I like NBA 2K's career mode, but it's also quite time consuming.
NHL 10 was the peak for me, Madden 09 was a lot of fun as well and for some reason I still have NBA Live 09 which isn't half bad at all considering I actually bought NBA Live 14 and ended up trading it in a week later.
Since we are speaking about NCAA games, would anyone be interested in a NCAA hockey game? I assume the answer is yes both because there never has been one, and because the a NCAA game equivalent to Franchise mode always had more variety and unpredictability to there respective "Pro league" games.
I just couldn't be interested in a NCAA hockey game considering there are several leagues that produce way more NHL players. It's almost like creating a NCAA football game with D2 teams only.
Since we are speaking about NCAA games, would anyone be interested in a NCAA hockey game? I assume the answer is yes both because there never has been one, and because the a NCAA game equivalent to Franchise mode always had more variety and unpredictability to there respective "Pro league" games.
I just couldn't be interested in a NCAA hockey game considering there are several leagues that produce way more NHL players. It's almost like creating a NCAA football game with D2 teams only.
30% of the NHL players right now came through NCAA hockey. It's definitely not a "D2" to "D1" comparison.
Sorry, I'll stop bringing in stats and logic because I wouldn't want to mess with your warped view of reality
If you didn't understand the point of that comparison then I have some stats and real logic to help.
30% is laughable compared to the 99.99% of NFL players that come from teams on the NCAA football games. Also, 0 people outside of the US would have any interest in an NCAA hockey game, which alienates an extremely large portion of hockey fans. The point is it would not have any chance of being successful.
The NHL 2k series was great.... just not out of the box. The game played amazing with sliders...but most casual fans never found that out. The stock game was tuned to be so arcadey it turned a lot of people off. NHL 2k8 still has the best goalies ever.
The NHL 2k series was great.... just not out of the box. The game played amazing with sliders...but most casual fans never found that out. The stock game was tuned to be so arcadey it turned a lot of people off. NHL 2k8 still has the best goalies ever.
So true! 2k8 can actually get boring sometimes, because the goalies literally stop everything haha! They're so good!
They are good, but they are realistic. And they can seamlessly blend from one save animation into the next without having to "reset" their animation.
That was like what? 10 years ago now on a previous gen console? Also funny is how EA fans made fun of NHL 2K8 because the controls were "too complicated as you needed to do 10 button combinations for some of the inputs".
Fast Forward to NHL 18... How do we do Poke checks, while holding out the DSS and skating backwards again?
I always preferred NFL 2k over Madden but always preferred EA NHL over 2k.
I've never tried NBA Live but am very impressed with NBA 2k.
The Show killed MLB 2k and rightfully so. That franchise is top notch.
I'd live to see 2k come back to hockey to create competitiom but I don't see it being in the cards any time soon. Hockey likely isn't a top 5 sport in the world and NHL/Bettman aren't doing themselves any favors not allowing NHLPA participate in the Olympics to showcase the best the sport has to offer.
Would a Tax Firm completely shut down it's BUSINESS for 3 weeks in the middle of Tax Season?? So why should the NHL be FORCED to shut down for 3 weeks just to participate in the crooked Olympic Games?
They wouldn't be forced to do anything. All you do is extend the regular season or add a couple more back to back games. Revenue won't be lost.
By sending the NHLPA you are increase the popularity of the sport and growing future revenue.
But by not sending the NHLPA you can almost guarantee the PA is pissed and will carry that anger into the next bargaining agreement. There WILL be another strike, guaranteed ... so ultimately you are damaging the game more than you are helping it.
Sorry mate, the 4yrs I spent in the US Navy (91-95, stationed in Norfolk Va) did nothing to show me that Hockey is EVER going to be a staple in these Areas. Christ the Hampton Roads (now Norfolk) Admirals were a few miles from the base...only the Hockey die hards cared enough to even talk about them. So having the "Pros" play in the Olympics isn't going to change their views on Hockey
My company has an office in Tallahasse Florida (when we do conference calls with them, we try to bring up Hockey into the conversations...Pens won the Cup or we're bigger Hockey fans than we are stiller/football fans here....CRICKETS is what we hear). So the "Pros" being in the Olympics isn't going to change the fact they don't care about Hockey
Billy Bob Joe in the backwoods of Alabama has never seen an indoor ice rink let alone a game of Ice Hockey, so the "Pros" being in the Olympics won't change his mind about the game of Hockey
My best friend is in the US Air Force (stationed in Nebraska), his first trip to the grocery store he had his Penguins T-Shirt and Hat on....the male cashier asked him if he was going to be watching the "Skers later on...bewildered he asked the guy what a 'Sker was? He said the guy looked at him and said "You're not from around here are you"? He said No I'm from Pgh and I am a bigger Hockey fan than a football fan....the guy looked at him like his head was on backwards....what makes you think the "Pros" being in the Olympics is going to change the viewing habits of "Skers fans??
