Rambling About Hockey Video Games
by Megalodon on Sep 7, 2010 12:00 AM PDT
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It's been a long 10 years.
(Warning: this post will basically be me complaining about how I suck at modern NHL video games and how much fun I had with one ten years ago. If you have anything more important to do, like alphabetizing your book collection or checking the batteries in your smoke detectors or performing the job for which you are paid*, then you should probably do that instead.)
NHL 11 comes out today. The demo has been available for a few weeks, and that was reviewed in detail on From the Rink. I'm going back and forth on this damn game, and I don't know if I should get it or not.
I've played the demo a couple of times and to me it's frustrating and boring. I can't do anything on the ice, and I know that it's just because of the learning curve and that if I put in the effort to actually practice the millions of different things you can do it would probably be awesome, but I just don't seem to care enough to do that.
The biggest new features this time are the revamped physics engine (cool I guess), more detailed face-off strategy (okay sure why not) and sticks that sometimes break (oh at last my prayers have been answered!).
Why does everyone skate so damn slow in these games now? I hate it. I guess that's "realism" or something, but in my opinion it's painfully boring. I guess if I buy the game the first thing I do will be to go in to the settings and turn up the speed.
Man, remember the "speed boost" button they used to have in these games? That was the best.
The last NHL game I purchased was NHL 09. The career mode was pretty cool, but I wasn't engaged enough to finish a whole season. Then I stopped playing for a while and wanted to get back in to everything with a fantasy-draft season, and I found that option wasn't in the game. What the hell?
Before '09 I think I had '04 or '05 or something (whichever one had Dany Heatley in his Thrashers jersey on it). But before THAT I had my favorite version ever: NHL 2001.
NHL 2001 had Owen Nolan on the cover. It came out the season after Nolan scored 44 goals and so he was ridiculously over-powered in the game. I played through several seasons of a dynasty with the top-line of Owen Nolan, Vincent Damphousse, and Jeff Friesen. I turned the line changes off and proceeded to score about 20 goals a game with the same two moves - either a one-timer with two players rushing up the ice or a wrap-around from behind the net. I think if I did this now I would get really bored with how easy it was, but at the time I loved the hell out of it.
One of the best things about NHL 2001 for me was that I had the PC version. Now PC sports games can be a mixed bag, but this one was an absolute gold mine. It had all these extra built-in options - most notably the abilities to import your own logos from image files and to customize all of the in-game music with your own music files.
I had an awesome time with the custom teams, drawing my own logos in MS Paint and making my dream team (which was basically the Sharks with Hasek in net) and a team of the dudes I hated (with Roy in net and Forsberg on the top line). I forget what I called my dream team but the bad guys were called the Goats and their logo was a shitty goat face I drew in paint and they wore pink jerseys. They sure did look like fools out there.
Custom music in sports game is one of the best things ever. I loved hearing my favorite songs play for goals or penalties or fights. I went nuts with this feature - I remember buying a "Jock Jams" CD just so I could have the right songs, then editing the files so only the perfect 15 seconds of the song would play**. Do any modern games have this anymore?
If I can't hear this song when I elbow a guy in the head, then why even do it?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that NHL 2001 was the shit and since then I've never really gotten invested in a hockey game. Am I crazy? Is it totally worth it once you get past the learning curve? That Ultimate Team mode in '11 does seem like something I would really like...
Basically my problem with hockey games, and sports games in general, is this: if they're too easy I get bored, but if they're too hard I tend to find something else to do rather than get better at them. This only seems to happen with sports games - I can lose or die in another type of game a hundred times and it doesn't bother me if I feel like I'm getting better each time, but with sports games if I lose two games in a row I check-out and start playing something else.
I need help, people. Please share your advice, your opinions about NHL 2011, or your remembrances about the good old days in the comments.
* = okay, let's not go nuts. I know this isn't going to happen.
** = These days I try to channel my bizarre tendency to put a great deal of work in to things that don't matter at all into more constructive activites, like blogging.
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YES NHL 2001!!!
Mine is still sitting in the pile of PS1 games in the back of my entertainment center here about 10 feet away from me. I stopped with consoles after PS1, so NHL 2001 was the last NHL game I’ve owned, though I played some NHL09 on my buddy’s XBOX. Hell yeah, that was some good times right there.
