NHL series
Encyclopedia
NHL is a series of professional ice hockey
simulation video games developed by EA Canada
and published yearly by Electronic Arts
under the EA Sports
brand. The game is developed under license from both the National Hockey League
(NHL), which enables the use of team names, stadiums, and team colors in the game, and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), which enables the use of player names and likenesses.
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: A Nordic expansion of NHL 2001 was published by EA Sports Nordica introducing Finland
's SM-Liiga
and Sweden
's Elitserien
. Germany
's Deutsche Eishockey Liga was introduced in 2004 and the two previous leagues made a return. The game has expanded to include the Czech Republic
's Tipsport Extraliga in "NHL 07" and in "NHL 10" the Swiss NLA. Before "NHL 07," users could only use European teams for Exhibition and Season modes. Now, users can bring a European team into Dynasty mode. NHL 08 saw the addition of American Hockey League
clubs, while NHL 11 saw the Canadian Hockey League
and all 60 clubs from the Western Hockey League
, Ontario Hockey League
and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
, along with the Memorial Cup
added into the game.
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. The addition of Female faces for players were added in NHL 12 after a long absence. 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 was 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. In "NHL 11" though, the logo and jersey appear. Create-a-Team is unavailable for the "NHL 07" Xbox 360
game, but returned in "NHL 08". A Shootout mode is introduced in "NHL 07," emulating 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.
was a feature in "NHL 2005", coinciding with said event featuring authentic rosters and uniforms. It has been relabeled as "EA Sports' World Tournament" from "NHL 06" onward with non-licensed jerseys due to the lack of the IIHF license. Rosters for international teams in "NHL 06" were based on the real rosters of the 2006 Winter Olympics
. NHL 10 did not feature the Olympic rosters
of the teams playing in the 2010 Winter Olympics upon release; a later roster update corrected many national teams.
This feature does not appear in the console versions, only the PC versions.
EA has also produced 3 on 3 NHL Arcade
and NHL Slapshot
using the NHL license.
As is traditional with EA Sports, the NHL series boxes
feature live action photos instead of drawings. As it lacked 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. On this cover, the main action photo features the New York Rangers
' Randy Moller
checking the Philadelphia Flyers
' Rod Brind'Amour
while Rangers goaltender Mike Richter
makes a save (in this photo there is the logo of the New York Rangers
located on the bottom right of the goaltender's pants). This photo 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 Sandstrom
(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 against Kirk McLean of the Vancouver Canucks. NHL 96 featured New Jersey
's Scott Stevens
and Detroit
's Steve Yzerman. More recently, Steven Stamkos has been announced to be on the cover of NHL 12. The last goalie on the cover of an NHL game (including the NHL 2K Series), was Marty Turco
, then of the Dallas Stars
, who appeared on the cover of 2K Sports
' NHL 2K6
. The last goalie on the cover of an EA Sports NHL game was John Vanbiesbrouck, then of the Florida Panthers
, who featured on NHL 97.
was introduced in "NHL 97". Jim Hughson
, currently 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. The last games in which he is one of the announcers are the PC and PS2 versions of NHL 09. Gary Thorne
provides the play-by-play commentary in all PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360
versions of the NHL series, starting in NHL 07. Color commentary
has been provided by Daryl Reaugh
(1998–99), Bill Clement (2000–01, and all Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions), Don Taylor
(2002–03), and Craig Simpson
(2004–09).
. Since then, each game has had soundtracks of licensed music known as EA Sports Trax
, with selections of punk
, alternative
, and rock music
.
:
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 take any penalties at all. However, in the original "NHL Hockey", Gretzky was able to fight more often.
's 1995 movie Mallrats
featured Jason Lee
as Brodie Bruce playing NHL All-Star Hockey for the Sega Saturn (in the DVD commentary, 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.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
simulation video games developed by EA Canada
EA Canada
EA Canada is a video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened in January 1983 and is EA's largest and oldest studio...
and published yearly by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
under the EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
brand. The game is developed under license from both the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL), which enables the use of team names, stadiums, and team colors in the game, and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), which enables the use of player names and likenesses.