My best friends sister lives in Jackson TN, I asked her about the level of interest around her area....NONE! Other than her family (hubby and kids) and a neighbor who is originally from Glen Burnie MD (Caps fan)...they just don't care about Hockey
You completely missed the point of the Olympics (or any international tournament for that matter) with your billybobjoe from Alabama. The point of an international tournament is to grow the sport internationally. It's disgusting how the NHL keeps on giving a cold shoulder for the European hockey community by refusing to work with the IIHF. A great example is the Team Europe shenanigans at the world cup that basically said to the Swiss, Slovaks, Norwegians, Germans and Danes that you're not good enough, we don't want you here (despite the fact that several players from those countries said publicly that they don't have any passion to play for a Team Europe). Switzerland and Denmark are hockey countries on the rise, the NHL should encourage that. A huge part of it is a tournament where the countries outside of the big six can test their squads on the world stage.
We're again in a situation where we don't have a credible world championship tournament for a sport that very well could be THE sport for all of the northern countries that don't do that well in football. I would love to see the NHL work together with the IIHF to promote hockey in Norway, Denmark etc. An absolute dream would be a proper tournament sanctioned by both IIHF and NHL that would feature the best players and wouldn't have anything to do with the IOC. Sadly it looks like a far fetched utopia seeing how the things are going atm. I could rant on and on about this and how the NHL is actively damaging the sports image globally but this isn't really the place for that.
I always preferred NFL 2k over Madden but always preferred EA NHL over 2k.
I've never tried NBA Live but am very impressed with NBA 2k.
The Show killed MLB 2k and rightfully so. That franchise is top notch.
I'd live to see 2k come back to hockey to create competitiom but I don't see it being in the cards any time soon. Hockey likely isn't a top 5 sport in the world and NHL/Bettman aren't doing themselves any favors not allowing NHLPA participate in the Olympics to showcase the best the sport has to offer.
Would a Tax Firm completely shut down it's BUSINESS for 3 weeks in the middle of Tax Season?? So why should the NHL be FORCED to shut down for 3 weeks just to participate in the crooked Olympic Games?
They wouldn't be forced to do anything. All you do is extend the regular season or add a couple more back to back games. Revenue won't be lost.
By sending the NHLPA you are increase the popularity of the sport and growing future revenue.
But by not sending the NHLPA you can almost guarantee the PA is pissed and will carry that anger into the next bargaining agreement. There WILL be another strike, guaranteed ... so ultimately you are damaging the game more than you are helping it.
Sorry mate, the 4yrs I spent in the US Navy (91-95, stationed in Norfolk Va) did nothing to show me that Hockey is EVER going to be a staple in these Areas. Christ the Hampton Roads (now Norfolk) Admirals were a few miles from the base...only the Hockey die hards cared enough to even talk about them. So having the "Pros" play in the Olympics isn't going to change their views on Hockey
My company has an office in Tallahasse Florida (when we do conference calls with them, we try to bring up Hockey into the conversations...Pens won the Cup or we're bigger Hockey fans than we are stiller/football fans here....CRICKETS is what we hear). So the "Pros" being in the Olympics isn't going to change the fact they don't care about Hockey
Billy Bob Joe in the backwoods of Alabama has never seen an indoor ice rink let alone a game of Ice Hockey, so the "Pros" being in the Olympics won't change his mind about the game of Hockey
My best friend is in the US Air Force (stationed in Nebraska), his first trip to the grocery store he had his Penguins T-Shirt and Hat on....the male cashier asked him if he was going to be watching the "Skers later on...bewildered he asked the guy what a 'Sker was? He said the guy looked at him and said "You're not from around here are you"? He said No I'm from Pgh and I am a bigger Hockey fan than a football fan....the guy looked at him like his head was on backwards....what makes you think the "Pros" being in the Olympics is going to change the viewing habits of "Skers fans??
My best friends sister lives in Jackson TN, I asked her about the level of interest around her area....NONE! Other than her family (hubby and kids) and a neighbor who is originally from Glen Burnie MD (Caps fan)...they just don't care about Hockey
You completely missed the point of the Olympics (or any international tournament for that matter) with your billybobjoe from Alabama. The point of an international tournament is to grow the sport internationally. It's disgusting how the NHL keeps on giving a cold shoulder for the European hockey community by refusing to work with the IIHF. A great example is the Team Europe shenanigans at the world cup that basically said to the Swiss, Slovaks, Norwegians, Germans and Danes that you're not good enough, we don't want you here (despite the fact that several players from those countries said publicly that they don't have any passion to play for a Team Europe). Switzerland and Denmark are hockey countries on the rise, the NHL should encourage that. A huge part of it is a tournament where the countries outside of the big six can test their squads on the world stage.
We're again in a situation where we don't have a credible world championship tournament for a sport that very well could be THE sport for all of the northern countries that don't do that well in football. I would love to see the NHL work together with the IIHF to promote hockey in Norway, Denmark etc. An absolute dream would be a proper tournament sanctioned by both IIHF and NHL that would feature the best players and wouldn't have anything to do with the IOC. Sadly it looks like a far fetched utopia seeing how the things are going atm. I could rant on and on about this and how the NHL is actively damaging the sports image globally but this isn't really the place for that.