I totally agree about all the players being slow now – I don’t get it. It’s like everyone is just cruising at the same speed 100% of the time, like in a beer league or something. Of course, the AI players get to speed up and beat you to loose pucks, but your guys can’t get to a loose puck or a dump-in to save their lives. That always bugged me when I tried playing NHL 09.
I didn’t use many one timers in NHL 2001, and I certainly never did any wrap arounds. I pretty much used the same move that’s been working since NHL 95 (Sleek knows what I’m talkin about!), cutting across the slot and shooting high. One thing that frustrated me about NHL 09 (and the Heatley one, which my buddy had on his PS2 when we were in High School) was that it feels like the only way to score now is by taking an outrageous amount of one-timers. I probably just suck, but I swear, its the only thing that worked in NHL 09.
Did anyone else ever try Fox Sports Hockey or something like that? Back in Middle School, I had NHL Faceoff 98, and like a year or two later, my neighbor got Fox Sports Hockey. It was pretty buggy – it had the little popup near the scoreboard that showed you how fast your slapshot was, and it would routinely break 150 MPH on a slapshot. I think our record was a 226 MPH slapshot. The best part too was that I would wind up these shots, and he would skate across the front of the net as I did it, and this 226 MPH slapshot would stop perfectly on his stick like the smoothest pass in the history of hockey, the goalie would have gone down for the shot, and he would just dump the puck into an empty net, over and over and over. Also, if you got a shutout, the goalie was first star – we got Michael Jordan (yes, that Michael Jordan) first star so many times with a stat line of 0 SA, 0 SV, 1 SO.
http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.
by IAmJoe on Sep 7, 2010 12:31 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Also, in NHL Faceoff 98, I turned off line changes, and I got Slava friggin Fetisov a 50 goal season without passing his own blue line. If you used the dump puck button while standing still, the game was pretty uncanny about lofting it all the way across the rink and dropping it right above the goalies pad and under his glove. Every time, the goalie made the same futile animation, and it would go in about 50% of the time.
I don’t know how I could’ve possibly been THAT entertained by it as a kid to have done it enough to get a 50 goal season, but hey, there it is.
http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.
its out today?..and there was a demo to play this whole time?…xbox did a shitty job of promoting it on my dashboard!!! assholes!!
09 was awesome…u just suck balls meg…..i was just a 2 OT epic game with my brother last nite..it was rivetiting
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 5:16 AM PDT reply actions
Yeah, I wasn’t too sure about the timing either — I just put together a test Ducks lineup the other day in NHL10.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
does sutton frustrate you too?…he gets blown by..by everyone…he does destroy people on checks though..its like have parros as a D man
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 7:07 AM PDT up reply actions
He’s lost two fights in two games. :)
But it’s somewhat cool in that I’m not intending to start these fights — I hit plenty of people after whistles and let them chase me around, and CPU-Sutton has stood up for me on his own initiative. In other words, it’s the thought that counts.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
which duck in real life did that?…was it brown or bodie?
they would be first to stick up but always ended up getting beaten to a pulp…i felt the same way..hey…he is being a good teamate at least..i think it was brown…
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 7:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Anyone remember Mutant League Hockey? The football game was way better, but damn I wish they would remake those.
Drew Remenda would praise a bottle of child poison if it had a picture of Darryl Sutter on it.
Battle of California
MLH was better than MLF imo.
I remember you could do stuff like bribe the ref to call a penalty on the other team or you could kill the ref if you didn’t like the was he was calling the game.
I still play MLF on my sega genesis every now and again, can’t seem to find the hockey anywhere for a reasonable price (damn cult video games being exspensive!)
Proud member of the "Bring Back Semenov" Club
by PNK on Sep 7, 2010 8:57 AM PDT up reply actions
What I liked most about Mutant League Football was the variety in the fields and the teams. To this day whenever I’m playing a football game I think about how much better it would be with landmines or if we were playing on a platform in space.
If Blood Bowl had a better single player mode it might make a good successor to Mutant League Football. I’m keeping my eye on it for possible updates.
Drew Remenda would praise a bottle of child poison if it had a picture of Darryl Sutter on it.
Battle of California
Anybody ever play Pigskin 621 A.D.?
Not a tried and true football game (more rugbyish), but it’s kinda like medieval Mutant League series. Weapons, trolls, and princes bribing refs. Good stuff.
video games have slowly lost their appeal to me as well. I just dont play ’em like I used to.