Features
NHL 2005
NHL 2005, the successor to NHL 2004, is a hockey video game first released on September 14, 2004 in North America and September 24, 2004 in the PAL region.-Improvements/flaws:...
", letting gamers compete with each other by scoring goals on one goaltender
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
, 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: A Nordic expansion of NHL 2001 was published by EA Sports Nordica introducing Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
's SM-Liiga
SM-liiga
The SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. As of March 2008, it is ranked by the IIHF as the second strongest league in Europe. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's Elitserien
Elitserien
Elitserien, is a professional ice hockey league composed of twelve teams in Sweden...
. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's Deutsche Eishockey Liga was introduced in 2004 and the two previous leagues made a return. The game has expanded to include the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
's Tipsport Extraliga in "NHL 07" and in "NHL 10" the Swiss NLA. Before "NHL 07," users could only use European teams for Exhibition and Season modes. Now, users can bring a European team into Dynasty mode. NHL 08 saw the addition of American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
clubs, while NHL 11 saw the Canadian Hockey League
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canadian-based major junior ice hockey leagues for players 16 to 20 years of age. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey...
and all 60 clubs from the Western Hockey League
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada...
, Ontario Hockey League
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....
and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League...
, along with the Memorial Cup
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...
added into the game.
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
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a series of video games developed and published by Electronic Arts featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among other pros on the PGA Tour....
videogames. The addition of Female faces for players were added in NHL 12 after a long absence. 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
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97...
logo was not included due to the fact that the city of Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
owns the team's rights and has prohibited the team's inclusion in the game. In "NHL 11" though, the logo and jersey appear. Create-a-Team is unavailable for the "NHL 07" Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
game, but returned in "NHL 08". A Shootout mode is introduced in "NHL 07," emulating 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.
International play
The World Cup of HockeyWorld Cup of Hockey
The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the previous Canada Cup, which ran from 1976 to 1991...
was a feature in "NHL 2005", coinciding with said event featuring authentic rosters and uniforms. It has been relabeled as "EA Sports' World Tournament" from "NHL 06" onward with non-licensed jerseys due to the lack of the IIHF license. Rosters for international teams in "NHL 06" were based on the real rosters of the 2006 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics
-Leading scorers:-Leading goaltenders:Goalkeepers with 40% or more of their team's total minutes.-Awards:Antero Niittymäki was named the most valuable player and received the Directorate Award for best goaltender of the tournament. Directorate Awards also went to Teemu Selänne for best forward, and...
. NHL 10 did not feature the Olympic rosters
Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's team rosters
These are the team rosters of the nations participating in the men's ice hockey tournament of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Each team is permitted a roster of 20 skaters and 3 goaltenders....
of the teams playing in the 2010 Winter Olympics upon release; a later roster update corrected many national teams.
This feature does not appear in the console versions, only the PC versions.
Installments
| Title | Year | Platforms | Cover athletes, worldwide | Cover athletes, specific regions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHL Hockey NHL Hockey NHL Hockey is an ice hockey game by EA Sports. Released in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, it is the first game in the NHL Hockey series.-Features:... |
1991 | SMD | |||
| NHLPA Hockey '93 NHLPA Hockey '93 NHLPA Hockey '93 is a SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis ice hockey game released in December 1992.-Features:Included is a single-game exhibition mode and a playoff mode with the winner of the playoff mode collecting a trophy similar to the Stanley Cup.The game had an NHLPA license but not an NHL license... |
1992 | SMD, SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short... |
– | ||
| NHL '94 NHL '94 NHL '94 is an ice hockey game by EA Sports for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo and Sega CD, as well as the first release of the "NHL Hockey" series for PC/DOS, simply titled "NHL Hockey", without the "94" in the title. The game is officially licenced from the National Hockey League and... |
1993 | DOS DOS DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related... , SCD, SMD, SNES |
– | ||
| NHL 95 NHL 95 NHL 95 is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released on October 27, 1994.- Features :... |
1994 | DOS, GB Game Boy The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on... , GG, SMD, SNES |
– | ||