1) How is the NHL damaging their image? 2) Why is it the NHLs job to sell the game to the International countries? You do understand that for decades Olympic Hockey was Amateurs ONLY. So if it wasn't the NHLs job to sell the game Internationally in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s then why is it all of a sudden now their job?? 3) Is it the NBAs job to sell Basketball to International countries (Olympic Basketball)??
Forsberg could have stayed home in Sweden to play in the SEL but NO, he chose on his own accord to come to North America to play in the NHL! Selanne could have stayed home in Finland to play in the SM-liiga but he chose to play in the NHL! Jagr could have stayed home in Czech and played for their League (sorry no idea what League that was back then) but he wanted to play in the NHL with his idol, Mario Lemieux. Jagr went as far as telling the other NHL teams that he wasn't coming over (thus interest in him fell, leaving the Pens to Draft him), Mogilny DEFECTED from the USSR to play in the NHL. I mean the list goes on and on and on, so I hardly see that as the NHL damaging their image Internationally
I won't start getting that into it here, like I said I'll leave that to the HFBoards or something. It's kind of baffling for me though that you don't think that the NHL should be helping the game grow even though they are the most powerful and wealthy organization involved.
Even the NBA does more than the NHL and it's showing as basketball gaining a respectable foothold in Europe, guess who's gaining? The NBA. You'd be surprised to see how much hockey gets laughed at by non hockey fans here for not having a proper world championship tournament and the gimmicky World Cup the NHL put together was a PR disaster for NHL here in the Nordics.
Don't have any idea what the European players coming to NHL has to do with anything. Of course the players go where they can get the most money but how is that relevant in anyway.
I won't start getting that into it here, like I said I'll leave that to the HFBoards or something. It's kind of baffling for me though that you don't think that the NHL should be helping the game grow even though they are the most powerful and wealthy organization involved.
Even the NBA does more than the NHL and it's showing as basketball gaining a respectable foothold in Europe, guess who's gaining? The NBA. You'd be surprised to see how much hockey gets laughed at by non hockey fans here for not having a proper world championship tournament and the gimmicky World Cup the NHL put together was a PR disaster for NHL here in the Nordics.
Don't have any idea what the European players coming to NHL has to do with anything. Of course the players go where they can get the most money but how is that relevant in anyway.
God, you wouldn't have survived the 70s and 80s. NO NONE NIL ZILCH NADA, NHL players in the Olympics!
The NHL players had the Canada Cup Tournament (oops your "gimmicky World Cup" as it is known today) to represent their Country.
Canada Cup / World Cup: Due to National Hockey League (NHL) players' ineligibility in the Winter Olympics and the annual World Championships, both amateur competitions, Canada was not able to field their best players in top international tournaments.[1] While the top players in Europe qualified as amateurs, all the best Canadian players competed in the professional NHL or World Hockey Association.
Following the 1972 and 1974 Summit Series, in which Canadian players from the NHL and World Hockey Association (WHA) competed against the top players from the Soviet Union, there was interest in a world hockey championship where each country could send its best players.[1] In a combined effort from Doug Fisher of Hockey Canada and Alan Eagleson of the NHL Players' Association,[1] plans for such a tournament soon began.
After successful negotiations with hockey officials from the Soviet Union in September 1974, Eagleson began arranging the Canada Cup tournament, which debuted in 1976.[2] Eagleson would later plead guilty to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars of Canada Cup proceeds.
Taking place in the NHL off-season, it was the first international hockey tournament in which the best players from all nations, professional and amateur alike, could compete against one another.[3] Six teams competed in each edition. In addition to Canada and the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United States were regular competitors (with the exception of West Germany replacing Finland in 1984). The tournaments, held every three or four years, took place in North American venues. Of the five Canada Cup tournaments, four were won by Canada, while the Soviet Union won once, in 1981.
Canada won the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976, defeating recent 1976 World Championship gold medalists Czechoslovakia in the final. The championship game was won by a 5–4 score with Darryl Sittler scoring the game-winner in overtime.[3] Five years later, the Soviets won their first and only Canada Cup with an 8-1 win over Canada in the final. The Canadians then re-captured the championship in the third edition of the tournament in 1984. After Canadian Mike Bossy scored an overtime game-winner to defeat the Soviets in the semi-finals, Canada won their second Canada Cup in a victory over Sweden in the final.[1]
The 1987 Canada Cup was particularly noteworthy as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, widely considered two of the greatest hockey players of all-time, joined together as linemates on Team Canada to capture the country's third championship. All three games in the final between Canada and the Soviets ended in 6-to-5 scores, with two games going to overtime. Lemieux dramatically scored the championship-winning goal on a 2-on-1 pass from Gretzky in the final minutes of the deciding game at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. Gretzky won the Most valuable Player (MVP) Award in the tournament as he was the leading scorer (3 Goals - 18 assists - 21 Points).[4]
The final Canada Cup was held in 1991 with Canada defeating the United States in the tournament's first all-North American final, for their third straight championship and fourth overall. Five years later, the Canada Cup was replaced by the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.