I often use them as a void to fill during off-season, but the season is about to start. Save your money Meg.
Amo la manera una haba y el burrito del queso siente alrededor de mi pene.
Is it bad that I like NHL 10, but only when the difficulty is turned down? Otherwise, it’s damn near impossible to score. The CPU can score on the top ranked goalie in the game on a near constant basis (I traded for MIller in my season. The Sabers took Huet, Cam Barker and a prospect. Morons. Anyway), Meanwhile, I can have a two on one, shoot a perfect one timer, and Nikolai Khabibulin moves like he’s in his 20s again and makes a kick save that would make a contortionist wince.
There are only two seasons in Chicago; Hockey and Construction.
You’re describing my experience, too, except add that I’m sick of skill stick so I tend to use “Classic” button-based controller setups, too.
Meanwhile, I can have a two on one, shoot a perfect one timer, and Nikolai Khabibulin moves like he’s in his 20s again and makes a kick save that would make a contortionist wince.
For me, the game to reflect back on was NHL94, mostly SNES (but Genesis version works here too). Because everybody who played those games knew:
a) how to score the usual goals
b) how to stop the usual goals
and really it just came down to execution — rarely were people surprised by what goals went in and what didn’t — goals were scored before they even got to the goalie. That’s really all you need. Nowadays, it’s just a probably-more-realistic hit-and-miss sort of thing. But I miss when goal-scoring was more automatic for sure — that really made for some shit-talking fun.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
"Classic" button-based controller setups, too.
They still have this? Nice. That makes it more intriguing. Every time I’ve been pulled into a mini-session with the skill stick and the extra trigger buttons and all that, it’s been “eesh, I don’t have time for this.”
Lighthouse Hockey: Trying to reconstitute the Hogue-Turgeon-Thomas line from NHL 94.
It all depends on the period too. I find that in the first two periods, I can destroy the computer on hard and then in the third period the computer becomes an unstoppable God. And if the computer is controlling Crosby, fucking forget about it. I’ve had that guy slip like 4 hits, hold on to the puck through about 20 poke checks, and then score on a wrist shot from the blue line.
I'm against sigs......Fuck.
Why hasn’t someone made a documentary or tell-all book about game programmers and how they engineer the CPU to screw you in this way? You know they do. Someone might as well cash in on the story.
Lighthouse Hockey: Trying to reconstitute the Hogue-Turgeon-Thomas line from NHL 94.
Catch up logic is important in video games. Otherwise, they’d get boring pretty darn quick. If the CPU wasn’t able to adjust to your ability, once you got too good at the game, the CPU would never even be a challenge.
It definitely is frustrating, but sadly, there’s a need for it.
same thing happens in Madden. You’re up 24-3 going into the 4th (on 4 minute quarters, no less!) and you have to squeak out a 27-24 win (or you went for it instead of taking the FG and now you lose!).
http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.
Nah… it’s not bad that you like it that way.
What I’ve noticed is that you actually have to play defense when the difficulty ramps up. That’s pretty much the difference. On the easy difficulties, you can have your defensemen lead the rush half the time and even if you make a mistake, the CPU never seems to try and take advantage of it. And if they happen to get an odd man rush because of that, your goalie almost always bails you out. The offensive end of things don’t really change as the difficulty goes up – you just score fewer goals because their goalie will make more ridiculous saves than you can count. The real change is in the fact that you have to play defense otherwise the CPU lights you up.
This post speaks to me *way* too well
I think it was NHL 2004 that I last bought (too unsatisfying to buy it every year after 2001 anyway), but NHL 2001 on the PC was the last one I played nonstop, and a big part of that was the custom music.
Every once in a while I’m tempted to pick it back up again, but all the additions they keep inserting (Skill stick? Sticks breaking — seriously? I thought this was escapism.) make me gun shy. Always feels like they’re desperately trying to replicate the impact adding a one-timer had way back when. Fuck I feel old.
The idea of slow video game Andy Sutton does crack me up though.
Lighthouse Hockey: Trying to reconstitute the Hogue-Turgeon-Thomas line from NHL 94.
by Dominik on Sep 7, 2010 8:19 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I did like “Be a Pro” mode for a bit, but it’s tough to play it out too long — you’re either dominating or you’re sucking, and either way gets old.