| NHL 96 NHL 96 NHL 96 is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released on October 26, 1995 and was the successor to NHL 95.- Features :Fighting is reintroduced in NHL 96, as are major and double minor penalties... |
1995 | DOS, GB, SMD, SNES | – | ||
| NHL 97 NHL 97 NHL 97 is a ice hockey video game by EA Sports. It was released on October 31, 1996 and was the successor to NHL 96.- Features :NHL 97 took the graphics even further ahead, using a full 3D engine, with motion captured polygonal players NHL 97 is a ice hockey video game by EA Sports. It was released... |
1996 | PS1, Sat Sega Saturn The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe... , SMD, SNES, Win Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal... |
John Vanbiesbrouck John Vanbiesbrouck John "Beezer" Vanbiesbrouck is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender, who was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. He played in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils... (Florida Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the... ) |
– | |
| NHL 98 | 1997 | PS1, Sat, SMD, SNES, Win | Peter Forsberg Peter Forsberg Peter Mattias "Foppa" Forsberg is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player and currently an assistant general manager of Modo Sports. Known for his on-ice vision and physical play, Forsberg is considered one of the most complete players of his generation... (Colorado Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise... ) |
– | |
| NHL 99 NHL 99 NHL 99 is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released on September 28, 1998 and was the successor to NHL 98. The game boasted great improvements to the game from NHL 98... |
1998 | N64 Nintendo 64 The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil... , PS1, Win |
Eric Lindros Eric Lindros Eric Bryan Lindros is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Lindros played junior hockey in the OHL for the Oshawa Generals prior to being selected first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques... (Philadelphia Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... ) |
– | |
| NHL 2000 NHL 2000 NHL 2000 is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released on August 31, 1999 and was the successor to NHL 99... |
1999 | GBC Game Boy Color The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than... , PS1, Win |
Chris Pronger Chris Pronger Christopher Robert Pronger is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and captain for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League . Originally selected 2nd overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Pronger has played for Hartford, the St... (St. Louis) |
Markus Näslund Markus Näslund Sten Markus Näslund is a Swedish ice hockey general manager for Modo Hockey and a retired professional winger. He played in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers, as well as in the Elitserien with Modo Hockey... (Vancouver) |
|
| NHL 2001 NHL 2001 NHL 2001 is a video game released by Electronic Arts on September 28, 2000. It is the successor to NHL 2000. Add-on Elitserien was released on March 8, 2001 that added Swedish and Finnish hockey league's and teams to the game.-Features:... |
2000 | PS1, PS2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... , Win |
Owen Nolan Owen Nolan Owen Liam Nolan is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, who is currently a free agent. He has played in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames and the Minnesota Wild before signing with... (San Jose San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League... ) |
Jere Lehtinen Jere Lehtinen Jere Kalervo Lehtinen is a former Finnish professional ice hockey forward. He played as a right wing. He was drafted 88th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Lehtinen handles defensive aspects of the game as well as offensive, hence he is a two-way forward for which... (Dallas Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The... ) |
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| NHL 2002 NHL 2002 - External links :* *... |
2001 | GBA Game Boy Advance The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China... , PS2, Win, Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... |
Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006... (Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original... ) |
– | |
| NHL 2003 NHL 2003 NHL 2003 is the eleventh edition of the popular EA Sports NHL series, a hockey video game, released on the successor to NHL 2002. Jarome Iginla appears as the cover athlete and spokesperson of the game. Iginla appears in the Behind The Scenes video to show the player how the game was... |
2002 | GCN Nintendo GameCube The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia... , PS2, Win, Xbox |
Jarome Iginla Jarome Iginla Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . A six-time NHL All-Star, he is the Flames' all-time leader in goals, points, and games played, and is second in assists to Al MacInnis... (Calgary Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the... ) |
– | |
| NHL 2004 NHL 2004 NHL 2004, developed by the EA Black Box studios, is an ice hockey video game. It is the successor to NHL 2003 and is widely considered to be a major turning point in the NHL series. The game adds 3 European Elite Leagues: Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga , Sweden's Elitserien , and Finland's... |
2003 | GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox | – | ||
| NHL 2005 NHL 2005 NHL 2005, the successor to NHL 2004, is a hockey video game first released on September 14, 2004 in North America and September 24, 2004 in the PAL region.-Improvements/flaws:... |