Gretzky NEVER played in the Olympics until '98. 1978 - '97 (19 yrs) WITHOUT playing in the Olympics! Lemieux NEVER played in the Olympics until '02. 1984 - 2001 (17 yrs) WITHOUT playing in the Olympics.
I won't start getting that into it here, like I said I'll leave that to the HFBoards or something. It's kind of baffling for me though that you don't think that the NHL should be helping the game grow even though they are the most powerful and wealthy organization involved.
Even the NBA does more than the NHL and it's showing as basketball gaining a respectable foothold in Europe, guess who's gaining? The NBA. You'd be surprised to see how much hockey gets laughed at by non hockey fans here for not having a proper world championship tournament and the gimmicky World Cup the NHL put together was a PR disaster for NHL here in the Nordics.
Don't have any idea what the European players coming to NHL has to do with anything. Of course the players go where they can get the most money but how is that relevant in anyway.
How is Team China (Olympics) mind you NO NHL players on their Roster any less "Gimmicky" than Team North America (World Cup) with a FULL NHL player Roster??
Just to give you an Example: (yes there are more teams but just a sample size), 25 man roster!
Team USA 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Canada 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Russia 2014 Olympic squad, 9 NON NHL players.
Team Slovenia 2014 Olympic squad, 25 NON NHL players.
Team Slovakia 2014 Olympic squad, 13 NON NHL players.
Team Austria 2014 Olympic squad, 22 NON NHL players.
Team Finland 2014 Olympic squad 11 NON NHL players.
Team Norway 2014 Olympic squad, 24 NON NHL players.
Team Czech 2014 Olympic squad, 6 NON NHL players.
So how is watching Team Canada (FULL NHL Roster) slaughter Team Slovenia (NO NHL players on their roster) 14-0 in the Olympics not considered "Gimmicky"? That is not even a **** contest, that game is a Gimmick of a game
on the topic of 2k's evolution of franchise mode... man, NHL's franchise mode is so dull/dry.
There are some major times of the hockey season that are just extremely fun to watch as a fan, that the EA NHL series completely misses the boat on:
1) Trade deadline.... Other than having the date highlighted a different colour, the trade deadline is basically non-existent in the game. They should add so much more drama front and center (ie. on the main hub) about players/prospects that are in the rumour mill, and a real differentiation between team's packing it in vs the arms race amongst the league elite. Not having mid-season contract extensions is something i can live with, but having the ability to at least see what upcoming UFA/RFa's contract demands look like by the deadline would allow for a much more realistic and fun trade deadline!
2) Drafting + player progression: with the salary cap, so much emphasis has gone to drafting and development in the NHL. Here again, the EA NHL game is just so damn dull and boring. All i get to do is arbitrary choose time/location of scouts (i have no idea if there is value in "stickying"/pinning a prospect so simply haven't even tried). then come draft day, it's a lot of arbitrary/random picking, based on what seem likely meaningless numbers and colours. I would like to have more control on "types" of things i want my scouts to hunt for, that result in sacrifices (ie. scouting skill vs speed vs size, offensive vs defensive skilled players). On draft day, again, trades that line up with team's looking to build thru the draft, vs team's willing to part with picks to go all in. High draft picks being useless in their first few seasons (ie. OVR so low that they can't really even start in the NHL). Finally, there has to be something done about allowing me to manage a prospects development, either thru icetime, or specific development areas to invested in (ie. improve skating, shot, defense, etc), The player's development should be realized thru this AND the player's production in-season.
3) Playoffs: there is absolutely no drama to the playoffs. The gameplay not having any concept of line matching really limits this in my opinion. However, having any kind of storylines built into the 7 game series, bad blood, suspensions, whatever.
lastly, i would like to see the ability to play franchise but with a much smaller # of games per season. I like developing my roster year over year, but i also like to play with the team i have built, just not for 82 frigin games. Having the ability to play a shortened 20 game season, would allow my to really go deep in my franchise mode (ie. play dozen years in) while still getting to play hockey games.
sorry for the novel..... I've just grown frustrated by the lack of any real evolution in the NHL franchise mode in a decade, other than adding meaningless leagues to the experience.
I won't start getting that into it here, like I said I'll leave that to the HFBoards or something. It's kind of baffling for me though that you don't think that the NHL should be helping the game grow even though they are the most powerful and wealthy organization involved.
Even the NBA does more than the NHL and it's showing as basketball gaining a respectable foothold in Europe, guess who's gaining? The NBA. You'd be surprised to see how much hockey gets laughed at by non hockey fans here for not having a proper world championship tournament and the gimmicky World Cup the NHL put together was a PR disaster for NHL here in the Nordics.
Don't have any idea what the European players coming to NHL has to do with anything. Of course the players go where they can get the most money but how is that relevant in anyway.
How is Team China (Olympics) mind you NO NHL players on their Roster any less "Gimmicky" than Team North America (World Cup) with a FULL NHL player Roster??
