Hello EA Sports,
here are my wishes for NHL 26:
All penalties + penalty minutes that exist in ice hockey should be available.
You should be able to take video review yourself, and the referees and linesmen should be able to take video review for all different actions.
The referees and linesmen should be able to announce everything. You should be able to see how they approach the video review and how they view it (one side of the screen is a referee's camera, the other side of the screen is the video review camera).
They should take as long as they want, depending on how confident or unconfident they are.
Everything about the gameplay should be as realistic as possible.
Different commentators should speak, arena announcers should speak, referee announcements should speak.
Definitely add the German language (if possible: Basti Schwele and Rick Goldmann).
Rework the World Cup mode:
World Cup preseason games and the ability to put together the players in the respective squad yourself, e.g. The German team can also bring various German players with them.
Combine this with World Cup preparation, for example.
Add the 2026 Olympic Games Tournament mode.
Add a Coach Career mode like FIFA.
NHL 26 should be realistic so that it looks like the real thing.
All 55 penalties and all penalty minutes that exist in ice hockey, and of course, settings for them, because NHL 25 is still missing many penalties and penalty minutes.
Minor Penalty (2')
Minor Bench Penalty (2')
Major Penalty (5')
Misconduct Penalty (10')
Game Misconduct Penalty (GMI)
Major Misconduct Penalty (MCI)
Match Penalty (MCI)
Penalty Shot
All 55 penalties can be found here in the official IIHF 2025 rulebook.
Here's the link. Related:
https://blob.iihf.com/iihf-media/iihfmvc/media/contentimages/4_sport/officiating/rule_book/24_25/2024_iihf_rulebook_24052024_v1.pdf
All leagues and teams not yet available in NHL 25 should be added.
All teams that will be available in NHL 26 should receive the original goal anthems they have in real hockey.
Add much more arena music (songs and hymns) like in real hockey.
When you start a match, you should already see the players, referees, and linesmen walking from the locker room onto the ice. At the end of the game, honors at tournaments and the trophy presentation for the tournament winner should be visible, plus the cheers and celebrations and the exit to the locker room should be visible on the EIS, just like in real hockey.
Of course, the referees' and linesmen's voices should also be shown before the face-off. Linesman names and nationalities should be visible.
The national anthems should be heard in full before the game in a friendly match, and in a tournament, the national anthem should only be heard in full when the winner wins, and all players should be on the ice, not just the six players as in NHL 25.