2004 | GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox | Markus Näslund (Vancouver) | Olli Jokinen Olli Jokinen Olli Jokinen is a Finnish professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . He was initially drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1997, third overall after Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. He was the captain of the Florida Panthers from 2003... (Florida) |
|
| NHL 06 NHL 06 -External links:**... |
2005 | GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox | Vincent Lecavalier Vincent Lecavalier Vincent Lecavalier is a Canadian professional hockey center and captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League .-Rimouski Océanic:... (Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the... ) |
Tuomo Ruutu Tuomo Ruutu Tuomo Iisakki Ruutu is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who plays for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League... (Chicago Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10... ) |
|
| NHL 07 NHL 07 NHL 07 is an ice hockey video game. It was released on September 12, 2006, the successor to NHL 06. The game improved the series' gameplay with more realistic features, such as stickhandling and a wider variety of controller schemes... |
2006 | PS2, PSP PlayStation Portable The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004... , Win, Xbox, X360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... |
Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League... (Washington Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup... ) |
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| NHL 08 NHL 08 -Soundtrack:-Easter Eggs:* Wells Greeno-McNeil is the name of a child for the Make-A-Wish Foundation whose wish was to have his name and likeness in a videogame.* The default created player names are of the game's developers.... |
2007 | PS2, PS3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , Win, X360 |
Eric Staal Eric Staal Eric Craig Staal is a Canadian ice hockey player and the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League... (Carolina Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center... ) |
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| NHL 09 NHL 09 NHL 09 is the 18th video game in the NHL series released by EA Sports. NHL 09 was first released in North America for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 10, 2008, and on September 25, 2008 Australia, and September 26, 2008 in Europe. It was released for Microsoft Windows on October 22, 2008... |
2008 | PS2, PS3, Win, X360, PC | Dion Phaneuf Dion Phaneuf Dion Phaneuf is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League... (Calgary Calgary Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies... ) |
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| NHL 10 NHL 10 NHL 10 is a video game in the NHL series developed and released by EA Canada and published by EA Sports, and is the 19th game in the series. The game debuted at Hockey Fest '09, a three-day interactive festival celebrating the sport of hockey and the Los Angeles Kings, which took place in downtown... |
2009 | PS3, X360 | Patrick Kane Patrick Kane Patrick Timothy Kane, Jr. is an American professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League . The Blackhawks selected him with the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.-Minor and junior:Kane attended the St... (Chicago) |
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| NHL 11 NHL 11 NHL 11 is an ice hockey video game celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the NHL series. The game was developed by EA Canada, published by EA Sports, and released in North America on September 7, 2010, with all other regions receiving the game within two weeks... |
2010 | PS3, X360 | Jonathan Toews Jonathan Toews Jonathan Bryan Toews is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who plays for and is captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League . He is currently the youngest captain in the NHL, having been appointed in 2008.... (Chicago) |
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| NHL 12 NHL 12 NHL 12 is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. The game was released between September 8–13, 2011, in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and North America. The game was featured in the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo . Steven Stamkos was announced as the... |
2011 | PS3, X360 | Steven Stamkos Steven Stamkos Steven Stamkos is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, an alternate captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League . Stamkos was the first overall pick in the 2006 OHL Entry Draft, from the Markham Waxers of the OMHA. Playing with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey... (Tampa Bay) |
- |
- as NHL Hockey
- Joe ThorntonJoe ThorntonJoseph Eric Thornton is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League . He was selected first overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, five as its Captain. During the...
was originally chosen, but EA switched to Dany HeatleyDany HeatleyDaniel James Heatley is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger, and alternate captain for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League . Originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the top NHL rookie in 2002...
after Thornton was accused of assaulting two police officers. Thornton's cover was never produced. After the 2003–04 season had begun, Heatley was involved in a car crash that killed teammate Dan SnyderDan SnyderDaniel Snyder was a professional Canadian ice hockey player. He played as a centre in the National Hockey League for the Atlanta Thrashers...