Just to give you an Example: (yes there are more teams but just a sample size), 25 man roster!
Team USA 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Canada 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Russia 2014 Olympic squad, 9 NON NHL players.
Team Slovenia 2014 Olympic squad, 25 NON NHL players.
Team Slovakia 2014 Olympic squad, 13 NON NHL players.
Team Austria 2014 Olympic squad, 22 NON NHL players.
Team Finland 2014 Olympic squad 11 NON NHL players.
Team Norway 2014 Olympic squad, 24 NON NHL players.
Team Czech 2014 Olympic squad, 6 NON NHL players.
So how is watching Team Canada (FULL NHL Roster) slaughter Team Slovenia (NO NHL players on their roster) 14-0 in the Olympics not considered "Gimmicky"? That is not even a **** contest, that game is a Gimmick of a game
I appreciate your history lesson but I still don't see how any of that is relevant for growing the sport today and the NHL's reluctance to do so. I even said that I'd rather see a proper world championship sanctioned by co operating IIHF and NHL and leave the IOC out of the equation completely.
In the last message you're just arguing entertainment value over the integrity of the sport. It's laughable that you even hint that a plastic NA U23 team or a completely purposeless Team SwitzerlandGermanySlovakiaSloveniaNorwayDenmark that no one cares about competing against proper national teams isn't a gimmick (having a full NHL roster doesn't make it any less a gimmick), or that a Team Slovenia competing with their best roster on the world stage and losing is somehow bad. If we want to see the level of competition grow and have more competitive teams than just the big six, the mid tier countries need be able to compete to test their ability and coaching.
I'm not surprised though that a guy from a country that calls their national championships, world championships doesn't really understand the purpose of international competition. I guess the FIFA World Cup is gimmicky as well since there's squads who might not have an equal shot at the championship... not to mention the biggest gimmick of them all, an actual qualification to see who gets to compete.
I won't start getting that into it here, like I said I'll leave that to the HFBoards or something. It's kind of baffling for me though that you don't think that the NHL should be helping the game grow even though they are the most powerful and wealthy organization involved.
Even the NBA does more than the NHL and it's showing as basketball gaining a respectable foothold in Europe, guess who's gaining? The NBA. You'd be surprised to see how much hockey gets laughed at by non hockey fans here for not having a proper world championship tournament and the gimmicky World Cup the NHL put together was a PR disaster for NHL here in the Nordics.
Don't have any idea what the European players coming to NHL has to do with anything. Of course the players go where they can get the most money but how is that relevant in anyway.
How is Team China (Olympics) mind you NO NHL players on their Roster any less "Gimmicky" than Team North America (World Cup) with a FULL NHL player Roster??
Just to give you an Example: (yes there are more teams but just a sample size), 25 man roster!
Team USA 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Canada 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Russia 2014 Olympic squad, 9 NON NHL players.
Team Slovenia 2014 Olympic squad, 25 NON NHL players.
Team Slovakia 2014 Olympic squad, 13 NON NHL players.
Team Austria 2014 Olympic squad, 22 NON NHL players.
Team Finland 2014 Olympic squad 11 NON NHL players.
Team Norway 2014 Olympic squad, 24 NON NHL players.
Team Czech 2014 Olympic squad, 6 NON NHL players.
So how is watching Team Canada (FULL NHL Roster) slaughter Team Slovenia (NO NHL players on their roster) 14-0 in the Olympics not considered "Gimmicky"? That is not even a **** contest, that game is a Gimmick of a game
I appreciate your history lesson but I still don't see how any of that is relevant for growing the sport today and the NHL's reluctance to do so. I even said that I'd rather see a proper world championship sanctioned by co operating IIHF and NHL and leave the IOC out of the equation completely.
In the last message you're just arguing entertainment value over the integrity of the sport. It's laughable that you even hint that a plastic NA U23 team or a completely purposeless Team SwitzerlandGermanySlovakiaSloveniaNorwayDenmark that no one cares about competing against proper national teams isn't a gimmick (having a full NHL roster doesn't make it any less a gimmick), or that a Team Slovenia competing with their best roster on the world stage and losing is somehow bad. If we want to see the level of competition grow and have more competitive teams than just the big six, the mid tier countries need be able to compete to test their ability and coaching.
I'm not surprised though that a guy from a country that calls their national championships, world championships doesn't really understand the purpose of international competition. I guess the FIFA World Cup is gimmicky as well since there's squads who might not have an equal shot at the championship... not to mention the biggest gimmick of them all, an actual qualification to see who gets to compete.
So let me ask you this. How does the English Premier League (it is just a "Soccer League" in another country right?, just like the NHL, with players from all over the world just like the NHL) Help PROMOTE and GROW THE GAME of International Soccer in the United States during the FIFA World Cup?? Is it the Premier Leagues (NHL) Job to help promote International Soccer (Hockey) in the United States or is that Job better suited for FIFA (the governing **** body of International Soccer) to promote the game of Soccer in the United States?