But I do like the notion of getting ten people together online and playing a “every player really controls only one player” setup — having to serve your penalties? having to recover from your own missed hits? having to get up from the ice? having to really coordinate offense and defense?
These ideas seem pretty cool, at least.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
u ever get to do that?…havent had that chance..i have in basketball and its fun as hell..
im not sure if enough Bocers are on Xbox to set somthing like that up
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 9:07 AM PDT up reply actions
I think the most I’ve played was 3 humans vs. 3 humans, so there was still some CPU, but it was pretty awesome.
Especially since everybody had a custom player name. We kept getting crushed by this huge guy named John THEBAPTIST.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
Dude, I’m game for this sometime…
Unsurprisingly, my gamertag is Wooster11 . And if Spade gets NHL 11 (like he’s supposed to with the money I should be sending his way), then add another.
I haven’t bought my copy yet — but talk like this could really up my timetable.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
Seriously?
OTP is hit or miss. Sometimes you have a stacked team and others you get stupid goalies who quit on you after allowing one goal. I usually play Offensive D with our online league team. I just picked up the game on my lunch break. Count me in on a BOC team.
whats yur gamertag?
spade haivyn
here!!!
"Buenas Noches, amigos!"
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 9, 2010 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Haha, nobody bought me my copy yet (I’m still lazing around NHL10 and too lazy to go get it).
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
see not having 10 im not sure how much different it is from 10 to 11
from 9 to 11 its just completely different..playing and looking…
11 makes 9 look like colecovision
i super happy they fixed the fact that when your near the net and your trying to stuff in the puck…your guy doesnt go for a check instead and u get a damn penalty..i used to hate that…now it regonizes that your trying not to check but rather trying to swat in an uncontrolled rebound
"Buenas Noches, amigos!"
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 9, 2010 3:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Finally just ordered my copy from Amazon. Forgot I had like $50 worth of gift cards there. Can’t beat paying 10 bucks for the game! Should be here in a week or two.
get ready to lose to yours truly…set up your earpiece..i want live trash talking
"Buenas Noches, amigos!"
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 11, 2010 1:37 PM PDT up reply actions
Basketball seems a bit easier to handle since it’s an offensive oriented game. I can’t image hockey 5 on 5 online. Unless you can get some defensemen to seriously want to play defense.
I guess 6 on 6 is even possible with goaltenders.
I just think hockey takes way more coordination of all the guys than basketball does. It’s a lot easier to get away with guys running around doing whatever in basketball than in hockey.
i like playing defense though its weird..i like getting people frustrated
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 5:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, I actually would probably be a stay-at-home, if given the choice. I don’t like the burden of creating goals — too stressful. :)
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
They alway sound cool
…but then I think, “Oh, so you get to be Crosby and I get to be Mark Eaton? Great. I’ll just sit here and wait.” I’m probably missing a critical part that makes it more fun though, since I haven’t bought a game since the lockout.
Lighthouse Hockey: Trying to reconstitute the Hogue-Turgeon-Thomas line from NHL 94.
ohhh..i want to be shane hnidy!!
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 1:52 PM PDT up reply actions
Great thing about NHL 2001 was that you could taunt other players by holding down one of the buttons after you scored.
by seattlesharks on Sep 7, 2010 9:02 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
they need to have that for nhl 11….corey perry should get an extra 5 taunts than anyone else
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 9:08 AM PDT up reply actions
Man, I forgot about the taunts! Those were awesome. You would unlock them as you played, and could end up doing ridiculous shit like riding on your stick like it was a horse.
Drew Remenda would praise a bottle of child poison if it had a picture of Darryl Sutter on it.
Battle of California
the happy gilmour taunt
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 9:49 AM PDT up reply actions
Doing the bull dance
feeling the flow
There are only two seasons in Chicago; Hockey and Construction.
still using 09 here..did they ever fix the stupid goalie sitting on his ass on every cross ice one timer?….
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 9:11 AM PDT reply actions
I never bought 10 (or 11 yet) but in the 10 Demo the goalie was way more versatile and wouldn’t do that anymore. someone else can probably answer more specifically though.
Rice is great when you're hungry and you want 2000 of something.
Sliders are Fantastic
Just remember, if the game is too slow, too fast, too physical, too whiny, etc. for you, there are sliders for everything. You could probably make the game play like NHL Hitz if you really tried hard.
