can be changed while the gameplay of the game is retained. There are online communities where hacks are shared and discussed and online leagues are organized.

One revolutionary gaming addition to the EA hockey video game franchise was the introduction of the "one-timer," a pass from one player to another where the puck is shot all in one smooth motion, without stopping it first.

[edit] NHL Hockey

NHL Hockey has NHL and NHLPA licences, so player names and team logos are in use.
NHL Hockey has NHL and NHLPA licences, so player names and team logos are in use.

NHL Hockey for PC has NHLPA and NHL license with complete 84-game season and playoffs plus full NHL awards. It has 24 actual teams, their colors and logos. There are 28 players on a team and a player has 15 different skills like speed, aggressiveness and shot power. Season schedule can be random or 1992-93 NHL season. The game also has 1992-93 season and playoff stats for every team and player.[1]

[edit] NHL 95

NHL 95 introduced many new elements to the series. For the first time, a complete season can be played, and players can be created, traded, signed, and released. Gameplay also has improvements with the inclusion of fake shots, drop passes and lying on the ice to block shots. Despite all the additions, it features several software bugs, particularly in the SNES version; which result in unrealistic bloated games (20-goal shootouts are not uncommon). The PC version of NHL 95 retains the gameplay similar to NHL 94 on the console, while allowing for complete seasons and created players. This year's cover features the New York Rangers' Alexei Kovalev scoring on Vancouver Canucks' Kirk McLean during the '94 Finals. One major glitch in the Genesis version is that Steve Larmer always wins the Frank J. Selke Trophy at the year end awards. Oddly enough, Larmer never won the trophy in any season of his 15 year NHL career. Another and more serious glitch with the Genesis version was the player's ability to sweep across the front of the net from post to post and be able to backhand the puck in with ease--a move that was virtually un-defendable. This move was commonly referred to as the "joeboy" move, or a "drive-by", and was usually outlawed in serious contests. While this move was outlawed in most circles, an NHL '95 group known as "The Bubble" coined this move as "walking the dog" and actually encourage this move durning gameplay. They discovered that "walking the dog" could actually be defended by using manual goalie which sets up the fake walk spin back for the ultimate chess battle goal. In 2004, Jakks Pacific released a TV Game with both NHL 95 and Madden 95 in it.

[edit] NHL 96

Fighting is reintroduced in NHL 96, as are major and double minor penalties. The PC version is the first game in the series to have multiple cameras, using EA's Virtual Stadium technology, which uses 2D sprites on a 3D environment. The cover of the game features Steve Yzerman and Scott Stevens, and Get Ready For This by 2 Unlimited is used as the game's main theme. The game includes the Quebec Nordiques, even though the team had moved and become the Colorado Avalanche before the start of the 1995-96 season. NHL 96 was the last game in the series that included two players on the cover. Since 1997, the games' covers have single players.

[edit] NHL 97

NHL 97 took the graphics even further ahead, using a full 3D engine, with motion captured polygonal players. Each goaltender has his own custom-painted mask and the original artwork can be seen inside the game with a special "Goalie Mask Viewer". NHL 97 also introduces play-by-play commentary, provided by well-known announcer Jim Hughson. For the first time since EA Hockey, national teams were added, but only Canada, the United States, and Russia have their own teams while the other two are selections of the best European players. 97 introduced a skills competition, allowing the user to pick players to compete in drills such as hardest shot, goalie 2 on 0, and accuracy shooting, among others. In addition, each team in the game had one player with a special skill. Examples are Joe Sakic's (Colorado Avalanche) "wrong-footed wrist shot" and Rob Ray's (Buffalo Sabres) ability to check an opposing player while still controlling the puck. A major flaw in the game was the glitch that allowed players to score 100% of the time when shooting down by taking a shot against the boards at the hash marks of the left circle in the bottom zone. Along with the PC, Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES versions, both the Sega Saturn and PlayStation version made their debut, although they were rushed and buggy. For instance, the shot speed in the Playstation and Saturn versions was so slow that some skaters could beat a slapshot down the ice. The cover of the game features Florida Panthers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck.