What are you gonna do if the 2018 Olympics gets cancelled? O M F G, can't watch International Hockey! North Korean border is only what 50 some miles from where the games will be held. Who at the IOC thought that was a wise **** choice?? Ohhhhh that's right, the IOC is corrupt as all hell and the all mighty $$ made that decision
The premier league is sanctioned by UEFA which is practically an areal organization of FIFA while the NHL is an independent business completely outside of the IIHF. Your comparison is invalid. The situation in hockey is that the IIHF has the international structure in place but has little influence in NA while the NHL and NHLPA has the best players and controls the north american hockey market. That's a completely different situation than what you were describing.
The NHL and IIHF aren't willing to co operate because the NHL values the southern US market more than the the northern Europe which is completely **** at this point for the reasons you were describing earlier (billy bob joe won't care for hockey no matter what, right?). You're going on and on about the IOC being a **** organization which I don't disagree with, but the truth is the IIHF and NHL don't need the IOC to grow hockey in Europe (or the southern US for that matter). They just need to co operate with each other.
A best case scenario would be a best on best Ice Hockey World Championship sanctioned by IIHF and NHL every four years with 16 teams where the likes of Slovenia, France and Austria (all of which are market areas that hockey could conquer in the long run) are able to participate and a World Cup every other 4 years where the top 8 of the previous World Championship would compete in a playoff style series. Hockey doesn't need the Olympics no more than football/soccer does.
The only obstacle keeping this from happening is the NHL not thinking about the long term and not holding the European market to any value (even though a quarter of NHLers already come from Europe), another example of this is the terrible TV deals the NHL keeps making in Europe even though there's not a single hockey fan in Europe who's not interested in the NHL (funny thing is that I can't even purchase NHL.tv if I wanted to because of the exclusivity contract the NHL has made with Viasat).
The thing is that if the IOC was left out of the equation the NHL could negotiate for advertising rights, TV rights in NA, distribution rights and licensing if they only worked with the IIHF. The motion needs to come from the NHL though because they hold the most valuable piece in the puzzle, the players.
Replies
NHL 10 was the peak for me, Madden 09 was a lot of fun as well and for some reason I still have NBA Live 09 which isn't half bad at all considering I actually bought NBA Live 14 and ended up trading it in a week later.
I just couldn't be interested in a NCAA hockey game considering there are several leagues that produce way more NHL players. It's almost like creating a NCAA football game with D2 teams only.
If you didn't understand the point of that comparison then I have some stats and real logic to help.
30% is laughable compared to the 99.99% of NFL players that come from teams on the NCAA football games. Also, 0 people outside of the US would have any interest in an NCAA hockey game, which alienates an extremely large portion of hockey fans. The point is it would not have any chance of being successful.
They are good, but they are realistic. And they can seamlessly blend from one save animation into the next without having to "reset" their animation.
That was like what? 10 years ago now on a previous gen console? Also funny is how EA fans made fun of NHL 2K8 because the controls were "too complicated as you needed to do 10 button combinations for some of the inputs".
Fast Forward to NHL 18... How do we do Poke checks, while holding out the DSS and skating backwards again?
You completely missed the point of the Olympics (or any international tournament for that matter) with your billybobjoe from Alabama. The point of an international tournament is to grow the sport internationally. It's disgusting how the NHL keeps on giving a cold shoulder for the European hockey community by refusing to work with the IIHF. A great example is the Team Europe shenanigans at the world cup that basically said to the Swiss, Slovaks, Norwegians, Germans and Danes that you're not good enough, we don't want you here (despite the fact that several players from those countries said publicly that they don't have any passion to play for a Team Europe). Switzerland and Denmark are hockey countries on the rise, the NHL should encourage that. A huge part of it is a tournament where the countries outside of the big six can test their squads on the world stage.
We're again in a situation where we don't have a credible world championship tournament for a sport that very well could be THE sport for all of the northern countries that don't do that well in football. I would love to see the NHL work together with the IIHF to promote hockey in Norway, Denmark etc. An absolute dream would be a proper tournament sanctioned by both IIHF and NHL that would feature the best players and wouldn't have anything to do with the IOC. Sadly it looks like a far fetched utopia seeing how the things are going atm. I could rant on and on about this and how the NHL is actively damaging the sports image globally but this isn't really the place for that.
1) How is the NHL damaging their image? 2) Why is it the NHLs job to sell the game to the International countries? You do understand that for decades Olympic Hockey was Amateurs ONLY. So if it wasn't the NHLs job to sell the game Internationally in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s then why is it all of a sudden now their job?? 3) Is it the NBAs job to sell Basketball to International countries (Olympic Basketball)??