Blades of steel is still one of my all time favorites. While the playability was crap, you can’t beat getting thrown in the penalty box for losing a fight.
by seattlesharks on Sep 7, 2010 11:55 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
In case anybody wants some fake worry, the fake expansion draft results are in — here’s who Mirtle and Gabe Desjardins selected from the BoC:
7 / Quebec / Antti Niemi / G / San Jose Sharks
30 / Winnipeg / Erik Ersberg / G / Los Angeles Kings
38 / Winnipeg / Scott Nichol / F / San Jose Sharks
40 / Quebec / Justin Williams / F / Los Angeles Kings
47 / Quebec / Brett Festerling / D / Anaheim Ducks
52 / Winnipeg / Ryan Carter / F / Anaheim Ducks
They only made 52 picks — Carter nearly escaped. :)
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
Damn it.
I’m happy as hell the Qubec team took Niemi, but not that Winnipeg took Nichol. And yes I realize this is all hypothetical.
Don't let the name deceive you, I'm not just a Sharks fan but a Lakers, 49ers, Angels, Giants (and to a lesser extent) Capitals, and Titans fan.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on Sep 7, 2010 6:46 PM PDT up reply actions
UNCLE FESTER?…nooooooooooooooo!!!
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 12:53 PM PDT reply actions
I own none of these games, so I will have to settle for making Patty and Drew battle it out on Table Tennis for the Wii.
They look so cute in their little Hawaiian shirts!
In Dinglebarn We Trust
What about NHL Slapshot?
"Skillet, we just spent $64,000 in that bar. So we're gonna have to get jobs to cover up the fact that we rob banks" -Mouse Fitzgerald
I’m in my 3rd Be A Pro season on NHL09, playing as a defender. After winning the cup with the Flyers, I signed with the Panthers. I lost in the SCF to the Ducks, and decided I didn’t want to play for the Panthers anymore so I simmed 20 games and they traded me to the Ducks. Now I’m on the top line with Ballard. Through this season, the team has traded Corey Perry for Tomas Kaberle and Bobby Ryan for Dacry Tucker. It’s unbearably bad. The third line is Rob Niedermayer, Robert Nillson and George Parros. They nearly always get a goal scored against them and Parros NEVER passes the puck. If I don’t make the playoffs (likely) then I’ll try and get traded away again.
Backing Backlund for 2010-2011
Mourning Gagne forever.
thats awesome..i need to play more “be a pro”
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 1:37 PM PDT up reply actions
It’s fun, but for some reason my guy never gets traded. I’ve been playing Be a GM mode lately and that’s kind of weird. The comp offers you the weirdest trades. For some reason, they keep offering me old goal tenders for Travis Moen.
I'm against sigs......Fuck.
your come committed suicide with those trades.
by Mudhippy on Sep 7, 2010 2:06 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
your game*.
(for the record I was talking to someone and said come here while i typed that.) gross.
by Mudhippy on Sep 7, 2010 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
not for this site
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 2:34 PM PDT up reply actions
Right Trigger! Right Trigger! Always make them pass you the puck! Don’t worry if the coach says you have made X number of bad calls for passes. Be a superstar!
by Wooster11 on Sep 7, 2010 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
I have to rec this, as it’s the first thing I thought, too. Who waits for CPU players to decide to pass? :)
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
I don’t play with the third line, so I have to watch from the bench as Giguere makes a save, the pucks gets to Parros and he dawdles up the wing only to turn it over as he crosses the blue line OR take it to the corner and start circling from behind the goal line up to the low face off dot.
I also get annoyed when I’m down by 1, the goalie gets pulled and I’m the extra attacker. The puck gets turned over and the opposition is allowed to skate over the blue line because the defense is still acting as if there is a goalie in the net. I don’t know how many minuses I’ve got like this.
Backing Backlund for 2010-2011
Mourning Gagne forever.
B Button! B Button! Call for a line change! Don’t worry about your fatigue level. You never actually pass out or drop dead in a game. Don’t wait for the CPU to sub you in. Be a superstar!
by Wooster11 on Sep 7, 2010 4:56 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Another “my thought, too” rec.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
damn i learned a lot today
"Hold your excuses until you figured out which one to use."