[edit] NHL 98

NHL 98 took the series ahead by introducing full national teams, although EA could not get the Nagano Olympic Tournament license due to lack of IIHF license, which Gremlin Interactive acquired. The Olympic hockey license itself was acquired by Midway Home Entertainment. Jim Hughson returns for play-by-play, this time joined by Daryl Reaugh who provided color commentary. EA Sports also introduces 3Dfx Glide support for the first time in the NHL series. The cover of the game features Colorado Avalanche forward Peter Forsberg.

[edit] Versions between NHL 99 and NHL 2001

Between NHL 99 and NHL 2001 there were very few large 'improvements' to the game, though some would call them regressions. NHL 99 for the Playstation boasted higher-resolution graphics than NHL 98, but the framerate and unresponsive controls (especially in 2+ player modes) hindered its playability. A career mode (later developed into a Franchise mode) with a retirement feature, drafting, and player trades were added to the game. Furthermore, created players can use any photo for their face which is textured onto the head. Online leagues of the game also became more organized. Daryl Reaugh left the series as color commentator following NHL 99. Jim Hughson remained as play-by-play announcer throughout the series, with Bill Clement joining as an analyst for NHL 2000. In the Nintendo 64 version of NHL 99, based on the console version of NHL 98 (old-style goalie crease and all), Clement is the only one providing commentary.

[edit] NHL 2002

Bill Clement is replaced by Don Taylor for NHL 2002. Taylor's quirky and often slapstick commentary style drew mixed reception from fans of the game. The game's cover man is Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Mario Lemieux.

After September 11, 2001, a patch was created that changed the image shown on the loading screen before New York Rangers games. Originally, it had been the World Trade Center. It was changed to the Statue of Liberty.

This was also the only NHL series title to hit the Game Boy Advance, developed by Budcat Creations.[2]

[edit] NHL 2003

NHL 2003 was deemed as 'revolutionary' at the time, featuring detailed and clean-cut graphics that were an improvement over those of NHL 2002. It was known for out-of-control scoring and unrealistic gameplay, with regards to hitting and shooting. Jim Hughson and Don Taylor return as commentators. EA Trax is also introduced, as was the case with the rest of EA Sports' titles at the time. Calgary Flames forward Jarome Iginla is the game's cover man.

This game also had its own "taunt" feature where at the end of each goal you got to choose choose a special taunt by either pressing "Triangle," "Circle," "Square," or "X." Knowing that these taunts existed you also got to unlock and assign the ones you wanted. Though that was not the only feature it had, you also had the option to unlock cards and once you collected a certain barrage of cards you could unlock players, teams, or even taunts. It even had a slow down feature for "PS2" of which really helped the game look a bit more fun, though it was still unrealistic due to its outrageous scoring and its unrealistic gameplay. (All of the above paragraph is in reference to the PS2 version of NHL 2003.)

[edit] NHL 2004

"NHL 2004", developed by the EA Black Box studios, add 3 European Elite Leagues - Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Sweden's Elitserien and Finland's SM-liiga. (This is not the first time that European teams are included in an EA game; EA released both Elitserien 95 and Elitserien 96 for the Mega Drive in Sweden only and Elitserien and SM-liiga 2001 as an expansion pack for PC in Sweden and Finland which included those teams). In addition, a "MyNHL" option was introduced for creating brand new NHL teams and players from scratch.

The game included many improvements to its gameplay (more realistic puck and rebound control and better checking) and game modes (a completely reworked franchise mode renamed "Dynasty"). In addition to the gameplay improvements, one particular non-gameplay improvement was added. When a team wins the Stanley Cup Finals, a large-scale celebration ensues. It included players skating around the ice holding the Cup over their heads. This then led to the common snapshot of the team and the coaches that holds true in the NHL. A "secret" song (Shatterday by Vendetta Red) plays while the animation shows the stats of the players in the picture, ending with the captain. Because of these additions, it was praised as one of the best games in the series to date.[citation needed] The Dynasty Mode, regarded by many gamers, still has its flaws - trades were very difficult to accept, and only allows the player to manage the team at the maximum of 20 seasons. Commentary was also repetitive and the game play always felt slow.

Another new feature of NHL 2004 was allowing the player to select when to fight, where previously it had been a somewhat random occurrence. When two players' names flashed onto the bottom of the screen, accompanied by the word "Fight!" and a bell sounding, the person playing the game could push a button to begin a fight, or hold off until a later time. Furthermore, goaltenders were able to fight (however, goalie fights are completely random, as the names of other players are shown at the bottom of the screen; also, goalies are not thrown out of a game for fighting; in real life, goaltenders who fight are given both a major for fighting and a minor for leaving the crease, resulting in game misconducts for both combatants. The game however contained a glitch. On breakaway plays a player can maneuver the deke analog stick for an automatic goal. By the time EA Sports heard news of the glitch hundreds of thousands of units had been shipped around the world.