Forsberg could have stayed home in Sweden to play in the SEL but NO, he chose on his own accord to come to North America to play in the NHL! Selanne could have stayed home in Finland to play in the SM-liiga but he chose to play in the NHL! Jagr could have stayed home in Czech and played for their League (sorry no idea what League that was back then) but he wanted to play in the NHL with his idol, Mario Lemieux. Jagr went as far as telling the other NHL teams that he wasn't coming over (thus interest in him fell, leaving the Pens to Draft him), Mogilny DEFECTED from the USSR to play in the NHL. I mean the list goes on and on and on, so I hardly see that as the NHL damaging their image Internationally
Even the NBA does more than the NHL and it's showing as basketball gaining a respectable foothold in Europe, guess who's gaining? The NBA. You'd be surprised to see how much hockey gets laughed at by non hockey fans here for not having a proper world championship tournament and the gimmicky World Cup the NHL put together was a PR disaster for NHL here in the Nordics.
Don't have any idea what the European players coming to NHL has to do with anything. Of course the players go where they can get the most money but how is that relevant in anyway.
God, you wouldn't have survived the 70s and 80s. NO NONE NIL ZILCH NADA, NHL players in the Olympics!
The NHL players had the Canada Cup Tournament (oops your "gimmicky World Cup" as it is known today) to represent their Country.
Canada Cup / World Cup:
Due to National Hockey League (NHL) players' ineligibility in the Winter Olympics and the annual World Championships, both amateur competitions, Canada was not able to field their best players in top international tournaments.[1] While the top players in Europe qualified as amateurs, all the best Canadian players competed in the professional NHL or World Hockey Association.
Following the 1972 and 1974 Summit Series, in which Canadian players from the NHL and World Hockey Association (WHA) competed against the top players from the Soviet Union, there was interest in a world hockey championship where each country could send its best players.[1] In a combined effort from Doug Fisher of Hockey Canada and Alan Eagleson of the NHL Players' Association,[1] plans for such a tournament soon began.
After successful negotiations with hockey officials from the Soviet Union in September 1974, Eagleson began arranging the Canada Cup tournament, which debuted in 1976.[2] Eagleson would later plead guilty to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars of Canada Cup proceeds.
Taking place in the NHL off-season, it was the first international hockey tournament in which the best players from all nations, professional and amateur alike, could compete against one another.[3] Six teams competed in each edition. In addition to Canada and the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United States were regular competitors (with the exception of West Germany replacing Finland in 1984). The tournaments, held every three or four years, took place in North American venues. Of the five Canada Cup tournaments, four were won by Canada, while the Soviet Union won once, in 1981.
Canada won the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976, defeating recent 1976 World Championship gold medalists Czechoslovakia in the final. The championship game was won by a 5–4 score with Darryl Sittler scoring the game-winner in overtime.[3] Five years later, the Soviets won their first and only Canada Cup with an 8-1 win over Canada in the final. The Canadians then re-captured the championship in the third edition of the tournament in 1984. After Canadian Mike Bossy scored an overtime game-winner to defeat the Soviets in the semi-finals, Canada won their second Canada Cup in a victory over Sweden in the final.[1]
The 1987 Canada Cup was particularly noteworthy as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, widely considered two of the greatest hockey players of all-time, joined together as linemates on Team Canada to capture the country's third championship. All three games in the final between Canada and the Soviets ended in 6-to-5 scores, with two games going to overtime. Lemieux dramatically scored the championship-winning goal on a 2-on-1 pass from Gretzky in the final minutes of the deciding game at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. Gretzky won the Most valuable Player (MVP) Award in the tournament as he was the leading scorer (3 Goals - 18 assists - 21 Points).[4]
The final Canada Cup was held in 1991 with Canada defeating the United States in the tournament's first all-North American final, for their third straight championship and fourth overall. Five years later, the Canada Cup was replaced by the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.
Gretzky NEVER played in the Olympics until '98. 1978 - '97 (19 yrs) WITHOUT playing in the Olympics! Lemieux NEVER played in the Olympics until '02. 1984 - 2001 (17 yrs) WITHOUT playing in the Olympics.
How is Team China (Olympics) mind you NO NHL players on their Roster any less "Gimmicky" than Team North America (World Cup) with a FULL NHL player Roster??
Just to give you an Example: (yes there are more teams but just a sample size), 25 man roster!
Team USA 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Canada 2014 Olympic squad, FULL NHL players
Team Russia 2014 Olympic squad, 9 NON NHL players.
Team Slovenia 2014 Olympic squad, 25 NON NHL players.
Team Slovakia 2014 Olympic squad, 13 NON NHL players.
Team Austria 2014 Olympic squad, 22 NON NHL players.
Team Finland 2014 Olympic squad 11 NON NHL players.
Team Norway 2014 Olympic squad, 24 NON NHL players.
Team Czech 2014 Olympic squad, 6 NON NHL players.
So how is watching Team Canada (FULL NHL Roster) slaughter Team Slovenia (NO NHL players on their roster) 14-0 in the Olympics not considered "Gimmicky"? That is not even a **** contest, that game is a Gimmick of a game
There are some major times of the hockey season that are just extremely fun to watch as a fan, that the EA NHL series completely misses the boat on:
1) Trade deadline.... Other than having the date highlighted a different colour, the trade deadline is basically non-existent in the game. They should add so much more drama front and center (ie. on the main hub) about players/prospects that are in the rumour mill, and a real differentiation between team's packing it in vs the arms race amongst the league elite. Not having mid-season contract extensions is something i can live with, but having the ability to at least see what upcoming UFA/RFa's contract demands look like by the deadline would allow for a much more realistic and fun trade deadline!