, prompting EA to switch covers to one featuring Joe SakicJoe SakicJoseph Steven "Joe" Sakic is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player and current hockey executive. He played his entire National Hockey League career with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. In his 20-year tenure, Sakic won the Stanley Cup twice, captured numerous NHL...
. - in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
; in
Denmark; in 
Finland; in 
Russia; in 
Sweden; in 
Switzerland
EA has also produced 3 on 3 NHL Arcade
3 on 3 NHL Arcade
3 on 3 NHL Arcade is an NHL-licensed arcade-style hockey sports game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, using the NHL 09 engine. The game was developed by NHL 09s EA Canada under the EA Sports Freestyle banner....
and NHL Slapshot
NHL Slapshot
-Features:Reference: * Peewee to Pros: Players are able to create their own 12-year-old hockey players or choose from a range of actual NHL players such as Wayne Gretzky, Alexander Ovechkin, Roberto Luongo, and Sidney Crosby...
using the NHL license.
Game covers
Computer and video game packaging
Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a computer or video game, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic...
feature live action photos instead of drawings. As it lacked 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. On this cover, the main action photo features the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
' Randy Moller
Randy Moller
Randall W. Moller is a retired professional ice hockey player. He was drafted in the first round, eleventh overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1981 NHL entry draft. The majority of his career was spent with the Quebec Nordiques...
checking the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
' Rod Brind'Amour
Rod Brind'Amour
Roderic Jean Brind'Amour is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes. He captained the Hurricanes to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship in...
while Rangers goaltender Mike Richter
Mike Richter
Michael Thomas Richter is a former ice hockey goaltender. One of the most successful American-born goaltenders in history, he is best known for having led the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup title in 1994 and for repeatedly representing the United States in international play. Due to his...
makes a save (in this photo there is the logo of the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
located on the bottom right of the goaltender's pants). This photo is surrounded by eight small portraits of players (Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman
Stephen Gregory "Steve" Yzerman is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League...
, Andy Moog
Andy Moog
Donald Andrew Moog is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently the goaltending coach for the NHL's Dallas Stars.Moog was previously the Dallas Stars' assistant coach...
, Pat LaFontaine
Pat LaFontaine
Patrick Michael LaFontaine is an American former ice hockey center in the National Hockey League who spent his entire career playing for the league's New York-based teams; LaFontaine skated for the New York Islanders from 1983 until 1991, the Buffalo Sabres from 1991 until 1997, and the New York...
, Brian Leetch
Brian Leetch
Brian Joseph Leetch is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played 18 National Hockey League seasons with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. He is generally considered one of the top defensemen in NHL history, being particularly noted for his...
, Ray Bourque
Ray Bourque
Raymond Jean "Ray" Bourque is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He currently holds records for most goals, assists and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League . Bourque has become near-synonymous with the Boston Bruins franchise, for which he played 21 seasons and...
, Patrick Roy
Patrick Roy
Patrick Edward Armand Roy is a former Canadian ice hockey goaltender. Nicknamed "Saint Patrick," Roy split his professional career between the Montreal Canadiens, whom he played with for 10 years, and the Colorado Avalanche, whom he played with for 8 years, both of the National Hockey League...
, Jeremy Roenick
Jeremy Roenick
Jeremy Shaffer "J.R." Roenick is a former American professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League . He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks over the course of his 18 NHL...
, and Rick Tocchet
Rick Tocchet
Richard Tocchet is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Phoenix Coyotes. He was most recently the head coach of the...
). This changed with NHL 94, which featured a goal situation for Tomas Sandstrom
Tomas Sandström
Tomas Sandström is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League from 1984 to 1999. He grew up in Fagersta, Sweden....
(LA Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
) against Andy Moog (Boston
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
). 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 against Kirk McLean of the Vancouver Canucks. NHL 96 featured New Jersey
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
's Scott Stevens
Scott Stevens
Ronald Scott Stevens is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman. Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, and the New Jersey Devils...
and Detroit
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
's Steve Yzerman. More recently, Steven Stamkos has been announced to be on the cover of NHL 12. The last goalie on the cover of an NHL game (including the NHL 2K Series), was Marty Turco
Marty Turco
Marty Turco is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He has played professionally with the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks. Because of his puckhandling prowess, Canadian hockey personality Don Cherry named Turco: "the smartest goalie in the...
