Yeah, he worked for CTV Montreal, got laid off (I think), and ended up joining McCagg's Habs sycophant website. But I don't think he has great sources, I don't recall him breaking much when he was with CTV and I still followed the Habs closely and McCagg's only legitimate source is Timmins giving him stuff (which, more than Timmins' record is the reason I Timmins swept up when the Habs finally clean house).
Has there been a good EA NHL game since 2004? I thought that year was fantastic and then the way the game played seemed to change a lot in 2005. Add in the terrible player ratings and the dumb line chemistry system and I swore off the series. EHM and NHL:EHM may have played a big part in that though.
This reminded me I havent played a hockey videogame since nhl2k in the early 2000s, in the neogaf league. Damn lol
I heard NHL 19 has all new stick tap physics. When players retire and play their last game, you can see the stick bounce correctly off boards and ice when other players show their respect. Wow! Pretty sure Red would be happy.
The changes from NHL 2003 to NHL 2004 were actually quite big and for the better. However, the biggest issue with 04 was that the D-men would constantly rush up the ice and get out of position and there was nothing you could do to fix it. No matter what your sliders were set to or patches they released, they never fixed it. NHL 2005 was TERRRIBLE. They essentially abandoned all the good things they were moving forward with in 04 and went with the big hits/picks/interference system which killed the whole game flow. Honestly the last few NHL's have been "good" games, but they've been in a rut for a while and need to really revamp their engine.
With 2004 I liked the way the game felt in the offensive zone, the puck movement and the way goals were scored felt pretty realistic. In 2005 it was either do something cheesy or get the puck to a guy with the big shooter thing if you wanted to score. One of those 2003-5 years (I think it was 2005 with the unrealistic big hits) had that 1v1 in half the ice with a goalie that was actually a fun gimmick though there not being penalties and big hits and big shots mattering so much it meant Zdeno Chara was the best player in that mode. Sounds typical for an annual franchise. If I ever get a new console I'll have to give one a shot, though every time the player ratings come out and I glance at them they look terrible to me. EA's problem is when they rate a player they seem to start from an overall rating and fill in from there where with something like Football Manager the ratings are based more on the actual player attributes, partly because there is no overall rating.
The whole reason I got into video games was to work on the NHL series. I've come close a few times, but never pulled the trigger. I was OBSESSED with hockey games back in the early 2000's. I was even a mod/admin on the old 2Khockey.net boards. I have every single one of them and know most of all the differences between versions down to options and controls. But with only EA putting out a hockey game now a days, my interest has waned. EDIT - NHL 2002 and NHL 2003 had the breakaway cam that slowed down the gameplay, added a heartbeat sound effect, put a vignette around the screen, and played Default's "Deny" for some reason as you skating towards the goalie...
Good choice for the cover. The piss yellow is awful, but I guess that will accurately represent the engine.
Subban on the cover, that's new. Like, the only thing new. Well, I guess there's the outdoor thing that literally nobody gives a shit about.
EA adding in pond hockey as this year's big feature addition, but still not really addressing any of the actual problems with the game is the most EA thing ever
Hahahahahahaahahaha I set my expectations so low and I am still let down woooow what a trash Dev studio.
Pond hockey looks like that 1on1 mode I was talking about but with an a third player, sweaters, and mountains. I'm sure it will be a fun 'goof off with friends sitting on a couch' mode but as a signature feature I would be underwhelmed if I were a fan - they already did that a decade ago. Subban on the cover is cool though.
I mean, as an announce trailer, they're gonna show off the biggest new thing in the game. They're not gonna come out with "look at how we fixed stick physics" in their first go, lol. Hopefully as the info comes out they will actually address these things, buuuuuut yeah, not getting my hopes up.
I might as well post the link to the nhl19 thread https://www.resetera.com/threads/nh...box-one-pk-subban-is-the-cover-athlete.50504/
To be perfectly honest, the threes mode was incredibly well done The rest of the game needed the love that mode got
I'm honestly surprised Mark Messier doesn't win the Mark Messier Award every year no one else can have as much leadership as him
We're underrating Messier's leadership with the 2000-2004 New York Rangers. Those Rangers teams sucking despite leading the league in payroll (except for 01/02 when Detroit spent $7 million more) makes a lot more sense when you understand age curves and players peaking around ages 24-28. Turns out getting a bunch of guys into their 30s isn't a great idea.