Though not very noticeable at times, NHL 2004 included all new graphics. For those playing the game for the PC, the "template" for creating new jerseys, masks, gloves, pants, players faces, basically everything you can edit were all changed. Now, in 2007, these templates are still used, all of which can be found in the download section of www.nhldepot.net

Picking a cover athlete for NHL 2004 proved to be problematic. Joe Thornton was the original choice but after he was brought up on assault charges, he was removed and replaced by Dany Heatley for the game's first shipments. After Heatley's car crash that killed his Atlanta Thrashers team-mate, Dan Snyder, EA removed him and replaced the cover with Joe Sakic but not before a large number of units had already been shipped. As a result, both covers (Heatley and Sakic) made it into circulation.

[edit] NHL 2005

NHL 2005 features Open Ice Control, which according to EA allows better control, including moving players without the puck and also a complete World Cup mode where each team can be created from scratch. For the first time, the user was allowed to import digitized home arenas for the scratchbuilt teams (the 30 NHL arenas plus Nuremberg Arena, Kölnarena, Stockholm Globe Arena, Helsinki Hartwall Areena and Prague Sazka Arena were available). Additional NHL jerseys and logos were also available including those of the defunct Atlanta Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Colorado Rockies (NHL), Quebec Nordiques as well as the old style Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals and Vancouver Canucks uniforms of the 1970s and 80s.

The IIHF license which granted the World Cup mode also allowed EA to use real-life international jerseys for the first and only time (previously released games used unique jerseys designed by the game's staff which only bore a passing similarity to their real life counterparts, so the jersey shows their flag.) The PC version of the game was stripped down to the bare essentials, including the omitting of the create-a-player feature. These omissions were possibly due to the labour dispute that season, but EA explained that they hadn't perfected the new create-a-player interface, which would have allowed for far greater customizability that what was previously available. The game also suffered from overly-aggressive AI and was generally seen negatively.[citation needed] It is also the only EA's NHL PC game that lacked the possibility to view league wide statistics when playing in season mode. Vancouver Canucks captain Markus Näslund was featured on the cover except in Finland where Olli Jokinen was on the cover.

[edit] NHL 06

NHL 06 was released in September 2005 with a North America-wide TV campaign proclaiming, "Hockey's Back!" The game features a slight graphics improvement and the return of the Create-A-Player feature, which was notably absent from NHL 2005. The complete redesign of this feature was based on EA Sports' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 and subsequent installments, allowing for much more complex changes in a player's appearance than simply eye or hair color.

The game also includes HC Davos from Switzerland to go along with the European elite leagues. Due to the lack of the IIHF license, the game does not include real team jerseys for national teams or the World Cup of Hockey. Instead, the World Cup of Hockey is now known as the "EA Sports World Tournament". This also means that the national team jerseys were modified by substituting the team logos with flags and randomizing jersey designs. However, there are 2 backgrounds in the menus showing a bench with Canada in their real jerseys and a goaltender in the real Finland jersey, even though the USA logo is still visible on the USA helmets.

The developers of the game placed a surprise in the PlayStation 2 version; playing NHL 94 is an option, and it appears the same as it did when it was originally released, including the appearance of the since-relocated Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques.[3]. The Hartford Whalers, however, were not included, and in their place were the "Hartford Canes". The city of Hartford owns the rights to the Whalers' name, logo and jersey, and did not allow their use in the game.

NHL 06 came under heavy criticism for once again featuring too many "scoring fests". This time as a result of the defensive AI in the game being very passive and the goalie AI poor. Tampa Bay Lightning forward Vincent Lecavalier is featured on the cover in North America, and in Nordic countries Chicago Blackhawks Finnish forward Tuomo Ruutu.