-John Marston-
by SPADE-IN-VICTORHELL on Sep 7, 2010 5:40 PM PDT up reply actions
I really really want to play the Ultimate Team mode in NHL 11. If I get it, it will probably just be for that. I’m a sucker for stuff like that.
Drew Remenda would praise a bottle of child poison if it had a picture of Darryl Sutter on it.
Battle of California
My Sega broke, so I can't play NHL Live '95 anymore.
Luckily, I’ve still got a fully functional NES with Blades of Steel and Ice Hockey.
These new age 2001 games confuse me.
It's the Chicago Blackhawks man...
Blades of steel was the best sports game on the NES
Tecmo Bowl gave it a run for it’s money, but nothing beats a game where you can start a fight, beat you’re friends ass in it, and get a powerplay because of it. I think Gary should look into that rule.
There are only two seasons in Chicago; Hockey and Construction.
Woo hoo! Vague promises of something! McKenzie sets us straight:
It may be just semantics but I am being told there is, at this moment, no deal in place between Bobby Ryan and the Anaheim Ducks.
BTW, those tweets were responding to the reports by @NYP_Brooksie and @NHLConnected saying Ryan and ANA agree to 5 yr/$5.5M per year deal.
Damn — that would cut me out of any 15-year-deal earnings.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
Don Meehan, Ryan’s agent, rebuts/contradicts our source on Ryan deal, says nothing is done.
But at least you were first. Sigh.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
Yeah, the second I saw that, I thought “How on Earth does Brooks of all people have an inside line to the Ducks?” And then a second later, you see the response. Ha.
In Dinglebarn We Trust
My response I thought was fun.
Whoops! Here’s a silver medal in reporting.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on Sep 7, 2010 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I should add — it’s somewhat a shame that the reports are false, as this is one of the rare moments in BoC history where I’ve drawn up a cartoon for a signing before it even happens. I drew it and scanned it in this weekend; whenever there’s real B-Ry news, I’ll unveil it.
Of course, they probably will never sign him now that I’m prepared. Silly me.
"Ridin’ The Meat Train & Dreaming of Jack’s Johnson All Summer Long!"
http://www.battleofcali.com/
He probably will sign soon, just to confound us. And to bring the number of things Brooks has been right about up to 2.
In Dinglebarn We Trust
Oh man, how did I miss this quote before? After going on for a bit in an interview about how he wants to stay a Duck, Ryan says this:
"If I were traded, I know there’s places I’d like to go and places I wouldn’t like to go. That’s something that still out of my hands. But if someone e-mails me another Toronto article, I’m going to lose it."
HAHAHA. I wonder if he and Simmonds get together just to commiserate.
In Dinglebarn We Trust
Ah, the good ol' days of NHL 2001.
I played the NHL games exclusively on PC until NHL ‘08 when I realized they wouldn’t be doing a port of the 360/Ps3 version for PC (seeing Fifa 11 as a 360 port for PC gives me hope for the future though.) I also have a Wii, and was tempted to go with 2K11 this year, but I heard it was not that much better than last year’s version. So I’m being stupid and buying a PS3 and NHL 11 instead of being fiscally responsible and just not getting any version at all. At least I can say I’m helping the economy…..right?
Don't let the name deceive you, I'm not just a Sharks fan but a Lakers, 49ers, Angels, Giants (and to a lesser extent) Capitals, and Titans fan.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on Sep 7, 2010 6:48 PM PDT reply actions
Pretty sure Nolan was broken in 2001.
NHL 2001 had Owen Nolan on the cover. It came out the season after Nolan scored 44 goals and so he was ridiculously over-powered in the game.
I remember loading up for slapshots with him and he would crank it left-handed.
The AHL 11 beta release was awesome
Even my Columbus team averaged 7 pts per game. Unfortunately it got shelved due to budgetary concerns…
Lord Stanley's new address: Sweet Home Chicago!
by ChicagoNativeSon on Sep 8, 2010 6:35 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
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Pacific Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Jose
|
51 | 29 | 16 | 6 | 64 |
|
Los Angeles
|
54 | 26 | 18 | 10 | 62 |
|
Phoenix
|
54 | 25 | 21 | 8 | 58 |
|
Dallas
|
52 | 27 | 23 | 2 | 56 |
|
Anaheim
|
53 | 21 | 24 | 8 | 50 |
(updated 2.9.2012 at 6:25 AM PST)
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