2) Drafting + player progression: with the salary cap, so much emphasis has gone to drafting and development in the NHL. Here again, the EA NHL game is just so damn dull and boring. All i get to do is arbitrary choose time/location of scouts (i have no idea if there is value in "stickying"/pinning a prospect so simply haven't even tried). then come draft day, it's a lot of arbitrary/random picking, based on what seem likely meaningless numbers and colours. I would like to have more control on "types" of things i want my scouts to hunt for, that result in sacrifices (ie. scouting skill vs speed vs size, offensive vs defensive skilled players). On draft day, again, trades that line up with team's looking to build thru the draft, vs team's willing to part with picks to go all in. High draft picks being useless in their first few seasons (ie. OVR so low that they can't really even start in the NHL). Finally, there has to be something done about allowing me to manage a prospects development, either thru icetime, or specific development areas to invested in (ie. improve skating, shot, defense, etc), The player's development should be realized thru this AND the player's production in-season.
3) Playoffs: there is absolutely no drama to the playoffs. The gameplay not having any concept of line matching really limits this in my opinion. However, having any kind of storylines built into the 7 game series, bad blood, suspensions, whatever.
lastly, i would like to see the ability to play franchise but with a much smaller # of games per season. I like developing my roster year over year, but i also like to play with the team i have built, just not for 82 frigin games. Having the ability to play a shortened 20 game season, would allow my to really go deep in my franchise mode (ie. play dozen years in) while still getting to play hockey games.
sorry for the novel..... I've just grown frustrated by the lack of any real evolution in the NHL franchise mode in a decade, other than adding meaningless leagues to the experience.
I appreciate your history lesson but I still don't see how any of that is relevant for growing the sport today and the NHL's reluctance to do so. I even said that I'd rather see a proper world championship sanctioned by co operating IIHF and NHL and leave the IOC out of the equation completely.
In the last message you're just arguing entertainment value over the integrity of the sport. It's laughable that you even hint that a plastic NA U23 team or a completely purposeless Team SwitzerlandGermanySlovakiaSloveniaNorwayDenmark that no one cares about competing against proper national teams isn't a gimmick (having a full NHL roster doesn't make it any less a gimmick), or that a Team Slovenia competing with their best roster on the world stage and losing is somehow bad. If we want to see the level of competition grow and have more competitive teams than just the big six, the mid tier countries need be able to compete to test their ability and coaching.
I'm not surprised though that a guy from a country that calls their national championships, world championships doesn't really understand the purpose of international competition. I guess the FIFA World Cup is gimmicky as well since there's squads who might not have an equal shot at the championship... not to mention the biggest gimmick of them all, an actual qualification to see who gets to compete.
So let me ask you this. How does the English Premier League (it is just a "Soccer League" in another country right?, just like the NHL, with players from all over the world just like the NHL) Help PROMOTE and GROW THE GAME of International Soccer in the United States during the FIFA World Cup?? Is it the Premier Leagues (NHL) Job to help promote International Soccer (Hockey) in the United States or is that Job better suited for FIFA (the governing **** body of International Soccer) to promote the game of Soccer in the United States?
What are you gonna do if the 2018 Olympics gets cancelled? O M F G, can't watch International Hockey! North Korean border is only what 50 some miles from where the games will be held. Who at the IOC thought that was a wise **** choice?? Ohhhhh that's right, the IOC is corrupt as all hell and the all mighty $$ made that decision
The NHL and IIHF aren't willing to co operate because the NHL values the southern US market more than the the northern Europe which is completely **** at this point for the reasons you were describing earlier (billy bob joe won't care for hockey no matter what, right?). You're going on and on about the IOC being a **** organization which I don't disagree with, but the truth is the IIHF and NHL don't need the IOC to grow hockey in Europe (or the southern US for that matter). They just need to co operate with each other.
A best case scenario would be a best on best Ice Hockey World Championship sanctioned by IIHF and NHL every four years with 16 teams where the likes of Slovenia, France and Austria (all of which are market areas that hockey could conquer in the long run) are able to participate and a World Cup every other 4 years where the top 8 of the previous World Championship would compete in a playoff style series. Hockey doesn't need the Olympics no more than football/soccer does.
The only obstacle keeping this from happening is the NHL not thinking about the long term and not holding the European market to any value (even though a quarter of NHLers already come from Europe), another example of this is the terrible TV deals the NHL keeps making in Europe even though there's not a single hockey fan in Europe who's not interested in the NHL (funny thing is that I can't even purchase NHL.tv if I wanted to because of the exclusivity contract the NHL has made with Viasat).
The thing is that if the IOC was left out of the equation the NHL could negotiate for advertising rights, TV rights in NA, distribution rights and licensing if they only worked with the IIHF. The motion needs to come from the NHL though because they hold the most valuable piece in the puzzle, the players.
Do you understand me?