[edit] NHL 07

NHL 07 was released on September 12, 2006[4]. The game features a newly designed control setup in some versions, eliminating the need to use the face buttons. The new Skill Stick Revolution feature produces different types of shots and dekes. This was a major selling point of the game and one of the biggest redesigns of the series. Unlike previous entries, NHL 07 allowed the player to use the analog stick to stickhandle and deke by moving the stick side to side. Special movements of the stick can make the player do a creative deke. The use of the stick and triggers on the console versions eliminated the need to use the face buttons; however a classic setup can be used so that the player can still use the face buttons and skill stick at the same time if so preferred.

NHL 07 features 4 European leagues - Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Sweden's Elitserien, Finland's SM-liiga, and the Czech Republic's Tipsport Extraliga.

Commentary is provided by Gary Thorne and Bill Clement for the Xbox 360 version of the game, however, Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson return for the current generation and PSP versions. NHL 07 for the Xbox 360 features analog stick control and a brand new physics system which eliminates the magnetic type possession of the puck which have been used in past NHL games. The Xbox 360 Demo was released through the Xbox Live Marketplace on September 7, 2006. The demo features a shootout between the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes. The settings allow the NHL shootout rules to be turned off, to allow the player the ability to easily learn the new control scheme. Washington Capitals' forward and 2006 Calder Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin is featured on the cover.

[edit] NHL 08

NHL 08
Image:NHL 08 Coverart.png
Eric Staal– NHL 08 cover main
Developer(s) EA Canada (PS3, Xbox 360)
HB Studios (PS2, PC)
Publisher(s) EA Sports
Platform(s) PS3
Xbox 360
PS2
PC
Release date USA September 12, 2007 (moved from Sept 11 to 12 due to shipping problems)
AUS September 20, 2007
EUR September 21, 2007
Genre(s) Sports - Ice Hockey Sim
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer, multiplayer online
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone 10+ (E10+)
PEGI: 16+
Media DVD, Blu-ray Disc
Input methods Game controller, Keyboard

NHL 08 was released on September 11, 2007 September 12, and September 13 in North America. In the most recent year's update to the series, NHL 08 features the Skill Stick System which EA says will allow gamers to more easily control the puck.[5] There is also a way to release the puck and control your player around the defender then retrieve the puck to perform impressive dekes.

NHL 08 also includes "Goalie Mode", where users can control their goalie with a new 3rd person camera. Another new feature is the ability to create custom plays, where you can take a team into practice mode and work on creating a custom play.

New communication occurs through the controller rumble feature allowing users to communicate with a teammate in multiplayer games. Users can call for the puck by tapping the ice with their stick just like the pros.

With the NHL going to the Rbk Edge jerseys, with new color patterns, striping and even new logos for some teams, for the 2007/08 NHL season, EA Sports has reported that all 30 teams new jerseys will be on the game. A code to unlock the new RBK Edge jerseys was posted on the RBK Hockey website. This code can be entered in the "RBK Edge" tab under the "My NHL08" menu. It was released before all the jerseys were released and then taken off the Reebok site leading some to believe that Reebok intentionally leaked the code to give everyone a look. The code is "h3oyxpwksf8ibcgt".

A Dynasty Mode allows users to create a dream team and play through to the Stanley Cup, however there is no fantasy draft on the current generation version of the game (360, PS3), only on the PC and PS2 versions.

The game's customization features have been revamped, especially the Create-A-Team feature. The Create-A-Team feature has a color picker similar to the one used in 2K Sports's All-Pro Football 2K8.

For the first time ever, the game features the 29 teams of the American Hockey League.[6] Players will be able to develop talent through the AHL, and then call up their prospects to play in the NHL. Every AHL team is fully playable. [7]

Sweden's Elitserien and Finland's SM-liiga are included on the Xbox 360 and PS3, whereas NHL 07 didn't have any European leagues. However, the DEL and Extraliga are only to be found on the PC and PS2 versions.

Patrik Elias dekes around Joni Pitkänen in NHL 08.
Patrik Elias dekes around Joni Pitkänen in NHL 08.

-->Next generation features include the creation of custom plays, on the fly AI, a new skating engine, goalie mode and 3 on 3 (a normal 5 on 5 game, but up to 3 people on each team can control the players) online team play.

Commentary is once again provided by Gary Thorne and Bill Clement for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the game, however, Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson return for the sixth generation versions.

The demo of NHL 08 was released on August 30, 2007. It should be known that the demo does not include the Ottawa Senators or Anaheim Ducks new jerseys, as it uses their jerseys from the 2006-2007 season. The demo features the 3rd period of a 5 on 5 game between the Anaheim Ducks against the Ottawa Senators, if tied it will go to a shootout. It should be known that all teams in 2007-08 sport new jerseys. Also the default created player names are last names of game developers who made NHL 08.

