The irritating aspect of the chemistry system comes from issues pertaining to how each season is simulated. You typically will be simming most of your games from the game's season schedule section, which shows all of your upcoming games. However, when a player gets injured or is otherwise incapacitated, the simulation doesn't stop to let you know that this has happened. Instead, the game will just set up its own lines based on what it thinks is best and will keep them that way until you stop simulating long enough to check your e-mail, where you'll see an injury report from however long ago. Were the lines that the game picked for you at least sensible, then there would be no problem with this. However, about half the time, the game will pick some of the most harebrained lines imaginable (Paul Kariya on a fourth line? What?). Outside of this issue, the chemistry system really does work noticeably well. It's just a shame that you have to micromanage it so closely during your dynasty.

Thanks to the new chemistry system, line balancing is something you'll have to work on carefully, because just shoving a bunch of scoring forwards onto one line won't make for a positive result.

Poorly autopicked lines and a lack of during-simulation notification aren't the dynasty mode's only problematic aspects. The last and perhaps silliest issue belongs squarely in the realm of the offseason. NHL 2005 has no real progressive offseason to speak of. Rather, you just sim through the offseason calendar until you eventually happen upon the draft, where you blindly pick rookies using info that varies in accuracy depending on the quality of your scouting staff. While this isn't very interesting, what's perhaps dumbest of all is that there aren't even the right number of rounds in the draft. There are only five, to be exact.

Once you get past the draft, July 1 comes, and the free agency period starts. And this is where the biggest oversight of the game occurs. You see, NHL 2005 has no real free agency negotiation component. Once free agency begins, you can just cherry-pick your way through all of the best players (assuming your owner won't freak out about your roster expenses). No free agent ever even entertains another offer, unless you lowball him too badly, at which point he just won't negotiate with you for the rest of the year if he rejects three of your offers. But, provided you're willing to pony up the dough, you can basically steal all the best players without any other team ever interfering. This sort of offseason management used to be the norm, but standards have changed, and, at this point, it all just seems pretty lazy by comparison.

But, hey, the dynasty mode isn't all bad. One of the best aspects of this year's dynasty mode is a part that we weren't totally sold on last year: the team upgrades system. Basically, as you win games and progress through each season, you'll earn money for your upgrade budget, which you can spend on a host of on-ice and off-ice upgrades that range from better travel arrangements (which increase player stats for road games) to better assistant general managers (who can help increase the likelihood of a trade being accepted). There's a much wider variety of upgrades this year, and also, unlike last year's game (where your team started out badly lacking in terms of stats due to a shortage of upgrade points at the beginning), this year's game presents no immediate pressure to upgrade your team heavily, because your team starts out about where it should in year one. The only negative aspect about the upgrades is that eventually they become just a little bit too effective, causing your team to almost overperform, to a degree. While this definitely bodes well for your record, it kills a bit of the game's statistical realism.

NHL 2005 also includes a fully revamped practice scheduling system, since last year's system was more than a little cumbersome. Now you can basically set up specific types of practices that benefit specific statistics for your players. Light workouts benefit breakout and morale stats, whereas full-contact practices gear up your team's defense and checking. While this is definitely better than last year's erratic practice scheduling, there also isn't a whole lot do it. You don't set up particular days for practice, so, presumably, it all just happens automatically. It might have been nice had EA added a little more management to the practices beyond just allowing you to select a practice and then leaving it be until you feel like changing it. However, as it is, what's here works well enough.

World Cup hockey is available in NHL 2005, so if you want to re-create Canada's big win, you can do so.

When it comes right down to it, NHL 2005's dynasty mode has several enjoyable components, but, ultimately, it feels poorly balanced. It seems like a lot of fundamental things just kind of got left on the drawing board, and what ended up in the final game simply doesn't feel like a fully realized mode. It's solid enough to entertain those who might want something a little different from their dynasty modes than the typical fare, but if you're stringent about your dynasty mode quality, you'll probably find this one more than a little flustering.