, then of the Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
, who appeared on the cover of 2K Sports
2K Sports
2K Sports is a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. It comprises a single development studio, Visual Concepts, which was purchased from Sega in the year 2005. 2K Sports mainly develops and publishes American sports video games such as NBA 2K series...
' NHL 2K6
NHL 2K6
NHL 2K6 is an ice hockey simulation made by 2K Sports, and published on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features goaltender Marty Turco on the cover of games sold in the United States, and forward Mats Sundin on the cover of games sold in Canada.The game brings all the features...
. The last goalie on the cover of an EA Sports NHL game was John Vanbiesbrouck, then of the Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the...
, who featured on NHL 97.
Commentary
In NHLPA '93 and NHL '94, Emmy award-winning sportscaster Ron Barr gives a pre-game scouting report prior to each game. In the Genesis version of NHL 95, KNBR radio sportscaster John Shrader replaced Ron Barr in that duty. Live play-by-play commentarySports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
was introduced in "NHL 97". Jim Hughson
Jim Hughson
Jim Hughson is a Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of professional ice hockey and baseball.-Biography:...
, currently play-by-play man for CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
and also one of Canada's best-known hockey announcers, provided the play-by-play for much of the series. The last games in which he is one of the announcers are the PC and PS2 versions of NHL 09. Gary Thorne
Gary Thorne
Gary Thorne is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working Major League Baseball, College football and Frozen Four hockey contests. He is also the television play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles...
provides the play-by-play commentary in all PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
versions of the NHL series, starting in NHL 07. Color commentary
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
has been provided by Daryl Reaugh
Daryl Reaugh
Daryl "Razor" Reaugh , is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender, now a color commentator for the Dallas Stars of the NHL, the The NHL on Versus and Hockey Night in Canada.-Playing career:...
(1998–99), Bill Clement (2000–01, and all Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions), Don Taylor
Don Taylor (Canadian sportscaster)
Don Taylor is a Canadian television and radio sportscaster.He currently hosts Rogers Sportsnet Pacific's nightly sports news program Sportsnet Connected and also co-hosts the weekday afternoon radio show BMac and Taylor on The Team 1040.Taylor is known for his canned delivery of the nightly sports...
(2002–03), and Craig Simpson
Craig Simpson
Craig Andrew Simpson is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres...
(2004–09).
Soundtracks
"NHL '99" was the first game in the series to feature fully licensed music from David BowieDavid Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. Since then, each game has had soundtracks of licensed music known as EA Sports Trax
EA Trax
EA Trax is the title of the in-game soundtracks on some of EA Games' video games featuring up and coming artists, as well as mainstream artists. Music genres featured range from hip hop to rock, depending on the game's genre...
, with selections of punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, and rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
.
Swingers
The removal of fights in "NHL Hockey 94" was addressed in the 1996 movie SwingersSwingers (1996 film)
Swingers is a 1996 comedy-drama film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival...
:
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
Tie Domi
Tahir "Tie" Domi is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. During a sixteen-year NHL career when he was known for his role as an enforcer, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets....
, Bob Probert
Bob Probert
Robert Alan Probert was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. Probert played for the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks...
, Basil McRae
Basil McRae
Basil McRae played his major junior hockey with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey Association .In the 1980 NHL entry draft, the Quebec Nordiques drafted McRae in the 3rd round, 87th overall...
and Tony Twist
Tony Twist
Anthony Rory Twist is a former professional ice hockey player. He played left wing in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Quebec Nordiques, but was also a feared enforcer. He now is a co-host in post-game shows after Blues games on Fox Sports Midwest...
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 take any penalties at all. However, in the original "NHL Hockey", Gretzky was able to fight more often.
Mallrats
Kevin SmithKevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
's 1995 movie Mallrats
Mallrats
Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in Eden Prairie Center and Osowski's Flea Market which are located in Minnesota...
featured Jason Lee
Jason Lee (actor)
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...
as Brodie Bruce playing NHL All-Star Hockey for the Sega Saturn (in the DVD commentary, 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.