The game won Gamespot's "Best Sports Game of 2007" award.

 Reviews
Publication Score
GameSpot 8.5/10[8]
IGN 8.9/10[9]
Games for Windows 5/10[10]

[edit] NHL 09

NHL 09 will feature Be a Pro as one of its new gameplay modes[11]. Similar to the mode in FIFA 08, users will be able to create a skater or goalie, and bring him up through the minor leagues and into the NHL. A performance tracker will grade your progress in over 50 categories, and will award you points that can be used to improve the attributes of your player[12]. New control features have been added, such as the ability to perform one-handed dekes, as well as an assigned button to lift your opponents stick to prevent one-timers. The official trailer for the game was released June 6th, 2008 on GameSpot.[13] The Calgary Sun confirmed on June 8, 2008 that Calgary Flames Defender Dion Phaneuf will be featured on the cover of NHL 09, to coincide with new defensive plays and more bone jarring checks.[14] In other countries, NHL 09 will feature other stars on the cover. Daniel Alfredsson will appear on the Swedish version cover and Alexander Ovechkin will be on the Russian cover.[15]. It is scheduled to be released September 9th.

[edit] Game covers

NHL 95 cover for the Sega Megadrive.
NHL 95 cover for the Sega Megadrive.

As is traditional with EA Sports, the NHL series boxes feature live action photos instead of drawings. As it lacks the NHLPA license, the early titles staged photos without real players. NHLPA Hockey 93, on the other hand, had the rights to use player images, but not of the teams. In this cover, the staged photo (in this photo there is the logo of the New York Rangers located on the bottom right of the goaltender's pants.) is surrounded by eight small portraits of players (Steve Yzerman, Andy Moog, Pat LaFontaine, Brian Leetch, Ray Bourque, Patrick Roy, Jeremy Roenick, and Rick Tocchet). This changed with NHL 94, which featured a goal situation for Tomas Sandström (LA Kings) against Andy Moog (Boston). NHL 95 featured an in-goal camera during a goal scored by Alexei Kovalev of the New York Rangers during the '94 Stanley Cup Finals. NHL 96 featured New Jersey's Scott Stevens and Detroit's Steve Yzerman.

Since NHL 97, each cover features only one player. The following table gives the players and their teams.

Year Player (US/Canada Edition) Player (Europe Edition)
1994 Tomas Sandström (Los Angeles), Andy Moog (Boston) -
1995 Alexei Kovalev (New York Rangers), Kirk McLean (Vancouver) -
1996 Scott Stevens (New Jersey), Steve Yzerman (Detroit) -
1997 John Vanbiesbrouck (Florida) -
1998 Peter Forsberg (Colorado) -
1999 Eric Lindros (Philadelphia) -
2000 Chris Pronger (St. Louis) Markus Näslund (Vancouver) in Nordic countries
2001 Owen Nolan (San Jose) Jere Lehtinen (Dallas) in Nordic countries
2002 Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) -
2003 Jarome Iginla (Calgary) Saku Koivu (Montreal) in Finland, Patrik Elias (New Jersey) in Czech Republic
2004 Dany Heatley (Atlanta) and Joe Sakic (Colorado) -
2005 Markus Näslund (Vancouver) Olli Jokinen (Florida) in Finland
2006 Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay) Tuomo Ruutu (Chicago) in Finland
2007 Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) in Sweden, Teemu Selänne (Anaheim) in Finland
2008 Eric Staal (Carolina) Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit) in Sweden, Teemu Selänne (Anaheim) in Finland, Jaromír Jágr (New York Rangers) in the Czech Republic, Mark Streit (Montreal) in Switzerland)
2009 Dion Phaneuf (Calgary) Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) in Russia, Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa) in Sweeden

[edit] Commentary

Live play-by-play commentary was introduced in "NHL 97". Jim Hughson, current play-by-play man for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada and also one of Canada's best-known hockey announcers, provided the play-by-play for much of the series, excluding the Xbox 360 version of "NHL 07" and the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of "NHL 08"; which is provided by Gary Thorne. Color commentary is provided by Daryl Reaugh (98-99), Bill Clement (2000, 2001, 2007, 08 [Xbox 360]), Don Taylor (2002-03), and Craig Simpson (2004-08).

