Tag Archives: National Hockey League

‘NHL 23’ has a female player on the cover for the first time

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For the first time in series history, EA’s next NHL entry will feature a female player on the cover. On Wednesday, the publisher announced Team Canada’s Sarah Nurse would be one of two athletes to grace the cover of NHL 23, marking another first for the franchise. She’ll join Anaheim Ducks superstar Trevor Zegras. The two are among the most talented young players in the game today.

Nurse, who is biracial, was dominant during the Bejing Winter Olympics earlier this year. In helping Team Canada reclaim the women’s hockey gold after a disappointing silver medal finish in 2018, she set two Olympic records for most points and most assists in a single women’s tournament. She also became the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in hockey.

As for Zegras, even if you’re not a hockey fan, you’ve probably seen his plays in many a highlight reel. He’s known for his creative decision-making, often scoring the kind of goals you see in lacrosse, not hockey. In his first full season with the Anaheim Ducks, he netted 23 goals and 38 assists across 75 games. That performance earned him second in voting for the NHL’s rookie of the year award last season.

EA will reveal more about NHL 23 when the first trailer drops tomorrow at 11AM ET.

‘NHL 23’ has a female player on the cover for the first time

Posted on by

For the first time in series history, EA’s next NHL entry will feature a female player on the cover. On Wednesday, the publisher announced Team Canada’s Sarah Nurse would be one of two athletes to grace the cover of NHL 23, marking another first for the franchise. She’ll join Anaheim Ducks superstar Trevor Zegras. The two are among the most talented young players in the game today.

Nurse, who is biracial, was dominant during the Bejing Winter Olympics earlier this year. In helping Team Canada reclaim the women’s hockey gold after a disappointing silver medal finish in 2018, she set two Olympic records for most points and most assists in a single women’s tournament. She also became the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in hockey.

As for Zegras, even if you’re not a hockey fan, you’ve probably seen his plays in many a highlight reel. He’s known for his creative decision-making, often scoring the kind of goals you see in lacrosse, not hockey. In his first full season with the Anaheim Ducks, he netted 23 goals and 38 assists across 75 games. That performance earned him second in voting for the NHL’s rookie of the year award last season.

EA will reveal more about NHL 23 when the first trailer drops tomorrow at 11AM ET.

‘NHL 22’ adds women’s teams for the first time

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A week before the Winter Olympics get underway, EA has added women's teams to its NHL games for the first time. You can now select one of 10 women's International Ice Hockey Federation national squads in NHL 22: Canada, Czech Republic (Czechia), Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and, of course, Team USA.

EA has also introduced IIHF Men's and World Juniors teams to NHL 22. Along with competing in IIHF World Championship tournaments, the Men's and Women's teams are playable in the Play Now, Online Versus, Threes Now and Offline/Online Shootouts modes. EA announced the additions last month.

NHL 12 (which was released in 2011) was the first game in the series in which players could take to the virtual ice as a woman, as long as they created one themselves. The following year, Canadian hockey pioneer Hayley Wickenheiser and American defense player Angela Ruggiero (who could join any team in NHL 13) became the first real playable women hockey players in the franchise, but it's taken almost another decade for EA to add full women's squads.

The NHL series is following other major sports games franchises in adding women's teams. EA brought them to its FIFA games for the first time in 2015, while 2K Games introduced the WNBA to NBA 2K in 2019.

‘NHL 22’ adds women’s teams for the first time

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A week before the Winter Olympics get underway, EA has added women's teams to its NHL games for the first time. You can now select one of 10 women's International Ice Hockey Federation national squads in NHL 22: Canada, Czech Republic (Czechia), Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and, of course, Team USA.

EA has also introduced IIHF Men's and World Juniors teams to NHL 22. Along with competing in IIHF World Championship tournaments, the Men's and Women's teams are playable in the Play Now, Online Versus, Threes Now and Offline/Online Shootouts modes. EA announced the additions last month.

NHL 12 (which was released in 2011) was the first game in the series in which players could take to the virtual ice as a woman, as long as they created one themselves. The following year, Canadian hockey pioneer Hayley Wickenheiser and American defense player Angela Ruggiero (who could join any team in NHL 13) became the first real playable women hockey players in the franchise, but it's taken almost another decade for EA to add full women's squads.

The NHL series is following other major sports games franchises in adding women's teams. EA brought them to its FIFA games for the first time in 2015, while 2K Games introduced the WNBA to NBA 2K in 2019.

‘NHL 22’ finally moves the series to EA’s Frostbite engine

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EA Sports' NHL series is finally making the switch to Frostbite, several years after FIFA and Madden NFL moved to the engine. As such, NHL 22 marks the "biggest leap forward" for the franchise in terms of gameplay and graphics, according to EA.

Developer EA Vancouver has seemingly made every stitch of player uniforms visible via high-res graphics. Player models have been overhauled as well. EA says Frostbite enables enhanced spatial awareness, with players having upgraded eye animations and the ability to track and react to what's going on around them. The publisher is promising "new physically accurate stick interactions" as well.

A system called Superstar X-Factors brings unique moves to some of the more high-profile hockey pros with abilities based on their real-world traits. For instance, cover star and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews' Shock and Awe move allows you to let fly with "exciting shots," while Andrei Vasilevskiy’s Contortionist ability plays into the Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender's body-twisting flair to let him pull off impressive saves. Superstar X-Factors will feature in the Franchise Mode, as well as the Be A Pro, Hockey Ultimate Team and World of Chel modes.

NHL 22 is the first game in the series to have dedicated PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions. It's also coming to PS4 and Xbox One, but the standard edition doesn't include a free upgrade to the PS5/Series X/S versions through EA's Dual Entitlement system.

For that, you'll need to opt for the X-Factor edition, which includes extra Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) packs and other bonuses, as well as three days of early access. If you buy the NHL 22 X-Factor edition for PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, you'll also have access to the respective previous-gen versions. However, the only game progress you can move from previous-gen consoles to PS5 or Xbox Series X/S is your HUT team, and it's a one-time content migration. 

The FIFA and Madden NFL games moved to Frostbite in 2016 and 2017 respectively, so NHL is lagging behind a bit. That said, Frostbite was primarily designed for Battlefield and other first-person shooters. Some EA studios, such as BioWare, have found the engine difficult to work with and had to build some of the tools they needed from scratch. That might go some way toward explaining why it took so long to move the NHL franchise over to Frostbite.

NHL 22 will be released on October 15th.

Real Madrid Tops Forbes Magazine’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams For 2015

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Real Madrid is Forbes Magazine's most valuable sports team for 2015.  According to Forbes.com's Kurt Badenhausen, Real Madrid came out on top of the annual ranking for...

Martin St. Louis Announces Retirement From NHL

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Martin St. Louis has retired from the National Hockey League (NHL). St. Louis, who last played for the New York Rangers, made the announcement on the NHL Players Association's official website...

Phil Kessel Traded to Pittsburgh Penguins

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded Phil Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  According to a press release on the Maple Leafs' official website, Toronto traded Kessel, Tyler Biggs, Tim...