[edit] Soundtracks

"NHL 2000" was the first game in the series to feature fully-licensed music from known rock bands, such as Garbage, Uberzone and Gearwhore. Later versions feature names like Deftones, Sum 41, Enter Shikari, Ash, The Tea Party, Franz Ferdinand, Billy Talent, Fall Out Boy, NOFX, Mobile, Collective Soul, Anti-Flag, Brand New,Barenaked Ladies, Protest the Hero, The Ataris, Autopilot Off, Gob, Jimmy Eat World, Jupiter One, Avenged Sevenfold, Queens of the Stone Age, Dragonforce, and Finger Eleven. The in-game soundtrack has been titled EA Sports Trax since 2002.

[edit] NHL Series in Popular Culture

[edit] "Swingers"

The removal of fights in "NHL Hockey 94" was addressed in the 1996 movie Swingers:

Trent: I wish they still had fights in this game, so I could bitch slap Wayne.
Mike: What! They don't have fighting anymore?
Trent: Doesn't that suck?
Mike: Why'd they get rid of the fighting? It was the best part of the old version.
Sue: I think kids were hittin' each other or somethin', man.
Trent: Yeah, but you know what, Mike? You can make their heads bleed in this one.
Mike: Make somebody's head bleed...
Sue: No man, we're in the playoffs.
Trent: I'm gonna make Wayne Gretzky's head bleed for super-fan #99 over here.

However, this is not completely accurate, as bleeding players were also removed. They also were playing "NHLPA Hockey '93", which had blood and fighting; but the fighting was strategic and players like Gretzky would rarely, if at all, have fought. This was due to his low fighter and aggressiveness ratings; while higher profile enforcers such as Tie Domi, Bob Probert, Basil McRae and Tony Twist had very high ratings of each, making each more likely to be called for penalties including fighting, others such as Gretzky had low ratings of both, making the latter not only less likely to fight, but also less likely to draw any penalties at all. However, in the original "NHL Hockey", Gretzky was able to fight more often.

[edit] "Mallrats"

Kevin Smith's 1995 movie Mallrats featured Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce playing "NHL All-Star Hockey" for the Sega Saturn (Though on the extras, Kevin Smith admitted to loving the NHL series but having to use Sega's game for sponsor reasons.) However, the sound effects used were from EA Sports' NHL series.

[ Game audience cheering ]

Rene: What the hell are you doing?

Brodie: Finishing my game...

Rene: No, no, no! You promised me breakfast.

Brodie: Breakfast? Breakfast, schmrekfest. Look at the score. I'm only in the middle of the second, and I'm winning 12 to 2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene. Now, Hartford, the whale? Hey, they only beat Vancouver once...maybe twice in a lifetime.

[edit] "Chasing Amy"

Kevin Smith's 1997 movie Chasing Amy featured Banky and Holden playing one version of "NHL Hockey".

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Scott A. May: NHL Hockey, COMPUTE! ISSUE 165 / June 1994, p. 116
  2. ^ Metacritic: NHL 2002 GBA.
  3. ^ NHL 06 Hands-On - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot
  4. ^ NHL 07 for Xbox 360 - NHL 07 Xbox360 Game - NHL 07 Xbox 360 Video Game
  5. ^ GameSpot's NHL 08 First Look
  6. ^ AHL featured in EA's NHL 08
  7. ^ EA SPORTS NHL08 Features Page
  8. ^ NHL 08 for Xbox 360 Review. Gamespot. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  9. ^ NHL 08 Review. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  10. ^ Goble, Gord (October 2007). "NHL 08: Skill-Stick, Same Old Shtick". Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (11): 69. Ziff Davis Media. 
  11. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/nhl09/news.html?sid=6192147&tag=topslot%3Btitle%3B2&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot&page=1
  12. ^ http://www.operationsports.com/pressview.php?id=45
  13. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/nhl09/media.html?tag=tabs;videos
  14. ^ http://calsun.canoe.ca/Showbiz/2008/06/08/5811016-sun.html
  15. ^ The Canadian Press (2008-06-09). FLAMES' PHANEUF TO GRACE THE COVER OF 'NHL 09'. TSN.ca. Retrieved on 2008-06-10.

[edit] External links

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